Rewriting Medieval History with Ancient DNA

Zuzana Hofmanová and Joscha Gretzinger (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology), Ancient DNA Illuminates the Origins and Early Migrations of the Slavs. Comments by Serhii Plokhi (Harvard University) and Jakub Kabala (Davidson College). Reception to follow. Co-sponsored by the Harvard Initiative for the Science of the Human Past (SoHP) and the Committee on Medieval Studies.

Genome-wide data from over 550 ancient individuals reveal that the rise of the Slavs was driven by vast family-based migrations beginning in the sixth century CE. Genetic evidence shows that these groups mixed with local populations as they expanded across Central and Eastern Europe, reshaping the region’s ancestry by more than 80 percent. The findings link the emergence of early Slavic communities directly to one of Europe’s largest demographic transformations.