Ancient DNA has revealed Balkan ancestry in a man buried at a Byzantine village in Turkey, while evidence from his bones suggests he ate much like his neighbors, according to a study published this year. The man, about 40 years old when he died, was buried at Barcın Höyük, a rural site near the former Byzantine city of Nicaea in northwestern Turkey.
Radiocarbon dating places him in the eighth or ninth century. The graves also yielded few burial objects. Researchers examined ancient genetic material from 16 individuals at the cemetery and selected seven for detailed analysis. Six closely resembled populations from western and northwestern Anatolia.
The seventh, a man, showed stronger genetic similarities to ancient populations from southeastern Europe, particularly those represented by remains from Hellenistic Macedonia and Late Antique Bulgaria. The findings were published in the European Journal of Archaeology by researchers including Rana Özbal of Koç University in Istanbul.
Ancient DNA and Balkan ancestry point to movement across Byzantine Turkey
The unusual genetic profile offers evidence of connections beyond the village, although it does not establish where the man was born. Researchers suggested that Byzantine military resettlement policies could help explain the ancestry. The researchers noted that population movement may have occurred in earlier generations as well.
The team also investigated whether he ate differently from other residents at Barcın Höyük. Carbon and nitrogen signatures in his bones fell within the village’s normal range, suggesting he shared the same local food sources despite his distinct genetic background. That finding points to shared food supplies within the farming community.
To study diet, researchers analyzed bone samples from 38 people at two Byzantine sites. Seventeen were buried at Barcın Höyük, where the cemetery dates from the eighth to 11th centuries. The other 21 came from Kadıkalesi Anaia, a fortified trading port on Turkey’s Aegean coast occupied in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Village diet reveals contrast with a busy Aegean port
Both communities relied mainly on land-based foods, but their diets differed in important ways. At Barcın, bone chemistry showed similar diets and broadly shared food access. Kadıkalesi residents ate a wider range of proteins, with differences linked to age and sex.
Researchers said the coastal settlement’s trade connections and diverse population could explain those differences. One man had low readings, possibly reflecting religious fasting or limited access to animal protein. Another showed a possible signal of fish consumption, although the study found no strong evidence that seafood was regularly eaten there.
No ancient DNA was analyzed at Kadıkalesi. At Barcın, the combined findings suggest that people with different ancestry could still follow the same everyday eating habits in a Byzantine rural community.
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