M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)
Analysis - TAKÁCS István: Collecting biological finds by water-sieving from the well of a mediaeval village
TAKÁCS István* COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL FINDS BY WATER-SIEVING FROM THE WELL OF A MEDIAEVAL VILLAGE Abstract - In the excavations of mediaeval Lászlófalva in Bács-Kiskun county (under the guidance of Dr. András Pálóczy Horváth) a well of the village was found with a contemporary layer of rich micro findings which could adequatelly be separated. The small artefacts of animal and plant remains were recovered by means of water-sieving. However, we cannot generalize our experience gained at Lászlófalva for the conditions and circumstances vary in each excavation. In our case this excavation technique could be carried out quite successfully because the most important economic factor, i.e. water, was available in large quantities. The economic aspects of the work are also interesting in thatthe wages of the staff were dependent on the excavation budget. Even so these rich archaeological findings proved that modern excavations cannot do without the technique of water-sieving while gathering micro artefacts. Introduction Large scale settlement excavations were recently carried out at the site of Lászlófalva (called Szentkirály during the Middle Ages) in Bács-Kiskun county. The site is located some 20 km east of the town of Kecskemét in Central Hungary. Archaeological work is directed by Dr. András Pálóczy Horváth. During the excavations of the Medieval village in 1985, a well was discovered. The bottom of this featue was reached in the 1986 field season. The lowest layer of the well is well preserved. It is made up by the clay deposited during the life of the settlement. The well was filled by the Medieval inhabitants, and its contents were preserved in the anaerobic environment. The volume of the studied sediment was approximately 0.75 m 3 . The whole material was carefully separated from its environment (in order to avoid mixing with later materials) and spread on aplastic sheet. Separation of the components was carried out by water-sieving. Previous experience has already shown that the number of small finds dramatically increases when a series of screens with various mesh sizes is used. A concrete example of this improvement could be seen during the course of excavations at the site of Keszthely — Fenékpuszta where the fills from a number of pits were water-sieved in cooperation with Dr. Miklós Fresch. This method multiplied not only the number of plant remains but, in addition, yielded a great quantity of fish bones. Description of the working procedure Bucketfuls of the relevant layer were brought up from the well and immediately separated. During this work water started filtering into the well again, thus previous soaking of the material was not necessary prior to the actual water-sieving work. Difficulty was caused, however, by the fact that this silty, clay-like substance could be further diluted only after strong kneading. Parts of a series of industrial laboratory screens with selected mesh sizes were used during the water-sieving procedure. * Hungarian Agricultural Museum. H-1146 Budapest, Városliget, Széchenyi sziget
