Emilia Pasztor

• MA in archaeology and MA in physics and astronomy
• Consultant at Türr István Museum

Amber was one of the key raw materials distributed in Bronze Age Europe. One of its varieties – succinite – wasexchanged over a vast area stretching from its sources on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The chemical identification of Baltic amber significantly expands our knowledge of the dynamics and nat...

Ever since its discovery in 1999, the Nebra Sky Disc has been one of the best-known and most debated European Bronze Age archaeological artefacts. In 2021–2022 it was particularly in the public spotlight due to two jointly organised international exhibitions, one at the State Museum of Prehistory Halle (Saale), Germany and then one at the British M...

Sükösd–Árpás-dűlő V. lelőhelyen a bronzkori halomsíros kultúra különösen gazdag temetkezése került elő 2020- ban. Az azt követő ásatáson, 2021-ben a Türr István Múzeum munkatársai önkéntesek segítségével további 28 sírt tártak fel a lelőhelyen, melyek közül csak 12 (kilenc csontvázas és három hamvasztásos) sír tartalmazott leleteket. A többi esetbe...

European prehistoric decorative art abounds in motifs that are not humble decorative elements but seem to be significant signs. Circles, concentric circles with or without a dot in the centre, circles divided into four, six or eight equal segments (sun/star-crosses) and often round decoration complexes filled with different spiral motifs are genera...

Ethnographic research evidence shows that orientations, which can be considered dangerous or sacred, play a role in countless ways such as in the layout of dwellings and living space, which direction the ceremony leader is turning during the ceremony, as part of the funeral service (orientation and arrangement of graves), or siting and orientation...

The pre-pottery Neolithic was a period of many cultural changes; although the world-view of the hunter-gatherer still preserved Mesolithic and Palaeolithic traits related to shamanism. At this time a monumental architecture, sometimes decorated, was employed for new forms of shamanistic performance. One intriguing example is Enclosure D from the Gö...

Absztrakt Sükösd határában 2020 decemberében egy halomsíros kultúrához tartozó, különlegesen gazdag mellékletekkel ellátott temetkezés került feltárásra. Az eredeti helyzetben megfigyelt fiatal nő egykori, díszes viseleti elemei közül kiemelkedik a bronz lábtekercspár és a sírban talált borostyánleletek. In December 2020, a burial belonging to the...

This study presents the non-invasive investigation of a Late Neolithic circular enclosure discovered not long ago. We were able to document traces of a settlement and the nearly complete layout of a treble circular enclosure system (roundel) from the Lengyel culture at Ligetfalva, Gesztenyés-dűlő in Zala County. We provide a review of the possibili...

There is no culture in the history of humanity that has not noticed the spectacular and/or regular phenomena in the sky. The particularities these ancient people observed left a strong mark on their society. These observations later became part of the practical experiences necessary to everyday life as well as the beliefs guiding their society. Hen...

At the beginning of 2017, we recognized a large circular structure in a Google Earth satellite image. It was situated west from the village Ligetfalva in a field called Gesztenyési-dűlő in the middle part of County Zala. The structure was clearly visible in the image. The site is located on a southern slope of one of the hills of the Zalapáti Ridge...

The case study investigates the burial customs of the Middle Bronze Age Vatya culture in the Carpathian Basin. It aims to deliver a comparative analysis of the archaeological finds and characteristics of several cemeteries where communities cremated and buried their dead in urns. It also examines the ways grave artefacts are placed, and the shape a...

Round around the circle-Circular phenomena and their meanings in European Prehistory Circular building elements in space separate places from others. Encircling a place, breaking it from its surroundings is a specific act of the communities, which has both practical and symbolic meaning. If the circular arrangement of space was also expressed in ot...

The book is a study to the exhibition on "Shamanism and nature worship - past and present" in Turr Istvan Museum, Hungary

Studying the European Bronze Age sky lore is not possible without taking into consideration their ethnographic and historical counterparts. There are only archaeological finds and particular excavation features available from this period but although they reveal a great deal of information, there is hardly anything about the ancient skyscape. The s...

As a result of a field walk and a geophysical survey, a circular enclosure (rondel) of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture was discovered at a site at Bezeréd-Teleki-dűlő II. Eight gates can be seen on both ditches of the markedly symmetrical double circular enclosure; in front of some of them, semi-circular affixes could be seen. Ditches of palisad...

