Eszter Bánffy, Judit P. Barna (Hrsg), „Trans Lacum Pelsonem”. Prähistorische Forschungen in Südwestungarn (5500–500 v. Chr.) – Prehistoric Research in South-Western Hungary (5500–500 BC). Castellum Pannonicum Pelsonense, Bd. 7. Budapest-Leipzig, 237-251., 2019
Art historical and archaeological research generally links the emergence of prehistoric art to ri... more Art historical and archaeological research generally links the emergence of prehistoric art to rituals. The interpretative possibilities of anthropomorphic representations can now be broadened following the realisation of anthropologists that the human body has served, and still serves, as an important source of metaphors.
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Papers by P. Barna Judit
This paper seeks to answer the question whether it is possible to detect ritual movements in the Central European Neolithic that are similar to processions well-known in antiquity. We discuss first the characteristics
of processions in complex societies on the basis of a few examples from antiquity, and then reviews the prehistoric sites where archaeological evidence in the literature suggests their existence.
Examples from the history of religion show that the symbolic landscape that evokes the mythological past takes on meaning through a variety of ritual activities, and thus becomes tangible for the community. The
most important rituals can be organised in large ritual series, can take place in several different locations, and are often combined with spectacular processions. Procession is one of the most common community rituals. The procession has meaning and, as it moves through time and space, it can successfully communicate this meaning to society, it will be effective if it has an audience and is guided. Thus, its most important feature is the common process of moving a large number of people in orderly succession, or in a formal and ceremonial
manner. Processions are often parts of bigger religious ceremonies.
Here we stress the communal–ritual function of circular enclosures (rondels) from among their multifunctional
interpretations thus we examine processions of sacral character. Our starting point is the fact that rondels are demarcated from inhabited areas of settlements. It raises the possibility that on the occasions
of outstanding communal festivals, the participants walked to the venue in a formal manner. The narrow entrances interrupting the ditches and the openings on the palisades of the rondels have already
driven several researchers to formulate hypotheses on the existence of processions on a theoretical basis.
It is especially the ditches with access corridors and the multiple rondels with earth bridges accompanied by steep side-ditches on the basis of which it is supposed that attendees of the rituals could only have entered
the rondels in an ordered manner. The overview of some of the fundamental characteristics of processions in antiquity forms an interpreting framework for us. With the help of it, we re-evaluate the archaeological legacy of the Late Neolithic rondels (archaeological finds related to communal rituals, feasts, mobilisation of huge resources in terms of time and effort, etc.). Prehistoric research in Britain, which we consider as a model, interprets ritual landscape monuments (avenues, cursus monuments, pit/post alignments) as venues for processions. In the next part of our study, we endeavor to answer the question of whether similar landscape monuments like these may be detected in the context of Central European Neolithic rondels, primarily in the context of the Lengyel culture.
Possibilities and Limitations of Non-Invasive Investigations in the Light of the Research of the Ligetfalva-Gesztenyési-dűlő site
At the beginning of 2017, we recognized a large circular structure in a Google Earth satellite image. It was situated west from the village Ligetfalva in a field called Gesztenyési-dűlő in the middle part of County Zala. The structure was clearly visible in the image. The site is located on a southern slope of one of the hills of the Zalapáti Ridge micro-region stretching in a north-south direction. Based on its shape, size and topographical position, we presupposed that it was a Neolithic circular enclosure (rondel) unknown earlier. In order to give evidence of our presumption, we decided to use a set of non-invasive investigation methods: field survey, aerial surveillance by drone, geophysical survey and archaeoastronomical investigation.
Since we did not find any data according to this site in the archaeological database, we found out that it was a site newly explored by us. We discovered a former aerial photograph which was taken in the 1980s. The structure seems more complicated in the aerial photograph than in the satellite photograph, since it shows a triple circular enclosure. The difference between both of the images is most probably caused by intensive agricultural cultivation.
Aside from some chipped and polished stone artefacts, we collected only pottery fragments dated to the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture during the field survey. As an unexpected result of the field survey, we experienced that remains of former ramparts of the circular enclosure can still be seen on the site. Based on the scatter of the finds on the ground surface and the terrains conditions, the size of the site can be estimated at approximately 300 x 500 metres.
