Folia archeologica 45.
Tóth Endre: Dr. Soproni Sándor szakirodalmi munkássága
38 VIOLA T. DOBOSI-IS ÏV ÀN GATTER Pilismarót Topography: The river Danube running from west to east takes a sharp turn in the Visegrád pass towards the south. With the exception of the short Dömöspass (where the river is cutting deep into the volcanic block of the Börzsöny mountains), the right side is accompanied by high Late Pleistocene terraces over the alluvial plain. These terraces are partly pre-formed by tectonical forces. The most characteristic terrace level is marked II b from Pilismarót till the Lázbérc quarry this terrace is sedimented, partly, over a gravel bed of the last interglacial period, partly Miocene andesite tuff. The sediments building up the terrace comprise several layers of loess with intermittent horizons of loam. The fertile loess plateau filled up the uneven surface, and it can be traced well all along this phase of the river at 190-200 m a.s.l. The great loess plateau is bordered by, from the northwest and southeast, the Danubian alluvium and dissected by active stream valleys and dry valleys into almost geometrical bits. Since some sixty years, this area is one of the centres of Hungarian Upper Palaeolithic research. The last shallows on the Danube must have been here during the dry periods of the last Ice Age before the Dömös pass, with its strong drift and deep river bed. The margin of the valleys leading towards the shallows could be ideal hunting grounds in the times of the seasonal change of pasture followed by the reindeer. Consequently, this side of the Danube is bordered by a row of Upper Palaeolithic hunter's camps lying at a distance of 800-1000 meters from each other, within visibility and audibility limits. On a few hundred meters phase of the diagonal margin of the terrace the following settlements are known so far: Basaharc, Pálrét, Tetves, Diós, Bitóc, Bánom and the site found first, i.e., Öregek dűlő. Four of these sites yielded rock crystal artefacts. The general topographical overview relates to all of these, thus in the following, only the individual find circumstances will be mentioned. Pálrét (DOBOSI et al. 1983) Find circumstances: The 20 cm thick cultural layer was found at the depth of 100-1 20 cm. The cultural layer was excavated in several technical levels, however, these levels do not indicate chronological differences. The settlement patch opened formed a 6x5 m large rectangular shape with oval corners. This feature was interpreted as a (temporary?) shelter, though no traces of construction were found. In spite of the possibly short period of habitation indicated by the relatively small size of the feature, several special objects were found which are generally missing from the inventory of the temporary hunting camps: two carved stones, a piece of succinite, the first authentical rock crystal artefact (coming from controlled stratigraphical circumstances) and trinket snails, which became a hallmark of the region. Description of rock crystal items: Inv. nr. Pb 82/806. Elongated leaf form flake with strong bulb, unretouched. Sample 6.: clear, elongated crystal. Optical investigation revealed no interior objects inside. Tetves Find circumstances: surface find. At the Tetves site, the finds were scattered evenly on the surface, unlike Pálrét. Several sondages were cut here which indicate a less intensive form of settlement. No other archaeological periods were found here, thus the artefact could only come from the cultural layer disturbed from under the humus.
