Csilla Balogh | Istanbul Medeniyet University (original) (raw)

Books by Csilla Balogh

The first thematic symposium on the Huns in Türkiye was held within the Istanbul Medeniyet Univer... more The first thematic symposium on the Huns in Türkiye was held within the Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Arts and Humanities on November 13–14, 2023. The “International Symposium for Hun Studies” also stands out as the first interdisciplinary symposium covering the Asian Huns, European Huns, and even the post-Hun period. This distinguishes itself from previous events that focused solely on one aspect – be it historical, archaeological, or philological – of the Huns. Our primary aim in organizing the symposium was to summarize the findings of Hun studies to date, conduct a situation analysis, and provide assessments regarding their future tasks. Our aim was to bring together scholars from various disciplines who study the Huns and the Hun period, aiming to unite them at a common point, foster diverse perspectives, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge among different fields of science.
At the symposium, which was attended by researchers from six countries, 21 presentations were made in the fields of history, art history, archaeology, philology, linguistics, archaeometry, archaeogenetics, and geophysics (detailed symposium program is available at the back of the proceedings book). The proceedings book of the symposium contains 14 papers supported by notes, scientific references, and images.

The museum collection of ‘Stara Bulgaria - The Old Bulgaria’ in Varna is one of the largest priva... more The museum collection of ‘Stara Bulgaria - The Old Bulgaria’ in Varna is one of the largest private archaeological collections in all of Eastern Europe. The selection presented in the book represents the whole of early medieval Eastern European metalwork (Balkan-Byzantine, Late Antique, Eastern European steppes, etc.).

The present compendium of sixteen studies addresses one of the highly controversial issues in Hun... more The present compendium of sixteen studies addresses one of the highly controversial issues in Hungarian and international scholarship, namely the power centre(s) of the Avar Khaganate, the polity ruling the Carpathian Basin from 568 to the early ninth century, their possible location and the different avenues in their research as well as the many diverse perspectives in their study.

A 16 tanulmányból összeállított kötet a magyar és a nemzetközi kora középkori kutatás egy
máig vitatott kérdésével, a Kárpát-medencét 568-tól a 9. század elejéig egy politikai egységbe foglaló Avar Kaganátus hatalmi központjának/központjainak problematikájával, lokalizálási lehetőségeivel, a kérdéskör kutatási irányaival, megközelítési módjaival foglalkozik.

The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare l... more The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare large area, is situated within the territory of the city of Zamárdi located on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. Nearly 2700 graves of the cemetery have been excavated until now, and almost the same amount is uncovered yet. Although onetime robbers ravaged and looted 95% of the graves, the cemetery is one of the richest find places of the period. Its various grave goods attest to the multi-rooted material culture of the community once using the cemetery, their ethnical complexity, and diverse commercial connections, as well as the cultural influences that arrived from various directions. Apart from eastern, nomadic cultural roots, local, Late Antique Byzantine and Germanic elements also formed the culture of this community.
The scientific processing and publication of the find material recovered from the 2368 graves until 1997 is finished already. However, only a few information have come to light so far regarding the results of the excavation restarted in 2015, since the restoration and the processing of the finds is still in progress. Even so, we decided to give a foretaste of our recent results by presenting some new phenomena and interesting find assemblages. Our observations fit well with the results of the earlier research, therefore we selected artefacts and groups of artefacts from the material of the previous excavations too, thus aiming to offer an overview of the most important characteristics of the cemetery. We infused life into our professional results by colourful reconstruction drawings.
The excavation of the cemetery continues, and we hope that the uncovering of each and every new grave contributes to our effort to show an even more precise and authentic image to laymen and professionals about the Avar period community that once used the cemetery in Zamárdi-Rétiföldek.

