An archaeogenetic approach to identify the remains of the Hungarian Kings. Working Plan

The Royal Basilica of Székesfehérvár was the burial place of fifteen Hungarian kings. Unfortunately, the anthropological findings excavated at the site of the Basilica were mixed up during the tumultuous centuries of Hungary, hence the royal remains still lie unidentified in a charnel-house. The appearance and rapid development of archaeogenetics now allows the personal identification of the royal skeletons from among the remains of the Basilica. The genetic information necessary for the identification of the Árpád dynasty members is accessible, while sequence data of the non-Árpádian kings’ relatives still need to be obtained by further genetic analysis. Here we provide an outline of the investigation for the identity of the royal skeletons: we sketch the process of sample preparation and DNA extraction, the steps of library preparation for next-generation sequencing (NGS) and give a brief report of the current progressions.