Preliminary report on the archaeological excavations at Site VIII of the Bükkábrány lignite mines

Abstract

Archaeologists of the Herman Ottó Museum have been conducting excavations in the territory of the lignite mine in Bükkábrány since 2007. As the total area scheduled for mining must be surveyed and, where necessary, excavated, they had an unparalleled opportunity to unearth complete sites even if those extend to a couple of hectares; however, the timeframe was (and still is) often narrow. The authors excavated a multi-period site comprised of the records of various historical periods from the Neolithic to the Roman Imperial Period on Site VIII in 2017–2020. The most prominent horizons consisted of the archaeological remains of Copper and Iron Age occupations, respectively, with both settlement features and cemeteries from both periods. The results presented here are preliminary, as the excavation of the site is still in progress.