Early Medieval Neighbors in Austria Shared Few Genes

LEIPZIG, GERMANY—According to a statement released by the Max Planck Society of Evolutionary Anthropology, DNA samples from all of the human remains unearthed in lower Austria from the neighboring early medieval burial sites at Mödling and Leobersdorf have been analyzed. The study determined that all of the nearly 150 individuals buried at Leobersdorf were mostly of East Asian origin, while the 500 individuals buried at Mödling shared an ancestry associated with European populations. “The genetic difference between these groups was very clear and consistent for most of the individuals at the sites,” said geneticist Ke Wang of Fudan University. Yet the archaeological remains left behind by the two communities are Avar in style and very similar to each other, added Walter Pohl of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The Avars migrated from the East Asian steppes to Central Europe in the sixth century A.D., and it had been previously thought that they mixed with the local populations. Two centuries later, however, the inhabitants of Mödling and Leobersdorf shared culture and customs but few genes. “Most likely both considered themselves Avars,” concluded archaeologist Bendeguz Tobias of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Nature. For more, go to "The Avars Advance."