Cadastral field works on prehistoric mounds in the central part of the Tiszántúl region

Ádám Bede

doi:10.1556/072.2019.70.2.2

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the present paper is to provide a comprehensive report on the cadastral works of mounds in the central part of Tiszántúl (the region east of the Tisza River), taking the burial mounds of the Late Copper Age Yamnaya entity as a starting point. Theoretical and field research began around the beginning of the 19th century, and in the second half of the 20th century systematic site registration took place, mainly due to the so-called ‘Archaeological Sites of Hungary’ project. Later on national surveys and local initiatives were carried out, but they are of very different quality. In addition to the main characteristics and results of the creation of these cadastres, we also outline further scientific studies on mounds.

Highlights

Mounds are salient, determining cultural elements of the landscape of the Great Hungarian Plain, but are of outstanding geological and conservational significance
Other cultures that built and used mounds in the Great Hungarian Plain and in the Tiszántúl region during prehistory and the Migration Period (Scythians, Sarmatians, Hungarians, Cumans, etc.) are not covered in our paper. The reason for this is that, compared to the Yamnaya culture, their barrows are relatively small in number, and for some ethnic groups it is highly questionable if they practiced mound building in the Carpathian Basin at all, despite the fact that there had been strong tendencies in this regard in all of them in Eastern Europe
The published and unpublished volumes for Békés County of the ‘Archaeological Sites of Hungary’ (MRT) series provide a milestone in this research

Summary

Introduction

Mounds are salient, determining cultural elements of the landscape of the Great Hungarian Plain, but are of outstanding geological and conservational significance Through their detailed, multifaceted examination we can study the history of millennia, the everyday lives of the people and communities, their archaeological heritage and customs buried in them, and the inhabited environment, the flora and fauna that once lived there, and the geological formations on the surface and underneath.. In the Carpathian Basin, primarily in the Great Hungarian Plain, and especially in the region east of the Tisza River, from the Late Copper Age to the Early Bronze Age, the Yamnaya entity of Eastern European origin – called the People of the Pit Grave Kurgans – played a decisive role.3 Their heritage are the thousands of mounds that still exist today. The reason for this is that, compared to the Yamnaya culture, their barrows are relatively small in number, and for some ethnic groups it is highly questionable if they practiced mound building in the Carpathian Basin at all, despite the fact that there had been strong tendencies in this regard in all of them in Eastern Europe.

Objectives

Conclusion