Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 20. 1980 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1983)
Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Éry Kinga, K.: Comparative statistical studies on the physical anthropology of the Carpathian basin population between the 6–12th centuries A. D. p. 89–141.
Dnepr river. However, no sign of continuity of this group may be found either in the local material from the Árpád Period or in data from other regions. At the same time the sample from this region representing the population of the Árpád Period is not influenced by earlier ethnic groups from the Carpathian Basin either. Similarities occur only with coeval series from the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers. Area between the Danube and Tisza rivers This is the only region in which populations from the Avar Period, Period of the Hungarian Conquest and Árpád Period may be compared to each other. In addition, the distribution of sites representing all three periods covers more or less the same area. No similarity was found between the local Avar Period population and group A of the conquering peoples. Differences are even more expressed between the population from the Avar Period and the one which represents the Árpád Period. One may speculate that the Avar Period inhabitants of this area abandoned this territory as the result of the Bulgarian raid which took place arround 804 A. D. Historical research revealed written sources which mention Avar nobles who tried to find refuge in the Frankish Empire. It is quite remarkable that no similarities could be detected between the conquering Hungarian group in the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers and later populations from the Árpád Period. With the exception of the Besenov population from the territory of the Northwestern region the conquering group from the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers is not similar to any of its potential descendants in the Carpathian Basin. The possible explanations for this phenomenon have already been discussed. As far as the population from the Árpád Period inhabiting the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers is concerned, subcluster 1/a provides some information. Thus, it is possible that ancestors of this groups lived somewhere in the Carpathian Basin by the time of the Period of the Hungarian Conquest. They probably moved into the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers (perhaps from the plain east of the Tisza river) replacing the local Avar Period population which withdrew from this territory. This supposition is supported on the one hand by the similarity of the Middle Tisza river region Avar Period Tiszaderzs population to the sample from Jászdózsa which represents the Árpád Period. On the other hand, the closest analogy to the Árpád Period groups from the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers is found in the contemporary population living in the area between the Kőrös and Maros rivers. Eastern Transdanubia This is the only part of the Carpathian Basin from which data are available concerning the earlier population. In this case these data consist of the craniological characteristics of the 4—5th century A. D. Roman Period population. The distribution area attributable to this Late Roman Period sample on the basis of craniological data from nine sites actually overlaps with that of the local Avar Period group. As the calculated distances bear witness, the surviving portion of this Roman Period population was assimilated by the subsequent Avar Period group. No effect of this Late Roman Period people may be detected in the cranial characteristics of the conquering groups. The Árpád Period material on the other hand, is again similar to the Late Roman Period sample. This similarity however, is much less expressed than in the case of the Avar Period population. No similarities occurred between the Avar Period inhabitants of Eastern Transdanubia and group С of the conquerors who occupied this area. It is also a fact however, that the area inhabited by group С shows only a partial overlap with the distribution area of the local Avar Period group( 16 ). Significant similarity between the Eastern Transdanubian populations from the Avar Period and the Árpád Period respectively indicate the continuity of the Avar Period people. The influence of the Late Roman Period people on the sample from the Árpád Period may thus have been transmitted through the mediation of the Avar Period population. The similarity between group С of the conquerors who invaded Eastern Transdanubia and the local population from the Árpád Period on the one hand may be symptomatic of intermingling betwen these peoples. On the other hand, it serves as an indication that part of the Eastern Transdanubian population was made up of descendants of the conquering groups during the Árpád Period. Western Transdanubia No close similarities may be observed between the Avar Period population of this region and group С of the conquering peoples. Doubtless however, the ditribution area of the Western Transdanubian Avar Period population barely overlapped with that of group C. This is confirmed by the observation that hardly any material from Western Transdanubia may be associated with the conquering group. Similarity between the populations from the Avar Period and Árpád Period respectively again shows the continuity of the Avar Period group. A more detailed examination of the values calculated for these groups however, reveals some fine differences vectorial in nature. These may only be explained by the presence of a third population which may have lived around the turn of th~ (16) This is exactly why the similarity between the "Avars" of Eastern Transdanubia and the conquering group В from the Upper Tisza region may seem strange. The source of this similarity is probably the common steppe origin of both populations represented by the samples. Another explanation may be the continuity of the "Avar" population which moved to the Upper Tisza region from Eastern Transdanubia. This alternative however, is rather unlikely. Negative evidence also supports the first theory: the continuity of Late Roman Period populations could not be demonstrated in the material representing the conquering group in the Upper Tisza region. Ш
