This project focuses on the fortified settlements of the Early Bronze Age Nagyrév or Hatvan cultures and Middle Bronze Age Vatya sites of two microregions on the Great Hungarian Plain; the Kakucs microregion and the Tápio-Galga microregion. The settlements are fortified by means of ditches of various configurations. Clear differences between the two microregions have thus far been attributed to the different archaeological cultures present at the sites. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, more nuanced explanations are sought for the differences between the two archaeological periods and the microregions, highlighting landscape and social differences, as well as integrating the discussion of ditches as fortifications. Within the Kakucs microregion, the focus has been centred on the Vatya site of Kakucs-Turján (Jaeger, Kulcsár, Taylor and Staniuk 2018) with its unusual tripartite ditched structure. The fortification ditches at the site would likely have served a variety of functions – from water management to functional differentiation and defence.
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Project by Nicole Taylor nicole.taylor@ufg.uni-kiel.de