Negotiating Space at Emőd-Nagyhalom: The Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of a Bronze Age Mound, its Enclosure and Multi-Phase Outer Settlement

Abstract In this paper we present the results of a second systematic core drilling campaign at the Bronze Age site of Emőd-Nagyhalom in north-eastern Hungary, conducted in autumn 2024. Focusing on a group of houses situated in the outer settlement just beyond the north-eastern section of the enclosing ditch, the campaign built on earlier geomagnetic prospection, surface survey and preliminary coring that indicated an unexpectedly well-preserved, stratified occupation sequence. Our new data confirm that this section of the site experienced multi-phase habitation, with an early settlement phase predating the construction of the ditch that later defined the enclosed, multi-layer settlement mound. Subsequent resettlement occurred on top of the material excavated from the ditch and deposited on the outside thus sealing and preserving earlier cultural deposits, including remnants of Bronze Age topsoil and pre-ditch settlement activity. The 2024 campaign has significantly refined our understanding of the spatial organisation and diachronic development of Emőd-Nagyhalom, revealing a complex occupational history of the Bronze Age mound, its enclosure and multi-phase outer settlement rarely documented in the Carpathian Basin before. This study represents the first large-scale, stratigraphically controlled investigation of outer settlement occupation at a Hungarian tell site supported by systematic radiocarbon dating. The findings provide important new insights into the formation processes, household practices and long-term development of such multi-component Bronze Age sites.