In order to expand the knowledge about this assault a metal detector survey of the site’s surroundings was conducted in 201 1. The main goals of these works were the improvement of understanding on Roman siege techniques and the location of possible Roman besieging camps. The preliminary results of this research will be presented in our communication. The most interesting points in discussion will be the importance of caligae studs as a decisive indicator to track the path of Puigciutat’s attackers, the interaction between intrasite excavations and metal detector outside surveys, and the use of multiscale spatial analysis to understand the importance of surrounding landscape on battlefield archaeology.

The hoard of Roman republican weapons from Smihel (Horvat, J, The Hoard of Roman Republican Weapons from Grad near Smihel, Arheoloski vestnik: 50, 215—257) is very probably connected with the besieging 1n the 2nd century BC. Roman military equipment from some other sites suggests Roman military interventions against local communities from Caesarian period to the early Augustan period (70/60—15 BC) or presence of troops in the hinterland of main military operations during the Pannonian wars (14—9 BC) and the Pannonian-Dalmatian revolt (AD 6—9).

The tactical elements of the Hungarians warfare during the 9m—10‘h centuries are well known from contemporary accounts, especially from the Taktika elaborated by Emperor Leo VI of Byzantium. These written sources describe the weapons used by ancient Hungarians (one characteristic example is the battle fought by the Hungarians together with Petchenegs against the Byzantine army). Their weapons were for to the light cavalry tactics of quick maneuvers and sudden attacks. The conquering Hungarian warrior used different weapons which can be found in the written sources and the archaeological material too. The bulk of archaeological finds from the Conquest period comes from burials. A fairly accurate portrait of the weapons and the costume, as well as of tools and implements used in this period can now be drawn as a result of precise observation made during excavation and on the growing number of finds. Our presentation is the first step of the comparative works, investigating together the written and the archaeological sources.

The find places of the treasures can help to reconstruct the route of the Tatar army at the South-Transdanubia.

Besides the presentation aims to introduce the use and importance of itineraries in the analysis of the Hungarian military history.

The research builds on the sources which can be found in the Zsigmond, Zichy, Raguza and Southern Slav archives.

The composition of the itinerary concentrates on the Dalmatian-Croatian, Slavonian governors and the governors of Macso, and the overseers of Temes.

The analysis attempts to use the already composed itineraries results (the following itineraries which belonged to King Zsigmond, Transylvanian vaivodes and Ozorai Pipo)

The presentation focuses on the analysis of the Turkish, Bosnian and Serbian wars between the period of 1387 and 1410.

Other residences of officers and lords who participated in Southern military events will be also used. Among the results of the research the compilation of such a map is also important which shows the main routes and residences of the Hungarian armies.

The paper will cover the role and caveats about literature and the way it can be tested using landscape archaeology. Techniques to gather landscape data and re—create the battle-surface will be explored and how this work can test not only the literature but also guide the way the search for physical finds is planned since it can reveal the accessible surface from the time of the battle.

Search and statistical analysis methodologies are explored along with the role of XRF and xray on the finds. The last topic will contain elements of my paper given at The Royal Armouries in Leeds showing how the store—room debris of museums can be invaluable in identifying fragments of battlefield debris.

The proposed methodology encourages a holistic approach and demonstrated how iterative testing can increase the confidence in locating lost battlesites.

This had an essential effect on the military architecture that was transformed enormously and quickly in that 100 years.

The forefront of the European military architecture’s development was influenced by the development of gun, but the role of firearms should be considered as an important one too. Throughout the development of the late middle-aged Hungarian military architecture the abovementioned military devices were important ones in one significant era and had prominent role too.

In the middle of the 15th century in France and Italy the first, rounded guntowers which protected the forts appeared. In the same period of time the Turkish also erected guntowers which protected the forts in Constantinopolis and in its surroundings.

The effect of the Italian and Turkish military archeology can be observed in the southern part of Hhungary and close to the Turkish frontier in the third part of the 15th century through the apperance of sevral forts protected by guntowersand erected at Nandorfehérvar(Belgrade), Bacs and Szeged.

In the second part of the 15th century the round—shaped bastions and embankments for the advanced posts appeared in France, Spain, Italy and in other Italian estates. From 1480 the defensive system with bastion emerged in Toscana.

In this era, in Hungary’s inner regions the military architecture developed towards other direction. The protective buildings built around Trencsén, Nagyvazsony and Eger in 1500 included embankments, advanced posts, entrenchments and towers which protected the moat and sometimes only one guntower was added to the centre of the castle, but this was formed not for gunfire fights but for the use of small arms. A bit later, in the quarter of the 16th century by the fortification of Pécs’s episcopal castle the use of the smaller calibre guns was typical. The situation changed later, in the years of 1530 when in Hungary the gun towers were widely known and used and the entrenchments used as gun rondelles and the Italian bastions also appeared.

