Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE AERIAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN TRANSYLVANIA (2009-2010) Zoltán CZAJLIK Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, HU SÁNDOR BERECKI Mure§ County Museum, Tárgu Mure$, RO László RUPNIK Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, HU SÁNDOR JÓZSEF SZTÁNCSUJ Székely National Museum, Sfäntu Gheorghe, RO The topographical method which is based on aerial photography has a history of 90 years in Britain and at least 50years in some other Western European countries. Its most expressive results, that had an important influence on archaeology, were achieved mostly in regions which have a low relief profile: either plains or smaller hills, where the pastoral farming and the mono cultivated grain fields made it possible to intensively study larger areas. Nevertheless, in the last 20 years there were excellent results achieved in mountainous landscapes (ex. in Austria by M. Doneus, in Switzerland by P. Nagy, in Slovenia and Greece by D. Grosman). The principal objective of the present paper is a brief presentation of the first results of our research developed on the experience achieved in Hungary and adopted for Transylvania. Keywords: aerial photography, topography, Transylvania, earthworks, fortifications, barrows, roads, crop marks The Institute of Archaeology of the Eötvös Loránd University is engaged in the adoption of the aerial archaeological methods to the Hungarian facilities since 1993. Started as a Hungarian-French cooperation at the beginnings, in the present the project consists of a series of independent research programs, resulting in an archive of about 35,000 photos which refer to more than 1800 new and 500 already known archaeological sites. This is a significant collection in the context of the Carpathian Basin. In March 2009 a new opportunity emerged for the exploration of new regions, when the Institute of Archaeological Sciences at the Eötvös Loránd University, the Department of Archaeology of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, the Institute for Archaeology and History of Art at MARISIA XXXI, p. 7-17
