Ancient DNA reveals some of the origins of the Huns who sacked Rome and threatened western Europe in the 4th century AD. A new study using skeletal material from the 5th and 6th centuries AD seems to suggest they had a mixed origin. This is typical nomadic activity – absorbing other groups as they swept across central Asia and Russia. They used similar bows and arrows as well as skull modification, to that of the Xiongu, a nomadic empire and forerunner of the Mongols. They thrived between 200BC and AD 100 [or perhaps a little later}. Hence, the mpire had fallen apart a few hundred years prior to the arrival of the Huns in eastern Europe.
The genetic research has found three major components to the Hun population, by using 370 skeletons dating from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD. These come from Mongolia and central Asia as well as eastern Europoe. Some of them did have a direct genetic link back to the Xiongu ruling elite, on the Mongolian steppe. The Huns of Europe dispaly evidence of a more variedf heritage which is quite unlike, for example, the ruling elite of the Avar migration 200 years later. They arriveed directlhy from eastern Asia after suffering a defeat by Turkish tribes. Many Avars arrived with considerable eastern Asian ancestry – and this persisted until at least AD800. The ancestors of Atilla’s Huns took many generations to make their way westwards and mixced with populations in what is now Kazakhstan and the Ukraine etc. See https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250224155101.htm …