I19086: Brusyany, Russia

G-M406>FGC5089>FGC5081>Y2724>L645*

Sample_id: I19086
Location: Brusyany, Russia: 53.25567, 49.49724.
Archeological Site: Brusyany-2
Archeological Culture: Mid Volga Novinki Culture
Archeological Age: AD 600-666 
Grave #: Kurgan 23, burial 5
Biological Age: Male infant
YDNA: G-L645*
MDTNA: G3a3
Coverage: 0.566764613
Global25: ?
Admixture from Study:
Russia_Samara_EBA_Yamnaya:  0.208722
Turkey_N: 0.191795
Lithuania_EMN_Narva: 0.043733
Russia_Baikal_N: 0.48254
Russia_Altai_N: 0.06525
Russia_Yakutia_LNBA: 0.00794
Russia_WSHG: 0.00001
Russia_EHG: 0.00001

Published: Long shared haplotypes identify the southern Urals as a primary source for the 10th-century Hungarians

Paper Summary
This 2025 paper by Gyuris et al. presents the first genome-wide ancient DNA (aDNA) dataset from the Volga-Ural region to trace the origins of the early medieval Magyars (ancestors of modern Hungarians), who conquered the Carpathian Basin around 895–900 CE. Drawing on 131 new individuals from 31 sites spanning 1900 BCE to 1400 CE, plus 6 new 10th-century Carpathian Basin samples, the study uses long identity-by-descent (IBD) haplotypes (≥9 cM segments, implying relatedness within ~600 years) to pinpoint the southern Urals' Karayakupovo Horizon (KH, 750–1000 CE) as the primary genetic source for the conquerors. This multilingual Ugric-Turkic-Finno-Permic cultural complex on both sides of the Urals shows deep Iron Age roots (200 BCE) and persistence into the Late Medieval Chiyalik culture (13th–14th CE) in the Volga-Kama region, supporting historical accounts of a "Magna Hungaria" remnant.Key

The Magyars' steppe origins are debated, with prior aDNA (e.g., Maróti et al. 2022) suggesting mixed East Eurasian ancestries but lacking Volga-Ural data. The study tests KH as a candidate homeland, aligning with linguistic (Ugric) and archaeological evidence. It critiques multi-source models (e.g., Sarmatian or Xiongnu inputs) that conflict with rapid migration timelines (~9th century CE from Urals to Pontic Steppe to Carpathian Basin).

The study's genetic analysis paints a clear picture of shared roots: by mapping DNA similarities, researchers found that people from the southern Urals' Karayakupovo Horizon (around 750–1000 CE) and the early medieval Magyars—who swept into modern Hungary around 900 CE—cluster together tightly, like points on a family resemblance map. Their DNA is mostly (about 70%) from ancient horse-riding steppe nomads like the Sintashta people from 4,000 years ago, blended with smaller shares from far-east Asian hunter-gatherers, such as those from the Yakutia region. Even more convincingly, by tracing long stretches of identical DNA passed down through families, they uncovered a web of distant relatives—116 people total in a big "super-family" network linking the Urals to the Carpathians. The Ural groups act as the central hub, with 28 cousin-like pairs (think 6th to 8th cousins) sharing 42 to 144 units of DNA, proving these Hungarians' ancestors came straight from the Urals just a few generations earlier, not from a scattered mix of far-flung tribes.

This evidence nails down the Magyars' story as one of quick, focused migration from a Uralic heartland, validating how their unique language and culture (part of the Uralic family, like Finnish) formed there before heading west in the 9th century. The slight DNA variety in the Magyar conquerors points to smart alliances with Turkic nomads, like the Kabars who joined their raid, but it debunks overly messy origin tales involving broad inputs from everywhere. Instead, the core is all around the Urals. Echoes of this "lost" eastern branch—called Magna Hungaria in old tales—linger in medieval genes that blended into today's Bashkirs, Tatars, and Udmurts in Russia's Volga region. Overall, the southern Urals emerge as the Magyars' true birthplace, with roots stretching back to the Iron Age and surviving into the Middle Ages, shedding light on how nomadic steppe life shaped languages, empires, and identities across Eurasia.

