Fortified settlements – Bronze Age and Iron Age

The first classical period of prehistoric „castles” in the area of the Geopark was the early and middle Bronze Age.The people of the early Bronze Age Hatvan culture (2000–1750 BC) and the middle Bronze Age Füzesabony culture (1750–1350 BC) settled mostly in the hilly regions in the edge of the Bükk.The fortification typical of them was a small castle next to a large „open settlement” (0.02-0.08 ha).The protected area surrounded mostly with only a ditch, may have been the property of the leading layer: it probably served both separation from their own people and protection against hostile neighbouring peoples and distant cultures.Earthworks from the first half of the Bronze Age in Bükkalja: Maklár – Baglyas Mound, Novaj – Halom, Tard – Tatárdomb.

The second great period of prehistoric fortified settlements began in the late Bronze Age.The settlements of Kyjatice culture (from the 12th century BC to the 8th – 7th century BC, until the break-in of the „Pre-Scythians”) are large and truly impressive in appearance, mainly on mountaintops of great relative height inside the mountains: Bükkszentlászló – Nagysánc, Miskolctapolca – Vár Hill, Bükkaranyos – Földvár, Cserépfalu – Mész-tető, Sály – Latorvár-tető, Felsőtárkány – Vár Hill.