Achaeometrical Research in Hungary II., 1988

ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY - Gábor ILON: Celtic period fortifitations and an experiment to reconstruct the rampart - Gór (Vas county)

higher another construction unit (a horizontal timber) appeared in the form of a circular, black soil discolouration (Fig. 3). The width of the rampart at this point could be estimated to about 920 cm in cross-section. The sliding of the rampart could clearly be observed in slope direction. There were but a few finds in the rampart's fill. They date to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. They included a bronze plate fragment, a ring and a few sherds. 2. Large-surface excavations were carried out in the contiguous sections C-l-2, D1-2-3 and E-l-2-3 over an area of 300 m

2 (Figs. 1, 4-5). The rampart could be observed here in a length of 30 m and in the surviving, probably complete width. The trace of the first and only preserved timber level appeared at the depth of 175 cm in the area of sections C-l-2. The rampart was raised above the hill's original soil surface, on a layer of yellow sand and gravel. The geological position of the thick gravel layer determined whether this or the aforementioned rampart strata appeared in the sections.

3 The print and discolouration caused by timbers in the rampart appeared at two levels in sections D-l-3 and was indicative of a rampart base width of 10 m. A great number of sherds from the Neolithic, the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age were found in the filling of the rampart, together with a mould fragment of an axe and many animal bones. The rampart was built over a Celtic house unearthed at the border of sections C-l-2 (Fig. 4). It displayed a ground plan generally accepted to be characteristic ofthat period. As is shown by the numerous fragments of daub, the house had a plastered wood construction. A loom weight with wavy edges was the most interesting find

4 in its fill (Table LB). One of the vertical timbers of the rampart was deepened in pit "a" (storage pit) at the house, perhaps it even belonged to the house (?). A similar house with a pit dated from the LT С period was unearthed at Balatonmogyoród-Kányavár. (HORVÁTH 1987: 60, Fig. 5. 2). The fill of the house contained a Celtic dish with a "grape" ornament stamped on the inner surface as well as finds of the Urnfield Culture: a dish with inverted rim, whorl

5 etc. (Table IA). Detailed information could be gathered concerning the measurements and shapes of timbers. The vertical timber, preserved in its original position, deepened into pit "a" near the Celtic house in sections C-l-2 (Fig. 4). As judged from the direction of the fibres, this timber was definitely of a rectangular shape. It measured 22 x 17 cm. There was a 70 cm long, rectangular, large timber measuring 13 x 13 cm in post hole sk-1 in the surface of section E-l. Other construction elements, found at the same place, measured approximately 20 x 20 cm. In several cases, vertical timbers were cut to a rectangular shape. Of the horizontal specimens (cross section in A-6), one was a log with a circular crosssection (Fig. 3). The shapes of the horizontal construction units observed in sections C-D and E (Fig. 4) could only be identified rarely, since after having cleaned away the traces of the timbers a rectangular ditch remained which mirrored the shape of squared timber. There were no ruins or stones indicative of stone walls. Their absence, I think, cannot be attributed to the destruction of the hill's edge during the construction of the dam, but is related to the fact that the nearest stone provenances (Ság-hegy/Ság-hill, Kőszegihegység/Kőszeg mountains) are located farther than 20 km from the site. The measurements of the timber lace construction at the base of the rampart are shown by the following data (Fig. 4). The measurements always started at the middle of the ob3 Borings had to be stopped at various depths in the case of geological borings in 1991 as well. 4 Loom weight, reddish brown. Thickness: 0.7 - 0.9 cm; diam: 7-7.5 cm. Inv.No. Gór 92.28.1. 5 The loop botton is black, polished. H: 1.6 cm, diam. 3.4 cm, Inv.No. Gór 92.30.1. 229