SAMPLE I19086
Brusyany is a village located in the Stavropolskiy rayon of Samara Oblast, Russia. It is associated with an archaeological site called Brusyany II, which has yielded artifacts from the Late Bronze Age and Early Middle Ages. Fragments of an infant's skull were found among the kurgans there (Mound 23, Burial 5). The sample was found in the northwest sector outside the stone rubblework of the kurgan. According to Szeifert et al. 2022 in Tracing genetic connections of ancient Hungarians to the 6th-14th century populations of the Volga-Ural region:

"The kurgans located near the village of Brusyany, in the Samara Bend of the Volga, were excavated by A. V. Bogachov in 1982. Between 1988 and 1996, the excavations were continued by A. V. Bogachov, R. S. Bagautdinov, and S. E. Zubov in the cemeteries of Brusyany II, III, and IV and at the solitary kurgan of Brusyany II (BAGAUTDINOV–BOGACHEV–ZUBOV 1998). The kurgan cemetery of Brusyany II was located 1 km west of the village of Brusyany, on the right high bank of the Volga. It comprised thirty kurgans, most of which were investigated in the years 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, and 1996. All kurgans were small in size, with a maximum height of 1 metre, and 10 to 15 metres in diameter. The number of graves under the kurgans varied from one to eight and were inhumation burials. The bodies were placed in a simple grave pit, in an extended supine position, with the head to the east, north, or west. The grave goods comprised various pottery vessels, jewellery, tools, and weapons...According to the archaeologists’ view, the kurgan cemeteries of Brusyany belonged to groups of Bulgars and Alans who settled there in the late seventh and eighth centuries (KOMAR 2001)"

Testing and archeological data place the sample in the Mid-Volga Early Volga Bulghar (EVB) grouping, affiliated with the Novinki culture. The Novinki were nomadic pastoralists linked to Proto-Bulgar populations operating within the sphere of influence of the Khazar Khaganate during the seventh century CE. 

Szeifert et al. describes Novinki-type sites: 

   "The Middle Volga Region had a great importance in early medieval history, particularly due tothe river crossing place located near present-day Samara and the strategic geographical position of the Samara Bend of the River Volga, on the opposite bank of the river. The archaeological finds discovered in the region offered an excellent opportunity for comparing and studying the early medieval history of the eastern and western sides of the Volga. According to historical sources, the relations of the early Hungarians with the peoples of the Khazar Khaganate must have started there; consequently, it was important to take many samples and subject them to archaeological and archaeogenetic analyses. In the framework of the project, we mainly examined the Novinki-type of sites in the area of the Samara Bend of the River Volga. They belonged to the former neighbours of the Hungarians, a population of Khazar descent, with strong military character, who presumably settled there to defend the border. The Khazar character of the finds and their association with the Bulgars or Khazars is still a matter of debate in the archaeological literature, therefore it was imperative to carry out genetic analyses."

From an autosomal perspective, I19086 exemplifies a steppe admixture: approximately 70% derived from Sintashta Middle Late Bronze Age populations (pastoralists of the southern Urals circa 2000 BCE), about 20% from East Eurasian sources akin to Late Neolithic/Bronze Age inhabitants of the Yakutia region in northeastern Siberia, and roughly 10% from Baltic or Narva-related forest-zone hunter-gatherers of northeastern Europe. 

In terms of relatedness, individual I19086 is integrated into the Mid-Volga EVB genetic cluster, but showing relatively recent kinship to early medieval Magyar (EMM) specimens from the Carpathian Basin. These matches exceed 12 centimorgans (cM) indicating a recent kinship with with Proto-Hungarians, the direct ethnic and cultural forebears of the modern Hungarian people.

The burial of this sample in a kurgan, the earthen burial mounds used for elite steppe nomads includes typical Turkic-Bulgar horse-riding gear like harnesses and weapons. This marks the Novinki site as a border outpost of the Khazar empire, right up against communities speaking Ugric languages from the Karayakupovo Horizon (KH). On a deeper level, this individual's DNA represents a dose of non-Ugric ancestry from Bulgars or other Turkic groups blending into the broader genetic mix of the Volga-Ural region. This helps account for the varied makeup seen in early medieval Magyar (EMM) populations, with historical accounts of Turkic tribes like the Kabars joining their conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 895 CE.

