The largest prehistoric mound in Europe is the Bronze-Age Hill of Udine (Italy) and legend linked its origin to Attila the Hun

Prehistoric monuments often constitute evident landmarks and sometimes, after falling into disuse, fascinated local people enough to stimulate speculations about their origin over time. According to legend, the Hill of Udine (NE Italy) was built by Attila the Hun's soldiers, but its origin (natural or anthropogenic) has been debated until now. Our research analyzed five new 40-m long stratigraphic cores, investigating for the first time the total thickness of the hill and compared the data with the available archaeological information. Moreover, we considered other hills and mounds in northern Italy and other European regions where folklore traditions relate their origin to Attila. The geoarchaeological and ethnographic data prove that the Hill of Udine is a Bronze Age anthropogenic mound erected between 1400 and 1150 BCE and that, later, folklore has transformed the ancestral memory of its origin into legend. By measuring 30 m in height and over 400,000 m³ in volume, the flat-topped hill is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. This discovery reveals unprecedented skills in earth construction and confirms significant anthropogenic modifications of the environment during Bronze Age.

Kinetics of Thermolysis of a Low-Temperature Tar in the Presence of a Catalyzer Agent with Deposited Metals

The thermal decomposition of low-temperature coal tar (LTCT) obtained from the coals of Shubarkol Komir JSC of the Republic of Qazaqstan in the presence of nanocatalysts with metal oxides (iron, cobalt and nickel) supported on microsilicate was studied for the first time. Microsilicate acts as a carrier and catalyst. Microsilicate is a product of the Karaganda silicon plant of “Tau-Ken.temir” LLP. The main chemical com-ponent of the original microsilicate is silicon oxide. The individual and chemical phase composition of the microsilicate was determined using X-ray spectral analysis. The particle size of the initial microsilicate and the mixture of microsilicate with metal oxide catalysts (nickel, cobalt, and iron) was determined using a nanosizer. Stages of thermal decomposition of LTCT and a mixture of LTCT with catalysts under conditions of programmed heating up to 640 °С in a nitrogen atmosphere have been established. On the basis of thermogravimetric analysis, the kinetic parameters (activation energy, mass loss rate, and pre-exponential fac-tor) of LTCT pyrolysis and mixture with added catalysts were determined. The modelless integral isoconversion Ozawa–Flynn–Wall method was used to determine the kinetic parameters. The values of the activation energy for the thermal destruction of the LTCT in the absence and presence of the nanocatalyst ranged from 54.04 to 297.5 kJ/mol. A kinetic compensation effect was revealed, probably due to the multi-component composition of the LTCT and the influence of added catalysts to the LTCT. The thermogravimetry method showed a high effect of the supported catalysts on the thermal degradation of LTCT. This method was used to determine the values of the activation energy and the pre-exponential degra-dation factor for the LTCT and the mixture with catalysts at different heating rates, which allows a detailed interpretation of the thermal analysis data. The obtained results of the kinetics of decomposition of LTCT can be used to create a database for mathematical modeling of the process of processing this type of raw material.