Folia archeologica 6. (1949)

BANNER JÁNOS: HERMAN OTTO LEVELE PÓSTA BÉLÁHOZ A MAGYAR ŐSKŐKOR KUTATÁS HARCOS IDEJÉBŐL

BANNER—FOL.TIN Y: THE THIRD EXCAVATION ON THE KÖKÉNYDOMB The second house was found almost immediately in front of the first one. Originally it might have been much larger than the first one and its shape was also not so elongated. Approximatively it might have been oblong on an area of about 76 sq. m. The phenomena, from which we may conclude of a house, occurred in an area of this size. Its surface was covered with a thick layer of plaster, which let through the water to such a ; degree that hardly anything remained from the slightly refined and not sufficiently burnt vessels. (Pl. VII, fig. 5). That here we have to deal with a house is proved by the layer of ochre carried up and spread out on the whole area. Out of the four big vessels which were found in it, only one could be restored, but the illustration of this was lost and also the data taken of its size are missing. From its original position (Pî. VII, fig. 5) so much could be determined that it belonged to the vessels of the largest sizes. The dish on. Pi. V, fig. 10 was found in this house. The third house (Pl.VII, figs. 3—3; PI. VIII, figs. 7, 9) was a little distant from the two former ones in a fairly bad condition. The entire reconstruction of its shape did not succeed. So much was determinable that its walls were sunken into the soil and on them rested the hut-like roof. One of the remaining sides, at both ends of which the corners could be definitely determined, renders a certain information, This side is 8 m long. On the one end of this a little part of the joining wall also remained, but the other parts were entirely missing. From the fact that under a hut-like roof a hearth can be placed only in the middle of the house, we may conclude that the shorter wall might have been about 7 m. long. At least the position of the hearth indicates that. It is striking that the foundation of the house was sloping [eastwards. While the west side lay 70 cm deep the east part sank with 30—40 cm deeper. The explanation for this can be the fact that it was built on such a place where previously also appeared settling phenomena, if merely in the form of scattered refuse. This was especially apparent under the hearth ' then when the unusually shaped and built hearth was taken out „in situ". Here we Í5 found potsherds belonging to the Tisza-culture, 60 cm deeper than the hearth. Near the hearth we found besides the scattered vessels a bigger lump о £ clay (15 cm high, 24 cm in diameter) of which superficial burning and irregular shape show that the material serving for repairing the hearth might have been kept in this form in the neighbourhood of the hearth. When the house was distroyed this lump of clay was burnt too. In the house were vessels and heaps of sherds among which the following were successfully restored: Pl. V, figs. 4, b, 12, 20; PL Vl,iig3. 5—7, 10* 13, 15. On the hearth and in its immediate Pl. V, figs. 6 and 24. The following vessels came to light in the vicinity of the house: PL V, figs. 7, 9, 13, 18, 21; PI. VI, figs. 14, 16. Among the eight hearth? one was proved to belong to the Brome Age and the others to the settlement of the Tisza-culture. • Hearth 4 deserves special attention. During our excavation in 1940 we found also a hearth with a rim (Fol. Arch. 1945, p. 11, fig. 3) but that was not on its original place and it was so fragmentary tnat we could only conditionally complete it. Though it was found in the same level as the huge vessels of the Tisza-culture, it could not be definitely decided whether it belongs to this'culture or to the Bronze Age. The hearth found now has settled this question not only by the fact that it remained to us undistrubed 1 and intact but that it was on its original place in the third house. Its shape is not quite the same as that of the above mentioned specimen, but they agree essentially : both have rims. Roughly it is oblong, but its corners are rounded. Height 110 cm, width 82 cm. (Pl. VIII, figs. 7 and 9; Pi. VII, figs. 3 and 4, the former illustration shows it during the excavation). We took up the hearth „in situ" as the only intact and actually built hearth so far. The ten pits showed the same phenomena as those uncovered hitherto. Only the characteristic and often decorated sherds of the Tiszaculture came to light from them. But only one vessel from them could be restored. Among them pit 3 deserves attention for its size and for the rich ceramic, bone and stone material coming to light from it. It is 316 cm