Pages:  49-74 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2454974

The archaeogenetic data recently presented by Gyuris & Vyazov et al. (2024) introduces ancient DNA (aDNA) from 131 individuals dating from the first millennium BCE to the first half of the second millennium CE, predominantly from the Trans-Ural region. This dataset facilitates the comparison of the dynamics of material culture development and population processes in this area. The study’s results indicate that the genetic profile characteristic of the early medieval Magyars first emerged as part of the Trans-Ural genetic landscape in the 3rd—4th centuries CE, identified among the population of the late Sargatka culture, which experienced significant influence from the taiga population. In the 9th—10th centuries, this genetic type termed the “Karayakupovo,” became widespread in the Cis-Ural Magna Hungaria. Despite noticeable cultural influence from the steppe nomads, likely Turkic-speaking, the Trans-Ural population of the “Karayakupovo horizon” did not experience significant gene flow from them. Conversely, genetic exchange with communities who populated the Kama River basin was more intense. Only in the 14th century, during the period of political dominance of the Golden Horde in the region, the population of Magna Hungaria gradually lose its genetic specificity. Cultural transformations sometimes accompanied the observed changes in genetic landscapes and sometimes occurred independently of them.

Keywords: early medieval archaeological cultures, archaeogenetic research, early medieval Magyars, Ural Region, Magna Hungaria, Karayakupovo horizon

Information about authors:

Leonid Vyazov (Ostrava, Czechia). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science. University of Ostrava. Chittussiho Str. 10, Ostrava, 70103, Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-2074-9276

Balázs Gyuris (Budapest, Hungary). PhD student. Institute of Archaeogenomics, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN). Tóth Kálmán str., 4, Budapest, 1097, Hungary 
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5108-1099

Oleksii Komar (Kyiv, Ukraine). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology. National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Heroyiv Stalinhrada Ave., 12, Kyiv, 04210, Ukraine 
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5955-4823

Attila Türk (Budapest, Hungary). PhD. Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Institute of Archaeology. Mikszáth Kálmán sq., 1, Budapest, 1088, Hungary
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-9199-0019