the Huns. There are a few traces of battles and sieges, but today the tomb of Attila and the location of his capital have not yet been found. [ 9 ] :33–37 Early life and background The Huns were a group of Eurasian nomads , appearing from east of the Volga , who migrated into Europe c. 370 and built up an enormous empire there. Their main military techniques were mounted archery and javelin throwing. They were possibly the descendants of the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) who had been northern neighbors of China three hundred years before [ 11 ] and may be the first expansion of Turkic people across Eurasia . [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] Even though they were in the process of developing settlements before their arrival in Europe, the Huns were a society of pastoral warriors [ 10 ] :259 whose primary form of nourishment was meat and milk, products of their herds. The origin and language of the Huns has been the subject of debate for centuries. According to some theories, their leaders at least may have spoken a Turkic language , perhaps closest to the modern Chuvash language . [ 6 ] :444 One scholar suggests a relationship to Yeniseian . [ 17 ] According to the Encyclopedia of European Peoples , "the Huns, especially those who migrated to the west, may have been a combination of central Asian Turkic , Mongolic , and Ugric stocks."