Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 55. (Miskolc, 2016)

Régészet - B. Hellerbrandt Magdolna: A Gáva-kultúra települése Köröm-Kápolna-dombon

A Gáva-kultúra települése Köröm-Kápolna-dombon

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Research shows that large earthworks and water trench fortifications were first built by people of the Piliny Culture. The site of Vilmány-Haraszti-dűlő, situated on the left bank of the Hernád stream, is an example (B. HELLEBRANDT 2003c, 69-84; B. HELLEBRANDT-CSENGERI 2011, 252; see also B. HELLEBRANDT 2004, 171-186). These forts follow the same spatial pattern: the settlement is fortified with a rampart and a trench, and there is an area surrounded by water where the animals were kept. Burial mounds are often discovered in the vicinity.

These earthworks and forts with water trenches were built at locations of strategic importance, that is, at crossing points on the left bank of the Sajó and Hernád. There has always been a ford on the Sajó stream at Köröm, there is a regular ferry operating here even today. A number of artillery shells were found on Kápolna-domb during the excavation, which is probably due to the fact that the crossing point was targeted in World War II. One may assume that the earthworks and forts with water trenches built on the left bank of the Hernád and Sajó in the Late Bronze Age ensured the maintenance of the crossing point and also served as a means of defense for the Gáva Culture borderzone.

Houses. Features no. 20 and no. 70 were typical houses laid out in a regular circle plan. Both the houses of feature no. 20 and no. 13 (the latter is an oval-shaped house) had circular entrances. The house of feature no. 16, as well as feature no. 8 of the excavation led by Kemenczei had oval shapes. The house of feature no. 16 had a widening, arched entrance, similarly to the house of feature no. 22a and, probably, that of feature no. 40. The sidewalls of houses SNR 042 and SNR 043 faced each other in a fan-like fashion, with the entrances situated on the end where the distance between the two houses was largest.

The size of the houses was as follows:

Feature no. 10: 450 x 435 cm, ca. 20 m2 Feature no. 13: 320 x 250 cm, that is, 8 m2 Feature no. 16: 420 x 435 cm, ca. 18.3 m2 Feature no. 20: 420 x 430 cm, ca. 18 m2 Feature no. 70: 458 x 380 cm, that is, 17.4 m2 Feature no. 22a: 420 x 360 cm, ca. 15.1 m2 Feature no. 40: 530 x 340 cm, 18 m2 Feature SNR 042: 342 x 310 cm, ca. 10.6 m2 Feature SNR 043: 364 x 316 cm, 11.5 m2.

The houses no. 13, SNR 042 and SNR 043 are somewhat smaller than the others, although it must be added that house no. 40 was partially damaged by a bomb shell, and the size of house no. 10 is also only a rough estimation. The one meter deep layer of soil that had been removed was taken into consideration when depth data was calculated and the site plan prepared. When it was possible to observe the destruction layer, it became clear that this layer was identical to the layer of the Gáva Culture settlement. Therefore, one meter was added to the depth data in the excavation documents. The floor level of house SNR 043 was the highest, situated in a depth of 26-44 cm. House no. 10 was 54 cm deep, while house SNR 042 measured 4—58 cm in depth. House no. 22a extended 33—75 cm deep, while the depth of house no. 40 was 39—106 cm. In these two cases, however, later clay extraction altered the depth of the features. The houses no. 13, no. 16 and no. 20 were 110 cm, 87 cm, and 135 cm deep, respectively. No pounded clay floor was discovered; the hard surface brought to light in house SNR 043 is rather part of the subsoil. There was no sign of plastered hearths either, only fragments of mobile hearths were discovered. Most houses were 80-100 cm deep under floor level.

Flouses are mostly oriented in a NE-SW direction, but there was considerable variability. House no. 16 was oriented along a NW—SE axis, while house no. 20, the abandoned house no. 40, as well as SNR 042 had an almost precise north- to-south orientation. SNR 043 was oriented in an east-west direction. Feature no. 8, the house excavated by T. Kemenczei (KEMENCZEI 1984, 62, Fig. 22) was oval-shaped and 520 x 380 cm in size. This feature measured 20 m2 on the surface, however, as the walls sloped inwards, the house’s actual size on its floor level was only 320 x 270 cm, which means 8.6 m2 of useful floor surface. Gábor V. Szabó in his PhD thesis (V. SZABÓ 2002, 76, footnote 76; 2004, 139, footnote 9) suggested that this house was rather a clay extraction pit, based on its shape. It cannot be excluded that it was used for clay extraction after abandonment, similarly to houses no. 22a and 40. In the light of the results yielded by the 1996 and 2014 excavations, features no. 8 and no. 12, described by T. Kemenczei, can be classified as houses as well.

The excavated houses clustered on the widest part of Kápolna-domb, arranged along a NE—SW axis on the western side of the hill. The slope made it easy to access the water in the fortification trench, which may have been a crucial factor. No wells were found in the survey area.

An analogy of the Köröm houses was brought to light at Bors, in present-day Southeast Slovakia. This oval house was 16 m2 in size (400 x 400 cm), oriented in a NE—SW direction, and represents the oldest phase of Gáva Culture in the area (GASAJ—OLEXA 1979, 247, Fig. 1. 258). Houses dated to the Late Bronze Age and associated with the Gáva Culture were discovered at Mezőkeresztes-Cethalom as well. At the latter site, house no. 19/D was rectangular-shaped with rounded corners, although its northwestern corner was destroyed and only hypothetically reconstructed. It was oriented