Admixture of EVB and EMM
Implications for Early Volga Bulghars (EVB) and Early Medieval Magyars (EMM)For Mid-Volga Early Volga Bulghars (EVB, proxied by MidVolga_Novinki and MidVolga_EVB groups, ~600–800 CE), Turkey_N averages ~19% (Novinki: 23%, core EVB: 13%), indicating moderate Anatolian farmer admixture in this Turkic nomadic frontier, likely inherited from Pontic Sarmatian or Khazar substrates rather than local Uralic sources. Sample I19086 (G-L645 carrier, Novinki context) exemplifies this at 19.2%, blending ~21% Yamnaya steppe with ~48% Baltic/Narva forest-zone—positioning EVB as a genetic "bridge" with southern echoes from earlier Iranian nomads, consistent with Bulgar ethnogenesis in Khazar border zones.

In EMM (conquering Magyars, ~900–1000 CE), Turkey_N averages 23% (median ~25%, range 0–66%), slightly higher and more variable than EVB, reflecting post-migration heterogeneity from alliances (e.g., Kabars) that imported farmer signals absent in the Ural KH core (0%). Only ~6% of EMM exceed 50% Turkey_N, versus 0% in EVB, suggesting EVB contributed baseline southern diversity to Magyars, but EMM's spread (std. dev. 17%) underscores conquest-era mixing. This supports the paper's model: EVB/Bulgar influx added "non-Ugric" layers to the Ugric steppe base, with G-M406 (as in I19086) as a correlated Caucasian relic, while pure KH-EMM subsets emphasize rapid, minimally admixed Uralic migration. Overall, low-to-moderate Turkey_N reinforces steppe dominance but highlights subtle Anatolian legacies in nomadic ethnogenesis.

Possible M406 Spread via Iron Age Steppe
The spread of Y-haplogroup G-M406—a minor Caucasian-derived lineage—through Sarmatian networks into later Eurasian nomads like the Avars, Volga Bulghars, and Magyars likely unfolded over centuries as a chain of admixture and elite exchanges, rather than direct conquests. Beginning in the 1st–4th centuries CE, Sarmatians, Iranian-speaking horse warriors from the Urals to the Pontic steppes, incorporated G-M406 sporadically (3–4% of males) via Caucasian Alanic subgroups, as seen in elite burials like MDH630 (Madaras, Hungary, ~200–400 CE). This "passenger" haplogroup persisted amid dominant R1a and Q lines, blending into Sarmatian autosomal profiles of steppe-heavy ancestry, setting the stage for its transmission during the chaotic Hunnic disruptions (370–450 CE). 

By the mid-6th century CE, as the Avars—a Central Asian khaganate—pushed westward into Pannonia (558 CE), they absorbed remnant Sarmatian and Alan warriors from the former Jazygian territories, integrating G-M406 into their elite strata (5% frequency, e.g., MGS488 from Vienna, 600–800 CE). Avar genomics reveal this as a Sarmatian relic, admixed with East Asian components, facilitated by marital alliances and tributary incorporations. Avar expansions into the Pontic steppe (~620–670 CE) then intersected with proto-Bulgar migrations, where conflicts and pacts around 670 CE allowed eastward diffusion of G-M406 into retreating Onogur-Bulgar groups, who consolidated in the Mid-Volga as Khazar vassals by ~650–700 CE. 

This lineage reached the Early Volga Bulghars (EVB/Novinki culture) in the 7th century CE, exemplified by I19086 (Brusyany-2 kurgan, 600–666 CE; G-L645), whose steppe-East Eurasian profile reflects Bulgar nomadic traditions laced with Sarmatian-Avar underlayers at the Khazar-Ugric frontier. Finally, through 8th–9th century Khazar overlordship, proto-Magyars in Etelköz intermingled with Bulgar and Kabar elites (889 CE rebellion), carrying G-M406 westward to the EMM conquerors (895 CE Carpathian Basin), where it appears in 2–3% of males (e.g., SEO-4/SZAK-7, 900–1000 CE). This faint echo in modern Hungarians (1%) underscores G-M406's role as a marker of multilingual steppe mobility, layered over Ugric cores.

Overall, these G-M406 samples (all post-200 CE, FGC5089/L645 branches) trace a Sarmatian → Avar/Bulgar → Ugric/Merya diffusion, representing ~5% elite/substrate diversity in Volga-Carpathian networks. I19086 exemplifies Bulgar-mediated gene flow to Magyars, bridging Iranian (Sarmatian) origins to Uralic (KH/Merya) survival, challenging steppe homogeneity.