Ancient DNA reveals reproductive barrier despite shared Avar-period culture

Ke Wang (), Bendeguz Tobias, Doris Pany-Kucera, Margit Berner, Sabine Eggers, Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone, Denisa Zlámalová, Joscha Gretzinger, Pavlína Ingrová, Adam B. Rohrlach, Jonathan Tuke, Luca Traverso, Paul Klostermann, Robin Koger, Ronny Friedrich, Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta, Sylvia Kirchengast, Salvatore Liccardo, Sandra Wabnitz, Tivadar Vida, Patrick J. Geary, Falko Daim, Walter Pohl (), Johannes Krause () and Zuzana Hofmanová ()
Additional contact information
Ke Wang: Fudan University
Bendeguz Tobias: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Doris Pany-Kucera: Natural History Museum Vienna
Margit Berner: Natural History Museum Vienna
Sabine Eggers: Natural History Museum Vienna
Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Denisa Zlámalová: Masaryk University
Joscha Gretzinger: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Pavlína Ingrová: Masaryk University
Adam B. Rohrlach: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Jonathan Tuke: The University of Adelaide
Luca Traverso: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Paul Klostermann: Natural History Museum Vienna
Robin Koger: Natural History Museum Vienna
Ronny Friedrich: Curt-Engelhorn-Center for Archaeometry
Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta: Natural History Museum Vienna
Sylvia Kirchengast: University of Vienna
Salvatore Liccardo: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Sandra Wabnitz: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Tivadar Vida: ELTE—Eötvös Loránd University
Patrick J. Geary: Institute for Advanced Study
Falko Daim: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Walter Pohl: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Johannes Krause: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Zuzana Hofmanová: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Nature, 2025, vol. 638, issue 8052, 1007-1014

Abstract: Abstract After a long-distance migration, Avars with Eastern Asian ancestry arrived in Eastern Central Europe in 567 to 568 ce and encountered groups with very different European ancestry1,2. We used ancient genome-wide data of 722 individuals and fine-grained interdisciplinary analysis of large seventh- to eighth-century ce neighbouring cemeteries south of Vienna (Austria) to address the centuries-long impact of this encounter1,2. We found that even 200 years after immigration, the ancestry at one site (Leobersdorf) remained dominantly East Asian-like, whereas the other site (Mödling) shows local, European-like ancestry. These two nearby sites show little biological relatedness, despite sharing a distinctive late-Avar culture3,4. We reconstructed six-generation pedigrees at both sites including up to 450 closely related individuals, allowing per-generation demographic profiling of the communities. Despite different ancestry, these pedigrees together with large networks of distant relatedness show absence of consanguinity, patrilineal pattern with female exogamy, multiple reproductive partnerships (for example, levirate) and direct correlation of biological connectivity with archaeological markers of social status. The generation-long genetic barrier was maintained by systematically choosing partners with similar ancestry from other sites in the Avar realm. Leobersdorf had more biological connections with the Avar heartlands than with Mödling, which is instead linked to another site from the Vienna Basin with European-like ancestry. Mobility between sites was mostly due to female exogamy pointing to different marriage networks as the main driver of the maintenance of the genetic barrier.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08418-5

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