Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 54. (Miskolc, 2015)

Régészet - Kósa Polett: Meggyasszó-Halom-oldal dűlő: New data int he Tumulus culture research from North-eastern Hungary

A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve LIV (2015), 177-219.

MEGYASZÓHALOMOLDAL DŰLŐ: NEW DATA IN THE TUMULUS CULTURE RESEARCH FROM NORTH EASTERN HUNGARY

Polett Kosa

Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Budapest

Abstract: A rescue excavation was carried out in 2013 close to the village Megyaszó, with some new finds that can enrich the Tumulus culture research. At the excavated area, 10 cremation burials and a feature belonging to some kind of funerary practice were discovered. Furthermore, four pits and a small part of a ditch were unearthed as well. The features found at the field suggest that a new, partially explored cemetery and a fairly excavated settlement could have been found. The following article is based on my bachelor degree thesis from 2015.

Keywords: Late Bronze Age, Tumulus culture, cremation burials, settlement, North-eastern Hungary

INTRODUCTION

In August 2013 a rescue excavation took place near the village Megyaszó, in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, in the north-eastern region of Hungary. The excavation was carried out by the co-workers of the Herman Ottó Museum, Miskolc. The excavated trail runs from northwest towards southeast, on the west side of the main road between Megyaszó and Szentistvánbaksa villages.

The trail was about 30 cm wide and 3 m deep. At the south-eastern part three Late Bronze Age burials and some settlement features turned up as work for an Irrigation Development Programme wiring has begun. As a result of these finds, a rescue excavation had been initiated and a total of 17 features has been documented on 6—7th August 2013. Ten of these features are burials (SI, S2, S3, S7, S9, SU, S12, S13, S16 and S17), one feature is considered to be related to some kind of funerary rite (S10), four features are documented as pits (S4, S8, S14, SI 5), and one feature is defined as a ditch (S6). One of the previously documented posthole features disappeared after digging a few cm deeper, consequently it might have been a natural phenomenon (S5).

During the rescue excavation, the lower lying pits (S14, SI 5) and the ditch (S6) were only uncovered to some extent due to lack of time, these features were not further disturbed by the investment works.

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SITE (Fig. 1)

The geographical position of the site is quite advantageous. Megyaszó is lying in the North Hungarian Mountains, within one of the northern Hungarian basins, called the Hernád Valley (PÉCSI et al. 1972, 5-12; DÖVÉNYI 2010, 214-219, 849). The basin is constantly shaped by the river Hernád. The source of it is in Király hill, in Slovakia (FÜLEP-KISS 1999, 5). The river connects the Slovakian and Hungarian valleys with each other, creating an approximately 660 km2 micro-region (FRISNYÁK 2006, 285). The river creates 3—4 km wide floodplains here and there, which is quite beneficial for farming lifestyle (FRISNYÁK 2007, 53—54). The annually recurring flood lays down a layer of sludge, which produces topsoil and a good quality pastureland (FRISNYÁK 2006,286). The Hernád Valley not only historically, but also geographically connects two regions, which makes it an “ecological corridor” between the two localities (FÜLEP-KISS 1999, 18). Consequently the area offers a good passage route and interregional connections between the Carpathians and the lowlands. Furthermore this “polycultural zone”, is surrounded by hills and lower mountains that offer a fruitful field for agriculture, animal husbandry and for the exploitation of forest resources (FRISNYÁK 2006, 285). The site lies north of Megyaszó village, on the west side of the Megyaszó—Szentistvánbaksa road, on