Gaál Attila (szerk.): A Wosinszky Mór Múzeum évkönyve 32. (Szekszárd, 2010)
Czövek Attila: Avar kori kohótelep Bátaszék határában
Eisenstadt 1969, 79-95. ROSNER 1977-78 GY. ROSNER, Avar kerámiaközpont Szekszárd környékén. SZBBÁMÉ 8-9 (1977-78), 97-108. VUAILLAT 1987 D. VUAILLAT, La paleometallurgie de la Franche-Comte. Age du Bronze et Age du Fer. Paris, 1987. Attila Czövek An Avar iron smelting site near Bátaszék The site was discovered in 2008 during the construction of the M6 motorway. It is located in the wide valley of a smaller stream flowing from the north-west in a south-easterly direction in the Nagyorros part of the hills west of the town of Bátaszék. (table 1) Along the eastern bank of the stream, 12500m 2 of land was excavated (site M6-T0 043.), where on a territory of less than 1000m , features of an Avar iron smelting site were discovered, (table 2) After a detailed examination of the 25 unearthed iron furnaces, it is possible to determine the methods of their construction, their types and the era when they were in use. Metalworkers of past ages usually dug the slag pit in the side of the hill, taking full advantage of the special features of the land. This was usually a pit with a diameter of about 120-180 cm. It was oval or perhaps irregular in shape with a sloping side and a straight, approximately horizontal bottom. The furnace was usually built in the eastern side of the pit, which was higher and closer to the hilltop. In this side, a semicircular hole was formed and in it the furnace was built of clay in a way that the breast-wall slightly projected from the wall of the pit. In the course of their usage, as the clay burnt, two layers were formed: a very hard thinner layer and a thicker red layer. Examining the furnaces discovered on the excavation site, we have been able to reconstruct and describe a new furnace type (the Bátaszék type). Its hearth begins as a rounded square based pyramid, then from the height of about 30-40 cm, its shaft becomes slightly cylindrical and turns into a cone. The shaft then becomes so narrow that a 10-15 cm diameter oval throat is formed, which widens again considerably towards the top and ends in a funnel-shaped cylindrical flue, (table 13, A-C) The large, more roughly-formed, wide, funnel-mouthed tuyeres found in Bátaszék, which are related to the classic Avar type, are rather typical. On the excavated site, apart from an industrial fire-place, we found no other features that could be linked to the iron smelting site. However, the industrial area was surrounded by a settlement with houses and baking ovens. The pottery finds, the typological characteristics of the furnaces and the archaeomagnetic analysis led us to believe that the iron smelting site dates back to the turn of the 8 t h and 9 l h centuries. 226
