Abstract

The multi-period archaeological site Szolnok – Milléri-holtág part I-II is located in the north-eastern vicinity of Szolnok, approximately 5 km from the town, on the high bank of the Milléri-holtág. The total excavated area is almost 27 000 m2 . The preventive excavation was performed by the staff of the Hungarian National Museum in two campaigns (in 2014 and 2015) connected with the M4 motorway constructions. Most excavated settlement features belonged to a Middle Iron Age (Scythian Period) and a Late Iron Age (Celtic Period) rural settlement with scattered structures. Besides these, other settlement features were found from the Neolithic, Late Bronze Age and Medieval Period (Árpád Period). It has to be mentioned that in the excavated part of the Scythian Period settlement, only circular and oval structures were found. The rectangular features – typical for other settlements of the period – were absent in Milléri-Holtág part I-II. However, the archaeological finds were typical: ceramic assemblages were characterised by long-lasting forms (pots, bowls) of the Iron Age household ceramics. The assemblages of the Late Iron Age features were very similar to the vessel types of the earlier period. The partition of the artefacts can only be made with the help of some characteristic forms and ornamentations that appeared in a close unit. The ground stone assemblage of the site (primarily fragments of grinding stones) was analysed with petrographic and geochemical methods. Based on these investigations, the finds' most frequent raw material type could be identified with the Domoszló-type pyroxene andesite from the Mátra Mountains, studied intensively in the past few years. Other types of andesite were present in the ground stone assemblage in smaller amounts. The identification of the source areas of these different andesite raw material types needs more exploration, not just in the territory of Hungary, but also in some areas beyond the borders, e.g. Subcarpathia (Zakarpatska Oblast, Ukraine), Eastern-Slovakia, Transylvania (Romania).

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