M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)

Prospecting - KISS János, PATTANTYUS-Á. Miklós, SELMECZI László: Geophysical research at a Jazygian' settlement, Négyszállás

KISS János*, PATTANTYUS-Á. Miklós*, SELMECZILászló** GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH AT A JAZYGÏAN SETTLEMENT NÉGYSZÁLLÁS Abstract - The structure of a medieval Jazygian settlement was investigated by means of dc resistivity profiling. The resistivity highs indicate the places of the houses according to the trial trench traversing an anomaly. An experimental survey was performed using an electromagnetic conductivity meter in order to replace the cumbersome dc measurements. We examined whether the electromagnetic anomalies revealed the same features as the dc method. Archaeological review Excavation has been carried out since 1980 at the Jazygian cemetery and settlement called Négyszállás (Jászdózsa), which was inhabited from the 13th century until about the 16th century. The work of the past four years has mainly been concerned with the excavation of the church and the cemetery around it whereas the excavation of the settlement has only partly been performed due to its relatively large extent. The excavation of this settlement is of extremely great significance as far as medieval Hungarian history is concerned since it represents a transition between the villages of the Arpadian age and those of the 15th—16th century. In the backyards of the village establishments, storage pits, hovels and other structures are found beside the semisubterranean houses. It is just this transitory age which can be traced by research into the structure of the Jazygian villages. Excavation of a cemetery, in which the graves he close to each other, allows one to obtain a very large amount of data, however, the excavation of a much larger area is necessary to gain some knowledge about the structure of a settlement. This is why the archaeologist needs geophysical prospecting, which provides information on a larger area in the case of settlements. Thus, on the basis of the survey of a larger area, excavation can be concentrated on a perspective site, and preliminary information on the structure of the settlement may possibly be obtained, too. Direct current resistivity measurements Judging from the excavations performed in the area of the settlement of Négyszállás before starting the geophysical prospecting there are fireplaces in most semisubterranean houses, moreover, some of the houses also have stone foundations. This was also supported by surface examination of the area. On the basis of this information, shallow depth direct current resistivity measurement was chosen as the main method of geophysical prospecting. Using the dipole-dipole electrode array, measurements were performed for reference depths of 15 m and 2 m. The settlement extends for a length of almost 2 km, therefore several smaller (25X50 m) areas were selected for the measurements. From the resistivity data, anomaly maps were constructed which were processed by a smoothing filter. * Eötvös Loránd Geophysical Institute of Hungary H-1440 Budapest, P.O.B. 35. ** Cultural Ministry of Hungary, Department of Museology H-1884 Budapest, P.O.B. 1.