Paleogeneticists confirmed the connection of Hungarians with the Southern Urals
The Southern Urals is associated with the formation of many peoples, but every year there is more and more evidence of ancient Hungarians living in this territory. The study of bone material taken from the South Ural burial ground and comparison of the identified haplotypes with the haplotypes of ancient Hungarians confirmed the theory. The results of the study, conducted by an international team of scientists, are published in the highly rated journal "Scientific Reports".
Ancestors from the East
The Southern Urals may be the ancestral home of the Hungarians. Scientists have been investigating this issue since the XIX century, but every year there are new archaeological finds that "promote" the ancient Hungarians farther to the east. In the Trans-Urals, the main monument of the era of the ancient Hungarians, confirming the theory of their residence in the Volga-Ural region, was the Uelgi burial ground in the Kunashak district of the Chelyabinsk region.
The Uelgi burial ground has been studied for more than 10 years. Skeletal remains of ancient people were discovered in the burial complex, as well as items that belonged to them during their lifetime: weapons, jewelry, and part of horse harness. These finds have much in common with items from the Carpathian basin, which means that it can be assumed that the migration of peoples from the TRANS-Urals to the territory of modern Hungary took place quickly, within several generations.
Genetic connection with the TRANS-Urals
Part of an international team of scientists working with this hypothesis, representatives of South Ural State University: doctor of historical Sciences, senior researcher of the REC Eurasian studies Professor Sergei Botalov, and Ph.D., research associate REC Eurasian studies Ivan Grodecka. The researchers analysed the genetic link between the ancient Hungarians and their supposed ancestors by studying bone material from the Uelgi burial ground, as well as from the burial grounds of the Perm Region.
"SUSU scientists were engaged in the empirical base, that is, the preparation of reports to provide data to the public and the collection of bone material. Our sample was the largest: 22 samples were presented. On their basis, a group of paleogeneticists from Hungary revealed the similarity of haplotypes with the population of Hungarians. At this stage, we have received new qualitative data that the history of the ancient Hungarians and the Right Hungarians is connected with the eastern regions," Ivan Grudochko said.
In the Hungarian laboratory, paleogenetics identified several haplotypes (sets of forms of the same genes, at the loci of chromosomes) that can be traced in the Hungarian conquerors and people buried in the Uelgi burial ground. Scientists explain phylogenetic relationships by the presence of common ancestry. Further, the ancestors of the Hungarians and Uralians were divided by the Eastern component, the origin of which remains to be determined. Previously, this is the early Kipchak population that came from the Altai.
Thus, scientists have established that the migration from the TRANS-Urals to Europe occurred in the IX century, but the relationship between the population of these two territories remained later.
300 years in one burial ground
Uelgi burial ground remains a monument of IX-XI centuries, interesting to scientists from various countries. The fact is that several layers of burials belong to different cultures that lived on a vast territory. Some graves remained untouched by descendants, so scientists are obtaining new materials for further research.
"Every year this monument confirms our hypotheses about the processes that took place in the steppe zone of the southern Urals. The era of 250-300 years is imprinted in it. Uelgi helped solve a whole series of problems of cultural Genesis, the emergence of cultures on the territory of a large region from the Irtysh to the Volga, from Perm to Central Kazakhstan, " commented Sergey Botalov.
Work with the burials in the Uelgi burial ground will continue. Presently a new field has opened up for the discussion of the problem of the ancestral home of the Hungarians. In the past, it was believed that the migration path of the people consisted of four links, now it is seen as more complex. Therefore, the following stage will analyse the material collected from other regions, for example, Ukraine, and on its basis will identify genetic links.
SUSU is a participant in the 5-100 Project, which aims to increase the competitiveness of Russian universities among the world's leading research and academic centres.
More information:
www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75910-z#Sec8
Provided by South Ural State University