A genetic history of the Balkans from Roman frontier to Slavic migrations

[Summary] The rise and fall of the Roman Empire was a socio-political process with enormous ramifications for human history. The Middle Danube was a crucial frontier and a crossroads for population and cultural movement. Here, we present genome-wide data from 136 Balkan individuals dated to the 1st millennium CE. Despite extensive militarization and cultural influence, we find little ancestry contribution from peoples of Italic descent. However, we trace a large-scale influx of people of Anatolian ancestry during the Imperial period. Between ∼250 and 550 CE, we detect migrants with ancestry from Central/Northern Europe and the Steppe, confirming that “barbarian” migrations were propelled by ethnically diverse confederations. Following the end of Roman control, we detect the large-scale arrival of individuals who were genetically similar to modern Eastern European Slavic-speaking populations, who contributed 30%–60% of the ancestry of Balkan people, representing one of the largest permanent demographic changes anywhere in Europe during the Migration Period.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Olalde, Iñigo, Carrión, Pablo, Mikić, Ilija, Rohland, Nadin, Mallick, Swapan, Lazaridis, Iosif, Mah, Matthew, Miomir Korać, Golubović, Snežana, Petković, Sofija, Miladinović-Radmilović, Nataša, Vulović, Dragana, Alihodžić, Timka, Ash, Abigail, Baeta, Miriam, Bartík, Juraj, Bedić, Željka, Bilić, Maja, Bonsall, Clive, Bunčić, Maja, Bužanić, Domagoj, Carić, Mario, Čataj, Lea, Cvetko, Mirna, Drnić, Ivan, Dugonjić, Anita, Đukić, Ana, Đukić, Ksenija, Farkaš, Zdeněk, Jelínek, Pavol, Jovanovic, Marija, Kaić, Iva, Kalafatić, Hrvoje, Krmpotić, Marijana, Krznar, Siniša, Leleković, Tino, Pancorbo, Marian M. de, Matijević, Vinka, Milošević Zakić, Branka, Osterholtz, Anna J., Paige, Julianne M., Tresić Pavičić, Dinko, Premužić, Zrinka, Rajić Šikanjić, Petra, Rapan Papeša, Anita, Paraman, Lujana, Sanader, Mirjana, Radovanović, Ivana, Roksandic, Mirjana, Šefčáková, Alena, Stefanović, Sofia, Teschler-Nicola, Maria, Tončinić, Domagoj, Zagorc, Brina, Callan, Kim, Candilio, Francesca, Cheronet, Olivia, Fernandes, Daniel, Kearns, Aisling, Lawson, Ann Marie, Mandl, Kirsten, Wagner, Anna, Zalzala, Fatma, Zettl, Anna, Tomanović, Željko, Keckarević, Dušan, Novak, Mario, Harper, Kyle, McCormick, Michael, Pinhasi, Ron, Grbić, Miodrag, Lalueza-Fox, Carles, Reich, David
Other Authors:	Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Cell Press 2023-12-07
Subjects:	Balkan Peninsula, Cosmopolitanism, The Roman Empire, Great Migration Period, Demographic changes, Population dynamics, Ancient DNA, Archaeogenetics, Slavic migrations,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/347637
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