This long awaited book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution. The book is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It discusses the clear associations with this sometimes little-understood ritualised practice, an...

This book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution, and is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It discusses the clear associations with this sometimes little-understood ritualised practice, and asks what shaman...

Bevezető A tünékeny fény első hallásra nem tartozik a régészeti leletek közé, pedig az információ, amit közvetít számunkra, akár több millió fényévvel ezelőtti is lehet. Ha a Napra nézünk, a hat perccel ezelőtti állapotát látjuk, hiszen ennyi idő kell egy fénysugárnak, hogy elérje a Földet. Amit látunk magunk körül, azt mind a kibocsátott vagy a vi...

The present paper gives an insight into the results got by the research group set up by Balatoni Museum in 2011 and overview the Late Neolithic earthworks (according to Hungarian terminology) in our study area. The research group has aimed at investigating the location of the earthworks in the landscape, their natural surroundings, the part they ac...

Late Neolithic circular enclosures make up a clearly defined group of phenomena. They are the manifestation of a common Central European ideology, whose uniform cultural and time horizon can be linked to the first third of the 5th millennium B.C.E. The precise number of sites can only be estimated, since numerous circular enclosures have only been...

Late Neolithic circular enclosures make up a clearly defined group of phenomena. They are the manifestation of a common Central European ideology, whose uniform cultural and time horizon can be linked to the first third of the 5 th millennium B.C.E. The precise number of sites can only be estimated, since numerous circular enclosures have only been...

The ornamental art of the Late Copper Age Vučedol culture is outstanding. The consistent use of starlike motifs and their arrangement might symbolize cosmological notions which show surprising similarities with the Eurasian belief system involving the starry sky.

The most discussed structures of the Middle and Late Neolithic period in Central Europe are the rondels or Kreisgrabenanlagen (in German). In the Lengyel culture of the Carpathian Basin, these earthworks seem to follow a common set of architectural rules. The often empty space inside the enclosures is generally surrounded by one or more circular di...

The scientific programme of the research team set up by Balatoni Museum is devoted to explore and study the Prehistoric earthworks of Zala County, Western Hungary which are examined as results of human activity in natural environment and the part they acted in Prehistoric settlement system. About forty ditch systems, among them seven in Zala County...

This is a short summary of the latest results of the research team of Balatoni Museum.

Archaeoastronomical research rarely touches on the role of solar/astral symbols in archeological cultures even though numerous abstract depictions from the Bronze Age indicate a particular celestial phenomenon. The various round symbols are essentially without exception considered to be solar representations by archaeologists, without raising the q...

A Vučedol-kultúra klasszikus fázisának egyik legjellemzőbb és egyben leghíresebb lelete, a vinkovci un. calendar pot vagy naptár-edény. Bár az edény hiányos, de még így is jól látható, hogy felülete négy vízszintesen párhuzamos zónára osztott, melyeket függőleges vonalpárokkal további mezőkre bontottak, így sakktáblaszerűvé tették az edény felületé...

Az archaeoasztronómiai kutatások ritkán érintik a szoláris-asztrális szimbólumok szerepét a régészeti kul-túrákban, pedig számos bronzkori absztrakt ábrázolás jelöl valamely égi jelenséget. A különféle kör alakú jeleket szinte kivétel nélkül napszimbólumnak tekintik a régészek, anélkül, hogy feltennék a kérdést, mi lehet az oka sokféleségüknek, és...

Az archaeoasztronómiai kutatások ritkán érintik a szoláris-asztrális szimbólumok szerepét a régészeti kul-túrákban, pedig számos bronzkori absztrakt ábrázolás jelöl valamely égi jelenséget. A különféle kör alakú jeleket szinte kivétel nélkül napszimbólumnak tekintik a régészek, anélkül, hogy feltennék a kérdést, mi lehet az oka sokféleségüknek, és...

The investigation of the cause and guiding principles of the orientation of houses has been a neglected field in archaeological studies. If clear regularity can be observed in the location of houses and constructions, it is assumed to follow the prevailing winds in most cases. The position of a house is influenced by environmental and non-environme...

This book gathers the most recent studies on a subject which has only recently been approached by archaeology. Today, the current literature on the topic of shamanism is not current compared when with other subjects studied by archaeology. Therefore, since it existed in all the regions of the world, we think it necessary to update the subject and t...

