New DNA Analysis Unravels the Marriage Practices of an Ancient Warrior People

New DNA research is shedding light on the lifestyle of a warrior people called the Avars, a mysterious group who ruled much of Central and Eastern Europe around 1,500 years ago.

The Avars, once a nomadic people, migrated from Central Asia to Eastern Europe in the 6th century and conquered significant territories, including parts of present-day Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. At one point, their fearsome empire almost took control of Constantinople.

The new study, which appeared in the journal Nature on April 24, uses DNA analysis to map Avar family trees over the course of three centuries. The warrior culture left behind large grave sites with decorative tombs filled with weapons, jewelry and even horses. Experts were able to look at 424 skeletons in four different cemeteries in Hungary and learn more about Avar life.

“What surprised me most was the simple fact that these people in the cemeteries are so interconnected,” Zsófia Rácz, a study coauthor and researcher at Eötvös Loránd University’s Institute of Archaeological Sciences in Budapest, Hungary, tells CNN’s Katie Hunt.

In their analysis, the researchers discovered that Avar women had more diverse DNA backgrounds than men. They also found that while men were buried with their mothers and fathers, women's parents were not found in the same cemeteries.

This leads the experts to believe that Avar culture practiced patrilocality, in which women leave their communities after marriage and relocate with or near their new husband's community. The study also shows that women shared a “steppe” genetic ancestry (where the Avars originated), meaning they were likely not part of a conquered people.

The study also finds that Avar people did not necessarily stay with one partner their entire life. Although it may seem scandalous by today’s standards, the team discovered multiple cases of men in the same family who had each had a child with the same female partner—including three sets of fathers and sons, two sets of brothers, and an uncle and nephew.

Still, Avar men likely had more freedom to explore non-monogamy than the women.

“Two cases of men with multiple older female partners, all middle-aged at death, makes a good argument for polygyny (having multiple wives),” Lara Cassidy, a geneticist who was not involved with the study, tells CNN. “By contrast, most of the cases of women with multiple partners were apparent levirate unions, in which a widow would marry the son or brother of the deceased." “

In other words, women would only marry a second husband if they became widowed—and likely that man would be the brother or son of their late husband in order to fulfill marriage contracts and bear male heirs.

While some Avar words are preserved in Latin and Greek texts, the Avar people do not have a written history. Thus, the new research is giving important context for the family life, gender hierarchies and marriage practices of Avar culture. 

"In a way, this pattern shows the role of females in promoting the cohesion of this society, it was the role of females that connected the individual communities," says Zuzana Hofmanová, senior author of the study, per Science Daily.

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.