Kalicz Nándor - Koós Judit: Mezőkövesd-Mosolyás. A neolitikus Szatmár-csoport (AVK I) települése és temetője a kr. e. 6. évezred második feléből - Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén megye régészeti emlékei 9. (Miskolc, 2014)
Mezőkövesd-Mocsolyás - A brief overview of the Szatmár group (ALBK 1) in the light of the excavations and the assessment of the site and its finds
Mezőkövesd-Mocsolyás 83 of the clays used for potting, the employed vesselbuilding techniques, the type of tempering agent (sand, grit, vegetal matter, chaff), and, most often, the surface treatment and wall thickness. Vessels were manufactured with two firing phases: the first basic firing ensuring the overall sturdiness of the intended vessel was followed by a second firing, prior to which both fine and coarse wares were coated with a thinner or thicker layer of clay. THE VESSEL TYPES FOUND AT MOCSOLYÁS The vessels from the settlement represent a few basic types and their variants, ordered into subtypes. Bowls Owing to their simple form, conical bowls represent the most frequently made and most widely used vessel type. Most are small or medium sized (standing 7-8 to 17 cm high and having a rim diameter between 10 and 18 cm). Some have a slightly curved wall. Larger bowls of this type, with a rim diameter and height of 20—48 cm, are also encountered in the material. Most strainers take the form of medium-high conical bowls. Some bowls have a rounded body and an angular rim, and the angularisation of the shoulder under the rim can also be noted on some pieces. Low oval bowls are extremely rare. The overwhelming majority of the bowls are undecorated. The few pieces bearing a pattern of some sort are incised with a linear design, usually on the exterior, but occasionally in the interior as well. In contrast, painted decoration is quite frequent. The large, thick-walled, deep bowls account for a sizeable portion of coarse wares. Pedestailed bowls Bowls set on a pedestal represent a popular type. The bowl part resembles the above-described vessels, which are set on a low, slightly conical pedestal whose height is generally 6-10 cm (and act, to some extent, as chronological indicators), while the bowl part rarely exceeds a certain height. Very often, the bowl was used even after the pedestal had broken off. The function of these vessels remains enigmatic. Pedestailed vessels are a hallmark of the Neolithic and their use continued until the Middle Copper Age, the main tendency being one of gradually higher pedestals. Mugs Mugs began to play a prominent role in the ceramic inventory from the beginning of the Middle Neolithic, corresponding to the Szatmár group (the earliest ALBK). This vessel type can be found on all contemporaneous sites. Mugs generally have a wide, globular or slightly biconical body and a low cylindrical neck. Some pieces have a slightly angular belly and one variant does not have a separate neck, but merely a slightly curved rim that blends into the vessel body. Most mugs are medium sized with a height ranging between 12 and 18 cm. Pots Pots come in many forms and sizes. One type has a tall, elongated, conical body and a wide mouth (the small variants of these pots are assigned to the category of bowls). A few have an obliquely set spout under the rim, an element that first appeared in the Szatmár group and became widespread by the close of the Middle Neolithic. Wide-mouthed, conical pots with prominent shoulders represent another common form. Many pots are thick- walled vessels and generally have a coarsened surface. Some were splashed with semi-liquid clay before firing and decorated with finger-drawn channelling. Alongside a part of the bowls, most pots were assigned to the category of “coarse” ware in view of their surface treatment. Many pots can be grouped among the large, “coarse” storage jars. Variants include oval and elongated, as well as gently curving biconical forms. Two to four lug handles are often set on the belly of the large pots. Amphoras Amphoras are large vessels with a tall neck and a globular body. The specimens from Mezőkövesd were all fragmented and none could be refitted. Amphoras come in both “fine” and “coarse” varieties. Variants of this ceramic type range from globular forms to biconical and oval types with a tall or low narrow, cylindrical neck and a pair of loop handles or lug handles set on the belly. Medium-sized and small globular vessels This type is represented by a few thick-walled, coarse, intact pieces and many fragments. It seems likely that the striking abundance of coarse vessels in this category can probably be explained by the needs of the settlement’s households. These vessels, whose form resembles gourds, bear the greatest likeness to the so-called bombshaped vessels of the Trasdanubian (Central European) Linearbandkeramik. The precursors to the above-described vessel forms can be found among the Körös vessels brought to light on the culture’s sites in the Alföld and among the pottery wares of the Méhtelek phase. At the same time, the ceramic inventory of the Szatmár group includes several new, as well as modified types compared to their antecedents. The pottery production of the Szatmár group is linked by countless strands to the later ALBK ceramics in terms of the vessels’ manufacturing technique, form and decoration, even if a few important traits did not survive into later periods or were transmitted in an altered form. It is exactly these similarities, as well as the differences, that have justified the separation of the Szatmár group representing the formative phase in the ALBK sequence:
