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)

CHAPTER TEN – Unique identification of the skeletons

3. Genetic

investigation of the fetus found in grave 4, and its family relation to person II/52_3, identified as Béla II

(the Blind)

1. Archaeological

data. In the immediate vicinity of the grave of Béla III

and Anne of Antioch, at the feet of the royal couple, Érdy

also found a fourth and a fifth grave (Figure 13). According to contemporary customs, only family members were buried next to royalty. In the fourth earth grave, in a wooden coffin sunk into the ground laid the skeletons of a woman and a fetus. The earth grave was around the same age as Béla

Ill

’s grave. The female skeleton buried in the coffin was lost, but we still have the fetus found among the pelvic bones, it is registered under number II/52_4 (by Éry

and

her working group). According to archaeologists’ opinions, it may have been Béla

Ill

’s grandchild in grave 4, but the current genetic investigation suggests that it was Princess Predslava of Kiev. The fragmented bones excavated next to the earth grave from a wooden coffin in a brick-lined grave were lost. In view of the contemporary burial customs, we believe that the person in the 5th grave may have been Predslava’s husband, Prince Álmos

of

the Árpád

Dynasty.

2. Genetic

investigation of the fetus’ skeleton. Up to this point, the identities of the persons in the fourth and fifth grave were unknown, because only the skeleton of the fetus from the 4th grave was not lost, and thus genetic investigations had to be carried out on it alone. The fetus was identified as male in the Göttingen

laboratory.

We confirmed twice that that the gender determination was incorrect and that in fact the fetus was female (Olasz,

J

and Csernák,

E).

A-STR studies were conducted on the fetus’ bones using PCR methods in Göttingen

and

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