The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare l... more The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare large area, is situated within the territory of the city of Zamárdi located on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. Nearly 2700 graves of the cemetery have been excavated until now, and almost the same amount is uncovered yet. Although onetime robbers ravaged and looted 95% of the graves, the cemetery is one of the richest find places of the period. Its various grave goods attest to the multi-rooted material culture of the community once using the cemetery, their ethnical complexity, and diverse commercial connections, as well as the cultural influences that arrived from various directions. Apart from eastern, nomadic cultural roots, local, Late Antique Byzantine and Germanic elements also formed the culture of this community.
The scientific processing and publication of the find material recovered from the 2368 graves until 1997 is finished already. However, only a few information have come to light so far regarding the results of the excavation restarted in 2015, since the restoration and the processing of the finds is still in progress. Even so, we decided to give a foretaste of our recent results by presenting some new phenomena and interesting find assemblages. Our observations fit well with the results of the earlier research, therefore we selected artefacts and groups of artefacts from the material of the previous excavations too, thus aiming to offer an overview of the most important characteristics of the cemetery. We infused life into our professional results by colourful reconstruction drawings.
The excavation of the cemetery continues, and we hope that the uncovering of each and every new grave contributes to our effort to show an even more precise and authentic image to laymen and professionals about the Avar period community that once used the cemetery in Zamárdi-Rétiföldek.

A regional landfill was set up at the border of Felgyő in 2006 that made excavations in the area ... more A regional landfill was set up at the border of Felgyő in 2006 that made excavations in the area necessary. In 2006 the excavation covered 103.000 m2, then in 2007 it included a further 10.444 m2 on the area of the access road and the drain to the establishment. Besides signs of settlements from the Bronz Age and the Sarmatian period, an Avar settlement was excavted on site abounding in archaeological features. The Avar features are scattered at the whole excavation site. The boundaries of the settlement was not found, it means that the size of the settlement was wider than 11 hectares. According to our present knowledge, this Avar settlement, excavated in Felgyő-Kettőshalmi dűlő at the Farago-tanya (homestead), is one of the largest among the settlements of similar age in the Carpathian Basin.
During the excavation 4.665 archaeological features were discovered, 1.280 features – 6 graves and 1.274 settlement features – derive certainly from the Avar period on the grounds of the superposition of the finds and the features. It is also likely that amongst the 1.364 as unknown and 136 as belonging to the Migration period classified features can be some that rather belong to the Avar period of the site.
By reason of the ceramic materials we can surely outline 2 phases of chronology: first phase can be dated from the three-third of the 7th century, on the basis of chronological place of the baking bells and earthen cauldrons we can date the second phase of the settlement to the 8th century, but if we take the wheel-made ceramics into consideration we can extend this date to the early 9th century.

This book is a partly revised and updated version of my doctoral thesis, A Duna-Tisza köze avar k... more This book is a partly revised and updated version of my doctoral thesis, A Duna-Tisza köze avar kori betelepülésének problémái [The settlement of the Avars in the Danube–Tisza interfluve], defended in 2014. The main goal of the thesis was to address the issue of the occupation and settlement of the Danube–Tisza interfluve through the collection, classification and assessment of the region’s Avar-period finds, most of which were unpublished. The issues discussed in the thesis were not restricted to the region’s occupation, namely to the question of who had arrived to the region first and why, and how they took possession of the region; I also examined whether there is any evidence for the subsequent arrival and settlement of other groups and for internal migrations, and I also examined the responses of the communities living in the region to the various processes in the Avar Khaganate, how they reacted to environmental changes, the communication of the communities living in the region with other areas within and beyond the Avar Khaganate, and their “official” and interpersonal contacts.
The text of the thesis was slightly revised later, and a few new chapters were added which addressed in greater detail certain issues that had received less attention in the thesis. This book therefore offers a more comprehensive picture of the Avar-period archaeological relics of the Danube-Tisza interfluve known to date. Despite the roughly seventy thousand graves known from some two and half thousand sites in the Carpathian Basin, we still lack regional overviews of burial customs and find assemblages based on a systematic collection and comprehensive assessment of the relevant material, even though many questions can only be answered in general terms and, very often, but vaguely in the lack of such systemising works. This study seeks to offer a comprehensive overview of the Avar period in the Danube–Tisza interfluve, which can serve as a basis for further research in this region and as a comparative material for other regions in the Carpathian Basin.

