The remains of several Hungarian rulers, including King Saint László, have been identified by researchers from the University of Szeged (SZTE) through the analysis of bone finds found in the Medieval Ruins in Székesfehérvár
– the public relations directorate of the higher education institution informed MTI on Tuesday.
During the project led by Endre Neparáczki, director of the Archegenetics Research Group of the Hungarian Research Institute, and an employee of the Genetics Department of the Biology Institute of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics of SZTE, it was possible to prove that the remains of the Árpád kings can be found in the Székesfehérvár ossuary, the announcement states.
The examination of the skulls that the SZTE staff were able to transport from the Székesfehérvár Medieval Ruins to Szeged was completed in the past few days. The bone remains will be returned to the ossuary in Székesfehérvár.
Endre Neparáczki said that the bones of more than nine hundred people are mixed up in the ossuary. DNA samples were taken from four hundred human remains examined at SZTE. The aim of the researchers is to compare these samples with the previously determined profiles and identify several Hungarian rulers. The bones were also subjected to carbon isotope dating, which revealed that the Székesfehérvár cemetery was used for burials from the 9th to the 16th century.
Source: SZTE
The sure starting point for the investigation of the Szeged scientists is the previously found III. It was King Béla's DNA sample. With the help of this, it was possible to map the Árpád family relatives.
Until now, Anna of Antioch (1154-1184), III. The bones of the first wife of Hungarian King Béla, as well as the remains of King Saint László (1040-1095) - which come from the Saint László herm preserved by the Győr Diocese - and Endré Halicsi (1210-1234), II. The third-born son of Hungarian King András has been identified.
Will King Matthias be identified soon?
The researchers also have a DNA sample from János Corvin (1473-1504), the son of King Matthias (1443-1490) and his grandson, Kristóf (1499-1505), so they are only a few steps away from being able to identify the remains of King Matthias. After the examination of the skull of Queen Mária of Árpád-házi (1257-1323) of Naples, the remains of the kings of Anjou can be selected from among the finds in the bone chamber. However, for this, the researchers must travel to Naples to take samples from the royal tombs there.
The purpose of examining the remains of bones in the Székesfehérvár ossuary is, on the one hand, to give our former rulers a dignified burial place, and on the other hand, to get to know the Hungarian rulers better, based on the processing of the collected information.
The researchers from Szeged have scanned all the skulls, and based on this they are making a facial reconstruction. Since the DNA information also includes eye and hair color, interested parties will soon be able to see several Árpád rulers through VR glasses, the announcement states.
Source: origo.hu