Depending on the geographical position of the observer, several atmospheric phenomena can be seen in the sky quite often. The visibility of the sun and the moon, and the phenomena generated by their light might also have attracted the attention of peoples in Bronze Age Europe, as many artefacts decorated with celestial symbols (luxury items in part...

Bird symbolism also occurs in most Bronze Age cultures of the Carpathian Basin. Bird shaped rattles, statuettes and a variety of miniature clay objects may be seen as the reflection of religious beliefs. The twenty bird depictions found at the site of Füzesabony exceed the number of similar depictions found on any other Bronze Age site. The sevente...

One of the most significant customs of the Bronze Age is depositing which shares many traits all over Europe. The sacral function of Bronze Age hoards is mostly argued to be the primary, especially in the cases of wet sites such as marsh, rivers and lakes. The hoards with a considerable number, hidden in wet places testify that the act was of frequ...

The investigation of the cause and guiding principles of the orientation of houses has been a neglected field in archaeological studies. If clear regularity can be observed in the location of houses and constructions, it is assumed to follow the prevailing winds in most cases. The position of a house is influenced by environmental and non-environm...

An important archaeological find from the Bronze Age has come to light in Germany. It is a round bronze disk adorned with gold figures that might be interpreted as symbols for stars, the sun, and the moon, making the disk the oldest known surviving depiction of celestial objects in Europe. By comparing the iconography and ideography of the disk wit...

It is commonly held that the sun played a particularly important cultural role in later prehistoric Europe. The rise of a general European sun cult has even been suggested for the Bronze Age. During this period, the increasing use of special symbols assumed to represent the sun is easily discernible on different types of archaeological finds. With...

The scientific programme of the research team set up by Balatoni Museum is devoted to explore and study the Prehistoric earthworks of Zala County, Western Hungary which are examined as results of human activity in natural environment and the part they acted in Prehistoric settlement system. About forty ditch systems, among them seven in Zala County...

I was delighted to read Gábor Sánta's article in the summer issue of the online publication of Hungarian Archaeology about his archaeoastronomical study tour in the vicinity of Halle, Germany. His report clearly demonstrates that German archaeology not only performs archaeoastronomical research at a high level, but also enriches its museum program...

Örömmel olvastam Sánta Gábor cikkét a Magyar Régészet online folyóirat nyári számában a németor-szági Halle környékén tett archaeoasztronómiai tanulmányútjáról. Beszámolója jól igazolja, hogy a német régészet nemcsak magas fokon műveli az archaeoasztronómiai kutatásokat, hanem, a nagyközönség érdek-lődését fenntartva, eredményeivel gazdagítja is a...

invited lecture for students

invited lecture for school teachers

The investigation of the cause and guiding principles of the orientation of houses has been a neglected field in archaeological studies. If clear regularity can be observed in the location of houses and constructions, it is assumed to follow the prevailing winds in most cases. The position of a house is influenced by environmental and non-environme...

Introduction When the Eurasian steppe is presented, it is rarely noted that the ecosystem of the Pannonian Lowlands (the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin) shows striking similarities to the Eurasian steppe, and actually it is its westernmost borderland. The forest steppe can be defined as a separate vegetation belt developed in the transitiona...

The most discussed structures of the late Neolithic period in Central Europe are the circular enclosures or rondels. In Lengyel culture of the Carpathian Basin these earthworks seem to follow a common set of architectural rules. The often empty space inside the enclosure is generally surrounded by one or more circular ditches which are interrupted...

A bronzkori házak tájolásának lehetséges okai vagy törvényszerűségeinek kutatása elhanyagolt területe a településtörténeti régészeti tanulmányoknak. Ha a házak, építmények elhelyezésében szembetűnő szabályosság észlelhető, azt az esetek többségében az uralkodó széliránnyal hozzák kapcsolatba. Egy ház elhelyezését környezeti és nem környezeti ténye...

Among the Bronze Age jewelry of the Carpathian Basin there are several pendants which bear significant symbols whose nearest analogies can be found among the Near Eastern emblems of celestial divinities. This study suggests that these symbols can be identified with the sign(s) of Ishtar/Astarte, the most popular goddess of the Near East, who must,...

