Archaeologists have begun excavating the remains of a medieval church near Kiskunlacháza, Hungary, years after traces of the building were first identified during field surveys.
The site came to attention when museum volunteers walking near the Dömsöd–Arapasztó channel found human skull fragments brought to the surface by plowing. Stones and construction debris scattered across the field suggested that a demolished church and its cemetery lay beneath the farmland.
Researchers believe the ruins belonged to the church of the medieval settlement of Szentiván. The building is thought to have been dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
A Gilded Find East of the Church
Shortly before excavations began, a metal-detector survey uncovered a small fire-gilded religious figure east of the church site. Archaeologists believe it may once have formed part of a processional cross carried during Christian ceremonies.
The object’s exact date and original position on the cross have not yet been established. Its discovery, however, adds a rare religious artifact to the evidence emerging from the site.
The excavation began after years of preparation and survey work. The team is working through intense summer heat, dust and storms to expose the surviving remains of the church and learn more about the medieval community that once lived around it.
The project brings together archaeologists from Pázmány Péter Catholic University and Eötvös Loránd University, staff from the Ferenczy Museum Centre, community archaeology volunteers and residents of Kiskunlacháza.