A large-scale study of ancient DNA from Pannonia, Hungary, published in the journal Science, confirms that significant migration from northern Europe occurred, but shows that the society that emerged thereafter was not the result of conquest and population exchange alone.
The researchers combined genetic, archaeological and isotopic data to examine 314 people buried at seven sites in the Lesser Hungarian Plain in northwestern Hungary. Two of the sites date back to the Roman period, with 68 people sampled; five other sites date back to the period after the decline of Roman rule, with 246 people sampled.
The region was part of Pannonia, an important province on the border of the Roman Empire. Its location near the Danube made it a crossroads where armies, trade routes, and populations from different places met for centuries.
From cosmopolitan Rome to migration from the north
At Roman-era sites, researchers found a predominantly southern European genetic lineage, alongside genetic variation from Asia and Africa. The combination fits the familiar image of the Roman Empire as a vast network of cities, roads, trade, and military service that allowed people to travel great distances.
After the fall of Roman rule, the situation changed. Sites from the sixth century AD showed a much higher proportion of northern European origin. Genetic ties connected some of the burials to populations living north of the Danube, and researchers cautiously attribute the movement to the expansion of the Lombard kingdom documented in historical sources.
The Lombards were a political and military group based north of the Danube, and in the first half of the sixth century extended their rule into territories formerly belonging to the Empire. In 568 a large part of them moved to Italy and established a kingdom there. However, the name "Lombards" is not a genetic label: people who belonged to this political or cultural framework could have come from different sources.
Neither a single wave nor a complete replacement
The data do not describe a one-time migration of a small army nor a complete and immediate replacement of the region's inhabitants. They point to a continuous movement of people and ties that connected communities in the Lesser Hungarian Plain to populations further north.
Immigrants of northern European origin became the dominant political force in the region, but the new communities also included descendants of the local population, whose origins were largely southern European. The encounter between them gave rise to several forms of social organization rather than a single uniform model.
This is one of the important findings of the study: cemeteries where people with similar genetic makeup were buried, and sometimes with similar burial objects and customs, reflected different social structures. In some communities, biological kinship played a central role in group organization; in others, the connection between family, status, and burial practices was different.
That is, even when two communities appeared similar in terms of genetic origin or the artifacts they left behind, they were not necessarily organized in the same way. The differences indicate that the new groups made local social and political decisions, and that new regional hierarchies emerged from the encounter between immigrants and long-time residents.
A pin or sword is not a test of origin.
For years, archaeologists have tried to identify historical groups through the styles of jewelry, weapons, pottery, and burial customs. The assumption was that objects of a certain style also indicated the identity and origin of the people buried alongside them.
The new study reinforces the warning against such identification. Material culture can pass between groups through trade, imitation, marriage, alliances, or the adoption of new status and identity. So a grave that looks “Lombardy” does not by itself prove that the buried person was a descendant of immigrants from northern Europe. In the same way, DNA can indicate biological kinship and population movement, but it does not by itself reveal what language a person spoke or what political group they felt they belonged to.
The combination of methods allows researchers to get closer to the historical picture: DNA teaches about ancestry and family ties, isotopes may indicate where a person grew up and what they ate, and archaeology provides information about living conditions, burial customs, and differences in status.
What can we learn about post-Roman Europe?
The study does not describe all of Europe, but rather one region in the center of the continent. Therefore, it should not be concluded from it that all the kingdoms that arose on the ruins of the empire developed in the same way. Its importance is that it demonstrates how it is possible to examine at local resolution a historical process that left behind almost no written record of the people themselves.
The evidence from Pannonia does not rule out violence, conquest, or a struggle for control. It shows that the reality that followed was more complex than the division between "Romans" and "barbarians." Large population movements did occur, but the new society was built through assimilation, family ties, adoption of customs, and the creation of local centers of power.
Instead of a story about a Roman world that disappeared in one day and was replaced by another, we get a picture of transition: institutions of government collapsed, people moved, communities connected and split, and out of the process a new political and social order was created.
Questions and Answers
How many people were tested in the study?
The researchers analyzed the genomes of 314 people: 68 from two sites from the Roman period and 246 from five sites from the post-Roman period.
Does the research prove that the Lombards conquered the region?
The genetic data suggests a large-scale population movement from northern Europe, corresponding in time and place to the Lombard expansion documented in the sources. However, DNA alone cannot determine the political or cultural identity of any individual.
Was the local population completely replaced?
No. The study found various combinations between immigrants of Northern European origin and local residents whose origin was mostly Southern European.
Is it possible to identify the origin based on the objects found in the grave?
Not necessarily. Research shows that material culture and genetic ancestry do not always coincide. Objects and customs can pass between communities regardless of biological ancestry.
Sources
- The scientific article in Science
- Announcement from the Institute for Advanced Research
- HistoGenes announcement on EurekAlert
- Author's manuscript accepted for publication, Stony Brook University
More on the subject on the science website
- Ancient skeleton genome reveals: Slavic people originated in large-scale migration from Eastern Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire
- Genetic research: Residents of the Mani region in southern Greece represent one of the genetically oldest populations in Europe
- Ancient DNA reveals: Human evolution did not stop, but continued to operate over the past thousands of years
- First-of-its-kind genetic study: Canaanites constantly mixed with populations from Iran and the Caucasus
- New research reveals that Justinian's plague did not contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam
For the scientific article: Opening the scientific article
One response
Thousands of thanks!
Super interesting!