RCH Institute of Archaeogenomics
2023/II
Dániel Gerber, Bea Szeifert, Orsolya Székely, Balázs Egyed, Balázs Gyuris, Julia I Giblin, Anikó Horváth, Kitti Köhler, Gabriella Kulcsár, Ágnes Kustár, István Major, Mihály Molnár, László Palcsu, Vajk Szeverényi, Szilvia Fábián, Balázs Gusztáv Mende, Mária Bondár, Eszter Ari, Viktória Kiss, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Interdisciplinary Analyses of Bronze Age Communities from Western Hungary Reveal Complex Population Histories, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 40, Issue 9, September 2023, msad182, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad182
In this study, we report 21 ancient shotgun genomes from present-day Western Hungary, from previously understudied Late Copper Age Baden, and Bronze Age Somogyvár–Vinkovci, Kisapostag, and Encrusted Pottery archeological cultures (3,530–1,620 cal Bce). Our results indicate the presence of high steppe ancestry in the Somogyvár–Vinkovci culture. They were then replaced by the Kisapostag group, who exhibit an outstandingly high (up to ∼47%) Mesolithic hunter–gatherer ancestry, despite this component being thought to be highly diluted by the time of the Early Bronze Age. The Kisapostag population contributed the genetic basis for the succeeding community of the Encrusted Pottery culture. We also found an elevated hunter–gatherer component in a local Baden culture–associated individual, but no connections were proven to the Bronze Age individuals. The hunter–gatherer ancestry in Kisapostag is likely derived from two main sources, one from a Funnelbeaker or Globular Amphora culture–related population and one from a previously unrecognized source in Eastern Europe. We show that this ancestry not only appeared in various groups in Bronze Age Central Europe but also made contributions to Baltic populations. The social structure of Kisapostag and Encrusted Pottery cultures is patrilocal, similarly to most contemporaneous groups. Furthermore, we developed new methods and method standards for computational analyses of ancient DNA, implemented to our newly developed and freely available bioinformatic package. By analyzing clinical traits, we found carriers of aneuploidy and inheritable genetic diseases. Finally, based on genetic and anthropological data, we present here the first female facial reconstruction from the Bronze Age Carpathian Basin.
Deven N. Vyas, István Koncz, Alessandra Modi, Balázs Gusztáv Mende, Yijie Tian, Paolo Francalacci, Martina Lari, Stefania Vai, Péter Straub, Zsolt Gallina, Tamás Szeniczey, Tamás Hajdu, Rita Radzevičiūtė, Zuzana Hofmanová, Sándor Évinger, Zsolt Bernert, Walter Pohl, David Caramelli, Tivadar Vida, Patrick J. Geary, Krishna R. Veeramah, Fine-scale sampling uncovers the complexity of migrations in 5th–6th century Pannonia, Current Biology (2023), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.063
As the collapse of the Western Roman Empire accelerated during the 4th and 5th centuries, arriving ‘‘barbarian’’ groups began to establish new communities in the border provinces of the declining (and eventually former) empire. This was a time of significant cultural and political change throughout not only these border regions but Europe as a whole. To better understand post-Roman community formation in one of these key frontier zones after the collapse of the Hunnic movement, we generated new paleogenomic data for a set of 38 burials from a time series of three 5 th century cemeteries at Lake Balaton, Hungary. We utilized a comprehensive sampling approach to characterize these cemeteries along with data from 38 additional burials from a previously published mid-6th century site and analyzed them alongside data from over 550 penecontemporaneous individuals. The range of genetic diversity in all four of these local burial communities is extensive and wider ranging than penecontemporaneous Europeans sequenced to date. Despite many commonalities in burial customs and demography, we find that there were substantial differences in genetic ancestry between the sites. We detect evidence of northern European gene flow into the Lake Balaton region. Additionally, we observe a statistically significant association between dress artifacts and genetic ancestry among 5th century genetically female burials. Our analysis shows that the formation of early Medieval communities was a multifarious process even at a local level, consisting of genetically heterogeneous groups.
2023/I
Borbély, Noémi, Orsolya Székely, Bea Szeifert, Dániel Gerber, István Máthé, Elek Benkő, Balázs Gusztáv Mende, Balázs Egyed, Horolma Pamjav, and Anna Szécsényi-Nagy. 2023. "High Coverage Mitogenomes and Y-Chromosomal Typing Reveal Ancient Lineages in the Modern-Day Székely Population in Romania" Genes 14, no. 1: 133. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14010133
Here we present 115 whole mitogenomes and 92 Y-chromosomal Short Tandem Repeat (STR) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) profiles from a Hungarian ethnic group, the Székelys (in Romanian: Secuii, in German: Sekler), living in southeast Transylvania (Romania). The Székelys can be traced back to the 12th century in the region, and numerous scientific theories exist as to their origin. We carefully selected sample providers that had local ancestors inhabiting small villages in the area of Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely in Romania. The results of our research and the reported data signify a qualitative leap compared to previous studies since it presents the first complete mitochondrial DNA sequences and Y-chromosomal profiles of 23 STRs from the region. We evaluated the results with population genetic and phylogenetic methods in the context of the modern and ancient populations that are either geographically or historically related to the Székelys. Our results demonstrate a predominantly local uniparental make-up of the population that also indicates limited admixture with neighboring populations. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the presumed eastern origin of certain maternal (A, C, D) and paternal (Q, R1a) lineages, and, in some cases, they could also be linked to ancient DNA data from the Migration Period (5th–9th centuries AD) and Hungarian Conquest Period (10th century AD) populations.
