Cropmarks are a major factor in the effectiveness of traditional aerial archaeology. Identified almost 100 years ago, the positive and negative features shown by cropmarks are now well understood, as are the role of the different cultivated plants and the importance of precipitation and other elements of the physical environment. Generations of aerial archaeologists are in possession of empirical knowledge, allowing them to find as many cropmarks as possible every year. However, the essential analyses belong mostly to the predigital period, while the significant growth of datasets in the last 30 years could open a new chapter. This is especially true in the case of Hungary, as scholars believe it to be one of the most promising cropmark areas in Europe. The characteristics of soil formed of Late Quaternary alluvial sediments are intimately connected to the young geological/geomorphological background. The predictive soil maps elaborated within the framework of renewed data on Hungarian soil spatial infrastructure use legacy, together with recent remote sensing imagery. Based on the results from three study areas investigated, analyses using statistical methods (the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Random Forest tests) showed a different relative predominance of pedological variables in each study area. The geomorphological differences between the study areas explain these variations satisfactorily.

A Süttő és Neszmély közötti löszplatón a neolitikumtól kezdve azonosíthatók a megtelepedés nyomai. A 2018–2019-ben zajlott ásatáson és terepbejárásokon előkerült leletanyag a kora bronzkortól a késő vaskorig terjedő időszakra keltezhető. Magyarországon egyedülálló, hogy egy adott lelőhelykomplexumon belül ekkora időintervallumon keresztül sikerült tanulmányozni az egyes korszakok kerámiaanyagában a nyersanyagválasztás és felhasználási technika változását vagy éppen állandóságát. Harminchárom, makroszkópos megfigyelések nyomán kiválasztott kerámiatöredék petrográfiai vizsgálatát végeztük el. Eredményeink azt mutatják, hogy a kora bronzkortól egészen a kora vaskor végéig, több évszázadon át a helyi nyersanyagot és azonos tradíciót alkalmaztak. A kora bronzkorban a nagyon finomszemcsés agyagot, míg a késő bronzkorban és a kora vaskorban a kevert agyagot kerekített, finom–durvaszemcsés homokkal soványították. Ezzel szemben a késő vaskori kerámiakészítők a korábbi hagyományok alkalmazása mellett más, távolabbi forrásterületekről származó nyersanyagokat (szögletes márvány- és kalcittöredékek, tiszta grafit, illetve szillimanitos grafitos kőzettöredék) is felhasználtak.

Cropmarks are a major factor in the effectiveness of traditional aerial archaeology. The positive and negative features shown up by cropmarks are the role of the different cultivated plants and the importance of precipitation and other elements of the physical environment. In co-operation with the experts of the Eötvös Loránd University a new research was initiated to compare the pedological features of cropmark plots (CMP) and non-cropmark plots (nCMP) in order to identify demonstrable differences between them. For this purpose, the spatial soil information on primary soil properties provided by DOSoReMI.hu was employed. To compensate for the inherent vagueness of spatial predictions, together with the fact that the definition of CMPs and nCMPs is somewhat indefinite, the comparisons were carried out using data-driven, statistical approaches. In the first round three pilot areas were investigated, where Chernozem and Meadow type soils proved to be correlated with the formation of cropmarks. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and Random Forest models showed a different relative predominance of pedological variables in each study area. The geomorphological differences between the study areas explain these variations satisfactorily. In the next round, the identified relationships between cropmarking and soil features are planned to be utilized in the spatial inference of soil properties, where crop-marking sites will represent a unique, spatially non-exhaustive auxiliary information.

The Roman auxiliary fort of Ad Mures (Ács-Bumbumkút, Komárom-Esztergom County, Hungary) has recently been studied intensively using geophysical surveys and a planned excavation by the team of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University. The paper presents the preliminary results of these investigations, focused on the layout of the fort and the relative chronology of the site, based on the data collected during the 2023 excavation. Results indicate several analogies with the fort of Ad Statuas (Ács-Vaspuszta).