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XIII/2/2022
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
Examination of Metal Finds from the 10
th
Century Cemetery of
Kiskunfélegyháza (Hungary)
Béla Török
1*
,
Alessandra Giumlia-Mair
2
1
Institute of Metallurgy, University of Miskolc, B/1, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
2
AGM Archeoanalisi, Via della Costa 4, I-39012 Merano (BZ), Italy
1. Introduction – archaeological background
The excavation of the 10
th
century cemetery identifed on the
Kiskunfélegyháza-Terjék-tanya site was performed by the
Kiskun Museum and the Research Centre for Archaeology
of the Institute for Hungarian Studies within the framework
of a joint project in April 2020 (Gallina
et al.
, 2021). The
excavation showed that the cemetery had been heavily
disturbed by sand quarrying and metal detecting. When the
burial site was excavated, the connection between certain
graves and some scattered fnds could be reconstructed
only partially and it remained often hypothetical. The
archaeological excavation revealed that the cemetery
consists of a number of graves arranged along one line. The
site can be dated to the mid-10
th
century AD. Coins of Hugo
of Provence and Lotar II of Pavia were found in one of the
graves, giving thus the year 931 as the
terminus post quem
of
the burial (Gallina
et al.
, 2021). In the conquest period this
cemetery must have been the burial site of an elite Hungarian
community – or possibly of a family –because, besides
the silver jewellery, a gold hair band and harnesses were
recovered from the graves. As we know from excavations
on other sites dated to the period of the Hungarian conquest
(9
th
–10
th
centuries) that surround Kiskunfélegyháza, the
region was densely populated and was quite an important area
at that time (Tóth, 1974; Somogyvári, 1992; Balogh, 2003;
Varga, 2011). Important archaeological sites, cemeteries of
the conquering Hungarians, and a map of the excavation site
of Terjék-tanya can be seen in the Figure 1. The location of
grave 1 could not be precisely determined, but it could be
between grave 2 and grave 3. Most of the fnds belonging to
grave 1 were found with a metal detector.
2. Materials and methods
Some objects made of precious metals and copper-based alloys
have been analysed by energy dispersive X-ray fuorescence
(henceforth ED-XRF). An Oxford Instrument X-MET8000
portable ED-XRF spectrometer (50 kV, Rh anode, Silicon
Volume XIII ● Issue 2/2022 ● Pages 163–177
*Corresponding author. E-mail: bela.torok69@gmail.com
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 22
nd
February 2022
Accepted: 9
th
September 2022
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2022.2.6
Key words:
metals
10
th
century
Hungary
ED-XRF
OM
SEM-EDS
ABSTRACT
This case study presents the results and conclusions of chemical and metallographic analyses carried
out on metal fnds (gilded silver mounts, jewelry made of silver- and copper-based alloys, and iron horse
fttings) found in nine graves excavated at the 10
th
century site of the Terjék-tanya at Kiskunfélegyháza
(Hungary). The examinations were performed with portable handheld X-ray fuorescence spectrometer
(ED-XRF), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy
dispersive spectroscope (SEM-EDS). Beside the determination of the chemical composition of the
non-ferrous artefacts and the inclusions of the iron samples, the aim of the study was to detect traces
and characteristics of diferent manufacturing methods such as fre gilding, forging,
etc.
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IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 163–177
Béla Török, Alessandra Giumlia-Mair: Examination of Metal Finds from the 10
th
Century Cemetery of Kiskunfélegyháza (Hungary)
164
Drift Detector) has been used. Three calibration methods
were employed for the measurements. In most cases we
used the Precious FP mode, developed for the analysis of
elements found in alloys and in particular precious metals
(Au, Ag). Further, we used the mode Alloy FP, developed for
the analysis of the most common elements found in alloys,
and the Alloy LE FP, which is similar to Alloy FP but also
includes light elements, such as, for example, Mg, Al and Si.
The concentration range for each element goes from 0% to
100% in all three cases. Fundamental parameter (FP) methods
use a complex mathematical analysis of X-ray fuorescence
to calculate the concentration of elements. For metals with
inherently unknown composition, such as historical fnds,
this method is highly suitable and recommended. In the case
of these metal objects only a non-destructive examination
was possible. The general aim of the analyses was that of
determining the chemical composition of the alloys and of
the possible coatings. The measurements were carried out