Bioarchaeological Research on the Social Organization of 10th-11th Century Communities in the Carpathian Basin through Complex Cemetery Analyses

Project ID: NKFIH-STARTING, 149860
Planned Project Duration: 2025-2028
Project leader: Veronika Csáky (HUN-REN RCH Institute of Archaeogenomics)
Host Institution: HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Archaeogenomics
Planned Sample Size: 110 human samples
Project Researchers:

• Gyuris Balázs, Szeifert Bea, Mende Balázs G., Jakab Kristóf (HUN-REN RCH Institute of Archaeogenomics)
• Langó Péter (HUN-REN RCH Institute of Archaeology)
• Türk Attila (PPKE BTK Institute of Archaeological Sciences)

Building on previous genetic research (Csősz et al. 2016, Csáky et al. 2020, Szeifert et al. 2022), the project starts from the hypothesis that the 10th-century Hungarian conquerors arrived in the Carpathian Basin in family groups. A recent study has identified certain kinship relationships both within and between cemeteries (Gerber, Csáky, Szeifert et al. 2024). However, the forms of these families and the biological background of community organization remain unknown. The primary objective of this research is to conduct an innovative investigation into kinship networks, social organization, internal mobility, and microregional differences by analyzing high-resolution genetic data. The study will examine anthropological remains from cemeteries across different regions of the 10th-century Carpathian Basin, aiming for comprehensive site-level analyses.

 

MTA-BTK Momentum Bioarchaeology Research Group: Life and Death at the Edge of the Roman Civilization - Complex bioarchaeological analysis of the communities of Pannonia

https://bioarch-momentum.hu/en/

 

A multidisciplinary analysis of the former settlements of the early Hungarians and the first generations of the conquerors in the Carpathian Basin

Planned timeframe of the project: 2015–2026
Project leaders: Anna Szécsényi-Nagy (Institute of Archaeogenomics, HUN-REN RCH), Türk Attila (Early Hungarians Research Team, HUN-REN RCH, Institute of Archaeology;  PPCU Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Institute of Archaeological Sciences)
Host institute: Institute of Archaeogenomics, HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities
Participating researchers of the project in Hungary:

• Balázs Gusztáv Mende, Veronika Csáky, Bea Szeifert, Balázs Gyuris, Dániel Gerber (Institute of Archaeogenomics HUN-REN RCH)
• Péter Langó (Institute of Archaeology, HUN-REN RCH)
• Balázs Egyed (Department of Genetics, ELTE Faculty of Science)

One of the most traditional research directions of the Institute is the genetic analysis of potential early Hungarians excavated in present day Russia and Ukraine. Their material culture also shows archaeological parallels with the medieval burials of the Carpathian Basin. Studies on this topic have been ongoing since the mid-2010s and form the backbone of one of the Institute's research strategies.

Our aim is to analyse the former settlements of the early Hungarians, to trace their migration routes and to genetically survey the cemeteries of the Hungarians remaining in the East.

The studies started with the genetic analysis of the Uyelgi cemetery (eastern side of the Ural Mountains) in 2012, and since then more and more human bone remains from cemeteries east of the Carpathian Basin have been analysed.

Both genetic analyses and radiocarbon dating is a major focus of our work. Researchers from PPKE continuously conduct archaeological excavations in pertinent areas, and we maintain ongoing scientific collaborations with foreign colleagues, including Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldavian archaeologists and anthropologists.

After analysing the medieval cemeteries of Western Siberia and the Volga-Urals region, the Hungarian, Pecheneg and Slavic samples have been collected from the South Intermediate settlement area (the Dnieper and Dniester Rivers), and the remains of the earliest conquerors of the Carpathian Basin are analysed in our laboratory. Our aim is not only to discover the relationship between cemeteries directly related to the Hungarians, but also to characterise the genetic composition of the neighbouring groups.

Initially, the maternal and then the paternal lineages were studied by our institute, followed by whole genome analyses, which focus on population and individual level research questions as well. In that way, it is possible to identify closer and more distant biological relatedness between populations of remote regions.

