Gas pipeline reconstruction
Site ID: 67381
Keywords: Prehistory, stray finds, Migration Period, Avar, settlement
Between May 29 and July 2, 2020, archaeological monitoring was carried out in connection with gas pipeline reconstruction. Earthworks were performed during the excavation of a trench approximately 544 meters long and 60–140 cm wide along the route from Nagy Lajos király Road, crossing Mályva Square through Mályva Street, and then from the intersection of Tihamér Street to its junction with Csernyus Street. A shorter, 97-meter-long branch ran from Tihamér Street under the pavement on the odd-numbered side of Örs vezér Road to Vadvirág Street. The work area was located at the eastern boundary of the archaeological site polygon no. 67381, designated around the Alsórákos section of the Rákos Stream. The section between Örs vezér Road and Nagy Lajos király Road, approximately 300 meters in length, extended southwestward beyond the designated polygon (Fig. 3).
During earthworks conducted along the Mályva Street section, modern debris fill and yellow, gravel-scattered coarse sandy subsoil were observed. On the originally southwestward rising terrain, the topsoil had been destroyed due to the construction of the panel building at Nagy Lajos király Road no. 19–21, nearby residential houses, and the road itself.
The section on Tihamér Street ran directly adjacent to the existing gas pipeline, and the original soil stratigraphy could only be followed on one side of the trench wall. In the 40-cm-wide, 1-meter-deep trenches opened for house connections, only mixed backfill was observed.
Beneath the road base, silty sand mixed with dark-colored modern debris was encountered, followed from −60 cm by grayish-brown, then black silty sand, and finally yellow or grayish-yellow sandy subsoil. The upper region of the silty sandy topsoil was found to be mixed with modern debris particles.
The surface prior to modern development varied between 115.5–114.5 a.B.S.l., while the top of the subsoil varied between 114.5–113.5 a.B.S.l.. Although topographic features could not be observed, the section drawing revealed the undulating, marshy areas indicated on historical maps—particularly in the deeper zones—with an elevation beginning toward Mályva Street and Vezér Road. The characteristics of the soil layers (dark, silty sand; white or yellowish-white, silty sand subsoil) indicated that the area had once been marshy and waterlogged. In the higher parts, humus formation could be observed in the grayish-brown, silt-rich sand, though no brown humus-rich sand was present across the site. The trench of the northwest–southeast oriented main pipeline, originating from Vadvirág Street and excavated beside the green median separating the roadways, was observed mostly after the backfilling had been completed.
In front of house number 6 on Tihamér Street, a single ceramic fragment presumed to be prehistoric was recovered. In the section between Örs vezér Road and Álmos vezér Park, the modern backfill was found to be thinner (45–50 cm); the road foundation had been placed almost directly onto the original, natural surface. In front of Tihamér Street 20, a pit of unknown date was successfully recorded (Feature 5), but no associated finds were recovered from it.
At 22/B Tihamér Street, at the end of the 1.4-meter-wide and 1.2–1.4-meter-deep utility trench near the inspection pit, three north–south-oriented ditches intersected the trench line (Features 1, 2, and 3) (Fig. 1). The backfill of the features—sunken into the subsoil to a depth of 0.3–0.5 meters, with washed-in, curved sides and bottoms—consisted of blackish-brown, gravel-speckled, silty sand, into which a few fragments of animal bone had been mixed. In front of 22/D Tihamér Street, the trench cut through a larger feature. The feature, traceable over a length of 1.7 meters and situated 1.4 meters deep from the road surface—interpreted either as a single pit or as several intercutting pits (Feature 4)—was visible in both section walls (Fig. 2). A large part of it had been destroyed during earlier utility works. The vertical-sided, nearly flat-bottomed pit deepened at its northeastern end. The fill in the southeastern trench wall consisted of dark grey silty sand with sooty, ashy, and charcoal flecks, overlain by yellowish-grey sand mixed with clay lumps. Its final natural infilling phase was sealed by a 20 cm thick layer identical to the dark grey silty sand that ran above it. During surface cleaning and an additional 30 cm of excavation, Avar period ceramic fragments were recovered from it. In the final 30 meter section extending to Csernyus Street, the backfill of the utility trench was observed in both walls.
The dating of Features 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be considered identical; the late Avar period settlement or settlement fragment likely continued in a northeasterly and easterly direction as well. Due to the absence of finds, Features 5 and 6 could not be precisely identified, but they were also likely of archaeological age.
The prehistoric stray finds that appeared at the southwestern end of the trench line likewise indicated a settlement beginning at the edge of a wet area.
Contributors: Gábor Gyenes (archaeological field technician)
Gábor Gyenes