The connecting river. Diachronic assessment of fords crossing the Tisza river
The connecting river. Diachronic assessment of fords crossing the Tisza river

Summary/Abstract: The Lendület BASES project offers a unique opportunity for diachronic analysis, enabling changes in landscape, land use, and communication systems to be examined on the basis of archaeological and written evidence from widely separated periods – in this case, the Middle Bronze Age and the Middle Ages. In this article, we investigate the fords of the River Tisza, a key determinant of transport in the Carpathian Basin. Our comparative analysis identified two shorter river sections between Tiszadob and Csongrád where fords occur in greater density. Both areas are well attested in both periods, although the individual crossing points were not necessarily of equal importance throughout time. The evidence also suggests that the stretch of river between Szolnok and Csongrád retained particular significance across both eras, with its fords appearing to be more stable than elsewhere. These results suggest that questions of continuity and discontinuity should be examined not only at the level of individual settlements, but also on the scale of micro-regions.

• Details
• Contents