Ancient genomes reveal trans-Eurasian connections between the European Huns and the Xiongnu Empire

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rusconea, Guido Alberto Gnecchi-; Racz, Zsofia; Liccardo, Salvatore; Lee, Juhyeon; Huang, Yilei; Traverso, Luca; Radzeviciute, Rita; Hajnal, Zsuzsanna; Szecsenyi-Nagy, Anna; Gyuris, Balazs; Mateovics-Laszlo, Orsolya; Bernert, Zsolt; Szeniczey, Tamas; Hajdu, Tamas; Meszaros, Boglarka; Balint, Marianna; Mende, Balazs Gusztav; Miller, Bryan; Samashev, Zainolla; Childebayeva, Ainash; Djansugurova, Leyla; Geary, Patrick; Ringbauer, Harald; Vida, Tivadar; Jeong, Choongwon; Pohl, Walter; Krause, Johannes; Hofmanova, Zuzana
• 署名单位: Max Planck Society; Masaryk University; Eotvos Lorand University; University of Vienna; Austrian Academy of Sciences; Seoul National University (SNU); Seoul National University (SNU); Eotvos Lorand University; Eotvos Lorand University; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; Institute of Zoology in Kazakhstan; Institute for Advanced Study - USA
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-9677
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2418485122
• 发表日期: 2025-03-04
• 关键词: history; admixture; sequence; origin

摘要

The Huns appeared in Europe in the 370s, establishing an Empire that reshaped West Eurasian history. Yet until today their origins remain a matter of extensive debate. Traditional theories link them to the Xiongnu, the founders of the first nomadic empire of the Mongolian steppe. The Xiongnu empire dissolved, however, similar to 300 y before the Huns appeared in Europe, and there is little archaeological and historical evidence of Huns in the steppe during this time gap. Furthermore, despite the rich 5th to 6th centuries current era (CE) archaeological record of the Carpathian Basin, the cultural elements of connections with the steppe are limited to few findings and even fewer solitary eastern- type burials. In this study, we coanalyze archaeological evidence with 35 newly sequenced and published genomic data for a total of 370 individuals-from 5th to 6th century CE contexts in the Carpathian Basin including 10 Hun- period eastern- type burials, 2nd to 5th century sites across Central Asia and 2nd c. before current era (BCE) to 1st c. CE Xiongnu period sites across the Mongolian steppe. We find no evidence for the presence of a large eastern/steppe descent community among the Hun- and post- Hun- period Carpathian Basin population. We also observe a high genetic diversity among the eastern- type burials that recapitulates the variability observed across the Eurasian Steppe. This suggests a mixed origin of the incoming steppe conquerors. Nevertheless, long- shared genomic tracts provide compelling evidence of genetic lineages directly connecting some individindividuals, showing that some European Huns descended from them.