Achaeometrical Research in Hungary II., 1988

ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY - Andrea PÖLÖS: Medieval smith’s workshop in Budaújlak

In the middle of the building working pits were excavated since, however, a modern well had cut through the layers, the full sizes of these features could not be observed. On the basis of the burnt pits, the inner fireplace and the iron objects found in the fill, the function of the renovated building can be identified as a blacksmith's workshop.

4 The dating of the workshop was carried out by archaeomagnetic methods , using samples from the inner open fireplace in the western side of the building. The results have yielded a dating to the 12

th - beginning of the 13

th centuries. Vessels analogous to the Austrian ware of the building sacrifice were in use during the early 13 century. Thus, the construction, use and renovation of this house all may have taken place during the first half of the 13

th century. All finds from the building's fill corroborate this opinion. A parallel to this building is House no. 10 in Visegrád-Várkert, excavated by István Méri in 1963. This dwelling was similarly transformed into a blacksmith's workshop by pits dug into the floor, which were full of iron dross and raw iron. J. Kovalovszki ed.: A magyar falu régésze Méri István 1911-1976 (István Méri: The archaeologist of the Hungarian villages) Cegléd, 1986. 5 Data were collected and processed by Dr. Péter Márton, Department of Geophysics of the Loránd Eötvös University. Quote here are based on his kind verbal communication and his letters. The round seal motif is dated to the beginning of the 13

th century by Lower Austrian research. I. Holl: Kőszeg vára a középkorban (The Castle of Kőszeg in the Middle Ages) Fontes Archaeologici Hungáriáé Budapest (1992), 28. footnotes 23,29. Also see Felgenhauer-Schmiedt, S. Fundmaterial des Hausbergs zu Gaiselberg, NÖ. Archaeologica Austriaca 61-62 (1977): 209-336, esp. 241-43, and Keramische Bodenfunde aus Wien. Mittelalter-Neuzeit. Wien, 1992. Figs.55, 41. 246