The extant of the examined area set out for the aerial surveillance by drone was about 2.5 ha. It was larger than the area of the circular enclosure detected in the aerial photograph thus not only the circular enclosure was studied but also its surroundings. Two series of aerial photographs were taken. The first series was taken from a height of 30 metres to record fine details. For overviewing the area, another set was taken from the height of 80 metres. As a result of the aerial photographing we obtained a high resolution digital elevation model. Due to a less favourable timing, crop marks could hardly be recognized. As a matter of fact, our main focus was not to detect these but record the Prehistoric ramparts. The ditches and the ramparts of the earthwork shown in the former aerial photo as a triple circular enclosure could not well be seen in this model, but the circular structure of the Neolithic enclosure could be perceived using elevation shading method.
We used geophysical survey to examine the structure and the ground plan of the circular enclosure in more detail. As a result of the measurement we obtained a clear image.
According to the archaeological interpretation of the magnetic plot the main data of the triple circular enclosure are the following: the diameter of the smallest, inner circular ditch is 58 metres, the dimeter of the middle circular ditch is 91 metres and the diameter of the largest circular ditch is 121 metres. It means that the ratio of the diameters of the three circular ditches are 2:3:4. The ground plan of none of the three ditches are regular circular. There are four entrances on both the inner and the middle circular ditches. There might be eight entrances on the outer circular ditch, but these cannot be identified definitely. All the entrances were constituted by earth bridges. The entrances pointing toward the cardinal points of the compass lie on a common axes.
Most of the entrances are bordered by ditches with rounded ends except the middle circular ditch. Here, the ends of the ditches bordering the western, the southern and probably the eastern entrances are slightly widening. Side wings do not joint to the middle circular ditch by the entrances but the ends of the ditches lean inward in the case of the northern and southern entrances. We can interpret this kind of ground plan as an architectural forerunner of the side wings. Both the inner and the middle circular ditches are accompanied by ramparts by the outer side. As it was already mentioned the number of the entrances on the outer circular ditch is uncertain. The magnetic image of the ditch shows interruptions on several points that differ from the entrances. Based on it we can suppose that the circular ditch was built section by section that is the arcs between the entrances were not dug at the same time but as a series of short sections.
The structure of the circular enclosure (rondel) displays a very regular, symmetrical arrangement. At the same time, the different number of the entrances on the circular ditches and the different shaping of the entrances in the case of the middle circular ditch show that the structures of the three ditches were not equal in all the details. The question, whether it is owing to chronological differences, can be answered by archaeological excavations only.
The rondel detected at the Ligetfalva-Gesztenyési-dűlő site is a circular enclosure with four entrances. The symmetrically arranged entrances and the strikingly regular ground plan refer to a common building principle deducible from the ground plans of the rondels of the Early Lengyel culture. There are several further characteristics reflecting these building principles:
The axes of the entrances are approximately at right angles. The ratio of the diameters of the three circular ditches are 2:3:4 which is the most common ratio among the triple rondels. The orientation of the entrance on the eastern side is very similar to the alignments of the Sé-Malomi dűlő and Sormás-Török-földek I rondels.
The orientation values of the entrances (started from the eastern entrance, clockwise and taking the north direction shown on a map as 0°): 85⁰, 170⁰, 260⁰ and 350⁰. Considering its orientation characteristics, this rondel fit strikingly our theory based on the investigation of the rondels of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture.
Translated by Judit P. Barna
As a result of a field walk and a geophysical survey, a circular enclosure (rondel) of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture was discovered at a site at Bezeréd-Teleki-dűlő II. Eight gates can be seen on both ditches of the markedly symmetrical double circular enclosure; in front of some of them, semi-circular affixes could be seen. Ditches of palisades were visible on both sides of the inner ditch. The alignment of the gates matches the pattern typical for the alignment of the circular enclosures in Western Hungary. The chronological relationship among the buildings outlined inside the circular enclosure, the Lengyel culture sites around the circular enclosure and the circular enclosure itself is not yet clarified.
