Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 55. (Miskolc, 2016)
Régészet - B. Hellerbrandt Magdolna: A Gáva-kultúra települése Köröm-Kápolna-dombon
114 B. Hellebrandt Magdolna a 10 cm deep hole in the middle, 16 cm in diameter. The pole was pointed in both cases, and the post holes yielded no artifacts. As for their use, these pits may have had a role in rituals, although there are no clues except for the existence of the pits themselves and the burning marks on their bottom. A similar, elongated feature, dating back to the Neolithic and identified as a shrine, is known from the Aggtelek Cave (KALICZ 1974, Fig. 19). Analogies from the Scythian-Hallstatt period (KEMENCZEI 2009, 183, Fig. 1. 11—12) are documented from Bajc (Slovakia) (TOCÍK 1964,168), Udvard (Dvory nad Zitavou, Slovakia) (PAULÍK 1957, 82, Fig. 1) and Cseke (Caka, Slovakia) (VLADÁR 1962, 123, 1—2). A Celtic Period analogy was published from the site of Pákozd (PETRES 2012, L-Z, 1437-1438). Feature no. 28 is especially interesting (Fig. 25. 6, Fig. 32. 1-2), in which a partitioned pedestailed bowl was found upside down in a layer of ash and burnt rubble (Fig. 49. 1-2). A head and body fragment of an animal figurine was discovered at the same place among pottery shards. János Makkay discussed bowls placed upside down (MAKKAY 1963, 6). He traced this custom to the southern part of Europe, where bowls used this way were believed to trap unwanted entities, as a “Pandora’s box”. As an early example six large storage jars may be mentioned, excavated from a pit by István Ecsedy at Zók-Várhegy in a Somogyvár-Vinkovci settlement (area C, part 2). These were also placed into the pit upside down. The archaeologist hypothesized that the jars were forbidden to use anymore and so they were buried (ECSEDY 1983, 71). Another six jars were found upside down in feature no. 887 of Oszlár-Nyárfaszög, in a fill of ash and charcoal (KOOS 2003, 121—128). Researchers more-or-less agree that vessels interred this way represent “sacral waste” (EIBNER 1969, 47—48; STAPEL 1999, 139—141, 263—264). A large, beehive-shaped pit at the site of Muhi-3. kavicsbánya yielded a two- handle jar lying on its side, into which a small cup with a single handle was placed on a layer of ash, turned upside down. The archaeologist interpreted this phenomenon as a ritual context (KOOS 2015, 139—141). Some of the pits were interpreted as places used for clay extraction. Such pits were identified in feature no. 17, no. 22b (Figs. 18—19), no. 24 (Fig. 20. 1), no. 31, no. 43, no. 50, no. 53, no. 55—56 (Fig. 20. 2), no. 59, no. 61, no. 65, no. 69—70, no. 76—77 and no. 83. Features no. 23 and no. 37 had amoebiform shapes. Features no. 19, no. 27, SNR 010 and SNR 011 (with SNR 012, SNR 051, and SNR 050 within) were kidney-shaped. Features no. 4, no. 6, no. 8, no. 18a, no. 47, no. 64, and no. 78 were all shallow pits, with bulgy sides and more-or-less circular cross-sections. Features no. 34-35, no. 60, no. 68, and no. 73 were oval-shaped; feature no. 30b had a bulgy sidewall. Features no. 1—3, no. 5a-b, house no. 13, feature no. 18a-b, house no. 20, features no. 22b, no. 23, no. 28, and no. 30b had ashy fills. Features no. 7—8, no. 18, no. 28, as well as SNR 008, SNR 054, and SNR 074 were filled with rubble. Pits that yielded no artifacts were usually shallow, as in the cases of features no. 6, no. 25, no. 39, no. 52, no. 54, no. 73, no. 81, and SNR 018. By comparing the depth data of the beehive-shaped pits, the grain storage pits, and the rectangular-shaped storage pits, it becomes clear that the bulgy-sided grain storage pits were the deepest, while the rectangular ones were moderately deep and the beehive-shaped ones were relatively shallow. As discussed above, different types of pits were present in the Late Bronze Age Gáva Culture settlement on Köröm- Kápolna-domb, even if these are shallower than those dated to two thousand years later. Such pits have no connection to the economy of the feudal era (IKVAI 1966, 370), but in my view, their use may be triggered by the natural environs and a certain level of agricultural development, similarly to the presence of different house types (BONA 1973, 66—67; B. HELLEBRANDT 2013, 103). Burials. In the Gáva Culture, the dead were usually cremated. Three mounds are depicted on the slopes of Köröm-Rétföld in the map of the First Military Survey. There is another mound south of the village Muhi, near the artificial riverbed of the Sajó. Northeast of the Kápolna-domb, in a ca. 5 km distance there is the geographical name Halom-dűlő, seen on both the 1:50,000 (Fig. 1. 1) and 1:10,000 scale maps. It is a question for further archaeological research whether there is any connection between the people interred in the mounds and the people who once habited Kápolna-domb. A pottery fragment (inv. no. 99.36.1212) excavated from a house in feature no. 16 may point to a burial ritual. Judit Z. Abonyi, who restored the pottery from the site, observed a stripe of resin on the inner side of the fragment. Pottery with resin stains, used in cremation, has been documented from the Celtic Era (HELLEBRANDT 1999, 95—96). During the 2014 rescue excavation, Zsolt Gallina discovered two human skeletons interred in an abnormal position in the beehive-shaped pits of feature no. SNR 020 (these unusual burials will be examined and published by Agnes Király). Pottery, vessel types. Pottery represents the bulk of the artifacts, including household pottery and ornamental bowls alike. They are varied in terms of size, shape and ornamentation. Most pottery fragments came to light from feature no. 18b, they were all burnt (Fig 42). Among these, there are vessels with conical neck (or, as it was formerly known, Villanova-type urns) (Fig 42. 1), and large, rotund vessels that narrow to the base (Fig 42. 3). The pot shown in Fig. 42. 2 also has a protruding shoulder and a curved neck. Fig 42. 4 shows a pot with a long neck.
