Kecskemét - Human remains from settlement features of the Avar village

Remains of people who suffered violent deaths and were thrown into pits were found in the settlement parts beside both the Eastern Ditch and the Western Ditch. Their bodies lay mostly in irregular positions, twisted or on their sides, while a man was slotted into a furnace headfirst, on his back, with his hands closely together (perhaps tied at the wrists).
When did the related violent events take place, and did all incidents occur at the same time? The results of preliminary investigations suggest that all deaths can be linked to the final phase of the settlement. Regrettably, neither feature with such a body contained find material with considerable dating value, so we cannot decide whether the slaughter was part of an internal conflict, a result of some external influence, or marks the arrival of a new people.
The genetic analysis was successful in the case of fifteen individuals from the cemetery in the area of the Mercedes factory complex and four from the settlement pits. There is no conspicuous genetic difference between the two groups, but the genetic variety of the people in the pits is wider than those in the cemetery (the dataset of which is also heterogenous): the genetic compositions of the four individuals are totally dissimilar, indicating that they were members of distinct communities. The only woman of the four has Eastern European genetic characteristics. While some people interred in the cemetery were first- to third-degree kins, no blood relation could be identified between the individuals found in the pits of the settlement.