Miklós Kásler - Zoltán Szentirmay (szerk.): Identifying the Árpád Dynasty Skeletons Interred in the Matthias Church. Applying data from historical, archaeological, anthropological, radiological, morphological, radiocarbon dating and genetic research (Budapest, 2021)

Foreword

four groups. One was given to the Institute of Archaeology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, two were given to Professor Béla

Meleg to

pass them on to our foreign partners, and one remained at the National Institute of Oncology. We coded every sample of course, so in the subsequent phases of the work nobody knew which code corresponded to which individual skeleton sample. We conducted the research in several institutes to avoid the criticism that this does not fit the profile of the National Institute of Oncology, or that the institute is not geared up for such work, not to mention that the institute might be accused of falsifying the results. Knowing the circumstances in Hungary, this was a possibility. Two of the four samples were successfully examined. One at the archaeogenetics department based in Göttingen

and

the other one at the National Institute of Oncology. The ancient DNA was successfully extracted in both places, and the appropriate markers were also examined. The findings of the two institutions were practically identical. This meant the credibility and significance of the research findings were beyond all doubt, enabling us to publish our findings in a prestigious European journal. This did not signal the end of this work, as Péter

Nagy,

who had joined us in the meantime, continued sequencing the samples applying another modern technology, naturally with the same team members who had participated in the work until then. I was delighted to learn that parallel to our work, and without us knowing about each other, Endre Neparáczki and

Tibor Török

had

completed population genetics examinations on male and female skeletons from the Avar period and the era of the Hungarian Conquest. As their work progressed, they regularly published their findings in prestigious journals, based first on matrilineal then on patrilineal descent.

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