Keywords: Late Neolithic, Lengyel culture, circular enclosure, geophysical measurement, archaeo- astronomy
often four causeways at right angles. Here the authors investigate the orientation of the causeways in 51 rondels belonging to the Lengyel culture and conclude that they correlate well with the sunrise. The idea of a solar cult receives some corroboration from patterns on contemporary pottery."
description of man made phenomenons discovered on the meadows of the Danube-Tisza interfluve sand ridge area is also represented. Most of them are combinations of unknown age dykes and ramparts and it
seems that these objects were made in the medieval times to delimit meadows. Aerial survey of the area produced a valuable dataset to recognize objects and map them.
különösen gazdag, de a Mántai-dûlõben is szép számmal
kerültek elõ idoltöredékek, állatszobrocskák, oltárok,
stb… Jelen dolgozatban a lengyeli kultúra azon
leleteit közlöm, melyeken viseleti elemeket ábrázoltak.
A 19 db lelet egy kivételével a Sormás – Törökföldekről
származik, 1. – 18. számú idoltöredékek (2–
11. kép; 12. kép 1–2; 13. kép 1–2), a Mántai-dűlőből
mindössze 1 db, a19. sz. ( 12. kép 3; 13. kép 3). Ez az
arány megfelel a korai lengyeli kultúra eltérõ arányú
jelenlétének a két lelõhelyen. Ezek a változatos, szépen
díszített idolok jól elemezhetõ forráscsoportot alkotnak.
A tanulmányban bemutatott és elemzett sormási
kisplasztikákon felismerhetõ viseleti elemek nagy
része, azaz a felsõruha (ing vagy tunika, ruha, ill.
szoknya), kötény, ékszerek (nyaklánc és nyakék), testfestés,
tetoválás és választékkal tagolt frizura szakirodalmi
adatok alapján jól ismert. Az itt közölt
leletek két új adattal gyarapítják eddigi ismereteinket:
1. A csizma-modell alapján egy újkőkori környezetből
korábban nem ismert lábbeli rekonstruálható szinte
teljes pontossággal. 2. Az összesen nyolc idol
töredéken megfigyelt több soros, tagolt öv a női
viselet, s ezen belül is nagy valószínűséggel a szertartási
öltözet része. Ábrázolása csak idolokról (Sé –
Malomi dûlõ, KALICZ 1995: Abb. 32, 4, 6–9),
valamint egy séi anthropomorf edényről ismert
(KÁROLYI 2003: 208); használata is valószínûleg a
szakrális szférához kapcsolódott, istennői (papnői)
attribútum lehetett.
Ma mintegy negyven késő neolitikus (az i.e. V. évezred első fele) árokrendszert ismerünk a Dunántúlon, közülük Zala megyében jelenleg hat lelőhelyről összesen hét létesítményt. Ezek mind alaprajzi variációikat, mind pedig kronológiai helyzetüket tekintve meglehetősen változatosak. A tanulmány relatív kronológiai helyzetük szerint, az idősebbtől a fiatalabb felé haladva ismerteti röviden a lelőhelyeket: Sormás-Török-földek, Gétye-Gyomgyálólejtős, Becsehely-Gesztenyési-földek, Bezeréd-Teleki-dűlő, Nagykanizsa-Palin-Anyagnyerőhely és Balatonmagyaród- Hídvégpuszta.
Eddigi tapasztalataink alapján úgy véljük, hogy Zala megye területe számos lehetőséget kínál a késő neolitikus körárkok tanulmányozására. Távlati terveink között szerepel a kutatás volumenének kiterjesztése a Zalapáti-hát egészére, mivel a jelenleg ismert zalai körárkos lelőhelyek közel fele ezen a kistájon fekszik. Lelőhelyeink részletesebb vizsgálata nem csak a körárkoknak a településhálózatban beöltött szerepével, ill. kialakulásukkal és fejlődésükkel kapcsolatban hozhat új eredményeket, hanem a körárkok funkciójának jobb megértéséhez is hozzájárulhatnak (pl.: a bezerédi körárok belsejében mutatkozó nagyméretű épületek mibenlétének tisztázása révén). A dunántúli körárkok adatai tökéletesen alátámasztják a napfelkeltéhez való tájolás elméletét. A keleti
kapuk tájolása nem csupán beleesik a felkelő nap horizonton kirajzolt ívébe, hanem azon belül is szűk határok közt koncentrálódnak, ami egy közös kitűzési elvre, esetleg közös alapítási rítusra utal.