Funding of the project:

• The eastern relationships of the ancestors of the House of Árpád, Árpád dynasty program (ÁHP VI/2)
• Our Eastern Heritage PPCUInterdisciplinary Historical and Archaeological Research Group (TUDFO/51757-1/2019/ITM) programme "Archaeological, linguistic and bioarchaeological research on early Hungarian history"
• Our Eastern Heritage PPKE Interdisciplinary Historical and Archaeological Research Group project (TKP2020-NKA-11)
• Archaeogenomic research of the Etelköz region, Priority Research Theme proposal of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network

Partner institutions:

• Institute of Archaeological Sciences, PPCU Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Harvard Medical School

 

Archaeogenetic and Anthropological Research of Burials at the Benedictine Monastery of Monostorapáti-Almád

Planned timeframe of the project: 2022–2024
Project leader: Balázs Gusztáv Mende (HUN-REN Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Archaeogenomics)
Host institute: HUN-REN Institute for Humanities Research, Institute of Archaeogenomics
Participating researchers of the project:

• Noémi Borbély, Bea Szeifert (HUN-REN Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Archaeogenomics)
• István Major (HUN-REN Institute of Nuclear Research)

The Benedictine monastery of Monostorapáti-Almád was founded at the beginning of the 12th century by the Atyusz lineage, traceable back to the time of the Hungarian conquest. The archaeognomic and anthropological investigations of the anthropological material uncovered during the 2021-2023 excavation of the monastery ruins will be carried out in the third phase of the Kings, Saints and Monasteries project.

The aim of the research is to determine the relationships between the remains using archaeogenomic methods, alongside the traditional morphometric analysis of the bones and the absolute chronological classification of individual graves using the radiocarbon method. According to the working hypothesis of the research, after its foundation in 1121, prominent members of the lineage, which branched into several branches from the 13th century onwards, were buried here. This is supported by the authenticated transcript of the founding document of Almád from the time of Sigismund. Several burials are identified by name in the documentary sources, including Atyusz, the founder of the monastery, his brother Miske, their father Bánd, and Gyönyörű, Atyusz's stepmother.

 

Archaeogenetic and anthropological research of the Paty Malom-dűlő site’s population (10th century AD)

Planned project timeframe: 2022–2024
Project leaders: Tamás Hajdu (Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Eötvös Loránd University), Balázs Gusztáv Mende (Institute of Archaeogenomics, HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities), 
Institute hosting the subproject genetics: Institute of Archaeogenomics, HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities
Researchers participating in the project:

• Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Bea Szeifert, Kristóf Jakab (Institute of Archaeogenomics, HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities)
• Tamás Szeniczey (Department of Biological Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Eötvös Loránd University)
• Dániel Giedl, András Rajna (Ferenczy Museum Center)
• Anikó Horváth, István Major (HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research)
• Norbert Berta, Zoltán Farkas, Péter Major (Salisbury Kft.)

In 2022, a 10th-century cemetery with 77 graves and another with 15 graves were excavated at the Páty Malom-dűlő archaeological site in the close proximity of each other in cooperation with the Ferenczy Museum Center and Salisbury Kft. Due to the richness and uniqueness of the burial finds, as well as the historical importance of the region, it has come to the forefront of the archaeological research of the conquest period, consequently becoming central to archaeogenomic studies as well.
The research aims at a multidisciplinary evaluation of cemeteries, characterisation of the population using cemeteries in Páty, reconstruction of the inter- and intra-cemetery relations.
The analysis of the archaeological material is carried out by the Ferenczy Museum Centre and Salisbury Kft., while the classical paleoanthropological analysis of the human remains is performed by the Department of Biological Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Eötvös Loránd University. Laboratory processing and whole genome analysis of suitable samples is carried out at the Institute of Archaeogenomics, HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, and analysis of stable isotopes at the HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research in Debrecen.