Rec.: http://files.archaeolingua.hu/2017TA/recenzi%f3_balogh_eng_17ta.pdf

Papers by Csilla Balogh

Çalışma, kaynaklarda adı geçen silahların varlığının arkeolojik buluntularla doğrulanıp doğrulana... more Çalışma, kaynaklarda adı geçen silahların varlığının arkeolojik buluntularla doğrulanıp doğrulanamayacağını ve kaynakların sessiz kaldığı diğer silah türlerinin bilinip bilinmediğini gösterecektir.

The article will show whether the existence of the weapons mentioned in the sources can be verified in the archaeological material and whether other types of weapons are known, which the sources are silent about.

The archaeological research of the conquering Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin began in 1834, m... more The archaeological research of the conquering Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin began in 1834, more than 180 years ago, with the excavation of the first conquering Hungarian burial in Hungary. Since then, we have been trying to get to know the earliest history of the Hungarian people lost in the distant past with the help of many disciplines, since it is a period that is poor in written sources. In addition to linguistic and historical research, archeology, and more recently, closely related archaeometry and archaeogenetic studies provide the most new data.
There is a long tradition of researching clothing in the archaeological research of the conquering Hungarians. Since neither contemporary depictions nor written sources with detailed descriptions are known in this regard, we can primarily form an image of the former clothing based on archaeological finds and excavation observations. In the climatic conditions of the Carpathian Basin, not much remains of the magnificent clothes of the past, so we can basically base it on the examination of the observed position of metal clothing ornaments in graves, and the few textile remains. In addition, we can use the clothing of the steppe peoples and, to a lesser extent, ethnographic data as a parallel for the oriental clothing of the conquering Hungarians.
The study aims to briefly summarize what we have learned so far about the clothing of the conquering Hungarians based on archaeological research. As part of this, what we have found out so far about the material, color, value, and cut of clothing will be briefly presented, and the data on overgarments and undergarments, headgear, belts, and footwear will be discussed in groups. Wearing jewelry was closely related to clothing, so we briefly present the most popular types of jewelry among the conquering Hungarians.

This article aims to briefly summarize the knowledge about the hairstyles and hair ornaments of m... more This article aims to briefly summarize the knowledge about the hairstyles and hair ornaments of men in the Avar period. Several of the contemporary sources mention long, braided hair of the Avar men, which they decorated with colorful ribbons. However, we only rarely find traces of this striking hairstyle in the Avar Period depictions. Therefore, at the examination of Avar hairstyles we must mainly rely on the richest and most important group of sources, which are archaeological finds and excavation observations.

Radiocarbon, Oct 1, 2018

ABSTRACTRecent advancements in accelerator mass spectroscopic (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) analytical ... more ABSTRACTRecent advancements in accelerator mass spectroscopic (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) analytical methods and instrumentation offer us reliable conventional 14C ages with highly reduced analytical uncertainty for archeological bone collagen. However, after calibration this may be still too high for archeologists in periods where archeochronology is capable of attaining a resolution of 25–30 yr. Furthermore, there are cases when wiggles in the calibration curve yield wider age ranges than initially expected. For the Avar Age in the Carpathian Basin (568 to early 9th century AD) reliable archeotypochronology is available for the 7th century AD alone. The date of Avar invasion (568 AD) is precisely known. Precise archeological dating for the late 6th and the 9th centuries is lacking, calling for other methods to be introduced. This paper reports the first 14C dates for an Early Avar Age cemetery, Makó-Mikócsa. According to archeotypochronology, the cemetery was in use for three generations until the mid-7th century AD. The imprecision in 14C chronology arising from wiggles in the IntCal13 curve was significantly reduced by relative stratigraphy-controlled Bayesian modeling. Introduction of further age constraints from archeotypochronology into the model reduces broad absolute age ranges providing more constraint ages.

