RESEARCH AT THE NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES,
BARANYA COUNTY, HUNGARY

The Szemely – Hegyes Late Neolithic site is located in the vicinity of the village of Szemely near the city of Pécs in Baranya County, Southwestern Hungary. The site comprises two Neolithic rondells. The larger rondell was selected for a more detailed research from a number of sites discovered and documented from the air during the course aerial archaeological research project European Landscapes – Past, Present, Future. Headed by English Heritage, the project is co-financed by the European Union’s Culture 2000 program and the local co-organisers .

Geography >>
Former research>>
Results of the current research>>
Aerial imagery>>
Field survey>>
Geophysical survey>>
Excavation>>
The structure of the rondell>>

NEOLITHIC RONDELLS AT SZEMELY – HEGYES

Geography

The site lies in the hilly area between the Mecsek and the Villányi Mountains formed of limestone. The area is divided up by valleys of mostly north-south running streams heading towards the Drava River. The valleys of the streams were cut into a loess subsoil forming elongated, North-South running hills. Szemely and it's vicinity in Google Maps.

Former research

In 1948 an Aeneolithic house was excavated somewhere in the field then called Bregova (the older name of Hegyes) near the village of Szemely. The documentation of the excavation only reports the name of the field and that the house was identified in the wall of a World War II trench without further specifying the location.

The Neolithic ditch complex at Szemely has only recently been discovered during aerial reconnaissance. The project co-ordinator first photographed the site on 2 March 2005. It has turned out since that Dr. h. c. Otto Braasch had already documented the site in the summer of 2003. His photographs have been donated to the Pécs Aerial Archaeological Archive and have only recently been inventoried. Otto Braasch kindly allowed us to publish some of his photographs on our web page.

NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES
Cropmarks in wheat, 12 June, 2005
(Courtesy of O. Braasch)

NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES
Cropmarks in wheat, photographed on infrared film, 12 June, 2005
(Courtesy of O. Braasch)

Results of the current research

Aerial imagery

Oblique aerial images taken under various circumstances in 2005 and 2006 indicate that the Szemely – Hegyes site consists of three concentric, oval and circular ditch systems. Orthorectified imagery allowed us initially to measure the size of the ditch complex. It turned out to be around 400x450 m in diameter. Another, smaller ring ditch system (160 m in diameter) was also discovered lying 200 m south of the main complex. However, we have concentrated our efforts so far on the larger, northern ditch system. Archive aerial photographs were also examined. Images from the 1980s showed traces of the site but no further detail could be added.

NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES
Snowmarks, 2 March, 2005

NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES
Cropmarks in maize, June 2005

NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES
Cropmarks in sunflower, August 2006

The smaller NEOLITHIC RONDELL AT SZEMELY – HEGYES
Cropmarks in sunflower, August 2006

Field survey

Subsequent to the discovery the site was repeatedly field-walked and Neolithic pottery along with flint and obsidian tool fragments were recovered together with large lumps of burnt daub.

Geophysical survey

With the help of the Department of Geophysics of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest a we conducted a magnetometer survey using two GSM 19 Overhauser gradiometers at a grid of 1x1 m.

We laid out the grid on the basis of the orthorectified aerial images to cover the area of the ditch complex and to avoid unnecessary measurements.

The geophysica surveyl map of the rondell

A total of 14 hectares were surveyed simultaneously with the trial excavation. The geophysical survey mostly confirmed and in many aspects refined the information derived from the rectified aerial photographs.

Excavation

The site was excavated from 4 October through 12 December 2006. Running North-South (2x240 m) and a West-East (2x140 m), two trial trenches were dug to cut through the main features of the rondell.

Work plan of the 2006 excavation based on the information derived from aerial photographs

The two trenches were laid out on the basis of the rectified aerial photographs and were intended to cut through the main elements of the enclosure complex.

The two trenches photographed from the air with soilmarks of the rondell faintly visible in the plough

The longer, Nnorth-South trial trench

The geophysical survey plan shows that the enclosure complex is 400 (W-E) × 450 m (N-S). The complex is divided into three concentric systems, each consisting of multiple ditches. The complex has four entrances roughly oriented N-S and W-E. The entrances are marked by semicircular protrusions of the ditches that only recently been identified at some Lengyel sites in the region.

The structure of the rondell with the vertical sections of the ditches
 

- The innermost enclosure is 100 m in diameter. It consists of a main, double ditch ca. 2.8 m in depth and an inner, smaller ditch possibly dug for a fence or palisade.

- The middle ditch is round, and ca. 200 m in diameter. It mostly consists of a single, V-shaped ditch 2.5 m in depth with short branches at the entrances

- The plan of the outermost ditch system is hexagonal with rounded edges. The depth of the V-shaped ditches varies between 1.2-2 m.

- The entrances are marked by protruding ditch sections. Furthermore, the outermost entrances on the N, S and W side of the structure are marked by protruding semicircular ditches 40-45 m in diameter. However, the eastern entrance was not surrounded with a semicircular ditch. This fact may indicate that this entrance had a special role.

- Unlike most of the known rondells, the central part of the Szemely I complex contains several features arranged with the central ditch kept in mind.

Summary

The finds recovered so far from the Szemely – Hegyes enclosure complex date to Phase II of Late Neolithic – Early Copper Age Lengyel Culture. The find material – the dark grey, red-painted fine ware, pedestalled vessels with large knobs, the presence of the so-called Linsenbuckel etc. – shows strong similarities to contemporaneous Lengyel sites in the vicinity, such as the eponymous Lengyel site, the Zengõvárkony cemetery, and the Mórágy settlement and cemetery. Thus it seems likely that the builders of the complex belonged to the so-called East Transdanubian Group of the Lengyel Culture.

Ceramic finds from Szemely-Hegyes
 

Although it has not been possible so far to shed light on the function of the Szemely rondells and the enclosed other features a number of ‘clues’ have been uncovered that may contribute to the understanding of the site: 
 

Aerial surveys, field surveys, and excavations have revealed several settlements of the Lengyel Culture in the vicinity of Szemely. These settlements yielded find material contemporary with the finds from Szemely. The vast dimensions and of the ditch complex suggest that it had a special importance, a central role among the various earthworks of similar age in its vicinity.  

- The innermost area of the complex is largely empty, but – unlike most of the Lengyel culture rondells – contains a limited number of carefully placed features. This fact implies that the core of the structure had a special role, be it of sacral, social, or other import.

- The longer, nearly N-S axis of the rondell points exactly at the summit of Szársomlyó, a hill of triangular silhouette that is a landmark visible from all directions in the landscape. Located 18 km south of the Szemely-Hegyes site, the Szársomlyó hill may have had a significant role for the people that constructed the rondell. Further research at Szársomlyó is planned to clarify the possible connection with the Szemely Neolithic site.