EASE SLOVAKIA 2011
The grampus placement that I was involved in was working on a Bronze Age site
at Sahy called Na Vrsku. It was once an important site for the Hatvan culture
which covered a relatively small area in Hungary and Slovakia. Sahy is located
on the Slovakian, Hungarian border. We stayed in a small Village called Ipelsky
Sokolec which was largely Hungarian speaking. I found the Hungarian language
lessons that our group participated in particularly useful for interacting
with the local people in our village, they appreciated us trying to speak
their language and equally attempted to converse with us in English.
In the first week we were given an introduction to the site by the director,
Tibor, who runs the local museum. We were also given a tour of Sahy. The town's
people are very friendly and welcoming; we were able to access the internet
using the computers in a cafe called Piccolo most evenings.
The first week on site was mostly spent removing weeds and built up soil in
order to get down to the archaeology, we found a large amount of pottery which
was typical of the Hatvan culture. We also found a small clay animal which
are linked with the site, there were examples of these in the local museum
and it is thought that they may be the product of mass production. We were
also given the opportunity to try geophysics first hand which was very rewarding
and educational, in the evening of that day Tibor took us through our results
and what it meant in terms of the interpretation of the archaeological area
surrounding the site. As clearing the site advanced towards the end of this
week, the colour changes were becoming clearer which gave us some understanding
to the function of the site. It is thought that a large pit used for removing
clay makes up the centre of the site and was later filled, the only dating
available is the artefacts that are removed from the fill.
 |
 |
 |
On the six week placement we were provided with a van in which we able to
use to get to and from the site and also to travel at the weekends. The amount
of travelling we were able to do was one of the most rewarding aspects of
the placement. On the first weekend we travelled along the Va'h and visited
the towns of 'Cachtice' 'Trnava' and 'Piestiany', on the Sunday we climbed
up to 'Cachtice Castle' which provided stunning views across the Slovakian
countryside. On the Sunday we went to 'Zvolen Castle' and 'Bansk'a Bystrica'.
We spent a large amount of time in the second week trying to straighten the
edges of the site to allow clear plans to be drawn, to do this we used mattocks
and shovels. We also started work on some of the trenches in which we found
a large amount of pottery with various designs typical with this culture.
Despite having very hot weather the majority of the time, a couple of the
days we were rained off site with severe storms, during this time we would
spend washing and sorting the finds which really allowed us to inspect the
artefacts more closely. We also began to uncover a large mass of bone to the
North of the site in the week, which although was in poor condition was relatively
complete
 |
 |
On the second weekend we made the trip to Slovakia's capital of Bratislava,
we stayed in a youth hostel and were able to spend a couple of days in the
city; we explored the historical part and also went up to the castle. On Sunday
we travelled to Vienna, despite the minimal amount of time available it has
certainly encouraged me to return in the future as the architecture and history
were spectacular.
During the third week we started drawing and planning the sides which helped
Tibor to figure out what was going on with the site. These drawings suggested
there possibly may have been a house or post holes here in which case the
whole interpretation of the site may change. We started excavating a large
pit in this week and found a large piece of pottery. While excavating we were
trying to find the base of the pit which was a different colour. It also became
apparent that the large skeleton was either a cow or a horse.
 |
 |
Our fifth week was spent finishing off planning and excavating the pit, one of the trenches and what we had come to realise was a cow. We were lucky enough to work with a zooarchaeologist and a palaeobotonist during this week who helped us to work with samples from the site. This was very rewarding as an archaeology undergraduate as we were able to put into practice techniques I had learnt on my course. It was also interesting to see what happened to the samples we found once they had been excavated.
 |
Our fifth weekend we spent in the village as we had become very attached
to it and got to know some of the locals well, it was important to us that
we spent at least one weekend there. We chose the weekend that held the Goulash
festival which is a traditional Hungarian dish, we were able to try Goulash
and we even had a go at making it when we hosted a barbeque for the locals.
Our final week was spent on the post excavation plan in which we were able
to practice the techniques we had learnt, Tibor took us through what he thought
our findings meant for the site.
Budapest was our final destination when we left the village at the end of
the week; we were able to spend three days there which we easily filled as
there was so much to see. I am so glad I went on this placement as it has
benefitted me on so many levels, I learnt a great deal about professional
archaeology and the techniques used, I also managed to see parts of Europe
that I had previously never visited. I especially enjoyed interacting with
the village and it is something that I will miss. I have made some very special
friends who I will certainly keep in touch with, all in all this is an incredibly
worthwhile experience that I have been recommending ever since.
 |
 |
 |