Magyar Őstörténeti Témacsoport Kiadványok, 2017

A kaposvári Rippl-Rónai Múzeum közleményei /, 2022

The first thematic symposium on the Huns in Türkiye was held within the Istanbul Medeniyet Univer... more The first thematic symposium on the Huns in Türkiye was held within the Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Arts and Humanities on November 13–14, 2023. The “International Symposium for Hun Studies” also stands out as the first interdisciplinary symposium covering the Asian Huns, European Huns, and even the post-Hun period. This distinguishes itself from previous events that focused solely on one aspect – be it historical, archaeological, or philological – of the Huns. Our primary aim in organizing the symposium was to summarize the findings of Hun studies to date, conduct a situation analysis, and provide assessments regarding their future tasks. Our aim was to bring together scholars from various disciplines who study the Huns and the Hun period, aiming to unite them at a common point, foster diverse perspectives, and facilitate the exchange of knowledge among different fields of science.
At the symposium, which was attended by researchers from six countries, 21 presentations were made in the fields of history, art history, archaeology, philology, linguistics, archaeometry, archaeogenetics, and geophysics (detailed symposium program is available at the back of the proceedings book). The proceedings book of the symposium contains 14 papers supported by notes, scientific references, and images.

The museum collection of ‘Stara Bulgaria - The Old Bulgaria’ in Varna is one of the largest priva... more The museum collection of ‘Stara Bulgaria - The Old Bulgaria’ in Varna is one of the largest private archaeological collections in all of Eastern Europe. The selection presented in the book represents the whole of early medieval Eastern European metalwork (Balkan-Byzantine, Late Antique, Eastern European steppes, etc.).

The present compendium of sixteen studies addresses one of the highly controversial issues in Hun... more The present compendium of sixteen studies addresses one of the highly controversial issues in Hungarian and international scholarship, namely the power centre(s) of the Avar Khaganate, the polity ruling the Carpathian Basin from 568 to the early ninth century, their possible location and the different avenues in their research as well as the many diverse perspectives in their study.

A 16 tanulmányból összeállított kötet a magyar és a nemzetközi kora középkori kutatás egy
máig vitatott kérdésével, a Kárpát-medencét 568-tól a 9. század elejéig egy politikai egységbe foglaló Avar Kaganátus hatalmi központjának/központjainak problematikájával, lokalizálási lehetőségeivel, a kérdéskör kutatási irányaival, megközelítési módjaival foglalkozik.

The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare l... more The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare large area, is situated within the territory of the city of Zamárdi located on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. Nearly 2700 graves of the cemetery have been excavated until now, and almost the same amount is uncovered yet. Although onetime robbers ravaged and looted 95% of the graves, the cemetery is one of the richest find places of the period. Its various grave goods attest to the multi-rooted material culture of the community once using the cemetery, their ethnical complexity, and diverse commercial connections, as well as the cultural influences that arrived from various directions. Apart from eastern, nomadic cultural roots, local, Late Antique Byzantine and Germanic elements also formed the culture of this community.
The scientific processing and publication of the find material recovered from the 2368 graves until 1997 is finished already. However, only a few information have come to light so far regarding the results of the excavation restarted in 2015, since the restoration and the processing of the finds is still in progress. Even so, we decided to give a foretaste of our recent results by presenting some new phenomena and interesting find assemblages. Our observations fit well with the results of the earlier research, therefore we selected artefacts and groups of artefacts from the material of the previous excavations too, thus aiming to offer an overview of the most important characteristics of the cemetery. We infused life into our professional results by colourful reconstruction drawings.
The excavation of the cemetery continues, and we hope that the uncovering of each and every new grave contributes to our effort to show an even more precise and authentic image to laymen and professionals about the Avar period community that once used the cemetery in Zamárdi-Rétiföldek.

