2023-04-15 10:13:54
AAs the forerunner of the Mongol Empire, the Xiongnu ruled the steppes of Eurasia 2000 years ago: The Xiongnu Empire not only consisted of a multi-ethnic population, women also held the highest positions of power there, as an international research team reports in the journal Science Advances. To gain more knowledge about genetic diversity at different social and political levels, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, together with experts from South Korea and the USA, examined human remains from two cemeteries on the Western frontier of the nomadic kingdom.
“We knew that the Xiongnu have a high level of genetic diversity,” explains lead author Juhyeon Lee from Seoul National University. It was unclear whether local communities were quite homogeneous but different from one another, or whether they also locally exhibited high genetic diversity.
The researchers found high levels of genetic diversity at both cemeteries studied, particularly among people of the lowest status who were believed to be servants. They appear to have come from distant parts of the Xiongnu Empire or beyond. In contrast, local and aristocratic elites buried with many grave goods had lower overall genetic diversity. However, these families seem to have used marriage to increase power and influence.
Records exist only from rivals
The Xiongnu Empire, which originated in the Mongolian steppes more than a thousand years before Genghis Khan, grew into one of the most powerful political forces in Iron Age Asia, stretching from Egypt to Rome to the Chinese Empire.
The Xiongnu lived from animal husbandry and dairy farming. They were nomads and built their empire on horseback. Their skills in mounted warfare made them swift and formidable opponents, and their conflicts with Imperial China eventually led to the building of the Great Wall.
Unlike their neighbors, the Xiongnu never developed a writing system, so historical records of them come almost exclusively from rivals and enemies.
The equestrian nomads erected monumental elite graves for women with above-average frequency, which, along with other archaeological evidence, testifies to high positions and great power. Each of these women was therefore flanked by the graves of numerous men from the common people. The women were buried in ornate coffins bearing the golden sun and moon symbols of Xiongnu power. One of the tombs even contained a team of six horses and part of a chariot.
According to the researchers, this confirms the long-standing nomadic tradition that so-called elite princesses played a decisive role in the political and economic life of the great empires, especially in the outlying areas. This continued more than a thousand years later in the Mongol Empire.
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