In 2006 Faculty of humanities of Charles University has started research of battlefield from 1621 between Waidhaus in Bavaria and Rozvadov in West Bohemia. In first phase the research has been focused on searching and geodetic documentation of extant system of field fortifications on Czech side of battlefield. From 2010 there was started archaeological excavation of small system of field fortifications on the Czech side. Importance has been taken both for archaeological excavation of fortifications and for exploration by detectors, searching of munitions on the places of anticipated battles.

In 2010 City Museum in Rakovnik has started systematic field research of battlefield by Rakovnik from 1620. Accent has been from the beginning put on exploration by detectors and searching and on documentation of relicts from field fortifications.

Prezentation on conference in Budapest will be devoted mostly to recent results of study of battlefield by Rozvadov. Between Bavarian Waidhaus and Czech Rozvadov there was in summer 1621 battle between army of general Peter Ernst II count Mansfeld and imperial army under heading of general Hans Tserclaes Tilly. General Mansfeld fortified in proximity of Bavarian city Waidhaus, General Tilly in proximity of Czech village Rozvadov. Battle started in the middle of June and continued until second half of September 1621. During four months both armies built huge system of field fortifications. In the forested landscape on both sides of boundary it has been found all together 13 relicts of field fortification. Archaeological research focused up to now on two fortification and systematic examination with detectors of the area where on 16’h July took probably place the biggest battle of whole conflict.

In the past years more palpable evidences of an Austrian towboat transporting war materials were excavated in the Gonyfi reaches (that is the county of Gydr-Moson—Sopron) of the Danube River. Thanks to the collaboration of institutions we managed to do researches in connection with the questions regarding the destruction of the Austrian towboat. Besides the investigation of written sources field work with metal detector was also fulfilled and research work with sonar in the river bed was also completed together with diver-submersion. The researches of Gonyfi demonstrate well that in the Hungarian archeology after the year of 1711 the end of the Rakoczi’s war of independence which is also the end of the archeological eras there is reason for existence of researches by using archeologieal methods, because the archeologieal observations could enrich and add to the information of a documented event in the military history.

Several questions arise from this biased perspective: were these innovations adopted by all sides and units? How these new tactics influenced the outcome of the conflict? Which tactics were tested and discarded for better ones?

It is difficult to adress these questions using only textual sources, given the particularities of this war. Fortunately, the integration of these sources with archaeology and spatial analysis allows us to improve our understanding on the evolution of warfare. In particular we will present an study reconstructing the assault on the last Republican defence line during the Battle for the Ebro.

These positions were created during the battle by the engineers of the Republican army, in order to protect the bridges that crossed the Ebro. This is an almost unknown assault, as it occurred during the last days of the battle. Nevertheless the combat was analysed by the Italian army, that in 1940 sent engineers to the zone in order to study and document the fortifications created by the Republican army.

The excavation of a section of this defence line and the use of spatial analysis techniques have allowed us to reconstruct the Fascist assault that conquered the positions. The defending brigade was one of the best available units still available to the Republican army, and its presence, combined with an effective system of trenches and forward bunkers, forced the attackers to employ the stop the advance and assault the defence line. They used a combined arms approach: the most vulnerable zone of the trench system was bombarded both by planes and artillery: these actions were followed by an infantry assault with tank support. After three days of combat resistance was annihilated, but the action allowed the bulk of the Republican army to retreat to the northern side of the Ebro river.

That for we are testing a way that allows us to collect as much data as possible, within the realms of economic an temporal possibilities: It is based on a extensive GPS-survey, descriptive data collection by use of mobile devices connected to a central server, 3d-documentation employing the structure from motion tecnology, application of an aerial drone for taking pictures of inaccessible structures, buildup of a comparative geodatabase of historical and modern photographies.

Around the Austro-Hungarian emplacements of Mount Roteck (2390m) in the far east of South-Tyrol, in autumn 2011 and spring 2012 first trials for finding out the efficiency of the planned work flow have taken place.

It is our aim to draw until 2018 a general picture of all remains of the WW] frontline and hinterland in South-Tyrol. It shall be even more detailed and wholly, as it was known to the general staff of the conflicting parties 100 years ago, as a base for further historical and archaeological research.