The archaeoastronomy as the sub-discipline of archaeology represents important role in having particular information on the relation of ancient cultures to the natural environment and their symbol system. It can offer especially valuable addition to the study of non-literate societies. The spectacular or regular celestial phenomena make impression...

A cikkben az őskori sámánizmussal kapcsolatos legújabb kutatásokat igyekszem összefoglalni és véleményt formálni arról, hogy a Kárpát-medencében a bronz-kori hitvilág egyes elemei feltárhatók-e annak az ismeretanyagnak a segítségével, amit ma a sámánságról/a természethitről tudunk. A jelen tanulmány célja, hogy a néprajzi analógiák és a régészeti l...

Geomagnetic Survey of a Late Neolithic Roundel in a site at Gétye, Western-Hungary This paper is a short preliminary report on the non-invasive research of a newly discovered archaeological site at Gétye, Western-Hungary. As a result of the geophysical and several field surveys our previous assumption on the existence of a Late Neolithic circular d...

The present paper studies questions of the use of space in various ways on the basis of data obtained from a site at Sormás-Török-földek. The significance of this site lies in the fact that two enclosures were excavated here which differ in character, but which are in a close relationship physically and chronologically. They demonstrate precisely t...

Celestial events often exerted a great or even decisive influence on the life of ancient communities. There is good evidence that these phenomena played a particularly important role in the worldview of prehistoric Europe as well. Without written records the archaeological artifacts, features are almost the only “basic material” but also the solid...

invited lecture for Summer School on Prehistoric Archaeology

The summer solstice sunrise as seen from the interior of Stonehenge has been accepted as a key phenomenon in the building of the monument. The Sarsen Ring with the Trilithon Horseshoe is one of the most imaginative projects ever undertaken by prehistoric man. Computer simulations employing CAD-generated imagery have tested the motion of ancient lig...

The worship of nature/natural spirits might have been the fundamental belief system for some communities (archaeological cultures) in the Carpathian Basin during the Bronze Age. One should be familiar with the body of beliefs, the ceremonies and rituals in order to understand and reconstruct the spiritual/religious experience of prehistoric peoples...

Studying and discovering prehistoric cosmological ideas is a challenging research task. In the lack of written and oral material one is forced to use ‘silent sources’, such as special archaeological finds, iconography and symbols of decoration motifs, orientation of houses and graves. It follows from these ‘building units’ that archaeological metho...

Elaborate bone artifacts along with spectacular cave art from the Upper Paleolithic represent outstanding achievements of modern Homo sapiens. Decorative items, abstract figurines, and cave art emerge as part of complex symbol systems (Bednarik 1997). It has been argued again and again that some of these artifacts reveal calendaric notation and as...

Mit tegyen egy régész, ha olyan őskori ismeretanyagot, tudást szeretne ’lenyomozni’, melynek anyagi maradványai nem egyértelműek, nem könnyen felismerhetők. A kapcsolódó tárgyak talán nem kizárólagosan a kutatott témához tartoznak, vagy olyan anyagból készültek, melyek nem viselték el az idő múlását? Egyetlen út tűnik járhatónak: az etnoarcheológia...

Studying and discovering prehistoric cosmological ideas is a challenging research task. In the lack of written and oral material one is forced to use ‘silent sources’, such as special archaeological finds, iconography and symbols of decoration motifs, orientation of houses and graves. It follows from these ‘building units’ that archaeological metho...

The late Neolithic Lengyel culture site Sormás-Török-földek was found during a field survey preceding the M7 motorway construction project. In addition to the remains of a settlement considerable sections of two round-ditch systems (rondells) were unearthed during the excavation. They are dated to the very beginning of the cultural group, known as...

invited lecture for Summer School on Prehistoric Archaeology

invited lecture for Summer School on Prehistoric Archaeology

The study of prehistoric astronomy still has difficulties. Its academic discipline, called archaeoastronomy is still contending for high scientific value. As archaeoastronomy is the study of the astronomical practices, celestial lore, mythologies, religions and world-views of all ancient cultures, results of archaeological research are essential to...

Legends, myths personify the sky elements and tell stories about their deeds all over the world. Their activities take place in the celestial landscape, which is the idealized reflection of the terrestrial one. It seems therefore that the world view of the prehistoric Europeans could also have involved not only the significant topographical element...

