Ancient DNA reveals the origins of the Albanians

Abstract

The origins of the Albanian people have long been debated, as they first appear in historical records in the 11th century CE, and their language is not closely related to any surviving Indo-European branches. To elucidate the origins of the Albanians, we analysed over 6,000 ancient West Eurasian genomes and 74 newly sequenced present-day ethnic Albanians. We detect remarkable continuity of West Balkan Late Bronze and Iron Age ancestry in Albania during the Early Medieval period, a pattern distinct from neighbouring Balkan regions. Utilising a wide range of population genetics methods, including an enhanced protocol to detect identity-by-descent (IBD) segments between ancient and present-day individuals, we reveal that present-day Albanians predominantly descend from Albanias Early Medieval inhabitants, who were present in Albania as early as 800-900 CE, preceding their historical attestation. Additionally, we observe geographically structured admixture with Medieval East European-related groups, averaging 10-20% across Albanians. Our findings provide unprecedented insights into the historical and demographic processes shaping present-day Albanians and locates the origins of this population into the Central-Western Balkans.