This paper presents an overview of recent research and research topics in the Netherlands. The research varies from battlefield archaeology on sites that have seen heavy fighting in the early days of the Naziwinvasion in May 1940 to the investigation of defensive lines constructed in the last phase of the war. Several investigations have been done at the Grebbeberg, the scene of fierce fighting in May 1940 and a site of national importance in the history of the Second World War in the Netherlands. Attention is also paid to archaeological research in combination with aircraft recovery, a task of the Aircraft Recovery Unit of the Ministry of Defence. The archaeology of the air war also includes German airfieids and anti-aircraft positions. Another research topic is the archaeology of the Holocaust, the persecution of the Jews and others. This topic includes the mapping and spatial analysis of the concentration camp of Amersfoort and the excavation of a landfill site near Westerbork—concentration camp.

The recent investigations also bring to light new dilemmas. For example, the standard site—evaluation method designed for older archaeological sites shows serious insufficiencies when used for WWII-sites. A new evaluation method is proposed that is not merely based on the scientific, historical meaning of wartime sites, but also on the wider significance that is given to them by society, including symbolic and emotional meanings.

The invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 was the start of the German campaign to conquer Western Europe. Dutch troops from the 81h Infantry Regiment were outnumbered 10 to 1 and fought a hard but unwinnable battle. Troops of SS—Standarte ‘Der Furher’ broke through all three defense lines during the three days of the battle. 424 Dutch and 170 German lives were lost, these casualties contained within an area of only 6 square kilometers.

The research consisted of systematic metal detection of 2500 square meters of topsoil where the proposed cycle path crosses the main trench line known as ‘Stoplijn’ (stopping line). The results of this work amazed all parties involved as it was not expected that the side of a heavily used provincial road would still contain so much evidence of the battle 72 years after the event. The results were all the more surprising as many metal detector hobbyists were known to have already visited the battlefield since the 1980’s. Around 600 small objects related to the 1940 battle and later allied artillery shelling (in 1945) were retrieved from the top soil. Interpretations based on the distribution of the material across the battlefield have revealed important events in the German assault. In two cases artifacts were literally found on top of the soil, visible for the naked eye, without the need for a detector. The results imply much potential for this kind of battlefield research in the Netherlands.

The sloop sunk near the Csepel Island after the battle of Moha’cs at the time of the throne-discord. After the death of Lajos Il. Ferdinand Habsburg’s army besieged the castle of Buda in 1530, 1540, 1541 and 1542. On Erhard Schon’s engraving of Buda (1541) we can see the Csepel Island with a battle-scene (with sloops). On the basis of this engraving we can mention that the sloop was sunk in the course of the fights of the year of 1541.

• SMS. Szent Istvan (Saint Stephen battleship)
• SMS. Kaiser Franz Josef patrol
• SM S. Zenta patrol
• SMS. Streiter destroyer
• SMS. Flamingo torpedo boat

The morals of the researches, new consequences and new plans.

The local residents buried the dead pilots in nameless graves or they covered the pilots together with the plane’s wrecks, so they covered up every traces. After the war lot of relatives searched for their disappeared family members in vain, because they did not find them. Nowadays, thanks to the spread of the detectors more and more wreck’s crash location can be found.

It may happen that during the excavation such mortal remains come to light which could nott be identified with the help of DNS—method due to the fact that the body was damaged seriously at the impact.

Both in Hungary and in Slovakia two Hungarian pilots’ mortal remains were found but their corps were not identified with the medical science’s available methods. To solve this problem such a method was developed which helps proving the identity by using indirect proofs.

2012 is a crucial year in Hungarian aviation-archaeology. For the first time Hungarian researchers are visited Russia the Voronyezsh region, to locate and document WWII Hungarian airfield at Ilovskoye and discover lost Hungarian aircrews. The expedition main goal is to locate, document and recover the impact point of Captain Istvan Horthy’s Reggiane Re-2000 aircraft.

In the second half of the lecture Karoly Mago’ would like to introduce a new kind of identification process of lost Hungarian military aircrews.

Drawing on work soon to be published (as J. Carman 2012 Archaeologies of Conflict, Duckworth) this paper will promote the unification and globalisation of the field by demonstrating the aspects of the different period-divisions which carry implications for the others and how they can usefully inform each other. Looking beyond archaeology to other fields that study conflict, I will argue for a move away from prehistory’s conventional association with anthropology, historic battlefield archaeology’s with military history, and modern conflict study’s with cultural resource management (CRM), to other connections that can be made. In particular, the long-term perspective on human violence and conflict that archaeology can provide will be discussed in terms of its value to those disciplines that also seek to understand war and conflict rather than merely document it.