Ancient Y DNA and Medieval Hungary Part 2

Continuing with “Whole genome analysis sheds light on the genetic origin of Huns, Avars and conquering Hungarians.” which seems to overlap with this article that I’ve also been referencing: “The genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians.” I’m posting these results as a context for the R-CTS12023/R-DF95 (see It’s My Carpathian Basin), R-Z18, R-U106 and R1b results identified in ancient samples from Hungary.

Walking through all these results makes for some pretty long posts, so I’ve split Medieval Hungary into Part 1 and Part 2. Back to it, then.

Late Avar Period 8th to 9th Century

Haplogroup E

Locations: Szeged, Orosháza, Székkutas, Kiskundorozsma, Homokmégy, Alattyán, Pitvaros, and Tiszafüre

• E-PRX51 200 BCE, only found in ancient DNA from Hungary.
• E-BY4573 (2 samples) 250 CE, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro.
• E-FGC11451 1000 BCE, England and Germany.
• E-BY7536 3250 BCE, Poland, Ukraine, and Germany.
• E-Y145455 1550 BCE, Ireland, Germany and Sweden.
• E-BY193951 – (2 samples) 500 BCE, Sardinia, and Ireland.
• E-BY6375 1350 BCE, France, Sweden, and Belgium.
• E-BY5617 – 750 BCE, Albania and Germany.
• E-FTD30148 – 400 BCE, Russia.
• E-BY4523 – 500 BCE, France, Germany, and Sweden.
• E-PRX43 100 BCE, only known from samples in Hungary.

Haplogroup R

Locations: Árkus, Orosháza, Székkutas, Jánoshida, and Szarvas

• R-Y20746 – 1900 BCE, Bashkortostan, Russia, Kuwait.
• R-PRX15 (2 samples) 850 BCE, only found in ancient DNA from Hungary.
• R-PRX19 (2 samples) 1150 BCE, only found in ancient DNA from Hungary.
• R-FGC56440 – 50 CE, Russia, Kazakhstan, and France.
• R-PRX18 – only found in ancient DNA from Hungary. The parent group formed around 50 CE.
• R-Y2631 – 850 BCE, Russia, UK, and Armenia.
• R-FT175739 – (under R1b) 1550 BCE, Germany, France, and Poland.

Haplogroups Q, N, I, C and J

Haplogroup Q

Location: Árkus

• Q-PRX40 – (5 samples) around 350 CE, only known from ancient DNA in Hungary.
• Q-BZ1000 – (2 samples) 300 CE, Kazakhstan, Poland, and Russia.

Haplogroup N

Locations: Kiskundorozsma, Csólyospálos, and Tatárszentgyörgy

• N-PRX34 – (2 samples) only found in ancient Hungary.
• N-PRX33 – only found in ancient Hungary.
• N-Y16313 – 100 BCE. China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.

Haplogroup I

Locations: Tiszafüred, Homokmégy

• I-PRX1 (2 samples) – 300 CE, only found in ancient DNA in Hungary.
• I-FT239052 1 modern tester from Czech Republic.

Haplogroup C

Location: Pitvaros

• C-PRX53 (2 samples) only known from ancient DNA in Hungary.

Haplogroup J

Location: Vörs

• J-YP181 an Avar Elite. 1300 BCE, Sardinia and Poland.

Hungarian Conqueror Period 10th to 11th Century

What is a conquering Hungarian and where to they come from? The Hungarians/Magyar probably come from the Steppe and move west under pressure from another group from the East, similar to the Avars. They invade the Carpathian basin, bringing in more Y haplogroups from the east. They raid all over Western Europe up to Saxony and then eventually became sedentary. Wikipedia has a very concise map image of various stages of the Magyar migration.

At some point between the end of the Avars and the Beginning of the Conquering Hungarians, the Eastern Franks pushed into what would become Hungary to the Danube, and the Avars pulled back across the Tisza, but I’m not sure how much of a genetic legacy that might have.

What is interesting to me is that there are a lot of R1b results in this period, and I believe the majority of R-U106 results in the study.

This is the largest group of results in the supplemental materials. I’ve mixed the commoners and elites. The only groups that didn’t appear in commoners and elites seemed to be Haplogroup N, Haplogroup C and Haplogroup D. They were all elite.

Haplogroup R

Haplogroup R has enough samples in this round that I will split it up into R1a and R1b groups. I’ll also grab a bit more information on our U106 and Z18 cousins.

R1a

Locations: Sárrétudvari, Nagykőrös, Karos, Szegvár, Homokmégy, Püspökladány, Algyő

• R-BY30742 – 500 BCE, Russia and Sweden.
• R-Y147340 – 1 tester from Russia.
• R-PRX9 (2 samples) only known from ancient samples in Hungary. The parent group is from 1685 BCE.
• R-BY32011 – 550 BCE, Scotland and Spain.
• R-Z283 – 2800 BCE, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
• R-BY180648 1 modern tester from Russia. The parent group is from 550 BCE.
• R-FGC56425 200 CE, Russia, France, and Czech Republic.
• R-Y52 950 BCE, Germany, England, and Russia.
• R-Y3219 1 BCE, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary.

