Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
The Medieval Fort at Moresti 295 Results and interpretation The most striking feature on the vertical gradient is the 6-7 m wide curved shape stripe of strong magnetic anomalies, which borders the fort from the northeast. According to the interpretation of K. Horedt (1952) it is a pavement or a ‘flaster’ consisting of pieces of stones. The discontinuous magnetic anomalies are in agreement with this interpretation because a solid wall would have a continuous anomaly. Some stones of few tens of centimetres in size can be found on the surface above the pavement, but K. Horedt (1952) mentions larger ones built into the pavement. K. Benkő (1869) wrote that the local people collected and sold a lot of stones suitable for construction works from the hills nearby Moresti and the bank of the Mures River. We note that these stones have been transported by the river from the Cälimani Mountains. Their material is andesite, which explains the high magnetic anomalies. At a 6-7 m distance in front of the pavement the outer trench can be seen by greenish light blue colour. Its width is about 10 m. An inner trench can also be observed, but its magnetic anomaly is less evolved. The magnetic anomaly stripe and thus the pavement is missing in a 15 m long section in the northern side. In front of this section the outer trench is faint and the inner trench is missing. The reason of this gap is not known. The entrance to the fort was probably in the north-western corner (PI. 1/2). There the terrace is in a lower elevation. In the western side of the plateau parallel to the slope a linear anomaly, shown by yellow and red colours, is found. It might be caused by burned clay. According to K. Horedt (1952) the sides of the fort on the slopes were strengthened by burning the soil. In the south-western corner, close to the centre of the fort many small magnetic anomalies are detected. They very likely belong to the ruins of the buildings of the fort, but they do not reveal regular shape or structure. These anomalies might be caused by piles of stones, brick or tails. One smaller anomaly can be explained. It is shown by a short and narrow blue line perpendicular to the pavement at its eastern end. This anomaly indicates K. Horedt’s XXXVIII sampling trench (Fig. 2). The resistivity in the upper 2.5 m is homogeneous and its value ranges between 10 and 20 ohm (Pi. 1/4). These values are typical for clay. The pavement is located at a distance of 30 m and it is characterized by resistivity of 30-40 ohm. Its base is in less than 30 cm depth. In case of a solid stone wall the resistivity would be higher and the foundation would be deeper. All these observations are in accordance with the results of the magnetic survey and the interpretation of K. Horedt (1957) that the pavement consists of a loose stone layer near the surface. Other structures made of stone are not detected along the section. The outer and inner trenches are not visible in the resistivity. They have been filled up with the material of their neighbourhood, thus the resistivity of the fill and the wall of trench is the same. At 2.5-3 m depth the resistivity increases over 200 ohm due to change in the type of the sediments. It indicates that in larger depth dry sand or gravel can be found. *** The magnetic surveying was suitable to detect the location and to map the structure of the fort at Moresti. It was possible to identify the defence system surrounding the fort from northnortheast. It consists of an outer trench and a ‘pavement’ in its inner side constructed from stones. A 15 m long section in the north is missing from the system. An inner trench inside the fort and possible ruins of buildings in the central part are new features, which have not been discovered by the excavations of K. Horedt. Field investigation together with the geophysical survey suggests
