Abstract
In this study we report 20 ancient shotgun genomes from present-day Western Hungary (3530 – 1620 cal BCE), mainly from previously understudied Baden, Somogyvár-Vinkovci, Kisapostag, and Encrusted Pottery archaeological cultures. Besides analysing archaeological, anthropological and genetic data, 14C and strontium isotope measurements complemented reconstructing the dynamics of the communities discovered at the site Balatonkeresztúr. Our results indicate the appearance of an outstandingly high Mesolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry in the largest proportion (up to ~46%) among Kisapostag associated individuals, despite this component being thought to be highly diluted by the Early Bronze Age. We show that hunter-gatherer ancestry was likely derived from a previously unrecognised source in Eastern Europe that contributed mostly to prehistoric populations in Central Europe and the Baltic region. We revealed a patrilocal residence system and local female exogamy for this Kisapostag population that was also the genetic basis of the succeeding community of the Encrusted Pottery culture, represented by a mass grave that likely resulted from an epidemic. We also created a bioinformatic pipeline dedicated for archaeogenetic data processing. By developing and applying analytical methods for analysing genetic variants we found carriers of aneuploidy and inheritable genetic diseases. Furthermore, based on genetic and anthropological data, we present here the first female facial reconstruction from the Bronze Age Carpathian Basin.
Significance Here we present a genomic time transect study from the Carpathian Basin (3530 – 1620 cal BCE), that sheds light on local and interregional population processes. We not only discovered long-distance mobility to provide detailed analysis of yet understudied Bronze Age communities, but we also recovered a previously hidden remnant hunter-gatherer genetic ancestry and its contribution to various populations in Eastern and Central Europe. We integrated 14C and strontium isotope measurements to the interdisciplinary interpretation of a site with 19 individuals analysed, where patrilocal social organisation and several health-related genetic traits were detected. Furthermore, we developed new methods and method standards for computational analyses of archaic DNA, implemented to our newly developed and freely available bioinformatic pipeline.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
↵* These authors jointly supervised this work.
