Recent achievements in archaeomagnetism in Hungary

Over the last six years the Hungarian archaeomagnetic database has been increased by the addition of 60 new directional results. At present there are a total of 159 archaeomagnetic directions with age estimates falling between BC 350 and AD 1800. Using this more extended data set a new model of the directional secular variation (DSV) was derived for Hungary (Budapest), which is considered an improvement relative to that known six years ago. The main features of the model are an almost sinusoidal variation of the inclination between 58° and 72° and a more complicated variation of the declination between -15° and 25° with several changes of sign. Comparison of this new model DSV with those derived by Daly & Le Goff for other European ‘world sites’ shows general agreement as well as important differences, such as the occurrence of negative declinations during early medieval times, which apparently are not present in the DSV for regions west of Hungary.