R1b

Locations: Nagytarcsa, Homokmégy, Szegvár, Sárrétudvari, Ibrány, Karos, Tiszanána, Püspökladány

• R-KMS59 – 100 BCE, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia.
• R-BY173857 – 3350 BCE, Turkey
• R-FT186340 – 1000 BCE, Albania.
• R-P312 – base group under R1b.
• R-A7066 – 1600 BCE, England and France.
• R-Y14515 – 2000 BCE, Scotland and Russia.
• R-BY111101 – (2 samples) – 400 CE, Germany and Austria.
• R-FT327611 – Only known from ancient samples in Hungary. The parent is 50 CE in England and Germany.
• R-FTC689 – 1150 BCE, England.
• R-FT153449 (under U106) commoner. 1 living tester with unknown origins. The parent group is 900 BCE, England and Ireland.
• R-BY41605 (under R-U106) Magyar Elite. 500 BCE, Germany, Spain and England.
• R-Y105242 (under R-U106->R-L48) Hungarian Elite. 550 CE, Finland, Sweden, Norway.
• R-BY18748 (under R-U106->R-L48) commoner. 300 CE, England, Finland, and Germany.
• R-FGC17304 – (under R-U106->R-L48->R-L47) commoner. 200 BCE, Poland, and England.
• R-FT96427 – (under R-U106->R-Z18->R-L257) commoner. 1 living tester with unknown origins. The parent group is 750 BCE, Norway, Germany, and Lithuania. This person (Sárrétudvari 175 or shper175) is listed as eur-core3 in this study. eur-core3 clusters with “Langobards¹⁵ and Bronze Age samples from Hungary,^18,19 the Czech Republic, and Germany”

Haplogroup I

Locations: Püspökladány, Homokmégy, Ibrány, Sárrétudvari, Magyarhomorog, Karos

• I-PRX61 – (2 samples) only known from ancient DNA in Hungary. Parent group is 100 CE with testers from Sweden and England.
• I-S20602 – (2 samples) 400 BCE, Russia, Poland, and Ukraine.
• I-FTC25695 – 500 CE, England.
• I-A1328 – 200 CE, Russia, Bosnia, Poland.
• I-Y3548 – 200 BCE, Poland, Russia, Ukraine.
• I-FT108909 – 600 CE, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Romania.
• I-M253 – 2550 BCE, England, Sweden, and Germany.
• I-S20602 (3 samples) 400 BCE, Russia, Poland, and Ukraine.

Haplogroup N

Locations: Szakony, Algyő, Karos, Kiskundorozsma, Kenézlő, Sárrétudvari

• N-CTS6967 – 3100 BCE, Finland, Russia, Sweden.
• N-Y13852 – 1700 BCE, Russia, Hungary, and Greece.
• N-PH1896 – (2 samples) 650 CE. Turkey and Lebanon.
• N-L1026 – 3700 BCE, Finland, Russia and Sweden.
• N-PRX36 – 1050 CE, Hungary.

Haplogroup J

Locations: Sárrétudvari, Püspökladány, Bugyi, Vörs

• J-Y3612 – 2100 BCE, Russia, Chechnya, and Ingushetia.
• J-PH245 – 5750 BCE, Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Turkey.
• J-FT403133 – 4600 BCE, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan
• J-Z30685 2600 BCE, Italy, England, and France.
• J-Y23094 1550 BCE, Albania, France, and Italy.

Haplogroup E

Locations: Sárrétudvari, Püspökladány, Szegvár, Tiszanána, Sándorfalva

• E-FT153688 900 CE, 1 modern tester from Slovakia.
• E-FGC11444 700 BCE, Russia, Germany, and Scotland.
• E-FT264135 1 modern tester from Poland
• E-FTA66983 1 modern tester from Turkey
• E-FTC36544 1 modern tester from Italy.

Haplogroups G, Q, T, D, and C

Haplogroup G

Locations: Homokmégy, Karos, Szeged

• G-PRX54 – (2 samples) only known from ancient DNA in Hungary
• G-Y11076 1650 BCE, Switzerland, Norway, and Germany.
• G-BY191127 1 modern tester from Turkey.

Haplogroup Q

Locations: Vörs, Kenézlő, Sándorfalva

• Q-BZ93 1 modern tester from Russia.
• Q-PH5117 – 3 modern testers from Bhutan and Brunei.
• Q-BZ450 – 1400 BCE, Russia

Haplogroup C

Location: Ladánybene

• C-FT88774 – 1 living tester with unknown origin. The parent group has 1 tester from Russia.

Haplogroup D

Location: Magyarhomorog

• D-Y59460 – 1 living tester from Kazakhstan

Haplogroup T

Location: Vörs

• T-BY45377 – 1800 BCE. England, Iraq and Lebanon.

