After 568 AD the Avars settled in the Carpathian Basin and founded the Avar Qaganate
that was an important power in Central Europe until the 9th century. Part of the Avar
society was probably of Asian origin; however, the localisation of their homeland
is hampered by the scarcity of historical and archaeological data. Here, we study
mitogenome and Y chromosomal variability of twenty-six individuals, a number of them
representing a well-characterised elite group buried at the centre of the Carpathian
Basin more than a century after the Avar conquest. The studied group has maternal
and paternal genetic affinities to several ancient and modern East-Central Asian populations.
The majority of the mitochondrial DNA variability represents Asian haplogroups (C,
D, F, M, R, Y and Z). The Y-STR variability of the analysed elite males belongs only
to five lineages, three N-Tat with mostly Asian parallels and two Q haplotypes. The
homogeneity of the Y chromosomes reveals paternal kinship as a cohesive force in the
organisation of the Avar elite strata on both social and territorial level. Our results
indicate that the Avar elite arrived in the Carpathian Basin as a group of families,
and remained mostly endogamous for several generations after the conquest.
