Report on the Activities of the Instrument Reconnaissance Unit in 2022

Abstract

The paper briefly shows the operations of the Archaeological Prospection Department of the National Archaeological Institute in 2022. The department has existed since 2014, and our staff is comprised of archaeologists, geologists, and geophysicists, all working on archaeological geophysical tasks at the HNM-NAI. Most of our projects are within the frame of heritage management, mostly archaeological feature detection using magnetometry survey methods before large-scale construction projects. In 2022, we had 55 such projects, covering altogether 17 million sqm.
Apart from HM related tasks, we were also involved in several scientific projects. In 2022 we participated in 6 such projects, along with our own research within the department. Many of our tasks are GPR surveys mostly for detecting archaeological built heritage elements. In 2022 we surveyed altogether 25 sites with built heritage elements. The spectacular among them is the early medieval Benedictine abbey at Tomajmonostora.