Marta, Livius et al.: The Late Bronze Age Settlement of Nyíregyháza-Oros „Úr Csere” (Satu Mare, 2010)

II. Daniel V. Sana - Liviu Marta: The Fortification System of the Settlement

II. THE FORTIFICATION SYSTEM OF THE SETTLEMENT

The fortified settlement of „Úr-Csere” is located southeast Oros (Fig. 1), in an area with many sand dunes that slightly exceed 100 m in altitude. It has a swampy area at west and southwest, drained today by several sewers (Fig. 2).

The dune on which the settlement is located has an elongated shape, oriented approximately to north-south and it covers more than a kilometer, being crossed by several field roads. We believe that the fortification, located at the northern boundary of the dune, used to surround an oval surface of approximately 9 ha, with the sizes of 400 x 230 m (Fig. 2).

The data on the fortification elements were described in summary in other studies too10. Detected on the west side of the settlement, they consist of a trench with the researched length of about 120-125 meters, which crosses obliquely the southern half of the area investigated, following the level curve of the higher eastern area (Fig. 3). Both its width and its depth are variable, the first with a mouth opening measuring between 250 and 550 cm11. The profile is generally “V” shaped but the bottom is rounded (Fig. 13-14). The complex had a depth of approximately 120-150 cm from the tailings layer. Due to the inclination of the land, in some cases it was found that the depth as to the outside of the mouth was smaller than that from the inside. The filling soil is also variable, encountering, from place to place, layers of gray or brown earth, or mixtures thereof. As a constant, a compact lenticular deposit of charcoal and burning residues appears almost everywhere in the area studied, at the bottom of this complex. This layer probably originates from the wood structure of the palisade, located behind the ditch, in its immediate vicinity. The palisade appears to have had a violent end, being fired and its burnt remains flowing into the ditch. However, as the amount of such remains are quite poor, we are not dealing with a complex type of palisade, but rather with a light structure, probably made from a nettle of poles and twigs, otherwise we cannot explain the absence of beams traces and the so reduced amount of charcoal. At the same time, a large quantity of shells appeared permanently in the filling of the bottom of the

10 Bejinariu-Székely-Sana 2008, p. 193; Bejinariu-Székely-Sana 2009, p. 60.

11 We believe that the 550 m opening is due to the failure, from here to there, of the sandy soil in which the trench was dug; the size of the opening in the areas where the “V” shape, its initial shape, as per out guess, is preserved, does not exceed 250 cm.

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