Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)
Remains of a village destroyed during the Mongolian invasion at Cegléd (6100-4500 ВС) (4500-2700 ВС) <2700/2500-800 ВС) The site lies near Cegléd by Road 4, in an area known as Bürgeházi-dűlő. An Árpádian Age church erected on stone foundations stood on a sandy hillock called Madarász-halom, which has been levelled by now. The remains of the church and the 201 graves of the cemetery around it were investigated by Judit Topái in 1968- 1969. The ditches between the graves yielded various iron implements. A coin hoard of Friesach denars and of the denars of King Béla IV came to light before the start of the excavation. A 44,672 m2 large area on both sides of the road was investigated in 2005- 2006. Altogether 1646 archaeological features were uncovered, dating from the Bronze Age (Makó and Vatya cultures), the Sarmatian period, the Avar Age and the Árpádian Age, as well as the post-medieval period. Most features represented the remains of an 11 th—13th century Árpádian Age settlement, which was destroyed during the Mongolian invasion of 1241. Two main occupation phases could be distinguished based on the settlement’s layout. The first villagers settled north of the hill on which the church was erected, while the site’s northern and western part was occupied in a later period. House 1344, a roughly 20 m2 large timber-framed building with a plastered floor, was torched by the invaders. The skeletons of two 8-11 years old children, who had huddled together, and of a 20-30 years old woman lay on the baking platform of the oven. The older child, a boy, held a 25 cm long iron implement in one hand and a silver denar of King Béla IV lay by his ribs. Cooking vessels, agricultural implements (scythes, sickles, shears, a spade), axes, an iron belt buckle, an iron horse-bit, the iron hoops of a wooden bucket, the iron fittings of a wooden chest, a chest lock and the iron fittings of the door lay scattered on the floor. The finds from the other houses suggest that most of the villagers managed to flee in time. The sorry fate of those who did not is reflected by the bodies found in the pits, ditches and smoking pits. • Gyöngyi Gulyás 1. Iron implements from the house 2. Oven of the burnt building with human skeletons 3. Vessels from House 1344 4. Aerial view of House 1344
