Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian nomadic groups arrived into the Carpathian Basin from the Eurasian Steppes and significantly influenced its political and ethnical landscape. In order to shed light on the genetic affinity of above groups we have determined Y chromosomal haplogroups and autosomal loci, from 49 individuals, supposed to represent military leaders. Haplogroups from the Hun-age are consistent with Xiongnu ancestry of European Huns. Most of the Avar-age individuals carry east Eurasian Y haplogroups typical for modern north-eastern Siberian and Buryat populations and their autosomal loci indicate mostly unmixed Asian characteristics. In contrast the conquering Hungarians seem to be a recently assembled population incorporating pure European, Asian and admixed components. Their heterogeneous paternal and maternal lineages indicate similar phylogeographic origin of males and females, derived from Central-Inner Asian and European Pontic Steppe sources. Composition of conquering Hungarian paternal lineages is very similar to that of Baskhirs, supporting historical sources that report identity of the two groups.

Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian nomadic groups arrived to the Carpathian Basin from the Eurasian Steppes and significantly influenced its political and ethnical landscape, however their origin remains largely unknown. In order to shed light on the genetic affinity of above groups we have determined Y chromosomal haplogroups and autosomal loci, suitable to predict biogeographic ancestry, from 49 individuals, supposed to represent the power/military elit. Haplogroups from the Hun-age are consistent with Xiongnu ancestry of European Huns. Most of the Avar-age individuals carry east Eurasian Y haplogroups typical for modern north-eastern Siberian and Buryat populations and their autosomal loci indicate mostly un-admixed Asian characteristics. In contrast the conquering Hungarians seem to be a recently assembled population incorporating un-admixed European, Asian as well as admixed components. Their heterogeneous paternal and maternal lineages indicate similar supposed phylogeographic origin of males and females, derived from Central-Inner Asian and European Pontic Steppe sources.

After 568 AD the Avars settled in the Carpathian Basin and founded the Avar Qaganate that was an important power in Central Europe until the 9th century. Part of the Avar society was probably of Asian origin; however, the localisation of their homeland is hampered by the scarcity of historical and archaeological data. Here, we study mitogenome and Y chromosomal variability of twenty-six individuals, a number of them representing a well-characterised elite group buried at the centre of the Carpathian Basin more than a century after the Avar conquest. The studied group has maternal and paternal genetic affinities to several ancient and modern East-Central Asian populations. The majority of the mitochondrial DNA variability represents Asian haplogroups (C, D, F, M, R, Y and Z). The Y-STR variability of the analysed elite males belongs only to five lineages, three N-Tat with mostly Asian parallels and two Q haplotypes. The homogeneity of the Y chromosomes reveals paternal kinship as a cohesive force in the organisation of the Avar elite strata on both social and territorial level. Our results indicate that the Avar elite arrived in the Carpathian Basin as a group of families, and remained mostly endogamous for several generations after the conquest. The Carpathian Basin in East-Central Europe is generally regarded as the westernmost point of the Eurasian steppe, and as such, its history was often influenced by the movements of nomadic people of eastern origin. After 568 AD, the Avars settled in the Carpathian Basin and founded their empire which was a powerful player in the geopolitical arena of Central and Eastern Europe for a quarter of a millennium 1,2. The hypothesis of the Asian origin of the Avars appeared as early as the 18th century. Since then various research approaches emerged indicating different regions as their home of origin: i.e. Central or East-Central Asia (see SI chapter 1b for explanation of this geographic term). This debate remained unresolved, however a rising number of evidences points towards the latter one 1,2. The history of the Avars is known from external, mainly Byzantine written accounts of diplomatic and historical character focusing on certain events and important people for the Byzantine Empire. As an example, the description of a Byzantine diplomatic mission in 569-570 AD visiting the Western Turkic Qaganate in Central Asia, claimed that their ruler complained about the escape of his subjects, the Avars 2-4. The linguistic data concerning the Avars are limited to a handful of personal names and titles (Qagan, Bayan, Yugurrus, Tarkhan, etc.) mostly of East-Central Asian origin, known from the same Byzantine written accounts.

28After 568 AD the Avars settled in the Carpathian Basin and founded the Avar Qaganate that 29 was an important power in Central Europe until the 9 th century. Part of the Avar society was 30 probably of Asian origin, however the localisation of their homeland is hampered by the 31 scarcity of historical and archaeological data. 33Here, we study mitogenome and Y chromosomal STR variability of twenty-six individuals, a 34 number of them representing a well-characterised elite group buried at the centre of the 35 Carpathian Basin more than a century after the Avar conquest. 36The studied group has maternal and paternal genetic affinities to several ancient and modern 37 East-Central Asian populations. The majority of the mitochondrial DNA variability represents 38 Asian haplogroups (C, D, F, M, R, Y and Z). The Y-STR variability of the analysed elite males 39 belongs only to five lineages, three N-Tat with mostly Asian parallels and two Q haplotypes.40 The homogeneity of the Y chromosomes reveals paternal kinship as a cohesive force in the 41 organisation of the Avar elite strata on both social and territorial level. Our results indicate that 42 the Avar elite arrived in the Carpathian Basin as a group of families, and remained mostly 43 endogamous for several generations after the conquest.44

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.