The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare l... more The so far known largest Avar period cemetery of the Carpathian Basin, covering a 5-5.5 hectare large area, is situated within the territory of the city of Zamárdi located on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. Nearly 2700 graves of the cemetery have been excavated until now, and almost the same amount is uncovered yet. Although onetime robbers ravaged and looted 95% of the graves, the cemetery is one of the richest find places of the period. Its various grave goods attest to the multi-rooted material culture of the community once using the cemetery, their ethnical complexity, and diverse commercial connections, as well as the cultural influences that arrived from various directions. Apart from eastern, nomadic cultural roots, local, Late Antique Byzantine and Germanic elements also formed the culture of this community.
The scientific processing and publication of the find material recovered from the 2368 graves until 1997 is finished already. However, only a few information have come to light so far regarding the results of the excavation restarted in 2015, since the restoration and the processing of the finds is still in progress. Even so, we decided to give a foretaste of our recent results by presenting some new phenomena and interesting find assemblages. Our observations fit well with the results of the earlier research, therefore we selected artefacts and groups of artefacts from the material of the previous excavations too, thus aiming to offer an overview of the most important characteristics of the cemetery. We infused life into our professional results by colourful reconstruction drawings.
The excavation of the cemetery continues, and we hope that the uncovering of each and every new grave contributes to our effort to show an even more precise and authentic image to laymen and professionals about the Avar period community that once used the cemetery in Zamárdi-Rétiföldek.

A regional landfill was set up at the border of Felgyő in 2006 that made excavations in the area ... more A regional landfill was set up at the border of Felgyő in 2006 that made excavations in the area necessary. In 2006 the excavation covered 103.000 m2, then in 2007 it included a further 10.444 m2 on the area of the access road and the drain to the establishment. Besides signs of settlements from the Bronz Age and the Sarmatian period, an Avar settlement was excavted on site abounding in archaeological features. The Avar features are scattered at the whole excavation site. The boundaries of the settlement was not found, it means that the size of the settlement was wider than 11 hectares. According to our present knowledge, this Avar settlement, excavated in Felgyő-Kettőshalmi dűlő at the Farago-tanya (homestead), is one of the largest among the settlements of similar age in the Carpathian Basin.
During the excavation 4.665 archaeological features were discovered, 1.280 features – 6 graves and 1.274 settlement features – derive certainly from the Avar period on the grounds of the superposition of the finds and the features. It is also likely that amongst the 1.364 as unknown and 136 as belonging to the Migration period classified features can be some that rather belong to the Avar period of the site.
By reason of the ceramic materials we can surely outline 2 phases of chronology: first phase can be dated from the three-third of the 7th century, on the basis of chronological place of the baking bells and earthen cauldrons we can date the second phase of the settlement to the 8th century, but if we take the wheel-made ceramics into consideration we can extend this date to the early 9th century.

This book is a partly revised and updated version of my doctoral thesis, A Duna-Tisza köze avar k... more This book is a partly revised and updated version of my doctoral thesis, A Duna-Tisza köze avar kori betelepülésének problémái [The settlement of the Avars in the Danube–Tisza interfluve], defended in 2014. The main goal of the thesis was to address the issue of the occupation and settlement of the Danube–Tisza interfluve through the collection, classification and assessment of the region’s Avar-period finds, most of which were unpublished. The issues discussed in the thesis were not restricted to the region’s occupation, namely to the question of who had arrived to the region first and why, and how they took possession of the region; I also examined whether there is any evidence for the subsequent arrival and settlement of other groups and for internal migrations, and I also examined the responses of the communities living in the region to the various processes in the Avar Khaganate, how they reacted to environmental changes, the communication of the communities living in the region with other areas within and beyond the Avar Khaganate, and their “official” and interpersonal contacts.
The text of the thesis was slightly revised later, and a few new chapters were added which addressed in greater detail certain issues that had received less attention in the thesis. This book therefore offers a more comprehensive picture of the Avar-period archaeological relics of the Danube-Tisza interfluve known to date. Despite the roughly seventy thousand graves known from some two and half thousand sites in the Carpathian Basin, we still lack regional overviews of burial customs and find assemblages based on a systematic collection and comprehensive assessment of the relevant material, even though many questions can only be answered in general terms and, very often, but vaguely in the lack of such systemising works. This study seeks to offer a comprehensive overview of the Avar period in the Danube–Tisza interfluve, which can serve as a basis for further research in this region and as a comparative material for other regions in the Carpathian Basin.