A tanulmány célja a kultúrák közötti ideológiai - eszmei kapcsolattartás és csere bemutatása a kozmológiai szimbólumok példáján keresztül. Néhány napszimbólumnak tartott jel újraértelmezésével, elterjedésének vizsgálatával a szerző a bronzkori ember világképének lehetséges alapelemeit, formálódását és általánossá válását vizsgálja.

A bronzkori deponálás szokása rendkívül vitatott kérdés a régészek körében, ámbár ez az a tevékenység, ami leginkább jellemzi a bronzkori Európa nagy részét . Funkciójuk meghatározására tett kísérletek változatosak, sokféle értelmezés helyet kap, pl. történeti - háborús – magán vagy közösségi készletek; vándor fémműves készletek (ha vannak benne fé...

Celestial events often exerted a great or even decisive influence on the life of ancient communities. They may provide some of the foundations on which an understanding of the deeper meaning of mythologies, religious systems and even folk tales can be based. These influences are reflected and may be detected in the archaeological material as well....

The rondels – circular earthworks of late Neolithic Europe – have a repeated form highly suggestive of deliberate design and symbolism. The concentric ditches are cut by two, three or most often four causeways at right angles. Here the authors investigate the orientation of the causeways in 51 rondels belonging to the Lengyel culture and conclude t...

A késő neolit lengyeli kultúra egyik legtöbbet vitatott rendeltetésű építményei, az un. körárkok. A földrajzi távolságok dacára a kultúra elterjedési területén belül az alaprajzok közös vonásai közös szabályok meglétét, szándékos tervezést sugallnak a földművek létrehozásában. A belső, gyakran üresnek talált területet, egy vagy több kör vagy ahhoz...

Supported by WAC grant

Cognitive archaeology has become a fashionable but necessary field for searching new methods of reconstructing the past. For prehistoric societies when there is little factual background, one must be very cautious and apply as many means that can be found in material available in order to create science fictional ideas. In this case study the autho...

The Nebra disc is one of the most sensational European discoveries of the decade. It appears to carry symbols of the sun, moon and stars wrought in gold on a flat bronze disc just over a foot across (320mm). It is not only very strange, but, famously, appears to be winking, initially raising the suspicion that it may be a hoax. Scholars have, howev...

The distribution of the Bell Beaker 'phenomenon' or material culture over the vast area of the European continent is today most commonly explained as the result of a spread of an enigmatic phenomenon-ideology. The question of the origin of Bell Beakers has not satisfactorily answered yet. It is possible that there were separate developments, in Ibe...

In the present paper, we called attention to a so far unknown religious idea of the Bell Beaker – Csepel group after observations made at the excavation of Budapest-Albertfalva, archaeo-astronomical analyses, two special shards with channelled knob ornaments and their analogues. The schematic representation of the Sun symbol appears, although rarel...

The distribution of the Bell Beaker 'phenomenon' or material culture over the vast area of the European continent is today most commonly explained as the result of a spread of an enigmatic phenomenon -- ideology. The question of the origin of Bell Beakers has not satisfactorily answered yet. It is possible that there were separate developments, in...

Kilmartin rock carvings The highest concentration of rock carvings in Britain and Ireland is found near the small village of Kilmartin in Mid Argyll on the Scottish west coast. Within a radius of ten kilometres from Kilmartin, it is possible to count more than a hundred sites with rock carvings (Butter 1999: 64). One of these is the.site of Achnabr...

Three geometrical Viking ring-fortresses in Denmark have generally been taken to be orientated closely towards the four cardinal points. By measuring the orientations of their main axes with a precision theodolite, it was found that the fortresses differ considerably from each other in orientation, inspite of their similar geometric design and from...

A well-built roadway from the early Viking Age at the Ro ª saring archaeological site in central Sweden is assumed by archaeologists to have been used for processions. The road is here examined in relation to its environment, the sun and the moon, the Milky Way and the rainbow. The aim was to extend landscape archaeology to include natural phenomen...

A well-built roadway from the early Viking Age at the Rösaring archaeological site in central Sweden is assumed by archaeologists to have been used for processions. The road is here examined in relation to its environment, the sun and the moon, the Milky Way and the rainbow. The aim was to extend landscape archaeology to include natural phenomena a...