New sites from the Scythian Period on the right bank of the Danube : Data to the Connections of the Vekerzug and Hallstatt Cultures from the Territory of Budapest

Abstract

During the past decade two new middle Iron age sites were discovered in the Danube’s right bank area in Budapest. Both Békásmegyer-Északi városkapu and nagytétény-tétényliget are only partially excavated; their material can be dated roughly to the Ha D phase, i.e. to the 6th–5th centuries BC, approximately. Despite being located on the eastern periphery of the transdanubian Hallstatt culture’s distribution area, the main characteristics of their archaeological record link them with the scythian Period populations of the great Hungarian Plain and the Pest Plain in the first place. this is a well known and well-studied phenomenon: scythian type finds frequently appear in transdanubian sites, especially in the Danube elbow area. Currently 19 sites, dated to the early and middle Iron ages, are known from the territory of Budapest. the inhabitation of the eastern, Pest side is of homogenous scythian character, while on the western, Buda side the settlements of the Hallstatt culture and the sites – mainly burials or cemeteries – of the Vekerzug culture appear side by side.