A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 48. (Nyíregyháza, 2006)

Régészet - János Makkay: The Late Bronze Age hoard of Nadap

The Late Bronze Age hoard of Nadap János Makkay The discovery The small village of Nadap (Fig. 1) lies on the western slopes of the Velence Hills, north of Velence Lake and a few km west of the highest point of the Mountain, i.e. the Meleghegy (h: 352 m). The low mountain mostly consists of Palaeozoic rocky deposits of granite, a type of rock that is rarely found in the Carpathian Basin. The granite of Velence, however, is fractured (or cut into small pieces) as a result of tectonic movements, and cannot be used for building purposes. In the direction of Meleghegy there is the basic measuring point of the Ordnance Survey once established for the whole of the Carpathian Basin i.e. for the states of the Hungarian Holy Crown. Our hoard was found in a distance of 200-300 metres from this trigonometric point towards the SE, on the gentle slope of the Jánoshegy (John's Hill). On the early morning of Easter Sunday, 29

th March 1970, young boys of the village Nadap climbed up the gentle slope of Jánoshegy to pick wild flowers to decorate the local church. 200-300 metres from the measuring point they suddenly recognized green objects lying on the surface. The whole slope was deep-ploughed during the autumn of 1969 to facilitate the planting of young trees and this work revealed the hoard. They collected a few unbroken bronze spearheads, hafted them and then climbed down to the large open area at the border of the village where they started to fight. On their way down, they crossed a small depression on the slope, full of rain water, where they played with some Fig. 1 Nadap, the site 1. kép Nadap, a lelőhely NyJAMÉ XLVIII. 2006. 135-184. 135