Papers by Tibor Sztankovánszki
ÚJ NEMZEDÉK A szegedi Régészeti Tanszék tehetséggondozásának elmúlt évtizedei, 2020
Archaeologists of the Móra Ferenc Museum carried out preventive excavations prior to the construc... more Archaeologists of the Móra Ferenc Museum carried out preventive excavations prior to the construction of Motorway M43, in the area northeast from Makó in 2013, supervised by András Benedek. In the outskirts of Makó called
Dáli-ugar a fragment of both a Bronze Age settlement and a Sarmatian settlement were excavated as well as a late
Sarmatian cemetery dated to the period ranging from the 4th to the early 5th century AD. Two Sarmatian pottery kilns
unearthed in the settlement have already been published (see Bene-Benedek–Benedek 2017). The excavated part of
the cemetery comprised 16 graves in a small, 50×30 meter area. The graves were organized in four rows. 14 graves
were oriented south-north, while two west-east. 14 graves had been completely or partially robbed. Four graves contained no grave goods, just human remains.
Female graves yielded a bronze earring with a hook-and-loop clasp and a silver earring with a flat ending. Infant
graves contained two semicircular torques made of silver wire with loops at the ends. A silver axe-shaped pedant,
bracelets with coning and overlapping endings and a fragment of a bracelet with a sightly coning endings constituted
some further finds. The brooches belong to the returned foot type, two of which were made of silver and two were
made of bronze, each originating from two female graves (the larger silver variant from grave No. 40, and the three
small brooches from grave No. 239). Grave No. 303 of a male contained an iron brooch with a returned foot lying on
the chest area. A female buried in grave No. 296 wore a hose or boots embroidered with beads. The rest of the grave
goods were composed of oval buckles, needles, and knifes. Four south-north oriented graves were equipped with
grey wheel thrown pottery and one grave with a handmade pottery placed to the northern end of the pit. Two grave
pit displayed traces of coffins, one even combined with some fragments which might have belonged to a coffin hook.
Very little is known about metal armours used in the Sarmatian period in the Carpathian Basin. However, in grave
No. 283, which had been robbed, two square-shaped lamellar(?) iron armour plates with rounded edges were found,
and a fragment of a third piece. With the assistance of the Radiological Clinic of Szeged (Affidea Magyarország Kft.),
we took X-ray photos of the two complete armours pieces to map the eyelets which got covered by the corrosion. The
pieces are nearly identical to the Avarian era lamellar armours. In form and size they are analogous to the Hajdúdorog
and Kunszentmárton type, but they have a smaller U-shaped incision on their longer side (Szilágyi 2017).
A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve 2017., Új folyam 4., 2018
In 2011, the Archeological Department of the University of Szeged undertook preventive excavation... more In 2011, the Archeological Department of the University of Szeged undertook preventive excavations northeast from Makó in the area of highway M43 by the commission of the Móra Ferenc Museum. The fieldworks concerning the two sites of the Igási-Járandó border section (M43–32nd and M43–33rd sites) resulted in the unearthing of a Sarmatian settlement, cemetery, and a portion of a Modern Age settlement. The two sites are only divided by a streamlet. From the objects uncovered, the 32nd site has 9, while the 33rd site has 154 stratigraphic units (141 stratigraphic units belonging to the settlement and 13 stratigraphic units to the cemetery) which can be dated to the Sarmatian period (end of the 2nd- first half of 4th century AD). The Roman import material of the settlement has already been published (Szebenyi 2017). The present work provides additional supplement for the better understanding of the uncovered Sarmatian sites, especially the settlement structure and the constructions of the buildings. From the 33rd site of M43 the settlement structure, nine differently structured buildings and the findings from three pits were examined in detail. Regularity can be observed in the settlement structure of the excavated area. On the approximately 7500 square meters of the excavated settlement section the object enclosed two regularly shaped object-free sections of space (courtyard). The houses are located on roughly the same East-West axis and can be divided into three groups. In one of the groups, based on the buildings, the line of houses could be reconstructed. A total of 123 pits were excavated at the 33rd site, which constitutes 83% of all settlement objects. The findings of three pits (8th, 92nd, and 125th object) – primarily wattle-and-daub – proved to be particularly significant from the aspect of building with timber-framed house. Through the uncovered pieces of wattle-and-daub we can observe the construction techniques of the Sarmatians in a manner that may be expressed in detailed metric data as well. Wattle-and-daub preserves the imprint of all surfaces coming in contact with the plastering, giving us valuable information of the wooden structural elements. The fragmentary nature and quantity of findings did not provide enough material for the complete reconstruction of the buildings, but their detailed analysis contributed additional data to a more thorough description of Sarmatian buildings.
Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve Új folyam 8 (2021), 2022
A preventive excavation was carried out in the courtyard of the Maroslele Primary School (Marosle... more A preventive excavation was carried out in the courtyard of the Maroslele Primary School (Maroslele, Csongrád-Csanád county) in August 2018. Eleven S–N oriented burials were excavated. They were arranged in four NW–SE rows and represent the funerals of six women, four man and an unspecified individual. This part of the cemetery was used between the second half of the 4th century AD and the first half of the 5th century AD. The deceased were placed in rectangular grave pits with rounded corners. There was probably trace of a coffin at the bottom of Grave 7, which was partially encircled by a ditch and completely robbed. Individuals were occasionally wrapped in a shroud. Grave 9 could be a special tomb type that was recently published from Óföldeák-Ürmös Site 9–10. Ten burials were partially or completely robbed. Eleven ceramic pots (spherical vessels, cup etc.) were placed to the feet of almost every individual except for Grave 9, in which the pot was on the right side of the tomb. The most interesting piece was a grey Hunnic type jug with spout from Grave 4. In Grave 5 shattered pieces of small bronze nails and fittings were found to belong to a box. The latter may contained various pendants (axe shaped, Roman coin, large Cypraea shell) and fragments of a pair of curved bronze pincers. Six earrings were found in the graves of five women. Three pieces were fragmented hook and loop earrings, a pair was simple bronze wire (Grave 9), and one was a fragment of an earring with twisted wire. A total of five different types of reverted foot brooches were recovered from the upper chest area. Three female graves contained biconical spindle-whorls. Men had buckles with oval ring, in some cases with a buckle tongue leaning on the ring and two deceased had other belt accessories (Graves 8 and 11). Knives came from four graves and each piece was originally placed around the pelvis or the upper part of the femur. All female graves contained beads (carnelian, amber, limestone, coral and glass) decorating garments. The black pearl with blue, red, and white spots of Grave 4 could be interpreted as a closing item of a purse. Brown and blue polygonal glass beads were dominant nearby the ankles analogously to the fashion characterizing the Late Sarmatian period (Graves 4, 9, and 12). Based on the burial customs and the finds, the cemetery part in Maroslele fits into the line of the Late Roman-H un period cemeteries recently excavated in the Maros region.
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Papers by Tibor Sztankovánszki
Dáli-ugar a fragment of both a Bronze Age settlement and a Sarmatian settlement were excavated as well as a late
Sarmatian cemetery dated to the period ranging from the 4th to the early 5th century AD. Two Sarmatian pottery kilns
unearthed in the settlement have already been published (see Bene-Benedek–Benedek 2017). The excavated part of
the cemetery comprised 16 graves in a small, 50×30 meter area. The graves were organized in four rows. 14 graves
were oriented south-north, while two west-east. 14 graves had been completely or partially robbed. Four graves contained no grave goods, just human remains.
Female graves yielded a bronze earring with a hook-and-loop clasp and a silver earring with a flat ending. Infant
graves contained two semicircular torques made of silver wire with loops at the ends. A silver axe-shaped pedant,
bracelets with coning and overlapping endings and a fragment of a bracelet with a sightly coning endings constituted
some further finds. The brooches belong to the returned foot type, two of which were made of silver and two were
made of bronze, each originating from two female graves (the larger silver variant from grave No. 40, and the three
small brooches from grave No. 239). Grave No. 303 of a male contained an iron brooch with a returned foot lying on
the chest area. A female buried in grave No. 296 wore a hose or boots embroidered with beads. The rest of the grave
goods were composed of oval buckles, needles, and knifes. Four south-north oriented graves were equipped with
grey wheel thrown pottery and one grave with a handmade pottery placed to the northern end of the pit. Two grave
pit displayed traces of coffins, one even combined with some fragments which might have belonged to a coffin hook.
Very little is known about metal armours used in the Sarmatian period in the Carpathian Basin. However, in grave
No. 283, which had been robbed, two square-shaped lamellar(?) iron armour plates with rounded edges were found,
and a fragment of a third piece. With the assistance of the Radiological Clinic of Szeged (Affidea Magyarország Kft.),
we took X-ray photos of the two complete armours pieces to map the eyelets which got covered by the corrosion. The
pieces are nearly identical to the Avarian era lamellar armours. In form and size they are analogous to the Hajdúdorog
and Kunszentmárton type, but they have a smaller U-shaped incision on their longer side (Szilágyi 2017).
Dáli-ugar a fragment of both a Bronze Age settlement and a Sarmatian settlement were excavated as well as a late
Sarmatian cemetery dated to the period ranging from the 4th to the early 5th century AD. Two Sarmatian pottery kilns
unearthed in the settlement have already been published (see Bene-Benedek–Benedek 2017). The excavated part of
the cemetery comprised 16 graves in a small, 50×30 meter area. The graves were organized in four rows. 14 graves
were oriented south-north, while two west-east. 14 graves had been completely or partially robbed. Four graves contained no grave goods, just human remains.
Female graves yielded a bronze earring with a hook-and-loop clasp and a silver earring with a flat ending. Infant
graves contained two semicircular torques made of silver wire with loops at the ends. A silver axe-shaped pedant,
bracelets with coning and overlapping endings and a fragment of a bracelet with a sightly coning endings constituted
some further finds. The brooches belong to the returned foot type, two of which were made of silver and two were
made of bronze, each originating from two female graves (the larger silver variant from grave No. 40, and the three
small brooches from grave No. 239). Grave No. 303 of a male contained an iron brooch with a returned foot lying on
the chest area. A female buried in grave No. 296 wore a hose or boots embroidered with beads. The rest of the grave
goods were composed of oval buckles, needles, and knifes. Four south-north oriented graves were equipped with
grey wheel thrown pottery and one grave with a handmade pottery placed to the northern end of the pit. Two grave
pit displayed traces of coffins, one even combined with some fragments which might have belonged to a coffin hook.
Very little is known about metal armours used in the Sarmatian period in the Carpathian Basin. However, in grave
No. 283, which had been robbed, two square-shaped lamellar(?) iron armour plates with rounded edges were found,
and a fragment of a third piece. With the assistance of the Radiological Clinic of Szeged (Affidea Magyarország Kft.),
we took X-ray photos of the two complete armours pieces to map the eyelets which got covered by the corrosion. The
pieces are nearly identical to the Avarian era lamellar armours. In form and size they are analogous to the Hajdúdorog
and Kunszentmárton type, but they have a smaller U-shaped incision on their longer side (Szilágyi 2017).