Interdisciplinary research on Migration Period horses

Planned time frame of the project: 2022–2026
Intended sample size: 150 horse bone samples
Principal Investigator: Anna Szécsényi-Nagy (IAG RCH HUN-REN)
Participating researchers:

• Péter Csippán (Institute of Archaeology, Eötvös Loránd University), Annamária Bárány (MNM) archaeozoologists
• István Koncz (Institute of Archaeology, Eötvös Loránd University), Ádám Bollók (IA RCH HUN-REN) archaeologists
• Dániel Gerber, Kornél Herpai (IAG RCH HUN-REN) bioinformaticians

The aim of the project is to study the relationship between horses and humans in the early medieval Carpathian Basin, with special focus on the Avar Period. In the framework of the project, we sample 4-8th century BC horses from the Carpathian Basin, both in the western Transdanubia and in the eastern Great Hungarian Plain. This sampling strategy provides an opportunity to determine the basal horse population in both the former Roman Empire and neighboring areas under the barbarian rule. In a such way, the further development of horse herds in the two regions becomes comparable to the later periods. The horse population in the Carpathian Basin may have been expanded by several waves from external sources. For detailed observations, we pay special attention not only to cemeteries but also to finds from settlements to see if there are differences in pedigree, genetics, and morphology between equidae used and kept differently. The question is whether a new horse population can be detected in the Carpathian Basin during the period under study (especially during the Avar period), and whether the diversity of the studied horses shows a regional or cultural structure.

Combining the results of the archaeozoological and genetic studies of the horses with the data of archeology and historical sources, the team explores the horses’ breeding, distribution, trade and usage. A key question in the Avar era was whether horses appeared from the same source region in the Carpathian Basin as the different nomadic communities from great distances. Although various partial (including symbolic manifestations) or whole horse burials have been highlighted in archaeological research among animal burials and even among burial customs in general, our knowledge of the age, sex, and physical condition of animals has been incomplete. Through these archaeozoological and paleogenomic studies, we can get further answers about the relationships between horses and humans, as well as about the importance and role of the horse as a representative element in the early Medieval era.

Aim of the project is the comparative analysis of cemeteries and graves included in the ERC Synergy HistoGenes project or in other previous human genomic studies (Amorim et al. 2018, Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. 2021). Thus, not only the horses are in focus, but also the “horse and its rider” associated with previous and ongoing human genetic analyses.

Our team combines skeletal and morphological observations with genetics (the possibilities of the whole genome analyses are constantly evolving), as we can now even study variants of genes that are responsible for coat color, spinal stability (weight bearing, persistent running) or for the temperament of horses (associated with stress tolerance) (Librado et al. 2021).

The team analyzes approximately 150 samples. The result and its interpretability depends on the diversity or homogeneity of the genetic picture of the horse population in the 4-6th centuries, and how successfully the team will manage to retain the DNA from each sample included in the analysis. The answer to these is not even known from an archaeozoological point of view, so the team is about to begin an exploratory type of research.

 

Metagenomic and palaeopathological studies

Participating researchers: Dániel Gerber, Melinda Megyes, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Botond Heltai, Balázs Gusztáv Mende (IAG RCH HUN-REN), Viktória Kiss (IA RCH HUN-REN), Erika Molnár (Department of Anthropology, SZTE)

Due to the rapid development of archaeogenomic methodology, previously unimaginable experiments can now be performed. Genetic material of microorganisms, such as bacteria, DNA-viruses and single-cell parasites can be preserved within the remnant tissues of host organisms, and even within - classically considered to be - inorganic materials, like dental calculus and soil. We aimed to open new horizons for our institute by acquiring current techniques and maybe even for the international community by developing novel methods. We primarily focus on the oral microbiome via sampling dental calculus, as well as to pathogens via sampling dentine and bony scar tissue, concerning various periods (prehistory, Roman era). The multithreaded projects are funded by Momentum projects of Viktória Kiss and Anna Szécsényi-Nagy.

