Balogh Zoltán – Fodor Miklós Zoltán (szerk.): Neograd 2016 - A Dornyay Béla Múzeum Évkönyve 39. (Salgótarján, 2016)
Régészet - Guba Szilvia–Fábián Szilvia–Czifra Szabolcs–Nicklas Larsson–Roderick B. Salisbury: ISzaP – Ipoly-Szécsény Achaeological Project – Egy mikro-regionális kutatás lehetőségei és tapasztalatai
SZILVIA GUBA - SZILVIA FABIAN - SZABOLCS CZIFRA - NICKLAS LARSSON - RODERICK B. SALISBURY ISZAP - IPOLY-SZÉCSÉNY ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT - POSSIBILITIES AND FIRST EXPERIENCES OF A MICRO-REGIONAL RESEARCH The ISzAP (Ipoly-Szécsény Archaeological Project) international research program was launched in 2014, and focuses on the cultural and trade connections of the first agricultural communities that settled the Szécsény basin in the Ipoly Valley (Fig. 1). The research area is located in Northern Hungary, in the Middle Ipoly Valley, and covers the southern part of the Ipoly Basin. At the northern fringe of the Cserhát Mountains in the area of Szécsény, the Ipoly River changes its flow from predominantly north-south to east-west direction. In the approx. 80 sq. km area around Szécsény, the Ipoly's tributaries arrive from the narrow valleys of the Cserhát, and are characterised by very similar geomorphological settings. The Middle Neolithic settlement Szécsény-Ültetés is located at the entrance of one of these southward opening valleys, and appears to have played a pivotal role in processes of interaction and exchange; excavations at the site have revealed numerous finds that are exceptionally significant in terms of our research questions. The Ipoly Valley, as a natural transportation route, facilitated the movement of economic and cultural influences, and had an important role in the trade networks of the early farming societies. Accordingly, it can be hypothesized that some communities attempted to maintain control of resources, guarding the “transport corridor”. Furthermore, this may have led to the development of a complex, hierarchically structured societal and settlement system in the river valley. A principal aim of the project is to locate Middle Neolithic settlements; to map the cultural, economic, and ideological interconnections between these settlements; and to determine the direction of the connections. However, we have also the opportunity to study a broader time span, because all prehistoric and historic periods are identified through our surface survey, and the results will be utilised for long-term comparative analyses. At the first stage in our research, we conducted systematic field surveys using a track system based on the Hungarian Unified National Projection (EOV), in areas selected by predictive modelling. Tracks were 25 m apart, all finds on the track were marked using hand-held GPS units, and finds were bagged by 100 m section (Fig. 2). We located 22 new and 4 known archaeological sites, including five new Neolithic sites, a Copper Age site, and several new Bronze Age settlements and cemeteries on fields covering an area of 358 ha (Fig. 3). Before the field surveys we had knowledge of 30 sites in the Szécsény basin, dating from the Neolithic to the early modern period. Based on the new results, a denser network of prehistoric settlements emerges in the research area. Thus far, we have covered 20 continuous areas, and only two smaller areas proved to be negative. In one location, where vegetation made field survey impossible, we located a prehistoric site by soil coring. In the next stage of research, we will calibrate our predictive model, 199 T
