The Huns were a nomadic people whose sudden and ferocious arrival in the late 4th century sent shockwaves through the ancient world. Known for their lightning-fast cavalry and relentless raids, they struck terror into the heart of the Roman Empire. They were led by Attila, the “Scourge of God”, who raided Roman settlements with a force that seemed almost elemental.

Their sudden appearance and rapid rise to power have long puzzled historians and archaeologists. Were they descendants of the Xiongnu, the nomadic empire that once dominated the Mongolian steppe centuries earlier? Or were they a completely different group, their origins lost to time?

A new study, published by a team of geneticists, archaeologists, and historians, may have finally shed light on this ancient origin story. By analyzing the DNA of 370 individuals who lived across Eurasia between the 2nd century BCE and the 6th century CE, researchers have uncovered surprising genetic ties between the Huns and the Xiongnu elite. But there was more to the Huns than a single lineage.

It’s a complex story of migration, mixing, and cultural exchange that reshaped Europe.

A Genetic Journey Across the Steppe

The team, part of the ERC Synergy Grant project HistoGenes, sequenced 35 new genomes from key sites. These included a 3rd-4th century burial in Kazakhstan and 5th-6th century graves in the Carpathian Basin. Some of these burials stood out. Known as “eastern-type,” they bore hallmarks of steppe traditions — think nomadic warriors laid to rest with their horses. The researchers, hailing from institutions like the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, zeroed in the DNA of these remains.

“DNA can tell stories of ancestries and it is therefore an important source of information when investigating origins and connections between ancient people and cultures. It must be used in light of accurate archaeological and historical frameworks otherwise it can be also misinterpreted. It was extremely challenging as the burials available are so scarce and covers such a large geographic scale and time period,” Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone, a co-first author of the study, told ZME Science.

While most individuals in the Carpathian Basin after the Huns’ arrival showed little East Asian ancestry, a small group stood out. These individuals, often associated with elite burials, carried significant genetic signatures linking them to the Xiongnu Empire.

One striking connection was found with an individual buried in the largest terrace tomb ever discovered in a Xiongnu context. This suggests that some of the Huns in Europe could trace their lineage back to the Xiongnu elite. Yet, the genetic picture of the Hun Empire in Europe is far from uniform.

A Complex Mix

The discovery of shared IBD (identical-by-descent) links between some Hun-period individuals in Europe and elite Xiongnu burials in Mongolia stood out immediately and was a huge surprise for the researchers.

“It was like finding a needle in a haystack! And it is even more surprising that most of these IBD links are mediated by a few individuals from the highest elite Xiongnu society. The mechanism that brought these genetic descendants into Europe is still unknown and we don’t know whether they even knew about these distant genetic lineages. Do you know who your 10th-degree relatives are or who were your relatives 300 years ago? It could be that we are observing the results of centuries of marrying practices among the elite of steppe societies that eventually “moved” the genes of these elite Xiongnu into Europe 300 years later,” Gnecchi-Ruscone told ZME Science in an email.

The fact that the population of the Hun Empire was so genetically diverse reflects a complex web of genetic interaction rather than a single mass migration. “DNA and archaeological evidence reveal a patchwork of ancestries,” said Zsófia Rácz, another co-first author.

While some individuals carried clear East Asian ancestry, most of the population in the Carpathian Basin remained predominantly European. This contrasts sharply with the later arrival of the Avars, who came to Europe in the 6th century straight after their empire in East Asia collapsed at the hands of the Turks. Unlike the Huns, the Avars maintained a strong East Asian genetic signature throughout their rule.

Rewriting the Story of the Huns

The Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic confederation that dominated the Mongolian steppe from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, were among the earliest and most formidable empires of the Eurasian plains. Known for their skilled horsemanship and military prowess, they posed a significant threat to the Han Dynasty in China, prompting the construction of the Great Wall as a defensive measure.

Despite their prominence, the empire dissolved around 100 CE, leaving behind a legacy of mystery and speculation about their descendants. The Huns, however, first marched into Europe at around 370 CE. This was after they crossed the Volga River and conquered the Alans, another civilization of nomadic, warring horsemen. So, it seems like the remnants of the Xiongnu took their time, mixing with other people, before this new people, the Huns, embarked on their rampage.

“The ancestors of Attila’s Huns took many generations on their way westward and mixed with populations across Eurasia,” explained Walter Pohl, a co-corresponding author.

Huns of Varied Ancestry

So where does this leave us? The study challenges the idea of the Huns as a uniform horde. Instead, it reveals a dynamic interplay of cultures and genes. The eastern-type burials, with their varied ancestry, hint at a elite class tied to the steppe. Yet the broader population reflects centuries of mixing.

Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute and a co-corresponding author, sees this as a triumph of science. “From a broader perspective, the study underscores how cutting-edge genetic research, in combination with careful exploration of the archaeological and historical context, can resolve centuries-old debates about the composition and origin of past populations,” he says.

Questions linger, of course. How did these Xiongnu descendants rise to prominence among the Huns? What drove their ancestors westward? We don’t know. But these intriguing findings highlight how the ancient world was in motion, where empires rose and fell, and where bloodlines stretched across continents like threads in a vast, ancient weave.

The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.