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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Optimized Bone Sampling Protocols for the Retrieval of Ancient DNA from Archaeological Remains
Published on: November 30, 2021
Identification of World War II bone remains found in Ukraine using classical anthropological and mitochondrial DNA
Eszter Dudás1, Éva Susa2, Horolma Pamjav1
1Department of Reference Samples Analysis, Hungarian Institute for Forensic Sciences, Institute of Forensic Genetics, Gyorskocsi u. 25, Budapest, H-1027, Hungary.
Abstract:
Gyula Ágner was a Royal Hungarian First Lieutenant (1st Lt.) during the World War II and died at 30 years old due to a mine shrapnel injury on 27 April 1944 in Luczky, Ukraine. In October 2014, the Hungarian Ministry of Defence exhumated the remains then transported them to Budapest in Hungary. Classical anthropological methods were used to determine morphological gender, height and age at death; furthermore, metrical and pathological characters were also analysed. Determination of maternal lineage was the only solution to examine the possible relationship of the bone fragments. Gyula Ágner did not have direct descendants, thus the living niece of the deceased (his sister's daughter) served as the reference person during the investigations. Hypervariable regions of the mtDNA control region (HV1, HV2 and HV3) were amplified by Qiagen® Multiplex PCR Kit in different monoplex reactions. The results of the anthropological and genetical analysis supported the hypothesis that the bone remains belong to Gyula Ágner.
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