Analysis of an Early Copper Age Settlement Excavated at the Site East of the Varga-Bonyi-árok in Magyaregres

Project Leader

Zsuzsanna Siklósi

Participants

Bernadett Bajnóczi (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research)
Péter Csippán
Eszter Horváth
Viktória Mozgai (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research)
Igor M. Villa (University of Bern)
Eszter Solnay (university student)

Project Duration

2021-

Period

Prehistory, Copper Age

Between 2016 and 2017, during the expansion of Main Road 67, a section of an Early Copper Age settlement was excavated near the outskirts of Magyaregres by Péter Hornok and Péter Kiss.

A total of eight buildings with foundation trenches were identified on the hilltop. These structures show considerable variation in their details—some were accompanied by small annexes, while others were enclosed by ditches. In the lower parts of the hillside, evidence points exclusively to economic activities rather than residential use.

In addition to the comprehensive analysis of the finds, the project investigates settlement structure, lifestyle, the material culture of individual households, and zones of activity.

An Early Copper Age building at the Magyaregres excavation site (photo by Péter Kiss)

A key aspect of the settlement’s significance is the discovery of a unique hoard found in one of the pits. Inside an inverted ceramic vessel, archaeologists uncovered three spiral copper bracelets, two large double-spiral pendants, and a large number of copper and stone beads.

While similar hoards are known from Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, their archaeological contexts remain unknown, making this find an exceptional opportunity to explore the social roles of copper objects and to better understand the social networks of communities that once lived in Transdanubia.

The aim of the research project is the comprehensive, multidisciplinary analysis of the entire assemblage from the settlement.

The Copper Age hoard excavated at Magyaregres (photo by Lekri Group Ltd.)

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to Péter Hornok and Dr. Péter Kiss for making the analysis of the site possible.

The examination of the copper artifacts is being carried out within the framework of the research project "The Spread of Metallurgical Products and Technology in the Carpathian Basin between 5000 and 3000 BCE" (NKFI FK 124260, Principal Investigator: Zsuzsanna Siklósi).

The analysis of the settlement was initiated with the support of the Bolyai+ Scholarship, within the framework of the project "Connections in Early to Middle Copper Age Metallurgy in the Great Hungarian Plain and Transdanubia – The Social Context of the Copper Hoard Excavated at the Site East of the Varga-Bonyi-árok, Magyaregres" (ÚNKP-19-4-ELTE-496).

Publications

Hornok P. & Kiss P.: A Balaton-Lasinja-kultúra települése és kincslelete Magyaregresen. A settlement and a copper hoard of the Balaton-Lasinja culture at Magyaregres. Archaeologiai Értesítő 142/1 (2017) 239–253.

Video