This paper seeks to answer the question whether it is possible to detect ritual movements in the Central European Neolithic that are similar to processions well-known in antiquity. We discuss first the characteristics
of processions in complex societies on the basis of a few examples from antiquity, and then reviews the prehistoric sites where archaeological evidence in the literature suggests their existence.
Examples from the history of religion show that the symbolic landscape that evokes the mythological past takes on meaning through a variety of ritual activities, and thus becomes tangible for the community. The
most important rituals can be organised in large ritual series, can take place in several different locations, and are often combined with spectacular processions. Procession is one of the most common community rituals. The procession has meaning and, as it moves through time and space, it can successfully communicate this meaning to society, it will be effective if it has an audience and is guided. Thus, its most important feature is the common process of moving a large number of people in orderly succession, or in a formal and ceremonial
manner. Processions are often parts of bigger religious ceremonies.
Here we stress the communal–ritual function of circular enclosures (rondels) from among their multifunctional
interpretations thus we examine processions of sacral character. Our starting point is the fact that rondels are demarcated from inhabited areas of settlements. It raises the possibility that on the occasions
of outstanding communal festivals, the participants walked to the venue in a formal manner. The narrow entrances interrupting the ditches and the openings on the palisades of the rondels have already
driven several researchers to formulate hypotheses on the existence of processions on a theoretical basis.
It is especially the ditches with access corridors and the multiple rondels with earth bridges accompanied by steep side-ditches on the basis of which it is supposed that attendees of the rituals could only have entered
the rondels in an ordered manner. The overview of some of the fundamental characteristics of processions in antiquity forms an interpreting framework for us. With the help of it, we re-evaluate the archaeological legacy of the Late Neolithic rondels (archaeological finds related to communal rituals, feasts, mobilisation of huge resources in terms of time and effort, etc.). Prehistoric research in Britain, which we consider as a model, interprets ritual landscape monuments (avenues, cursus monuments, pit/post alignments) as venues for processions. In the next part of our study, we endeavor to answer the question of whether similar landscape monuments like these may be detected in the context of Central European Neolithic rondels, primarily in the context of the Lengyel culture.
Possibilities and Limitations of Non-Invasive Investigations in the Light of the Research of the Ligetfalva-Gesztenyési-dűlő site
At the beginning of 2017, we recognized a large circular structure in a Google Earth satellite image. It was situated west from the village Ligetfalva in a field called Gesztenyési-dűlő in the middle part of County Zala. The structure was clearly visible in the image. The site is located on a southern slope of one of the hills of the Zalapáti Ridge micro-region stretching in a north-south direction. Based on its shape, size and topographical position, we presupposed that it was a Neolithic circular enclosure (rondel) unknown earlier. In order to give evidence of our presumption, we decided to use a set of non-invasive investigation methods: field survey, aerial surveillance by drone, geophysical survey and archaeoastronomical investigation.
Since we did not find any data according to this site in the archaeological database, we found out that it was a site newly explored by us. We discovered a former aerial photograph which was taken in the 1980s. The structure seems more complicated in the aerial photograph than in the satellite photograph, since it shows a triple circular enclosure. The difference between both of the images is most probably caused by intensive agricultural cultivation.
Aside from some chipped and polished stone artefacts, we collected only pottery fragments dated to the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture during the field survey. As an unexpected result of the field survey, we experienced that remains of former ramparts of the circular enclosure can still be seen on the site. Based on the scatter of the finds on the ground surface and the terrains conditions, the size of the site can be estimated at approximately 300 x 500 metres.
The extant of the examined area set out for the aerial surveillance by drone was about 2.5 ha. It was larger than the area of the circular enclosure detected in the aerial photograph thus not only the circular enclosure was studied but also its surroundings. Two series of aerial photographs were taken. The first series was taken from a height of 30 metres to record fine details. For overviewing the area, another set was taken from the height of 80 metres. As a result of the aerial photographing we obtained a high resolution digital elevation model. Due to a less favourable timing, crop marks could hardly be recognized. As a matter of fact, our main focus was not to detect these but record the Prehistoric ramparts. The ditches and the ramparts of the earthwork shown in the former aerial photo as a triple circular enclosure could not well be seen in this model, but the circular structure of the Neolithic enclosure could be perceived using elevation shading method.
