Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 55. (Miskolc, 2016)
Régészet - B. Hellerbrandt Magdolna: A Gáva-kultúra települése Köröm-Kápolna-dombon
122 B. Hellebrandt Magdolna onwards and up to the Scythian era, hollow-based and tangled arrowheads were present in all archaeological cultures. In the Trojan War, soldiers used bows and spears; Homer reports in the Iliad about the archery competition at Patroclus’ funeral (HOMÉROSZ 1974, Iliász XXIII. 103—176). Ulysses used a bow in addition to his sword on the island of Circe (HOMÉROSZ 1957, Odüsszeia IX. 260, 265). The object from feature no. 24 is a special bone artifact (Fig. 61. 6). It was made of the royal tine of a red deer antler, cut into two along the axis. A V-shaped recess was carved into the upper end, with a small, drilled perforation. The surface is smooth; there are faint incised lines around the spot where the object broke into two. The artifact is 28 cm long and 3 cm wide. Most probably it was used as a cover for another object. In the Scythian period, bow cases were often ornamented with bone plates (KEMENCZEI 2001,179, cat. no. 309), but those are usually smaller. Dezső Csallány examined decorated bows from the Scythian period (CSALLÁNY 1964, 7—16). Based on an analogy from Hódmezővásárhely-Nagysziget, grave no. 63, dated to the Hungarian Conquest and measuring 32 cm in length (B. NAGY-RÉVÉSZ 1986, Figs. 2. 2, 5; Figs. 3. 1-2), this latter artifact from Köröm may be interpreted as a tip of a bow limb. The earliest analogies are known from the Lower Volga and Volga-Kama region, from the 9th century (B. NAGY—RÉVÉSZ 1986, 131). Such analogies, however, must be handled with care. An object similar to a bone horse bit was found in feature no. 51 (Fig. 61. 2). The upper end is rounded, the artifact has a hole of 1 cm in diameter. The object bifurcates on one end; one of the two bifurcating parts broke off. The artifact is 7.8 cm long, 1.3 cm wide, and 0.5—0.6 cm thick. An antler handle was brought to light from feature SNR 014 (Fig. 61. 3). The spongy tissue was scooped out; the artifact may have held a tool. The handle was drilled along the axis to form a 9 cm long and 0.9 cm wide tunnel. The surface is worn and smooth; the original, anatomical surface of the antler is seen only on one side. The length of the object is 18 cm. Antler tools have been recovered from the sites of Bobald, Livada and Ustensile in present-day Romania (NÉMETI 1984, Plate XLII). A number of other animal tissue fragments showed traces of working. The tip of a royal tine fragment of a red deer antler from feature no. 65 was cut off, while the lower end was carved to form a V-shape (inv. no. 99.36.3552/A). From feature no. 70, a left (?) radius fragment of a cattle was recovered, with a polished dorsal surface, according to archaeo- zoologist I. Vörös. Clay weights used as andirons or fire dogs were typically cylindrical and perforated. Such objects were found in feature no. 53 (Figs. 62. 7—8). In the northeast corner of house SNR 042 (Figs. 21. 1—2; Fig. 22), in feature SNR 059, six pieces of clay weights and a stone fragment were found, and a seventh weight had been deposited south of this cluster. The weights are not identically formed. Weight no. 4 is prism-shaped, bulgy on the top, and widens at the bottom; its total length is 19.5 cm. Another weight has a broad trapezoid shape, while the others are smaller trapezoids. Their length varies between 17 and 20.5 cm. The raw material of weight no. 1 was mixed with chaff; no. 3 has a porous surface. No. 3 has a cone-shaped top, while the top of no. 4 is bulgy; the other five objects is flat tops. The archaeologist who excavated them interpreted these seven artifacts as weights of a loom. A prism-shaped, large fire dog came to light from feature no. 44 (Figs. 62. 9—10). Only the upper part of the object is preserved (it was photographed upside down). Large clay objects in truncated cone shapes, perforated on their upper part, were discovered also during the 1969 excavation of T. Kemenczei (inv. no. 71.5.407). Wattle-and-daub, plastering. The house walls were made of woven rods and twigs and were plastered on both sides. Wattle- and-daub fragments came to light from features no. 29, no. 50, and no. 61; these were burnt red and sooty (Figs. 65. 3—5). The piece shown in Fig. 65. 3 must have been exposed to intense heat, as it cracked and became deformed. The wattle- and-daub fragment brought to light from feature no. 46 (Fig. 65. 1) was ornamented with an oval pattern probably made by finger impressions. The piece from feature no. 40 (Fig. 65. 2) measures 2.5 cm in depth; it resembles wattle-and-daub, although it probably constituted a part of a mobile fireplace. Burnished fragments of a mobile fireplace were discovered also in house no. 16. Another object from feature no. 21 may also be classified in this category. A piece of clay plastering found in feature no. 48 (Figs. 63—64) was interpreted as a fragment of a. gable decoration. It is triangle-shaped, with four decorative channels probably created by fingers; these form a V-shape and meet at the top. The object was created from a clay stripe to which a spread layer of clay was added. The external surface and one edge are fine and smoothened. The other side was also smoothened but more roughly; the rest of the object is missing. This artifact is 24 cm long and 19 cm, with a depth of 5.3 cm; it is brick-red and sooty. On the upper part that broke off, traces of white clay can be observed, similarly to the smoothened wattle-and-daub piece shown in Fig. 65. 5. It may be interpreted as lime deliberately applied on the piece, or lime that exuded naturally as a result of the heat exposure. The latter explanation was accepted in the case of feature no. 42, where the pit’s wall was covered with a white, crust-like layer. The gable decoration as well as the wattle-and-daub fragment in Fig. 65. 5 are burnt. Fragments of plastering similar to the gable decoration of feature no. 48 were documented at Bronze Age settlements in present-day Slovakia (PAULIK 1962, Fig. 7). Jozef Paulik
