In: Vida, Tivadar – Quast, Dieter – Rácz, Zsófia – Koncz, István (eds): Collapse – Reorganization – Continuity. Gepids after the fall of the Hun Empire. Proceedings of the International Conference at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 14th–15th December 2015. Budapest, 2019
The history of the Carpathian Basin during the first two thirds of the sixth century was moulded ... more The history of the Carpathian Basin during the first two thirds of the sixth century was moulded by the intricate, oft-changing relationship between the Gepids and the Langobards. In addition to the political and diplomatic connections recorded in the historical sources, the archaeological record attests to other dimensions of the relations between these two powers. The present study seeks to identify the artefacts with connections in the Tisza region appearing among the Transdanubian finds of the Langobard period, and the types with Transdanubian and Western European parallels among the contemporaneous find assemblages of the Tisza region. The similarities outline a system of intricate and multifaceted relations between the Gepids and the Langobards in the sixth century. These connections cannot always be automatically equated with trade transactions – very often, we are dealing with ad hoc events or individual interactions. Some broad tendencies can nevertheless be outlined.
Uploads
Papers by Istvan Koncz
68 CE, and their origins have remained enigmatic. Genomic analyses of 66 pre-
Avar and Avar-period individuals, integrated with archaeological and
historical data, suggest that Avar elites underwent a long-distance, trans-
Eurasian migration from the East Asian steppe.
68 CE, and their origins have remained enigmatic. Genomic analyses of 66 pre-
Avar and Avar-period individuals, integrated with archaeological and
historical data, suggest that Avar elites underwent a long-distance, trans-
Eurasian migration from the East Asian steppe.
Tivadar Vida – Dieter Quast – Zsófia Rácz – István Koncz (Hrsg./Eds.), Gepiden nach dem Untergang des Hunnenreiches, Kollaps – Neuordnung – Kontinuität / Gepids after the Fall of the Hun Empire Collapse - Reorganization – Continuity. Tagungsakten der Internationalen Konferenz
an der Eötvös Loránd Universität, Budapest, 14. - 15. Dezember 2015 / Proceedings of the International Conference at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 14th - 15th December 2015. Budapest, 2019.
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.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/415760v2
Europe on both macro-
and
microlevels during the Early Medieval period. History and archaeology have long
focused on their description and identification based on written sources or through their
archaeological record. We provide a different perspective on this topic by integrating
paleogenomic, archaeological, and isotopic data to gain insights into the role of one such
elite group in a Langobard period community near Collegno, Italy dated to the 6-8th
centuries CE. Our analysis of 28 newly sequenced genomes together with 24 previously
published ones combined with isotope (Sr, C, N) measurements revealed that this community
was established by and organized around a network of biologically and socially
related individuals likely composed of multiple elite families that over time developed
into a single extended pedigree. The community also included individuals with diverse
genetic ancestries, maintaining its diversity by integrating newcomers and groups in later
stages of its existence. This study highlights how shifts in political power and migration
impacted the formation and development of a small rural community within a key
region of the former Western Roman Empire after its dissolution and the emergence of
a new kingdom. Furthermore, it suggests that Early Medieval elites had the capacity to
incorporate individuals from varied backgrounds and that these elites were the result of
(political) agency rather than belonging to biologically homogeneous groups.
This is the fastest long-distance migration in human history that we can reconstruct up to that point. Besides their clear affinity to Northeast Asia and their likely origin due to the fall of the Rouran Empire, we also see that the 7th-century Avar period elites show 20-30% of additional non-local ancestry, likely associated with the North Caucasus and the Western Asian Steppe, which could suggest further migration from the Steppe after their arrival in the 6th century. The East Asian ancestry is found in individuals from several sites in the core settlement area between the Danube and Tisza rivers in modern day central Hungary. However, outside the primary settlement region we find high variability in inter-individual levels of admixture. This suggests an immigrant Avars elite ruling a diverse population with the help of a heterogeneous local elite.
This is the fastest long-distance migration in human history that we can reconstruct up to that point. Besides their clear affinity to Northeast Asia and their likely origin due to the fall of the Rouran Empire, we also see that the 7th-century Avar period elites show 20-30% of additional non-local ancestry, likely associated with the North Caucasus and the Western Asian Steppe, which could suggest further migration from the Steppe after their arrival in the 6th century. The East Asian ancestry is found in individuals from several sites in the core settlement area between the Danube and Tisza rivers in modern day central Hungary. However, outside the primary settlement region we find high variability in inter-individual levels of admixture. This suggests an immigrant Avars elite ruling a diverse population with the help of a heterogeneous local elite.