Somogyi Múzeumok Közleményei 14. (2000)

Gömöri János: Az avarkori és X-XI. századi vaskohászat régészeti emlékei Somogy megyében

218 GÖMÖRI JÁNOS blown. After wearing out the furnaces of the old workshop, it was enlarged by an other pit of the same size. At the same time, the middle of the work pit no. I. was gradually filled in by the by-products of iron smelting furnaces built later. Only the hearths remained from the furnaces, demolished at the enlargement of work pit no. I. (Furnaces no. 1-13.) During the use of work pit no. II., the northern part of work pit I. was also enlarged by building new furnaces (Furnaces no. 5-6, lull, 14-15.) In this pit, furnace no. 6 was used last. Next to and in front of it, four blooms weighing 1,6 to 3,6 kilograms have been found. Work pit no. II, which is shown in its original form in the Museum of ancient furnaces (Őskohó Múzeum), forms a round-cornered square, with 6 meter long sides. Its entry is on the east from work pit no. I. The furnaces stood along the southern, western and northern walls, 3 metres from one another. So blowing with bellows was possible at the three furnaces at the same time. Supplying the charcoal and the ore was possible through the mouth. The black charcoal spots and the red spots with granular ore with a diameter of about 100 centimetres, shows the place of the piles of the raw material and fuel, at the edge of the work pit. One of the iron smelters worked outside the work pit, at the edge of the pit, his mate blew with the bellows. This working system assumes that the workshop had not got any walls, at most there was only a temporary roof, which post-holes did not remain. On the basis of the 500 twyers found there, at least 500 smelting could be presumed. If one smelting resulted in 2,5 kilogram iron or steel, the furnace produced 1250 kilograms iron. One furnace could produced 20 blooms from 50 smelting, that means that one furnace produced 50 kilograms iron altogether. So many smelting could have not been possible only two furnaces, so the number of them must have been more. Age determination: Relative chronology: Among the furnaces of work pit no. II., the one with no. 19 was in use last, which was built instead of the furnace no. 21. In the furnace no. 18, iron-smelting took place several times, so it was burnt through more, and was more damaged. Furnace no. 17, though it was almost intact similarly to the furnace no. 19, was partly covered by the waste, from furnaces no. 18 and 19. The burnt through furnace no. 20 was used earlier. Opposite to it, there is supposed to be an other furnace under a slag pile. The output of iron went on at least for a decade on this site. The sudden leave of the iron-smelting site proved by the round iron blooms around the furnace no. 6. and the erected but never used smelting furnaces. It is supposed that the iron smelters left the workshop after 997, the revolt of Koppány dux, the owner of the workshop, against István Grand duke (later king Stephan I.). Absolute chronology: On the basis of the decoration of the pottery, the iron smelting furnaces of Somogyfajsz is dated to the end of the 10

th century. Furnace no. 2. C14: 882 - 982 (888-966), 796 - 1006 AD, furnace no. 3 .: C14: 898 - 916 (900-910), 947 - 1016, 878 1038 , 1104 - 1108 AD, furnace no.4: C14: (900- 910), 947 1016, (954 - 1016) AD (Ede Hertelendi, Debrecen, ATOMKI); Archaeomagnetic: the beginning of the 11

th century AD (Péter Márton) Zamárdi (1986-1987) The settlers of Zamárdi was using iron smelting furnaces mark the Avar period according to the remains of two smelting furnaces and eleven ore roasting pits found along the bank of Kútvölgyi brook. The craftsmen's unit situated in a distance, but not too far away from the wooden buildings, yurts and small houses dug into the earth of a large Avar centre. The closeness of this ordu, next to the ferry of Szántód, proved by the 2300 graves of the Avar cemetery excavated in the field called Réti-földek by Edit Bárdos. The square ore roasting pits with rounded corners are typical. The considerable number of them shows an intensive iron metallurgical activity in this site. Ore roasting hearth similar to these in form and size had been found only at the furnaces of Sopron, Potzman dűlő (10

th century) and in Répcevis, Görbeárok (11

th century). Chronology: Relative chronology: The thick rough twyers and the remains of hand-made pottery with plain or thumbed rim are similar to those of Tarjánpuszta. On the basis of the typology of the furnaces and the a excavations, the site of Zamárdi is supposed to be from the middle or late Avar period. This opinion is also supported by stratigraphie observation: as some furnaces are dug into Roman pits, in which there was not iron slag at all. Absolute chronology: According to C14 method: the sites is from between 734 and 770 AD. (Hertelendi, E., Debrecen). Archeomagnetic study places it between 734 and 770 and 580 and 850 AD. (Péter Márton) Similarly to the iron smelting sites of county Győr-Sopron, in county Somogy the ferrous metallurgical sites from the Avar and the early Árpád period are highly distinctive. The metallurgical finds of the two areas of Pannónia are more homogeneous in the Avar period than in the 10

th century. The Avar furnaces stood alone, dug into the earth, and there was a slag pit in front of them. Around them there were ore roasting pits or a settlement with houses, pits and ditches. In the early Árpád era, North to Lake Balaton, there were many small pit workshops next to each other including one or two furnaces. South to Lake Balaton, the 10

th century iron smelting sites with large workshops of county Somogy situated in the forests, far from settlements. They were continuously enlarged, building new furnaces into the sides of the work pits. This difference shows variance in the work organization. The Somogyfajsz type with large work pits is supposed to be earlier. On the basis of the runic find in Bodrog-Alsóbű, it is presumed that in these workshops mostly Hungarian (Sekler?) metalworkers worked. It is indicated also by the place-name Vasas near Somogyvár. This furnace-type could be originated from the Central-European Celtic tradition, but it also could arrive from the East with the Onugors of the Avar period or with the conquering Hungarians. The size of the fumacesexcavated in county Somogy was mainly similar in both periods: the diameter of the hearth was 35-40 centimetres, the diameter of the throat was 15-20 centimetres, their height was 70-80 centimetres. The lengthened pear-shaped inner place and the use of breast wall for fastening the twyer were also common features of the furnaces of the two periods.