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.

of the Hungarian conquest and the Eastern Transdanubian group from the Árpád Period are all located here. Finally, samples included in clusters 4 and 5 all underwent minor sequential changes, but the composition of the clusters themselves remained unchanged. B) In general the arrangement of the craniological material entered into the second clustering procedure largely corresponds to the patterning displayed by the first calculation in spite of the a priori regrouping carried out before the material was subjected to the second cluster analysis. This latter evaluation however, contributed a number of important complementary data concerning the origin and composition of regional groups from the Carpathian Basin. Figure 82 and the dendrograms based on the analogies of regional groups present the following information: Avar Period The place of origin of the Avar Period group from the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers could not be identified even by regrouping the cases. Their occurrence in cluster 2 however, confirms the previous supposition concerning their eastern steppe belt origin (Figure 83). The best analogies for the Eastern Transdanubian group are found in the Northern Pontic Late Scythian and the Saltovo group from the Donets region. This indicates a duality in the composition of the studied population. In addition, it also suggest that it was formed in the European rather than in the Asian steppe belt (Figure 84). The Western Transdanubian group was probably also formed in Eastern Europe not in the steppe but rather in the neighboring decidious forest belt north of this territory. The final composition of this group may have equally been influenced by eastern Finnic and eastern Slavic elements (Figure 85). The roots of the Avar group represented at the sites in the Northwestern region of the Carpathian Basin are also to be found in the Eastern European decidious forest belt. More exactly this territory may be defined as the distribution area of the eastern Finnic populations. It is worth mentioning that no eastern Slavic analogy for this group exists in this comparative material (Figure 86). Period of the Hungarian Conquest The calculation of distances between the grouped samples resulted in no information which could substantially modify or complement the conclusions drawn previously. It is however, worth mentioning that group В stands closer to the united "Usune" than to the united "Sarmatian" series. Árpád Period Similarity between the group from the area between the Kőrös and Maros rivers and the Middle Tisza region Avar Period sample from Tiszaderzs is an important bit of new information. It indicates that the population studied here may have inhabited the area east of the Tisza river already during the Avar Period (Figure 87). When the group from the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers is studied it becomes apparent that this population is most closely related to the Late Scythian group from the Northern Pontic region (Figure 88). The composition of the Eastern Transdanubian group is also characterized by the presence of Northern Pontic craniological elements. However, physical characteristics of the earlier local Avar Period population and those of the conquering group which occupied this area are represented to the same extent (Figure 89). In the Western Transdanubian group none of the eastern Finnic elements which could be observed in the Avar Period population of this region occurs. It is the eastern Slavic component which is still present and coexists with the characteristics of the surviving Avar population and that of the conquerors' group С (Figure 90). The eastern Slavic influence represents a new element in addition to that of the eastern Finnic ancestors, the earlier Avar Period population and the conquering group С in the people of the Northwestern region (Figure 91). X. SUMMARY With the methodology applied in this study the following conclusions could be drawn on the basis of the material available for study. A) Avar Period populations reached the territory of the Carpathian Basin in several waves during the 6—8th centuries A. D. The origin of these groups could only be partly clarified and even this information is rather sketchy. Mongoloid populations which make up only proportion of this movement came from the largest distance from Central Asia. One may only hypothesize that another, relatively large group was formed somewhere in the territory of Middle Asia. This population is characterized by a typically low brain case. At the same time it is rather likely that a considerable part of the Avar Period population originated from the territory of Eastern Europe. Some of these were formed in the southern steppe areas while others originated in the decidious forest belt north of this region. Avar Period populations of different origins seem to have occupied different parts of the Carpathian Basin. Groups coming from the wide and open ranges settled down in the plains while the people from the decidious forest belt seem to have preferred an environment of rolling hills. The people of unknown steppe origin characterized by a low brain case populated the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers. Populations from the Eastern European steppe belt inhabited Eastern Transdanubia. Groups which arrived from the Eastern European decidious forest belt occupied Western Transdanubia and the Northwestern region. Only a few data are available concerning the Avar Period population of the plain east of the Tisza river. These indicate that a Lower Volga river population settled on the eastern edges of this region. The Middle Tisza region was occupied by people who came from the Middle Dnepr and Northern Pontic area. The lower section of the Kőrös region was inhabited by a steppe population whose place of origin could not be more precisely identified. 125