Cultural and Population Dynamics in the Ural Region: Insights into the Early Medieval Magyar Formation from Recent Archaeogenetic Research

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.