A new genetic study, published today in Nature Human Behaviour, has provided the clearest picture yet of the origins of the Albanian people, revealing deep roots in the Balkans and an unusual degree of continuity since the Bronze Age until today..

Albanians are a relatively small nation in the Balkans, yet their history has long captured the imagination of travellers and scholars. Their rugged, often impenetrable mountains, famously described in works such as Edith Durham’s High Albania, have shaped both the culture and historical trajectory of the people. The Albanian language, meanwhile, occupies a unique place in Europe: alongside Greek, Albanian is the only surviving branch of the ancient Balkan languages, which disappeared during the Roman and medieval periods. Despite this, the origins of the Albanian people and the relationships of their language to these extinct groups have long remained uncertain, sparking fierce debates among linguists and historians. The matter is further complicated by the fact that Albanians first appear in historical sources in the 11th century CE, while the earliest known written record of their language dates to 1462.

To address these longstanding questions, an international team of researchers from the University of Oxford, Tel Aviv University, the Academy of Sciences of Albania, the University of Szeged, the European University Cyprus, and The Ohio State University, analysed more than 6,000 ancient genomes from across the Balkans and wider West Eurasia, as well as 74 newly sequenced genomes from present-day Albanians. The researchers used advanced statistical methods, including a technique known as ancient identity-by-descent (ancIBD), which detects shared segments of DNA inherited from common ancestors and allows scientists to trace deep genealogical links between modern populations and individuals who lived thousands of years ago.

The results reveal that, while much of southeastern Europe was reshaped by large-scale migrations during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the ancestors of modern Albanians remained comparatively unaffected. The mountainous terrain appears to have acted as a long-term refuge, preserving genetic ties to ancient populations of the western and central Balkans from the Iron Age and Roman period.

Dr Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou, researcher at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, said: “Our results show that Albanians represent one of the clearest examples of long-term genetic continuity in the Balkans. Despite major historical upheavals, they retained strong ties to ancient populations that lived in the broader region thousands of years ago.”

This continuity is also reflected in demographic patterns. Genetic analyses on historic population size indicate that Albanians descend from a relatively small and cohesive ancestral population, consistent with prolonged isolation and limited external gene flow over centuries. Co-author Dr Alban Lauka, noted: “This kind of genetic signal points to a population that remained relatively cohesive over long periods, even as surrounding regions experienced substantial demographic change.”

The study also identified varying levels of admixture with East European-related populations, particularly in regions where historical and linguistic evidence indicates sustained contact with Slavic-speaking groups. This geographic pattern closely mirrors the distribution of Slavic loanwords and place names in Albanian-speaking areas, providing rare convergence between genetic and linguistic data. Professor Brian D. Joseph of The Ohio State University, a co-author of the study, said: “The genetic evidence aligns remarkably well with what historical linguistics has long suggested – that contact between Albanian and Slavic speakers was regionally structured and left detectable traces in both language and DNA.”

One of the most striking discoveries comes from a single individual dated to the 9-10th century CE from Shtikë in southern Albania. This person is genetically closer to present-day Albanians than to any other known population, and modern Albanians are, in turn, their closest genetic relatives. The finding strongly suggests that this individual belonged to an early Albanian-speaking community, which is particularly significant because the demographic and linguistic landscape of early medieval south Albania is poorly understood: it provides the first direct genetic evidence of an Albanian-related population in the south of the country several centuries before the language is first recorded in writing.

Co-author Gjergj Bojaxhi, added: “This is a key finding for Albanian history. It shows that communities closely related to modern Albanians were already present in southern Albania long before they are historically documented.”

The researchers also examined genetic differences between the two main dialect groups of Albanian, Ghegs in the north and Tosks in the south, finding that both groups share a common origin but retain subtle genetic distinctions reflecting historical patterns of settlement and interaction. Ardian Muhaj of the Institute of History in Tirana commented: “These results show that the Ghegs and Tosks emerged from the same ancestral core, while preserving regional traits that echo the linguistic differences seen today.”

Together, the findings show that Albanians largely descend from indigenous Balkan populations who maintained their identity through periods of major historical change. By combining ancient DNA with new analytical approaches, the study offers an unprecedented window into the deep history of one of Europe’s most distinctive peoples.

The study ‘Ancient DNA evidence for the history of the Albanians’ was published in Nature Human Behaviour.