Archaeology

In Pest County it is the responsibility of the Ferenczy Museum Center staff to perform professional archaeological work prescribed for developers and constructors by the special authority’s statements.

For information and administration in relation to contracts and orders, contact:
Rita Marsi
Phone: +36-30-4091882.
Email: marsi.rita@muzeumicentrum.hu

The Ferenczy Museum Center has been functioning as a city museum of regional authority since 2013. There are over 5000 registered archaeological sites in our county. This number is continuously increasing thanks to systematic site-explorations. In delivering the archaeological tasks the institution cooperates with other museums in the region. The professional crew is important, besides archaeologists and technicians we have the assistance of a geoinformatic engineer and a surveyor helping with the fieldwork and processing. Being an accredited institution, FMC possesses enough tools of sufficient quality that allow for carrying out excavations and processing them.

We cover the whole country from three bases: in Cegléd, Gödöllő, and Szentendre, where the head office of the museum is located.

Our staff work in teams in several locations when carrying out our general tasks. Archaeological observation and supervision, mostly on smaller construction sites, where we investigate archaeological interest, are part of our daily duties. In addition, we regularly participate in fieldwork for Preliminary Archaeological Documentation during large-scale investment projects coordinated with the body of cultural heritage conservation and as a competent accredited institution in the preliminary excavations of large-scale development projects.

Following excavation fieldwork, we clear, restore, and archive the finds at our archaeological bases and this is also where we place the archaeological objects eventually. The number of archaeological finds placed in the museum has increased to over 10,000 pieces throughout the years due to large-scale investments.

Apart from the mandatory work, the strengthening of ties with museum aficionados interested in archaeology is important for us. Therefore, we organize community archaeology events for the civilians dedicated to cultural heritage. Visitors can join in these excavations and learn about the general tasks and methodologies of demolition and documentation. We have also organized several conferences and workshops with such main topics.

We display our results in exhibitions and publications. We aim at opening archaeological exhibitions each year in any exhibition space of the Ferenczy Museum Center.

It Is not Gone without a Trace, the exhibition presenting material from the Hungarian Conquest, stands out among the many archaeological exhibitions on the past. It was organized around presenting the finds from the unique grave in Pest County with the sabretache.

The Archaeological Collection

The archaeological collection of the Ferenczy Museum Center covers the whole area of Pest County. The institution, formerly called the Directorate of Pest County Museums, has been collecting archaeological finds since the 1960s. The sources of these are excavations, fieldwalking, and donations. The main task of the museum’s archaeologists is to excavate, document, and process the archaeological heritage in the area of Pest County before or parallel with construction earthworks. The collection is continuously expanding and has above 300,000 artefacts, mostly consisting of ceramics and metal finds. The finds cover a wide spectrum, from the early stage of the Prehistoric Age, to the New Stone Age, to the Late Middle Ages. The museum’s archaeologists process and store these in three locations in Cegléd, Gödöllő, and Szentendre. The Cegléd Warehouse has mostly artefacts excavated during the building of Road 4 and the eastern section of the M0 motorway. In Gödöllő material from the eastern part of Pest County is kept. Szentendre holds objects from the west of the county and a local excavated Roman camp in Szentendre.

The basis of the numismatic collection is the Pest County Numismatic Collection established in 1978. It holds approximately 47,000 objects at present. The collection of coins with no known provenance is selected in accordance with the different periods, nicely representing the development of monetary history throughout time. The site-found coin collection, however, carries a lot of information in relation to the archaeological site. In many cases it is thanks to such information that the archaeological chronology of the investigated archaeological phenomenon can be identified. There are several medal coin finds among the coins of archaeological age. Hoards of several hundreds of coins are not a rarity either. The modern age collection is also significant and was generated mostly through gifts and partly by acquisition. The numismatic collection is also used to compile other the Pest County archaeological or historical exhibitions and houses numerous research projects. We cordially welcome national and foreign researchers and professionals in all our institutions! Our Gödöllő base functions as a study collection. Following preliminary registration our exhibition of representative objects found in the county area may be visited.

Sculpture of a satyr Archaeological site: Biatorbágy, Káposztás-dűlő Inventory no.: 2009.9.1.1 Material: bronze, silver Period: Roman period (2nd century AD) Storage: Gödöllő, Ferenczy Museum Center The kneeling Satyr of Biatorbágy most probably arrived in Pannonia as a valuable import object in the 2nd century AD, and it probably belonged to a small table, a vessel, a tripod, or to some other kind of furniture.

Celtic silver coins from Tótfalu Archaeological site: Szentendre Island, Tótfalu Inventory no.: VVM 31–53. Material: silver Date of issue: First trimester of 1st century BC Storage: Gödöllő, Ferenczy Museum Center The Celts were the first to mint coins in the Carpathian Basin from the middle of the 3rd century BC copying a Greek design that gradually more and more of Celtic art and myths. The horse, with or without its rider, often interpreted as a sun symbol is the most common Celtic coin design. The occasionally appearing bird image can be linked to the warrior gods of Celtic mythology.

Cart modell Archaeological site: Budakalász, Lupa Inn, grave no. 177 Inventory no.: 61.2.35.5 Material: clay Period: Late Copper Age, Baden Culture (3400 BC–2900 BC) Storage: Gödöllő, Ferenczy Museum Center The cart model of Budakalász is a symbolic embodiment of social development. It proves the existence of real carts, but also indicates an intellectual content behind it: privilege and prestige. Only its miniature version was buried in a grave where no human remains were found.

Jar with hunting scene Archaeological site: Budakalász, grave no. 740 Inventory no.: 93.2.1 Material: brass with silver and copper inlay, Period: end of 5th century AD or the beginning of 6th century Storage: Gödöllő, Ferenczy Museum Center The jar decorated with hunting scenes is a prestigious relic of the early Byzantine period of the Carpathian Basin. In accordance with Avar traditions, food and drink offerings of food and drink were placed in the vessel as supplies for the interred in the afterlife.

Sabretache plate Archaeological site: Bugyi, Felsővány, grave no. 2 Inventory no.: 2014.1.1.1 Material: gilt silver, copper Period: Conquest Period (10th century) Storage: Gödöllő, Ferenczy Museum Center The silver-plate-covered sabretache is an emblematic object of the Hungarian Conquest Period. Men wore this object, decorated with the typical ornaments of the period, suspended from their belts, keeping their extremely highly esteemed fire-making tools in it. Its cover was decorated in several, highly artistic ways.

Drinking horn Archaeological site: Bugyi, Felsővány, grave no. 17 Inventory no.: 2014.1.1.57 Material: glass Period: 5th-6th century AD Storage: Gödöllő, Ferenczy Museum Center An incomplete skeleton lying on its back and a complete glass drinking horn were found in an excavated grave of a cemetery from the time of the Hungarian Conquest. There are so far three drinking horn pieces known among Hungarian Avar finds.