Bundary cairns - in deeds, on maps and in the landscape

Abstract

The former function of the border cairns has now ceased, so those that remain today are landscape relics and part of the cultural heritage. Although most of them have disappeared due to settlement development, road construction and the establishment of largescale farms spanning over boundaries, there are still probably thousands of them in the country. Their identification is made difficult by the trenches and machine-gun emplacements often built in many places along the settlement boundaries during World War II.
Surely, in addition to the few hundred border cairns that I have identified, and those that have been researched and documented by archaeologists and local historians, old border marks could be found in many of the 3155 settlements in Hungary. They could be preserved and displayed as landmarks of historical significance.