ArcheoBudaPest 2020/36

Keywords: Prehistory, Early Bronze Age, Nagyrév culture, cemetery, urn cremation burial, Migration Period, Early and Middle Avar, cemetery, horse burial, Late Middle Ages, settlement

Between 18 May and 27 August 2020, archaeological monitoring and full-area excavation were carried out on the site at 5–7 Weiss Manfréd Road (plot no. 210012/18) in District XXI. Prior to this, between January and March 2020, a trial excavation of 940 m² was conducted under the direction of the Várkapitányság Nonprofit Plc., during which 55 Migration Period graves were recorded and 48 excavated. These burials date to the Avar period, and Árpádian Age settlement features were also identified.

Initially, permission was granted to excavate 124 m² for the future warehouse site. However, once it became clear that the foundation piles, to be driven 8–9 m deep, would affect a larger section of the Avar period cemetery, the excavation area was extended to 483 m², of which 429 m² yielded archaeological finds. (Fig. 1) The need to investigate a larger area was confirmed by the Heritage Protection Department of the Budapest Government Office and the Excavation Committee.

The site is archaeologically significant due to the presence of several known sites in the immediate vicinity. On the Second Military Survey of the Habsburg Empire (1819–1869), a northeast–southwest oriented ridge is visible in the area. At its northeastern tip, on a northwest–southeast slope, part of a similarly oriented Avar period cemetery was found. This ridge, which was clearly visible in the 19th century map, has since been removed as the port was constructed and the terrain dramatically reshaped. Over the past decades, several prehistoric, Avar, and Árpádian-age cemeteries and settlements, as well as Late Medieval settlement remains, have been recorded in the Free Port area.

Archaeological features were encountered in five out of six trenches opened using mechanical equipment. (Fig. 2) In places, the subsoil appeared at depths greater than 5 metres, especially in the eastern section of the site, where a 3–3.5 m thick modern fill overlay a 1–1.5 m humus layer. In this lower, marshy floodplain zone (Trench 3), archaeological features were already visible in the humus or sub-humus at elevations between 99.84–101.01 above Baltic Sea level.

A total of 80 Avar period graves were identified, of which 52 were excavated and 28 recorded in outlines. Graves not affected by piling were left unexcavated. Additionally, three Early Bronze Age urn burials (Nagyrév culture, ca. 2200–1900 BC) and several Late Medieval features (e.g., a ditch) were also found.

The majority of the Avar graves were oriented northwest–southeast, with a few deviations to east–west. Most had been disturbed by contemporary grave robbing, targeting the upper body and pelvic region. Graves were rectangular with rounded corners, sometimes featuring ledges or “ears” along the long sides. These features were used regardless of the deceased’s age or gender. At the head and foot, the grave floor was sometimes deepened, likely to accommodate wooden funerary beds or plank coffins. Despite the robbing, most individuals could be observed buried lying on their backs with arms extended or hands placed on the pelvis.

In a few graves, horses were buried alongside the deceased. (Fig. 3) Three horse burials were excavated during this phase, all laid with the animal’s orientation matching the human’s, placed on the left side of the deceased. Robbing affected both human and horse remains. Horse-related finds included stirrups, strap buckles, and decorative harness fittings made of silver or bronze.

Grave goods included personal adornments (belt mounts, buckles), tools (fire kits, toiletry sets, spindle whorls, iron knives with wooden sheaths, bone combs), jewellery (hoop earrings, bracelets, beads), and weapons (spearheads, arrowheads). (Figs. 4–5) Based on current analysis, the grave goods and burial customs suggest the cemetery dates from the Early to Middle Avar period.

Thanks to the combined work of the two institutions, 135 Avar graves were recorded, of which 100 were excavated. The western, southern, and eastern extents of the Avar cemetery were successfully delimited. Further Avar period graves are expected north of the current construction site and beneath unpiled sections of the future warehouse.
On 27 August 2020, all groundworks at 5–7 Weiss Manfréd Road affecting the archaeological horizon were completed.

Contributors: Boglárka Mészáros (lead archaeologist), Fanni Fodor (archaeologist), Zsófia Zsuzsanna Kelemen (archaeological field technician), Nikolett Schmidt (archaeological field technician), Rita Soós (archaeologist, HNM), László Schilling (archaeologist, HNM), Gábor Gyenes (archaeological field technician), Tibor Kovács (surveyor), Gergő Juhász (Lowpoly 360 Kft., surveyor)

Boglárka Mészáros