Zalai Múzeum 15. Horváth László 60 éves (Zalaegerszeg, 2006)

Irena Šavel: The Excavation Site „Behind Raščica near Krog” the Settlement of the Somogyvár–Vinkovci Culture

ZALAI MÚZEUM 15 2006 135 Irena Savel The Excavation Site „Behind Rascica near Krog" - the Settlement of the Somogyvár-Vinkovci Culture In accordance with the project of the protection of archaeological heritage, the section of the planned Vucja vas - Beltinci motorway was examined extensively and thoroughly in 1999 (Fig. 1). Potential archaeological sites that were located during this phase were further examined with the so-called „intrasite method". The works were carried out by Dr. Bojan Djuric, the president of SAAS, and the favourable results enabled rescue excavations of archaeological sites on the planned section of the aforementioned motorway. Field-examinations showed that the section of the Vucja vas - Beltinci motorway had been settled in all archaeological periods. Thus an archaeological site was confirmed at the location Behind Rascica near Krog and a plan for rescue excavations (covering 22,469 m

2

) on this area was proposed to the company for motorways of the Republic of Slovenia. The archaeological excavations, which took place from 7

th May to 27

th September, 2001 and from 20

th June to 7

th August, 2002, were under the domain of The Provincial Museum of Murska Sobota. The excavation site „Behind Rascica near Krog" is located on a plain 280 meters south-west from the exculpatory channel of Ledava-Mura, between the villages of Bakovci and Krog. Before the excavations, the area was covered with conjoined fields that belonged to different owners. The surface of the site was divided into sectors (I-VIII), which were subdivided into quadrants of 10x10 meters. The geological accompaniment and geomorphological description revealed that the soil consists of sandy gravel that had been deposited by the river Mura during the period of the last glaciation in the Alps. The Mura extended four kilometres or more in width at that time, with its interior densely interwoven with individual active river beds that altered their position regularly. Amidst the active river beds longitudinal sandbanks were formed, and the latter can be regarded as the basis for the archaeological sites. The areas between these sandbanks were subsequently filled with various sediments, while at certain regions the sedimentation managed to reach the very tops of the sandbanks. Certain flood-sediments (sand and sandy silt) acted as fills in the Mura and other nearby brooks and streams. Because of their unique topography certain areas between sandbanks functioned as river beds and were responsible for the formation of the sand. Indubitably, these processes took place in all archaeological periods and were the main cause of the constant alteration of the landscape, especially in the sense of its ever greater flatness. Human influence is most visible in a series of changes in the natural environment, such as the drop in the original level of groundwater or the process of moving of material from higher to lower parts that was a consequence of intensive farming. At the site of Behind Rascica there is a sandbank, deposited by the river Mura and forms the geological basis of the site. Below the first (cultivable) soil-strata, oxidized sand was found; which had been formed as fluvial sediment before the process of cultivation. In certain areas the sandbank is covered in sand-sediments, while in certain other cases a 90 cm thick stratum can be found below the arable land which one could interpret as a cultivable stratum. Such thickness can be understood as a result of a sudden influx of flood material to the basic surface. At three distinct areas the river beds flowing in the direction west-north-west were filled up completely. Archaeological (cultural) strata Stratum no. 1 - arable land; it consisted of darkbrown clay, measuring 0.25 m to 0.35 m in thickness; it covered the whole surface of the land; it contained several items of prehistoric and more modern pottery, building materials and numerous other finds of recent date.