Szeifert, B., Türk, A., Gerber, D., Csáky, V., Langó, P., Sztashenkov, D. A., Botalov, S. G., Szitgyikov, A. G., Zelenkov, A. S., Mende, B. G., and Szécsényi-Nagy, A. (2023). A korai magyar történelem régészeti és archeogenetikai kutatásának legfrissebb eredményei Nyugat-Szibériától a Középső-Volga vidékig. Archaeologiai Értesítő 147, 1, 33-74, Available From: AKJournals https://doi.org/10.1556/0208.2022.00031
We present the archaeological findings of the Volga–Ural region and Western-Siberia in relation to Hungarian prehistory. Based on archaeogenetic analyses of the human remains, we discuss relationships between these populations and the Conquest Period Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin.
2022.
Bea Szeifert, Dániel Gerber, Veronika Csáky, Péter Langó, Dmitrii A. Stashenkov, Aleksandr A. Khokhlov, Ayrat G. Sitdikov, Ilgizar R. Gazimzyanov, Elizaveta V. Volkova, Natalia P. Matveeva, Alexander S. Zelenkov, Olga E. Poshekhonova, Anastasiia V. Sleptsova, Konstantin G. Karacharov, Viktoria V. Ilyushina, Boris A. Konikov, Flarit A. Sungatov, Aleksander G. Kolonskikh, Sergei G. Botalov, Ivan V. Grudochko, Oleksii Komar, Balázs Egyed, Balázs G. Mende, Attila Türk, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy: Tracing genetic connections of ancient Hungarians to the 6th–14th century populations of the Volga-Ural region, Human Molecular Genetics, 2022; ddac106, https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddac106
Most of the early Hungarian tribes originated from the Volga-Kama and South-Ural regions, where they were composed of a mixed population based on historical, philological and archaeological data. We present here the uniparental genetic makeup of the mediaeval era of these regions that served as a melting pot for ethnic groups with different linguistic and historical backgrounds. Representing diverse cultural contexts, the new genetic data originate from ancient proto-Ob-Ugric people from Western Siberia (6th–13th century), the pre-Conquest period and subsisting Hungarians from the Volga-Ural region (6th–14th century) and their neighbours. By examining the eastern archaeology traits of Hungarian prehistory, we also study their genetic composition and origin in an interdisciplinary framework. We analyzed 110 deep-sequenced mitogenomes and 42 Y-chromosome haplotypes from 18 archaeological sites in Russia. The results support the studied groups’ genetic relationships regardless of geographical distances, suggesting large-scale mobility. We detected long-lasting genetic connections between the sites representing the Kushnarenkovo and Chiyalik cultures and the Carpathian Basin Hungarians and confirmed the Uralic transmission of several East Eurasian uniparental lineages in their gene pool. Based on phylogenetics, we demonstrate and model the connections and splits of the studied Volga-Ural and conqueror groups. Early Hungarians and their alliances conquered the Carpathian Basin around 890 AD. Re-analysis of the Hungarian conquerors’ maternal gene pool reveals numerous surviving maternal relationships in both sexes; therefore, we conclude that men and women came to the Carpathian Basin together, and although they were subsequently genetically fused into the local population, certain eastern lineages survived for centuries.
Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, István Koncz, Gergely Csiky, Zsófia Rácz, A. B. Rohrlach, Guido Brandt, Nadin Rohland, Veronika Csáky, Olivia Cheronet, Bea Szeifert, Tibor Ákos Rácz, András Benedek, Zsolt Bernert, Norbert Berta, Szabolcs Czifra, János Dani, Zoltán Farkas, Tamara Hága, Tamás Hajdu, Mónika Jászberényi, Viktória Kisjuhász, Barbara Kolozsi, Péter Major, Antónia Marcsik, Bernadett Ny. Kovacsóczy, Csilla Balogh, Gabriella M.Lezsák, János Gábor Ódor, Márta Szelekovszky, Tamás Szeniczey, Judit Tárnoki, Zoltán Tóth, Eszter K.Tutkovics, Balázs G. Mende, Patrick Geary, Walter Pohl, Tivadar Vida, Ron Pinhasi, David Reich, Zuzana Hofmanová, Choongwon Jeong, Johannes Krause: Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites. Cell (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007
The Avars settled the Carpathian Basin in 567/68 CE, establishing an empire lasting over 200 years. Who they were and where they came from is highly debated. Contemporaries have disagreed about whether they were, as they claimed, the direct successors of the Mongolian Steppe Rouran empire that was destroyed by the Turks in ∼550 CE. Here, we analyze new genome-wide data from 66 pre-Avar and Avar-period Carpathian Basin individuals, including the 8 richest Avar-period burials and further elite sites from Avar’s empire core region. Our results provide support for a rapid long-distance trans-Eurasian migration of Avar-period elites. These individuals carried Northeast Asian ancestry matching the profile of preceding Mongolian Steppe populations, particularly a genome available from the Rouran period. Some of the later elite individuals carried an additional non-local ancestry component broadly matching the steppe, which could point to a later migration or reflect greater genetic diversity within the initial migrant population.