A folyóvízi környezet változásának hatása az őskori megtelepedésre a Duna mentén: interdiszciplináris környezeti rekonstrukció Óbuda területén

In connection with archaeological excavations, the Budapest History Museum, the Geographical Institute of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences and the Department of Geoinformatics, Physical and Environmental Geography at the University of Szeged conducted joint research in environmental reconstructions for several years. A study was also conducted in the microregion along the Danube at Csillaghegy and Békásmegyer. The present study is connected to preventive research excavations on plots 291–295 Királyok Road in Budapest District III, carried out between 2007 and 2017 and the analysis of sediment samples taken from the area in 2019. The studied area lies along the right bank of the Danube in Békásmegyer, where a remarkably dense occupation existed in prehistory. Settlement features appear from nine archaeological periods: the Middle Neolithic, the Early and Late Copper Age; the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age; the Early and Late Iron Age and the Avar period. The layers of these periods overlay each other and partially show multiple superpositions. In some parts, they appear as distinct stratigraphic sequences or settlement layers. To reveal their formation and past environmental conditions, we analysed the soil samples' physical and chemical properties and determined their absolute age. We collected samples from two critical points of the study area, the prehistoric settlement layers and their surroundings. The mouth of the Csillaghegy Ditch, where the stream once flowed into the Danube, is crucial in the geographical reconstruction and landscape archaeological investigation. The watercourse and its marshy surroundings were undoubtedly defining features of the prehistoric landscape, and supposedly they were endowed with symbolic significance in particular periods. The large number of structured deposits hidden in the area verifies this supposition. Moreover, many signs suggest that this landform could symbolise the division between the living and the dead.