We used geophysical survey to examine the structure and the ground plan of the circular enclosure in more detail. As a result of the measurement we obtained a clear image.
According to the archaeological interpretation of the magnetic plot the main data of the triple circular enclosure are the following: the diameter of the smallest, inner circular ditch is 58 metres, the dimeter of the middle circular ditch is 91 metres and the diameter of the largest circular ditch is 121 metres. It means that the ratio of the diameters of the three circular ditches are 2:3:4. The ground plan of none of the three ditches are regular circular. There are four entrances on both the inner and the middle circular ditches. There might be eight entrances on the outer circular ditch, but these cannot be identified definitely. All the entrances were constituted by earth bridges. The entrances pointing toward the cardinal points of the compass lie on a common axes.
Most of the entrances are bordered by ditches with rounded ends except the middle circular ditch. Here, the ends of the ditches bordering the western, the southern and probably the eastern entrances are slightly widening. Side wings do not joint to the middle circular ditch by the entrances but the ends of the ditches lean inward in the case of the northern and southern entrances. We can interpret this kind of ground plan as an architectural forerunner of the side wings. Both the inner and the middle circular ditches are accompanied by ramparts by the outer side. As it was already mentioned the number of the entrances on the outer circular ditch is uncertain. The magnetic image of the ditch shows interruptions on several points that differ from the entrances. Based on it we can suppose that the circular ditch was built section by section that is the arcs between the entrances were not dug at the same time but as a series of short sections.
The structure of the circular enclosure (rondel) displays a very regular, symmetrical arrangement. At the same time, the different number of the entrances on the circular ditches and the different shaping of the entrances in the case of the middle circular ditch show that the structures of the three ditches were not equal in all the details. The question, whether it is owing to chronological differences, can be answered by archaeological excavations only.
The rondel detected at the Ligetfalva-Gesztenyési-dűlő site is a circular enclosure with four entrances. The symmetrically arranged entrances and the strikingly regular ground plan refer to a common building principle deducible from the ground plans of the rondels of the Early Lengyel culture. There are several further characteristics reflecting these building principles:
The axes of the entrances are approximately at right angles. The ratio of the diameters of the three circular ditches are 2:3:4 which is the most common ratio among the triple rondels. The orientation of the entrance on the eastern side is very similar to the alignments of the Sé-Malomi dűlő and Sormás-Török-földek I rondels.
The orientation values of the entrances (started from the eastern entrance, clockwise and taking the north direction shown on a map as 0°): 85⁰, 170⁰, 260⁰ and 350⁰. Considering its orientation characteristics, this rondel fit strikingly our theory based on the investigation of the rondels of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture.
Translated by Judit P. Barna
As a result of a field walk and a geophysical survey, a circular enclosure (rondel) of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture was discovered at a site at Bezeréd-Teleki-dűlő II. Eight gates can be seen on both ditches of the markedly symmetrical double circular enclosure; in front of some of them, semi-circular affixes could be seen. Ditches of palisades were visible on both sides of the inner ditch. The alignment of the gates matches the pattern typical for the alignment of the circular enclosures in Western Hungary. The chronological relationship among the buildings outlined inside the circular enclosure, the Lengyel culture sites around the circular enclosure and the circular enclosure itself is not yet clarified.
Keywords: Late Neolithic, Lengyel culture, circular enclosure, geophysical measurement, archaeo- astronomy
often four causeways at right angles. Here the authors investigate the orientation of the causeways in 51 rondels belonging to the Lengyel culture and conclude that they correlate well with the sunrise. The idea of a solar cult receives some corroboration from patterns on contemporary pottery."
description of man made phenomenons discovered on the meadows of the Danube-Tisza interfluve sand ridge area is also represented. Most of them are combinations of unknown age dykes and ramparts and it
seems that these objects were made in the medieval times to delimit meadows. Aerial survey of the area produced a valuable dataset to recognize objects and map them.
különösen gazdag, de a Mántai-dûlõben is szép számmal
kerültek elõ idoltöredékek, állatszobrocskák, oltárok,
stb… Jelen dolgozatban a lengyeli kultúra azon
leleteit közlöm, melyeken viseleti elemeket ábrázoltak.