 

Archaeogenetic investigation of the Northern Altai in the 4–14th centuries

Duration of the project: 2022–2024
Project Coordination: Anna Szécsényi-Nagy (IAG RCH)
Partner institutes of the project: Institute of Archaeology at HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Department of Biological Anthropology at Eötvös Loránd University, Altai State University
Participants of the project:

• Yusuf Can Özdemir (IAG HUN-REN RCH, ELTE),  Balázs Gusztáv Mende (IAG HUN-REN RCH), Balázs Gyuris (IAG HUN-REN RCH, ELTE)
• Alexey Tishkin, Nikolai Seregin (ASU)
• Tamás Szeniczey (ELTE)
• Gergely Csiky (RI RCH)
  
  

The Altai region acts as a crossroads between the Eastern and Central Steppes of Asia, and it has an important role in the legends of the peoples of the region. To this day, the population movements in Central Asia prior to the Mongol Empire expansion have mostly been evaluated without genetic records other than minimal sampling.
The main goal of this research project is to shed light on the complex genetic histories of the Medieval groups who are traditionally affiliated to nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyles, and their possible connections to the modern communities in the Altai region. By acquiring genetic data of approximately 90 ancient individuals from various burial sites including single and clustering burials, we aim to create a better understanding of migration and admixing events as well as the customs and social practices of the groups these individuals belonged. We include archaeological and historical data to the research to a greater extent, creating a comparative approach.

 

Genetic analysis of Copper Age communities

Source of the image: https://lendulet-innovacio.hu/en/

Our team joined the research group of Zsuzsanna Siklósi ’MTA-ELTE Lendület Innovation Research Group’. The program, which will run from 2022-2027, is entitled "Individuals and communities, social networks and innovations in the Carpathian Basin in the Bronze Age" (https://lendulet-innovacio.hu/en/).
In the interdisciplinary research group, our task is to genetically completely process specific cemeteries of the Copper Age, if possible, and to explore the systems of inter- and outward genetic relationships of the community members. This is performed by identity by descent (IBD) chromosome segment sharing analyses at the whole genome level.

Project timeframe: 2022-2027,
Planned number of samples: ca. 100 human samples
Project leader: Zsuzsanna Siklósi (ELTE BTK)
Researchers involved in the project at the Institute: Dániel Gerber, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Kristóf Jakab (BTK AGI)

 

ERC HistoGenes: European Research Council, Synergy Grant Integrating Genetic, Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on Eastern Central Europe, 400-900 AD 

Project code: HistoGenes 856453

The timeframe of the project: 2020–2026

The aim of the project “Integrating genetic, archaeological and historical perspectives on Eastern Central Europe, 400–900 AD (HistoGenes)” supported by one of the most prestigious research grants (Synergy Grant) of the European Research Council (ERC) is to gain a deeper understanding of the history of population in Eastern Central Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, in the period of large-scale migrations and early medieval political and cultural changes. One of the principal investigators of this international project is Tivadar Vida, director of the Institute of Archaeological Studies at Eötvös Loránd University.

The IAG RCH is a beneficiary partner in the program, where the project is led by Balázs G. Mende and Anna Szécsényi-Nagy. Participants of the project: Balázs Gyuris, Viktória Bódis, Sára Gábriel, Daniella Pokker, Viktória Oravecz, Koppány Kerestély, Botond Heltai, Melinda Megyes, Yusuf Can Özdemir, Anikó Kecskés.

It is a significant success for Hungarian archaeology archaeogenetics anthropology, and history to launch and work in such an ambitious six-year programme within the framework of international collaboration, which obtained €10 million funding for the integrative research of the Late Antique and early medieval population of Eastern Central Europe, combining palaeogenetic, archaeological, anthropological, and historical approaches. Researchers at the Institute of Archaeological Studies, Eötvös Loránd University and the Institute of Archaeogenomics of the Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network play a vital role in this international programme implemented through cooperation among Austrian, German, American, and Hungarian scholars. Researchers at the Hungarian National Museum, the University of Szeged, and the Museum of Natural Sciences will also take part in the work in Hungary.

Webpage of the project:
home | HistoGenes

 

  

 

What happened to the Avars?

With the aid of the Szilágyi Family Foundation, we launched this project in 2018.
We concentrate on the following research questions:
What is the difference in the genetic composition of the late Avar populations and the 10-11th century population of the North Transdanubian region?
Is the late Avar continuity demonstrable, and if yes, in what form?
If any, was there rather maternal or paternal genetic continuity in North Transdanubia?

Participants of this project: Bea Szeifert (IAG RCH, ELTE), Balázs G. Mende (IAG RCH), Péter Tomka, Szabina Merva (IAG RCH)