A 1,400-year-old migration reshaped the DNA of millions of Europeans.

A 2025 DNA study published in Nature analyzed genome-wide data from 555 ancient individuals and compared them with more than 11,500 present-day Europeans.

The results point to large-scale migration from Eastern Europe during the 6th–8th centuries AD, with the source population best approximated by an area spanning southern Belarus and northern Ukraine.

In some regions, the demographic impact was enormous. The study estimated that migrants associated with Slavic-period ancestry replaced approximately 93% of the local gene pool in Poland–northwestern Ukraine, 83% in Eastern Germany and 82% in the northwestern Balkans.

A simplified model of early Slavic-period ancestry found roughly 71% Baltic Bronze Age-related ancestry and 29% Early European Farmer-enriched ancestry, although the authors emphasize that the real population history was likely more complex.

The genetic legacy remains clearly visible today. Slavic-period ancestry is highest in Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, and also reaches very high levels in several populations from western Russia. In the Balkans, many South Slavic populations retain roughly 50–70% of this ancestry, while non-Slavic populations such as Greeks and Albanians also show a smaller but measurable contribution.

Overall, the study supports a major migration-driven component to the spread of Slavic populations and languages across Europe, while also revealing substantial regional mixing with the populations already living there.

📚 Source: Gretzinger et al. (2025), Ancient DNA connects large-scale migration with the spread of Slavs, Nature.

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