Rec.: http://files.archaeolingua.hu/2017TA/recenzi%f3_balogh_eng_17ta.pdf

Çalışma, kaynaklarda adı geçen silahların varlığının arkeolojik buluntularla doğrulanıp doğrulana... more Çalışma, kaynaklarda adı geçen silahların varlığının arkeolojik buluntularla doğrulanıp doğrulanamayacağını ve kaynakların sessiz kaldığı diğer silah türlerinin bilinip bilinmediğini gösterecektir.

The article will show whether the existence of the weapons mentioned in the sources can be verified in the archaeological material and whether other types of weapons are known, which the sources are silent about.

The archaeological research of the conquering Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin began in 1834, m... more The archaeological research of the conquering Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin began in 1834, more than 180 years ago, with the excavation of the first conquering Hungarian burial in Hungary. Since then, we have been trying to get to know the earliest history of the Hungarian people lost in the distant past with the help of many disciplines, since it is a period that is poor in written sources. In addition to linguistic and historical research, archeology, and more recently, closely related archaeometry and archaeogenetic studies provide the most new data.
There is a long tradition of researching clothing in the archaeological research of the conquering Hungarians. Since neither contemporary depictions nor written sources with detailed descriptions are known in this regard, we can primarily form an image of the former clothing based on archaeological finds and excavation observations. In the climatic conditions of the Carpathian Basin, not much remains of the magnificent clothes of the past, so we can basically base it on the examination of the observed position of metal clothing ornaments in graves, and the few textile remains. In addition, we can use the clothing of the steppe peoples and, to a lesser extent, ethnographic data as a parallel for the oriental clothing of the conquering Hungarians.
The study aims to briefly summarize what we have learned so far about the clothing of the conquering Hungarians based on archaeological research. As part of this, what we have found out so far about the material, color, value, and cut of clothing will be briefly presented, and the data on overgarments and undergarments, headgear, belts, and footwear will be discussed in groups. Wearing jewelry was closely related to clothing, so we briefly present the most popular types of jewelry among the conquering Hungarians.

This article aims to briefly summarize the knowledge about the hairstyles and hair ornaments of m... more This article aims to briefly summarize the knowledge about the hairstyles and hair ornaments of men in the Avar period. Several of the contemporary sources mention long, braided hair of the Avar men, which they decorated with colorful ribbons. However, we only rarely find traces of this striking hairstyle in the Avar Period depictions. Therefore, at the examination of Avar hairstyles we must mainly rely on the richest and most important group of sources, which are archaeological finds and excavation observations.

Radiocarbon, Oct 1, 2018

ABSTRACTRecent advancements in accelerator mass spectroscopic (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) analytical ... more ABSTRACTRecent advancements in accelerator mass spectroscopic (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) analytical methods and instrumentation offer us reliable conventional 14C ages with highly reduced analytical uncertainty for archeological bone collagen. However, after calibration this may be still too high for archeologists in periods where archeochronology is capable of attaining a resolution of 25–30 yr. Furthermore, there are cases when wiggles in the calibration curve yield wider age ranges than initially expected. For the Avar Age in the Carpathian Basin (568 to early 9th century AD) reliable archeotypochronology is available for the 7th century AD alone. The date of Avar invasion (568 AD) is precisely known. Precise archeological dating for the late 6th and the 9th centuries is lacking, calling for other methods to be introduced. This paper reports the first 14C dates for an Early Avar Age cemetery, Makó-Mikócsa. According to archeotypochronology, the cemetery was in use for three generations until the mid-7th century AD. The imprecision in 14C chronology arising from wiggles in the IntCal13 curve was significantly reduced by relative stratigraphy-controlled Bayesian modeling. Introduction of further age constraints from archeotypochronology into the model reduces broad absolute age ranges providing more constraint ages.

