Excavations at Körösladány-Bikeri, 2005, Block 5 Overview
by Julia Giblin

The goal for the 2005 excavations in block 5 was to excavate a long rectangular area that crossed three trench-like anomalies encircling the Körösladány-Bikeri settlement. These features were identified by magnetometry and resembled similar circular trenches excavated at the nearby site Vészt o-Bikeri. Our team initially identified the surface location of all three features after removal of the plow zone. Unfortunately due to weather and time constraints we were only able to completely excavate the inner and outer trenches.

The circular feature located closest to the settlement area was a narrow trench. Along the length of the trench floor were a series of post hole impressions suggesting that the trench functioned to support a structure. The dirt used to fill this feature was consistent throughout and contained very few artifacts, possibly indicating that the trench was dug and filled in at one time.

The feature excavated on the outer edge of the site was much wider than the inner feature. The trench fill was composed of several distinct layers of fill suggesting that the trench was filled in over a long period of time. Certain layers of the trench fill contained concentrations of cultural material such as pottery sherds and animal bones, whereas others seemed to be the result of the natural accumulation of sediments. This might suggest that the outer trench functioned as an open ditch.