Scientists from Masaryk University, in collaboration with an international team, have conducted an archaeogenetic analysis on 700 human skeletons from the early Middle Ages discovered in burial grounds near Vienna. The results from the burial grounds in Mödling and Leobersdorf uncovered that people from Mödling had mostly European ancestors, while those from Leobersdorf were mainly of East Asian origin, known as the Avar people. Both communities lived side by side for at least six generations, as reported by the scientists in a study published in the journal Nature.
The Avar people came from the East Asian steppes in the 6th century and settled in the eastern part of Central Europe among the local population. Despite their reputation as warriors, no battle wounds and almost no signs of disease were discovered on the corpses. Historical documents with evidence from anthropology and archeology acknowledge that this period was one of the most peaceful in the history of Vienna.
By using a strategy of area-wide sampling combined with highly sensitive genetic analysis, researchers established a significant number of familial relationships among the remains. “The extensive genetic connections between individuals enabled us to reconstruct six-generation family trees at both sites, which existed concurrently,” explained Zuzana Hofmanová, head of the archaeogenetics team who coordinated the international study.
“Nevertheless, no relationships between relatives were found, not even between distant ones,” added Denisa Zlámalová, a member of the ArcheoGen team and co-author of the study.
The studies of the 500 graves in Mödling and 150 in Leobersdorf gave unexpected results. “When we looked at the DNA obtained from human remains from these neighboring burial grounds, we were very surprised,” says Zuzana Hofmanová.
Before genetic testing, no noticeable differences were observed between the inhabitants of Leobersdorf and Mödling, as both groups shared a similar way of life and social practices. The two communities had the same customs, culture and the same symbols of higher social status, such as forging belts with the image of a griffin, for six generations in both burial sites. According to the study, it is most likely that people from both locations identified themselves as Avars.
Nevertheless, knowledge from various scientific fields has demonstrated that genes and culture can carry different signals. The DNA analysis uncovered distinctions between the populations, suggesting a different heritage. Despite this discovery, the samples indicate that cultural integration played a significant role in uniting the two communities.
The scientists discovered that men’s partners were chosen from similar genetic communities, explaining why the different origins from the two groups were preserved. Women in Leobersdorf probably came from populations that also originated in East Asia, while those in Mödling came from other European origins.
The Mödling burial ground is one of the largest ever genetically analyzed and will continue to be investigated, as some questions remain unclear for the scientific team, who are trying to ascertain if the people buried at these sites are descendants of the Avar conquerors, or of an older population that integrated into the Avar population later.
This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No. 856453.