Magyar Őstörténeti Témacsoport Kiadványok, 2017

A kaposvári Rippl-Rónai Múzeum közleményei /, 2022

Hadak útján XXIV. : A népvándorláskor fiatal kutatóinak XXIV. konferenciája. Esztergom, 2014. november 4–6.

A tanulmány egy Makó határában található, kis sírszámú, teljesen feltárt szarmata temetővel fogla... more A tanulmány egy Makó határában található, kis sírszámú, teljesen feltárt szarmata temetővel foglalkozik. A temetkezési szokások elemzésén túl bemutatjuk a temető külön-leges ékszeranyagát, a viseletre vonatkozó megfigyeléseinket. A leletanyag kiemelkedő darabjai, elsősorban a fibulák, az üveg orsógombok és a változatos gyöngyanyag alapján vizsgáljuk a temető leletanyagának kapcsolatrendszerét. A Kr. u. 2. század második fele és a 3. század első évtizedei közötti időszakban használt, a Maros közelében létesült temető egy olyan szarmata közösség tagjainak temetkezőhelye, akiknek emlékanyagában a Fekete-tenger melléki kapcsolatok mellett a felső-germaniai–raetiai limes menti és a dél-pannoniai, dalmatiai területekkel is szoros kapcsolatok tükröződnek.

This presentation provides an overview of subsistence patterns of an Early Avar Age community inh... more This presentation provides an overview of subsistence patterns of an Early Avar Age community inhabiting the Maros valley of SE Hungary during the 6-7 th centuries A.D. via comparative analysis of the archeology complemented by results of natural scientific investigations. A settlement of this community is unknown, but 251 graves of their cemetery near the Makó-Mikócsa halom (Makó-Mikócsa pile) have been excavated. A stunning feature is the exceptionally high number of animal burials, which appear in three forms: as food, attachment or sacrifice. The sheer number of animal bones is a clear indication of a dominantly nomadic agropastoral economic system. 37% had animal bones representing food remains with a prevalence of lamb. Sacrificial remains include dominantly cattle, sheep with a highly subordinate number of horse. Horn and bone tools made of red deer ribs and antlers highlight the importance of hunting. No tools indicating plant cultivation are known in the records. Yet detailed analysis of textile remains attached to some iron tools attest the use and cultivation of flax and hemp. To confirm and widen knowledge gained regarding subsistence archeological data was complemented with information on bone geochemistry (trace elements of Mn, Zn, Cu; C, N, O isotopes). Wheat and other cereal produce have high manganese content resulting high concentrations of this element stored in the body and the bones. Values below 500 pp generally indicate a meat & dairy based diet. In Makó the average Mn concentrations ranged between 160-400 ppm. Zn is above 200 ppm, again indicating meat consumption. Cu ranged between 20-40 ppm.The δ 15 N stable isotope values for the Avars at Makó ranged from 9.2-14.6 ‰. The general range is lower than that indicating freshwater fish in the diet congruently with the lack of fishbones at all sites. However, the δ 15 N values indicate the use of secondary products of domesticated livestock. Individuals characterized by δ 15 N values of a mixed diet or dominantly plant carb diet were missing from Makó. The Early Avar community at Makó had dominantly C4 plants in their diet (millet). This clearly corroborates the emplacement of millet porridge into the burial jars. As other Central European populations occupying the region utilized wheat and barley, both C3 plants, as staple crops the Avars of Makó were non-locals to the area. Geochemical, sedimentological analysis of soil (Corg, inorg, pH, EC, MS, grain-size, color, 8 elements) retrieved from jars of the Makó cemetery also aided elucidation of the nature of organic matter emplaced into jars. Spatial distribution of marker elements connected to the presence of flesh and cereal meals (Mn, Cu, Zn) in the pots were highly correlated with the amount of Corg. Elevated values of K, Mg helped identification of wood ash and burnt flesh, bone remains. Others (Ca, Mg) may indicate the burial of water bank plants (reed, bulrush).