Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Institute of Archeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS) and the Institute of Hungarian Research established a Memorandum of Cooperation.

The memorandum was signed by Director of the MAS Institute of Archeology, Dr. G.Eregzen and Director-General of the Institute of Hungarian Research Gábor Horváth-Lugossy on May 12. 

According to the memorandum, the two sides will be jointly implementing a research project on the historical and cultural relations between the Hunnu (Xiongnu) people that lived in Asia and Europe, and conducting an archeological research at the Hunnu burial site in Ar Gunt, which is located in Songinokhairkhan district of the capital city.

Mongolian and Hungarian archeological researchers began to carry out joint studies from 1962, with the most recent excavation conducted at Belkhiin Am in 2021.

This summer, it is currently being planned to conduct research on about 20 burials in Ar Gunt. The main goal of the research is to determine whether the peoples of Mongolia and Hungary have the same origin which trace back to the Hunnu people by extracting DNA from skeletal remains. 

“Aside from conducting a comprehensive study on the artifacts discovered during the archeological excavation and promoting the study results internationally, there are certain expectations for the research to prove that the peoples of Hungary and Mongolia have the same origins,” highlighted Director-General of the Institute of Hungarian Research Gábor Horváth-Lugossy. 

The ancient Hungarian language has a large number of modern Mongolian words. Furthermore, there is a Hungarian village, of which residents refer to themselves as descendants of Attila. The items used by the village’s people also have some of the decorative patterns that are found on artifacts discovered from Hunnu burials in Mongolia, noted researchers. 

Director of the MAS Institute of Archeology, Dr. G.Eregzen said, “Starting from last year, the Institute of Archeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences has been cooperating with the Institute of Hungarian Research. Along with the Arts & Culture Department of the Capital City, we implemented a project on the Hunnu noble burial site in Belkhiin Am. In the framework of the project, the Institute of Hungarian Research provided support by conducting genetic research on samples that were taken from skeletal remains discovered from the site. This year, archeological excavation will be carried out at the burial site in Ar Gunt. We plan to start the research works in June.”

In November this year, the Institute of Archeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences plans to open an exhibition in Hungary on the archeological research that was done at Noyon Mountain (Noyon Uul) .