An international team of archaeologists and scientists have uncovered long-forgotten details about the empire that prompted the building of the Great Wall of China.

The Xiongnu, a nomadic empire that rivaled imperial China for three centuries from 200 B.C. and prompted the latter to build its famed Great Wall, was an extremely diverse community, according to a genetic investigation carried out by archaeologists and scientists, published in the journal Science Advances.

Previously, the only written records of the Xiongnu were those detailed by their Chinese political rivals of the Han dynasty, who “repeatedly and dismissively” characterized their empire as a “simple body” of nomadic elites, the study revealed. By sequencing genomes of 18 individuals buried in Xiongnu cemeteries, scientists have discovered “extreme levels of genetic diversity”, making it likely the empire was not only multiethnic but also multicultural and multilingual, the study reported. (RELATED: Fossils Of Largest Land Animals Found In China)

“We now have a better idea of how the Xiongnu expanded their empire by incorporating disparate groups and leveraging marriage and kinship into empire building,” said senior author Choongwon Jeong, an associate professor of biological sciences at Seoul National University, in a news release cited by CNN.

Ancient #DNA reveals the #multiethnic structure of the #Xiongnu, Mongolia’s first nomadic empire. New paper by Juhyeon Lee & an intl. team of scientists led by Christina Warinner @WarinnerGroup & Choongwon Jeong @SNUnow. More: https://t.co/RynnhO4F80 & https://t.co/m6lUmOjBJj pic.twitter.com/VPQyoZP3cp

— MPI-EVA Leipzig (@MPI_EVA_Leipzig) April 14, 2023

Women also seemed to play a powerful role in Xiongnu society given that of the graves studied, those regarded with the highest status belonged to females. The graves were also outfitted with sun and moon emblems, recognized as Xiongnu symbols of power, the outlet reported. These discoveries prompted investigators to suggest Xiongnu women were important “in strategies for expansion and the integration of new realms and territories,” according to the study. (RELATED: 1,500-Year-Old Skeletons Of Embracing Couple Found In China)

“These elite women possessed the materials not only for displaying their status (e.g., belts and necklaces) but also for enacting power, such as prestigious wares for hosting politicized feasts,”Bryan Miller, project archaeologist for the study and assistant professor of Central Asian art and archaeology at the University of Michigan, told CNN.

“They were highly venerated with ample offerings from all those who attended their funerals, demonstrating their continued social importance within their communities throughout their lives,” Miller continued.

Miller explained that Xiongnu was a dynasty and not a people, but its influence would continue to be felt long after the dynasty disappeared from the steppes of Asia. “Many subsequent groups appropriated the potent name of Xiongnu (or Hunnu) as they established their own regimes, he told the outlet.

“And it was this potent legacy…that the Mongols took up when they created their own empire many more centuries later,” Miller explained to CNN.