A 19 db lelet egy kivételével a Sormás – Törökföldekről
származik, 1. – 18. számú idoltöredékek (2–
11. kép; 12. kép 1–2; 13. kép 1–2), a Mántai-dűlőből
mindössze 1 db, a19. sz. ( 12. kép 3; 13. kép 3). Ez az
arány megfelel a korai lengyeli kultúra eltérõ arányú
jelenlétének a két lelõhelyen. Ezek a változatos, szépen
díszített idolok jól elemezhetõ forráscsoportot alkotnak.
A tanulmányban bemutatott és elemzett sormási
kisplasztikákon felismerhetõ viseleti elemek nagy
része, azaz a felsõruha (ing vagy tunika, ruha, ill.
szoknya), kötény, ékszerek (nyaklánc és nyakék), testfestés,
tetoválás és választékkal tagolt frizura szakirodalmi
adatok alapján jól ismert. Az itt közölt
leletek két új adattal gyarapítják eddigi ismereteinket:
1. A csizma-modell alapján egy újkőkori környezetből
korábban nem ismert lábbeli rekonstruálható szinte
teljes pontossággal. 2. Az összesen nyolc idol
töredéken megfigyelt több soros, tagolt öv a női
viselet, s ezen belül is nagy valószínűséggel a szertartási
öltözet része. Ábrázolása csak idolokról (Sé –
Malomi dûlõ, KALICZ 1995: Abb. 32, 4, 6–9),
valamint egy séi anthropomorf edényről ismert
(KÁROLYI 2003: 208); használata is valószínûleg a
szakrális szférához kapcsolódott, istennői (papnői)
attribútum lehetett.
Ma mintegy negyven késő neolitikus (az i.e. V. évezred első fele) árokrendszert ismerünk a Dunántúlon, közülük Zala megyében jelenleg hat lelőhelyről összesen hét létesítményt. Ezek mind alaprajzi variációikat, mind pedig kronológiai helyzetüket tekintve meglehetősen változatosak. A tanulmány relatív kronológiai helyzetük szerint, az idősebbtől a fiatalabb felé haladva ismerteti röviden a lelőhelyeket: Sormás-Török-földek, Gétye-Gyomgyálólejtős, Becsehely-Gesztenyési-földek, Bezeréd-Teleki-dűlő, Nagykanizsa-Palin-Anyagnyerőhely és Balatonmagyaród- Hídvégpuszta.
Eddigi tapasztalataink alapján úgy véljük, hogy Zala megye területe számos lehetőséget kínál a késő neolitikus körárkok tanulmányozására. Távlati terveink között szerepel a kutatás volumenének kiterjesztése a Zalapáti-hát egészére, mivel a jelenleg ismert zalai körárkos lelőhelyek közel fele ezen a kistájon fekszik. Lelőhelyeink részletesebb vizsgálata nem csak a körárkoknak a településhálózatban beöltött szerepével, ill. kialakulásukkal és fejlődésükkel kapcsolatban hozhat új eredményeket, hanem a körárkok funkciójának jobb megértéséhez is hozzájárulhatnak (pl.: a bezerédi körárok belsejében mutatkozó nagyméretű épületek mibenlétének tisztázása révén). A dunántúli körárkok adatai tökéletesen alátámasztják a napfelkeltéhez való tájolás elméletét. A keleti
kapuk tájolása nem csupán beleesik a felkelő nap horizonton kirajzolt ívébe, hanem azon belül is szűk határok közt koncentrálódnak, ami egy közös kitűzési elvre, esetleg közös alapítási rítusra utal.
This paper offers a preliminary report on the non-invasive investigation of an archaeological site at Gétye in Western Hungary. The geophysical survey and several field surveys confirmed our previous assumption on the presence of a Late Neolithic circular enclosure, known as rondels. The ground plan of the enclosure is outlined clearly. The rondel has a simple oval ground plan with four accesses (or gates). It is made up of a single ditch with a V-shaped cross-section. The axes of the four openings are oriented 66°, 141°, 255°, and 333° of north, respectively. The pottery and stone artefacts, red painted sherds among them, collected on the site date the rondel to the Late Neolithic, to the classical phase of the Lengyel culture. Soil samples from soil profiles and augerings were collected and analysed. Soil forming processes and possible human impact were studied based on field descriptions and laboratory analyses. The top depth of Horizon C, the soil texture and the calcium carbonate content indicated that erosion, which is characteristic in this region, had a major impact on soil development. The extremely high phosphorus content of the deeper soil horizons confirms the anthropogenic impact inside the rondel. The distribution of soil texture and calcium carbonate content along soil depth varies with soil depth in the case of the soil profile and augered samples from outside the ditch. In contrast, the calcium carbonate content and texture of the soil profile within the ditch do not change markedly between 60 and 190 cm, confirming the previous presence of the rondel and its later infilling from a pedological view, in line with the archaeological findings.
