Kinship organisation in the Avar Period. The family tree of the Kunszállás cemetery

Recently, archaeogenetic research has yielded more detailed data than ever on the origin of Avars and the organisation of their communities. The anthropological record of two of the Avar cemeteries in the Danube–Tisza Interfluve, Kunszállás–Fülöpjakab and Kunpeszér, was subjected to comprehensive archaeogenetic mapping.
The population of steppe origin lived and arranged the graves of their dead in groups based on extensive kinship relationships. They kept track of both maternal and paternal descent back to multiple generations and prohibited marriages between blood relatives. Communities were structured based on paternal descent. Marriages were patrilocal, i.e., men stayed in place, and women moved to them after the wedding; this ensured the establishment and maintenance of an active connection network between villages. Polygamy, remarrying after the death of the spouse, and levirate marriage (when the widow married the brother or other close male relative of her deceased husband) were common.
The cemetery at Kunszállás comprised 63 graves; it was established around the mid-7th century AD. Founders had an important role in the life of Avar communities and the collective memory of later generations; this person at Kunszállás was buried in Grave 32, the richest burial of all. The 60–65-year-old man wore a gold earring, a gold braid ornament, and a belt with silver fittings; he was laid to rest with a sabre, a quiver, and a bow.
Geneticists have reconstructed a family tree with 45 members of the mortuary community. Direct descendants include all men buried with ornate belts, indicating that the leaders of communities and families were determined by descent and order of birth. The founder's sons could not be identified, but two or three of his grandchildren and grand-grandchildren were buried there in ornate attires with a mount-decorated belt.
Children were usually laid to rest near their parents, while Grave 5 was the burial of a 2–25-year-old mother and her 1–2-year-old child. In the case of the persons who cannot be linked to this family tree through archaeogenetic analyses, the relative positions of their graves within the cemetery and the respective find assemblages might give some clues. For example, the old woman with a pair of gold earrings, interred in Grave 38, was next to the founder man’s grave and had likely been his wife.
The generations in the reconstructed family trees help determine how long the cemetery was in use. The family tree of the Kunszállás cemetery extends to six generations, which, at first sight, indicates a relatively long use; however, the first two generations only include an old person each (a mother and her son), and the members of the last generation to be buried there were all young. Based on that, the cemetery was in use for three or four generations at best. It must be noted, though, that big temporal differences can emerge within a single generation, especially if that includes many siblings and half-siblings; there are great variations in the age at death, particularly if the respective community practices polygamy and remarrying.
The related archeogenetic investigations have been carried out within the frame of the HistoGenes project (https://www.histogenes.org) subsidised by the European Research Council.