The Institute of Archaeology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPKE), and within it the Department of Hungarian Prehistory and the Archaeology of the Conquest Period, provides a strongly practice-oriented professional training framework. This ensures that students acquire both theoretical knowledge and practical experience, which are essential for successful professional development.

This training is built around targeted research programs, in which genuine multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research is conducted with the support of both domestic and international partner institutions. This significantly strengthens the research university profile of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (PPKE BTK).

Through the work of the Russian–Hungarian Ural Archaeological Expedition, which has been operating as a PPKE BTK project for seven years, strong and active cooperation has been established with institutions such as the Hungarian Prehistory Research Group of the Research Centre for the Humanities, the Archaeogenetics Laboratory of its Institute of Archaeology, and the ATOMKI in Debrecen. These institutions provide the scientific and laboratory background for both our international and domestic research programs.

Since the establishment of the Department—and later the Institute—we have designed and implemented long-term research programs both in Hungary and abroad. These allow students interested in Hungarian prehistory and the archaeology of the Conquest period to receive cutting-edge training in research topics of international relevance, including opportunities for study abroad.

These programs also give substance to the early Hungarian historical specialization within the Institute’s curriculum, in which historians from the Institute of History at PPKE, specializing in early Hungarian history, also play an important role.

I.1. International Research Programs
  • Russian–Hungarian Ural Archaeological Expedition (since 2013)
  • Cooperation with the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and an agreement with Tiraspol State University
  • Cooperation agreements with eight Russian universities in the Volga–Kama–Southern Ural region, including joint excavations and student exchanges
  • Cooperation agreement with the Institute of Archaeology in Astana (Kazakhstan)
  • Cooperation agreement with Uzhhorod National University (Ukraine), with further collaboration under preparation with the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences

In the field of international archaeological research on Hungarian prehistory, the group fills a major gap, as no Hungarian academic institution had engaged in such research since the 1980s.

I.2. Domestic Research Programs

A key Hungarian partner is the Hungarian Prehistory Research Group of the Research Centre for the Humanities, with whom we have conducted several joint excavations (both domestic and international), organized highly successful international conferences, and published multiple joint monographs.

Major research activities include:

  • Systematic investigation of Conquest-period cemeteries in the Pesti Plain and the Jászság region (e.g. Bugyi-Felsővány, Ceglédbercel-Bognár farm, Jászjákóhalma, Kocsér)
  • Modern analytical processing and presentation of archaeological material from the Hungarian Conquest period

These research programs provide long-term opportunities for archaeology students interested in this field. Achievements include strong participation in national student research competitions (TDK, OTDK), international scholarships, and success in academic competitions for young archaeologists.

The group’s publication activity has gained recognition across Hungarian archaeology. Within the Institute, the study of Hungarian prehistory and the Conquest period—pioneering within Hungarian archaeological education—has been institutionalized through the establishment of an independent department.

The research group consists of the department’s lecturers, talented students, and doctoral candidates.

The group has also been awarded the PPKE-BTK-KUT-23 research grant, with further details available in an interview about its goals and expected results.

Selected Publications
  • Attila Türk: Az Uráltól a Kárpátokig. Régészet és korai magyar történelem (From the Urals to the Carpathians. Archaeology and history of early Hungarians). Szeged–Budapest, 2023.
  • Balázs Gyuris et al.: Long shared haplotypes identify the Southern Ural as a primary source for the 10th century Hungarians. Cell 188 (2025) 6064–6078.
  • Péter Somogyi & Attila Türk (2025): Új radiokarbon adatok a honfoglalás időrendjéhez. Karos-Eperjesszög III/11 sírjának Bayes analízise a II/52 sírral való lehetséges kapcsolat tükrében. Archeometriai Műhely 22:1 (2025) 25–38.
  • Leonid Vyazov et al.: Культурная и популяционная динамика в Приуралье: история формирования раннесредневековых мадьяр в свете недавних археогенетических исследований. Stratum plus 2024 №5 (2024) 49–74.
  • Sergei G. Botalov & Attila Türk: Погребальный комплекс Уелги (IX–XI вв.) в Южном Зауралье (коллективная монография). Chelyabinsk–Budapest, 2025.

Popularization of science

Lovagkon, nyergekben (documentary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iRHDfnQCJs

Events
  • Furor Normanorum II: Eastern Europe Section: Bashkirs and Hungarians – Encounters and Separations
    Interdisciplinary online scientific conference organized by the Institute of Archaeology of Pázmány Péter Catholic University, 22–23 September 2022.
  • Párhuzamos történetek
    Interdisciplinary conference on Hungarian prehistory at the Institute of Archaeology of Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, 11–13 November 2020.
  • „HADAK ÚTJÁN” – XXIX Conference of Young Researchers of the Migration Period
    Budapest, 15–16 November 2019.
    (Co-organizer: Hungarian Prehistory Research Group, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • 1st International Russian-Hungarian Archaeological School: Archaeological Evidence of Eurasian Nomads
    Tyumen, 7–8 August 2017.
    (Co-organizer: University of Tyumen, Department of Archaeology)
Members of the Research Group

The research group has been active since 2017.

Head of the Research Group
  • Attila Türk (Dr. habil.) – archaeologist, head of the research group
Archaeologists
  • Péter Langó
  • Attila P. Kiss
  • László Klima (Dr. habil.)
Archaeologists – Students (MA, PhD)
  • Balázs Jancsik
  • Flórián Harangi
  • Bertalan Zágorhidi Czigány
  • Péter Óvári
Historians
  • Dániel Bácsatyai
  • Kornél Szovák (DSc)
  • László Veszprémy (DSc)
Paleoanthropologist
  • Balázs Gusztáv Mende