Early Arpadian Commoners 11th Century

Locations: Püspökladány, Ibrány, and Magyarhomorog. These are all commoners under the Árpádian dynasty in Hungary. There are not very many of them, so I will list them together.

• I-FGC22129 – 100 CE. Sweden and England.
• I-S6489 – 1150 BCE. Scotland and Ireland.
• I-FT26533 -1 modern tester of unknown origin. Parent is 700 BCE. Russia, Germany and England.
• N-Y24222 – 200 BCE. Russia and Hungary.
• R-FGC17304 – 200 BCE. Poland and England.
• R-PRX5 – (under R-L21, R-P312, R1b) is only known from ancient DNA. Parent group is 1700 BCE, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Thoughts and Conclusions

R-U106

In all of these results, in all these locations, covering 500 or so years and multiple invasions, there are about seven R-U106 boys (maybe 8, one of them is up in the air). Most of those appear in the conquering Hungarians group, and a couple were considered elite burials with nice grave goods. The R-Z18 man in this period was a commoner who appeared to be related to European genetic groups rather than Asian genetic groups.

Going back in time a hundred years or so from these studies, there were 5 R-U106 results, just in Langobard Szolad. Just that one place, and that one group. We’re out of our element among the Huns, Avars, and Hungarians. The papers I’ve been mulling through consider these people as allied Germanics or remnant populations of allied Germanics or native Europeans, depending on the time period.

The current oldest R-U106 sample in the U106 group spreadsheet is PNL1, Plotiště nad Labem 1, part of the corded ware culture, who lived around 2900 BCE in Plotiště nad Labem, Bohemia, Czech Republic. Not too awful far from these Hungarians. I say current oldest because the previous oldest R-U106 identified was RISE98, who was roughly 700 years younger and in Sweden as part of the battle axe or boat axe culture.

R-U106 is estimated to have formed in 2920 BCE, not too much before PNL1 there in Czechia. There is probably much more to be seen in central Europe.

R-Z18

Family Tree DNA estimates that R-Z18 appeared in 2210 BCE. The oldest R-Z18 sample in the U106 spreadsheet is from 1800 to 1400 BCE in Madesø, Denmark, part of the Nordic Bronze Age. There is a sizeable gap there between the suspected origin and archaeogenetic evidence. The second oldest is in Hove Å, Denmark, roughly 1300 to 900 BCE. You don’t see ancient R-Z18 again for 1000 plus years, until 200 CE with HVN004 in Häven, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Again a large gap. There are more stories to be told in these gaps.

It would be cool to find older roots for R-Z18 and to see what locations they are in.

With what I have right now, I’m still leaning towards a migration path for R-Z18->CTS12023 from southern Scandinavia, northern Germany/Poland into central and eastern Europe with the Langobards, Goths, or Gepids setting up our man from 600 CE. I welcome being wrong, though. There is a lot of room here to be wrong.

For the later 10th to 11th century R-Z18, I think a remnant from those earlier populations could be possible, or someone moving in from Bavaria and the Eastern Frankish Empire. There is also the option of the Kievan Rus, who had interactions with the Magyar.

R1a

I have to admit a lot of ignorance regarding the distribution of R1a and its various groups. R1a is the king of the R group in these studies, while it seems rare in the west. I’m used to running in circles where R1b dominates the landscape. It’s refreshing to see the other side of the R coin. It reminds me of how old, large, and well-traveled Haplogroup R is.

Marching back in the time tree, I saw a lot of R1a-Z93, which some sources list as Central Asian R. That makes sense within the scope of these studies. In the context of so many Asian, Central, Near Eastern, and Southern European Y haplogroups, it is easy to see our own Y group (R-U106->R-Z18) as a remnant or an incursion (maybe both) in R1a territory.

Haplogroup R

For some perspective, it looks like all of R comes from the east. We’re all various steppe people who are pushed west at different times. We diverged from Haplogroup Q (which branched out into North America and South America as well as Asia and Europe). We appear to have done that the hard way, bottle-necking in Western Europe before crossing the Atlantic.

The pin above is in Mal’ta, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. That’s Mal’ta boy, the oldest Haplogroup R sample to date. Roughly 22000 BCE. Much closer to the heat map centers for R1a than to the heat map centers for R1b. Family Tree DNA has a really nice migration map with ancient R Y-DNA sites. Mal’ta boy is the red circle below.

Wrapping Up Hungary…for Now

I’ve learned a lot. All my internet searches on Avars and Magyars have pushed central European content into my various media feeds. I’m a fish out of water looking up Huns, Alans, Avars, and Magyars.

The story of Hungary (maybe the story of every place) is a story of people moving for escape or opportunity. The Pannonian plain and basin end up being a crossroads between Asia and Europe, and the people in Hungary show that mixture in their Y and autosomal DNA over the ages.

It is interesting to think that our Haplogroup R ancestors inhabited this region, invading from the east and then, hundreds or thousands of years later, swung back to the area again, invading from the north and west. In one study, they’re invaders, and in others, they’re the locals.

Aren’t we all?