德国马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所Zuzana Hofmanová，Johannes Krause，Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone和匈牙利罗兰大学Tivadar Vida共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们通过研究大型谱系网络揭示阿瓦尔人社区的社会风俗。相关研究成果2024年4月24日在线发表于《自然》杂志上。

据介绍，从公元567年到568年，在阿瓦尔人期开始时，欧亚草原的人口在喀尔巴阡盆地定居了大约250年。对考古基因组学（424人）和同位素进行广泛采样，结合对四个阿瓦尔时期墓地的考古、人类学和历史背景分析，可以详细描述这些社区的基因组结构及其亲属关系和社会实践。

研究人员提供了一组大型谱系，使用古老的DNA重建，跨越九代，包括大约300个个体。研究人员发现了一个严格的父系亲属制度，在这个制度中，父系和女性异族通婚是常态，多重生育伴侣和寡妻结合是常见的。血缘关系的缺失表明，这个社会几代人都对祖先保持着详细的记忆。这些亲缘关系实践与之前来自历史来源和欧亚草原社会人类学研究的证据一致。通过血统DNA连接对身份进行的网络分析表明，社区之间的社会凝聚力是通过女性外通婚保持的。

最后，尽管没有主要的祖先转移，但这一分析的分辨率水平使人们能够检测到，其中一个位点的群落被替换所引起的基因不连续性。这与考古记录的变化是平行的，可能是当地政治调整的结果。

附：英文原文

Title: Network of large pedigrees reveals social practices of Avar communities

Author: Gnecchi-Ruscone, Guido Alberto, Rcz, Zsfia, Samu, Levente, Szeniczey, Tams, Farag, Norbert, Knipper, Corina, Friedrich, Ronny, Zlmalov, Denisa, Traverso, Luca, Liccardo, Salvatore, Wabnitz, Sandra, Popli, Divyaratan, Wang, Ke, Radzeviciute, Rita, Gulys, Bence, Koncz, Istvn, Balogh, Csilla, Lezsk, Gabriella M., Mcsai, Viktor, Bunbury, Magdalena M. E., Spekker, Olga, le Roux, Petrus, Szcsnyi-Nagy, Anna, Mende, Balzs Gusztv, Colleran, Heidi, Hajdu, Tams, Geary, Patrick, Pohl, Walter, Vida, Tivadar, Krause, Johannes, Hofmanov, Zuzana

Issue&Volume: 2024-04-24

Abstract: From ad 567–568, at the onset of the Avar period, populations from the Eurasian Steppe settled in the Carpathian Basin for approximately 250 years1. Extensive sampling for archaeogenomics (424 individuals) and isotopes, combined with archaeological, anthropological and historical contextualization of four Avar-period cemeteries, allowed for a detailed description of the genomic structure of these communities and their kinship and social practices. We present a set of large pedigrees, reconstructed using ancient DNA, spanning nine generations and comprising around 300 individuals. We uncover a strict patrilineal kinship system, in which patrilocality and female exogamy were the norm and multiple reproductive partnering and levirate unions were common. The absence of consanguinity indicates that this society maintained a detailed memory of ancestry over generations. These kinship practices correspond with previous evidence from historical sources and anthropological research on Eurasian Steppe societies2. Network analyses of identity-by-descent DNA connections suggest that social cohesion between communities was maintained via female exogamy. Finally, despite the absence of major ancestry shifts, the level of resolution of our analyses allowed us to detect genetic discontinuity caused by the replacement of a community at one of the sites. This was paralleled with changes in the archaeological record and was probably a result of local political realignment. Analysis of ancient DNA from 424 individuals in the Avar period, from the sixth to the ninth century AD, reveals population movement from the steppe and the prolonged existence of a steppe nomadic descent system centred around patrilineality and female exogamy in central Europe.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07312-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07312-4