Zalai Múzeum 15. Horváth László 60 éves (Zalaegerszeg, 2006)

Ilon Gábor–Sümegi Pál–Bodor Elvíra: A Ság hegy környékének története a régészeti adatok és környezetrégészeti vizsgálat tükrében

306 Ilon Gábor - Sümegi Pál - Bodor Elvira mihályfa, Kemenessömjén, Kemenesszentmárton, Köcsk, Mersevát, Mesteri, Nemeskocs, Tokorcs and Vásárosmiske totaling a region of ce. 200 km

2 involved in the survey. This zone used to be a blank area on the map of the archaeological research in the county and scarcely may we outline credible excavations. The most recent researches (in Tokorcs: Roman settlement, excavations at the boundary of Mesteri: Late Bronze - Early Iron Age settlement section, Roman villa and medieval cemetery, Celldömölk-Vulkán-bath: village from the Árpád era) may be added to collections as well as the excavations of Jenő Lázár conducted on Ság Hill and in the immediate vicinity of it. Based on the foregoing the following summary may be reported in an archaeological point of view: The region of the hill had already been inhabited in the Neolithic (5 rescue sites) and in the Copper Age (7 rescue sites), when the terraces of Creeks Cinca and Kodó were favored. The presence of the Bronze Age was quite intense (16 rescue sites), especially in the periods of the Burial Mound and Urnfield Cultures. The industrial bronze processing as well as the construction of the central seat in case of the latter one certainly implied massive deforestation of the landscape and possibly at that time (or in the early Iron Age?) and owing to such phenomena the immediate vicinity of the hill altered into a paludal area. Agriculture (to assure supply to the increasing population) as well as the construction of habitation sites also contributed to such landscape conversion. Based on the data available it seems probable that the central significance of Ság Hill in the early periods remained the same in the period of the Eastern Hallstatt Culture, just as such phenomenon was observed in case of St. Vid in Velem and the Chapel Mound of Gór. Several burial mounds (9 sites) found in the region and its vicinity also confirm the aforementioned facts. Celtic habitation did not avoid the Hill either and the central role may have remained as well. This has been confirmed by the cremation burial of the warrior found in the inner area of Celldömölk and furthermore by the minor settlements located on the water banks at the boundaries of Kemnessömjén, Mesteri and Izsákfa. It is improbable that the pressure put on the environment in these centuries would have been reduced. Artifacts from 19 Roman Age rescue sites were found, out of which the villas recovered in Tokorcs (treasure and settlement) - Mesteri-Intaháza and Kemenskápolna are important in a route research point of view. The Avar artifacts recovered in Celldömölk, Vásárosmiske and Izsákfa (44 recovered graves) refer to the consecutive habitation of the area. The horse burials found in Celldömölk and Kemenesszentmárton only confirm the appearance of our Hungarian ancestors in the region. The prefixes of the Kemeneshát and Kemenesalja micro regions refer to Slav prehistoric population, however their archaeological tangible memories are still unknown, or researches have been incapable to separate them. Settlements of the Árpád era as well as from the Middle Age are scarcely known despite the fact that the earliest (11

th century) settlement (11 houses and workshops and a public well) in Vas County excavated up to the fullest extent and known currently lies at the boundary of Celldömölk. The cemetery (1940: 12, 2001-2006: 420 graves) at the boundary of MesteriIntaháza used from the second half of the 11

th century to the 17

th century has outstanding significance as well, of which excavation has not been finished yet. Regretfully, the stone castle of Ság Hill has no tracks at all today. Translated by Zoltán Törőcsik