An international research team has found that Hungary’s first ruling family were descendants of Eurasian origin rather than Finno-Ugric ancestry.
According to MTI, DNA analysis of a sample of bone from King Béla III (1172-1196) proved that the family were of Eurasian descent.
The research team, working with Hungary’s National Institute of Oncology, identified the DNA of the paternal line of the Árpáds to reveal the findings.
Miklós Kásler, the institute’s director, said the research of the Y-Chromosome profile was carried out by a team of eminent archeogeneticists, including members of the University of Göttingen.
He told Magyar Idők that the findings will serve as a reference for identifying further remnants of the Arpad dynasty and resolving any controversy over their descendants.
“If we look at the DNA in more detail, then we can go back to the origins of the Árpáds on the paternal line to find out exactly which ethnic groups belonged to the members of the Arpad House, and we may also tell where they might have played a role in history,” Kásler said.