The 2003 KRAP Archaeological Field School Overview, by William Parkinson

With generous funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF-0105851 and NSF-0139122), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Florida State University, we were able to continue the undergraduate field school with excavations at Vésztõ-Bikeri and to continue our geophysical research at Körösladány-Bikeri.

The 2003 field school was carried out from June through August and included undergraduate students from seven different universities in the United States. In addition, several graduate students from Florida State University, Ohio State University, and the University of Michigan also worked on the project in various capacities. As usual, several Hungarian students from the József Attila University in Szeged helped with the investigations. We also were fortunate to receive visits from several specialists including: Dr. Apostolos Sarris (Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas), Dr. János Makkay (Institute of Archaeology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Dr. Katalin Hegedus, Dr. Pál Raczky (Eötvös Lórand University, Budapest), Dr. Pál Sümegi (József Attila University, Szeged), Dr. Ferenc Horváth (József Attila University, Szeged), Dr. Katalin Vályi (József Attila University, Szeged), Dr. Alice Choyke (Aquincum Museum), Dr. Laszló Bartosieweicz (Eötvös Lórand University, Budapest), Dr. Erika Gál (Institute of Archaeology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences), and Dr. Imre Szátmari (Munkácsy Mihály Múzeum, Békéscsaba). A complete list of the project participants is available on this website.

As always, we want to thank the wonderful people of Vésztõ, and especially the mayor, Mr. János Kaszai. Without their continued support of our endeavors, our research would be impossible.

Geophysical Research at Körösladány-Bikeri

Dr. Apostolos Sarris continued his geophysical prospection of Early Copper Age (Tiszapolgár) settlement sites in the region by conducting magnetometric research at the site of Körösladány-Bikeri (Figure 1). His preliminary results revealed circular anomalies around the settlement similar to those identified at Vésztõ-Bikeri in 2002. The anomalies appear to be associated with foundation trenches for wattle and daub palisades that surrounded the settlement. Unlike Vésztõ-Bikeri, where several rectangular structures were identified at the center of the site, no clearly delineated rectangular anomalies were immediately apparent at Körösladáy-Bikeri (Figure 2).

Excavation and surface collections from the two sites produced similar assemblages of Early Copper Age ceramics. These two circular, enclosed Tiszapolgár settlements are less than 50 meters apart, and their proximity raises several questions about residential mobility and land use during the period. Our continued research at Körösladány-Bikeri in 2005 promises to clarify the temporal and social relationship between these sites.

Excavations at Vésztõ-Bikeri

The 2003 excavations at Vésztõ-Bikeri helped clarify the relationship between the structures at the center of the site and the other anomalies that were identified by the geophysical survey.

At the center of the site in Blocks 2 and 3 we excavated most of the wall trenches and floor levels of Features 4, 14, and 5 (Figure 3). The common northern wall trench of Features 4 and 14 is approximately eight meters long. There is a large circular pit just east of the wall trench at the NE corner of the rectangular structure, but we have not found an eastern wall trench.

We were only able to identify part of the northeastern wall trench associated with Feature 5 in Block 3. This wall trench runs from the northwest to the southeast across Block 3. We have not located Feature 5's other three wall trenches. An infant burial with Early Copper Age grave goods was found just outside this northeast wall trench (Figure 4).

During our excavations in Block 2, we identified another intrusive burial dating to the Hungarian Conquest Period (Figure 5).

We also opened a large unit - Block 9 - to expose the rectangular feature due west of Feature 4 that was identified during our geophysical research in 2002 (link to: http://www.anthro.fsu.edu/koros/fieldschool/field2001/5.gif). A team of Hungarians exposed the remains of this large structure (which extends eastward into Block 2 and shared a wall trench with Feature 4). Unlike the structures in Blocks 2 and 3, which were burned before they were eventually covered, this structure seems to have been dismantled, but not burned (Figures 6 and 7). In some places, small segments of the daub walls were preserved above the wall trenches.

This structure (Feature 15) may pre-date the Feature 4/14 structure. Several pits that appear to be associated with Feature 4/14 cut into the back filled wall trenches associated with the Feature 15 structure. Our preliminary interpretation suggests that after the Feature 15 structure was abandoned, the Feature 4/14 rectangular structure was built and the western wall posts of the later structure were sunk into the filled-in eastern wall trench of Feature 15.

We also opened a small unit (Block 8) to explore a geophysical anomaly Sarris had identified as a thermal feature a few meters south of Block 2. The feature turned out to be a deep bell-shaped pit filled with over a meter of vitrified daub fragments (Figure 8). At the top of the daub layers, at least two kilns or ovens were constructed. These features were built in sequence. They all had fired clay walls, and the last had a hard baked earthen top with vents. A few ceramic and bone fragments were found inside and outside of these "oven" features (Figure 9).

A large 20 x 10 m unit - Block 7 - was placed over the southeastern quadrant of the circular anomalies/fortification system that we had identified in 2002 (Figure 10). The outer trench was u-shaped in cross section and contained at least two episodes of filling (including an extensive burned lens) (Figure 11). The inner trench was narrower and contained several postholes that appear to have been part of a substantial wattle and daub wall (Figure 12). Inside this wall trench we also identified a series of very large postholes that may have formed a third wall, or supported some sort of interior structure behind the second wall. A Copper Age burial was placed over one of the filled-in interior postholes (after the post had been removed). The burial contained a tightly flexed male skeleton that was placed on its right side, with a few Tiszapolgár ceramic vessels and some fresh water mollusk shells. The individual appears to have been bundled before being buried (Figure 13).

Future Research

In 2004, we will be conducting a study season to continue cataloging, documenting, and analyzing the materials we have recovered during our excavations at Vésztõ-Bikeri and Körösladány-Bikeri. The field school will resume in 2005, when we intend to continue our excavations at Körösladány-Bikeri and to continue geophysical prospection at other Early Copper Age sites in the region.

To date, our research has provided the first glimpse into the socio-economic organization of an Early Copper Age settlement on the Great Hungarian Plain. We hope with continued support from granting organizations and our Hungarian associates we will continue to build a picture that will allow us to understand the various changes that occurred at the end of the Neolithic in the Carpathian Basin.