The contributions are arranged chronologically, starting with the Neolithic. The main focus of the volume is on the Copper and Bronze Ages, with an excursus into the Late La Tène period at the end. While the volume contains results from recent fieldwork undertaken by contract archaeology, and even more importantly those of completely new methods like ancient DNA research, the long-overdue publication of some material has also been included. The studies also reflect the decades-long, intensive Neolithic and Chalcolithic research activity of Zsuzsanna M. Virág and Judit P. Barna and their teams on behalf of the Balaton Museum of Keszthely.
Research into the prehistoric settlement pattern of south-western Transdanubia kicked off in 1979. A governmental decision came into force at that time, to re-inundate the former marshland in the estuary of the Zala river and the south-western part of Lake Balaton, in the Little Balaton region. Ever since the 19th century, the land, which had been intentionally drained in the hope of promoting agricultural use, failed to be productive. Thus, before the re-cultivation of the area, which today is under strict natural protection, the archaeological and heritage sites of the region had to be surveyed. Fieldwalking, surveys and excavations were carried out in cooperation with the Thury György Museum (Nagykanizsa), the Göcsej Museum (Zalaegerszeg), the Balatoni Museum (Keszthely) and the Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Some of the contributions to the present volume are intended to belatedly offset the debt owed to this past research.
The years of the Little Balaton project proved to be an initial step in long-term and large-scale survey and excavation activity further west, in the valley connecting Nagykanizsa to Zalaegerszeg (e.g. the Hahót project, 1986–1993) and eventually the basin lying close to the Austrian and Slovenian border (the Kerka project, 1995–2002). These projects triggered further research into prehistory and produced some conclusive results from the Neolithic to the Iron Age in the broader region of Western Transdanubia. Finally, the investigations conducted before the M7 motorway was built in the 1990s along the southern shore of Lake Balaton and towards Croatia gave the opportunity to record further sites.
The present volume could draw on this long research tradition. Yet, it is not unusual that the publication of such a composite volume takes time to come to fruition. Most of the manuscripts were handed in by their authors as early as the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016. Thus, the lack of references to literature published after that time is not the authors’ fault but a symptom of the “sickness” affecting multi-authored volumes and hence the result of the long-drawn-out editing process. We would like to thank all our authors for their patience and hope that the resulting volume has been worth the long wait.
One of the authors, László Horváth, sadly did not see this book come out. He had long been committed to the archaeology of the Iron Age and Roman period in south-western Hungary and took part in the investigations and excavations of the Little Balaton project and at Keszthely-Fenékpuszta. His essay in our volume was to be the last in a distinguished series of publications.
We hope that this collection of studies on the late prehistoric settlement and occupation of the Little Balaton area is not merely paying back an old debt but a presentation of useful and stimulating results from current research and an inspiration to all those interested in the lives of the early settlers of this region.
Described and published here is a selection of the finds from certain settlement features, which are compared with the finds recovered from the fill of the enclosure. The settlement finds represent the classical and the late Lengyel (Lengyel IIIa) period, while the finds from the enclosure are later, dating from the end of the Lengyel sequence (Lengyel IIIb). The occurrence of Balaton-Lasinja finds in the material recovered from the enclosure raises a spate of other questions too. In the lack of precise find contexts, it remains uncertain whether the finds from the enclosure should be assigned to the period when the enclosure was constructed, to the period of its use or to the period of its infilling after its abandonment.
The position of a house is influenced by environmental and non-environmental factors. Besides the winds, sunlight, heat, etc. it is argued in anthropology that there is no phase in building traditional houses in which the position is not connected to a rite. Careful investigation of the orientation can reveal some attitude of prehistoric peoples to their natural surroundings that involve not only the terrestrial but also the celestial ‘landscape’ as an inseparable unity.