Vaday Andrea – Bánffy Eszter – Bartosiewicz László – T. Biró Katalin – Gogältan Florin – Horváth Friderika – Nagy Andrea: Kompolt-Kistér : Újkőkori, bronzkori, szarmata és avar lelőhely Leletmentő ásatás az M+-as autópálya nyomvonalán (Eger, 1999)

The site of Kompolt, Kistér

THE SITE OF KOMPOLT, KISTÉR (Neolithic settlement and graves, part of a Bronze Age cemetery, Sarmatian and Avar settlements) Summary The site selected for excavation on the basis of field walks fell between the 97.1 to 97.5 km section of the planned M3 Motorway. It was excavated along a 70 m broad band, thereby insuring the complete recovery of this tract. Excavations were carried out between July 20 and October 12, 1994 with the participation of Florin Gogältan, archaeologist at the Archaeological Institute of Cluj, Romania. The site lay west of the village of Kál and east of Nagyút on a plain. The soil is black, obdurate riverine loam. The area, flat today, is bordered by the Tarna river on the east and the Kígyós and Tarnóca Creeks respectively on the west. The historical natural environment was characterised by a large and humid, amorphous black spot between co-ordinates +10/+270/+235 that had dried up by the end of the Avar Period. A surface of altogether 28,700 m

2 was excavated which revealed a Neolithic settlement and burials, Bronze Age graves as well as parts of a Sarmatian and Avar village respectively. The areal representation of these periods is different. The Sarmatian Period is best represented by a surface of 7200 m

2. The Neolithic was present over an area of 3400 m

2, while the settlement from the Avar period extended over 3300 m

2.

1 The chronological distribution of the number of features was as follows: A detailed summary of these data is presented in Chapter 4. Neolithic settlement The 73 Neolithic features excavated at Kompolt 14 suggest the presence of a settlement that had significant dimensions. This is especially so, if on the basis of the settlement's layout one presumes that the path of the planned motorway probably runs along the edge of the prehistoric village, i. e. the centre of this settlement probably lay to the south. An increasing concentration of features and the section of the Neolithic settlement can be seen, even if disturbances in subsequent periods badly destroyed the Neolithic settlement structure. Traces of the settlement's most intensive occupation were formed within the section of 97.15 to 97.21 km, i. e. an approximately 60 m stretch of the motorway's planned path. Two smaller spots with Neolithic features were also observed further to the east, at 97.26 and 97.30-97.31 kms. Unfortunately, no houses were recognisable among the features. This fact further confirms the hypothesis that excavation was outside the settlement's Feature type Neolithic Bronze Age Sarmatian Avar Miscellaneous Pit 40 1 45 7 17 House — 6 9 Fireplace 2 — 4 — 4 Oven shaft — 2 — Ditch — — 2 — Fence foundation — 1 6 Well — 10 1 Post hole (separate) — — 2 — 1 Grave 8 3 — — — Destroyed feature 2 — 16 — — Inwash 1 14 1 — Stray finds (localised) 18 — 21 14 — Tree hole — — — 9 Clay concentration 3 10 2 — Animal bone concentration _ _ 2