Somogyi Múzeumok Közleményei 15. (2002)

Gallina Zsolt: Avar kori kohótelep Kaposvár-Fészerlakon

85 Avar kori kohótelep Kaposvár-Fészerlakon ZSOLT GALLINA Between 8. June and 27. September 2001 we excavated an Avar metallurgical settlement at KaposvárFészerlak, 5-6 km East from Kaposvár. Altogether an about 17500 m

2 was excavated and we could separate 425 objects. We could observe on the site the various work phases of the Avar metallurgical settlement. We investigated all object types in relation; starting from ore-roasting and ending with forges. We could separate a number of ore-roasting pits, the remains of open, socalled Avar-type smelting and incandescent furnaces and 2 forges. The most sensational parts of the excavation were the 5 excavated wells. In 2 instances a documentable wooden structure could be traced. In one occasion we found prism formed poles at the edges of the well, and into its vertical slots, planks were tapped horizontally. The upper and lower planks were places in separately and were connected to the poles by wooden nails. In the case of another well in the centre a stumpwood was placed with a hole on all its 4 sides. It was surrounded by a similar wooden structure then the former. On one of its outer sides a wellpreserved wooden pail was found. During the excavation of the 6-7 m deep wells we encountered a number of difficulties: water and clay intrusions, soil collapsing. It was a long and tedious work, using the help of machines to unearth these objects and to secure the wooden structure completely. According to preliminary research the settlement can be dated to the 7-9 С The excavated metallurgical settlement enric hed the number of Avar period iron smelting sites in Somogy. The importance of the site lies in the fact that it is the biggest excavated Avar period industrial settlement as well.