Ancient DNA connects large-scale migration with the spread of Slavs
Abstract
Abstract The second half of the first millennium ce in Central and Eastern Europe was accompanied by fundamental cultural and political transformations. This period of change is commonly associated with the appearance of the Slavs, which is supported by textual evidence1,2 and coincides with the emergence of similar archaeological horizons3–6. However, so far there has been no consensus on whether this archaeological horizon spread by migration, Slavicisation or a combination of both. Genetic data remain sparse, especially owing to the widespread practice of cremation in the early phase of the Slavic settlement. Here we present genome-wide data from 555 ancient individuals, including 359 samples from Slavic contexts from as early as the seventh century ce. Our data demonstrate large-scale population movement from Eastern Europe during the sixth to eighth centuries, replacing more than 80% of the local gene pool in Eastern Germany, Poland and Croatia. Yet, we also show substantial regional heterogeneity as well as a lack of sex-biased admixture, indicating varying degrees of cultural assimilation of the autochthonous populations. Comparing archaeological and genetic evidence, we find that the change in ancestry in Eastern Germany coincided with a change in social organization, characterized by an intensification of inter- and intra-site genetic relatedness and patrilocality. On the European scale, it appears plausible that the changes in material culture and language between the sixth and eighth centuries were connected to these large-scale population movements.
Article Details
Authors (42)
Joscha Gretzinger
Felix Biermann
Hellen Mager
Benedict King
Denisa Zlámalová
Luca Traverso
Guido A. Gnecchi Ruscone
Sanni Peltola
Elina Salmela
Gunnar U. Neumann
Rita Radzeviciute
Pavlína Ingrová
Radosław Liwoch
Iwona Wronka
Radomir Jurić
Anna Hyrchała
Barbara Niezabitowska-Wiśniewska
Bartłomiej Bartecki
Beata Borowska
Tomasz Dzieńkowski
Marcin Wołoszyn
Michał Wojenka
Jarosław Wilczyński
Małgorzata Kot
Eric Müller
Jörg Orschiedt
Gunita Zariņa
Päivi Onkamo
Falko Daim
Arnold Muhl
Ralf Schwarz
Marek Majer
Michael McCormick
Jan Květina
Tivadar Vida
Patrick J. Geary
Jiří Macháček
Mario Šlaus
Harald Meller
Walter Pohl
Zuzana Hofmanová
Johannes Krause