A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve, 1978/79-1. (Szeged, 1980)

Hegedűs, Katalin: Two New Enthroned Idols from Szegvár-Tűzköves

It seems as though the settlement was composed of 25 to 30 houses at any one time. The lowest level was naturally larger in area then subsequent building strata. Features consist of graves, open air ovens and hearths, storage and other types of pits, which were originally dug for the purpose of obtaining clay, but later filled with kitchen refuse and debris from collapsed houses. At the end of the 1970 season a total of 65 graves were registered, which were grouped in the then unoccupied areas of the settlement. These burials were assigned to the two main habitation phases of the site. J. Csalog considered all cultural material to be that of the Tisza culture including late Szakáihát finds yielded by the lowest levels. However he mistakenly assigned the age of the tell to Chalcolithic.

5 According to observations made by the author during the 1978 field season,

6 the cultural strata number three as opposed to the two previously designated. The lowest level composes rubbish pits apparently sunk through the sterile subsoil into the virgin soil, containing characteristic artifacts of the late phase of the Middle Neolithic Szakáihát group. It should be mentioned here that similar levels, i. е., basal levels yielding Szakáihát material are commonly found in Tisza tells in SE Hungary. A transitional layer overlays the rubbish pits and is, in turn, overlain by the uppermost destruction level of the full-fledged Tisza culture. While there were no complete houses uncovered in the area excavated in 1978 the three partite cultural sequence is supported by amorphous sections of housefloors covered by wattle-and-daub debris. During the 1978 rescue operations 8 additional contracted burials came to light. These burials, based on their burial goods and depth, seem to represent the two main occupation phases ; however, in the opinion of the author some of them (i. e. the deepest ones) may well be the burials of the first inhabitants ; that is, the late Szakáihát people. To date, the size of the excavated area totals 1360 m

2

. Furthermore, 73 graves were discovered during the six seasons of excavation. They can be divided into groups that are located between such site features as houses, rubbish pits, hearths and grainbins and so on. 2. At present the site is occupied by the dairy farm of the „Puskin" Agricultural Cooperative, which includes an office building, a number of stalls and ensile trenches. In 1970—71 earthworks were began in preparation for the building of new stalls on the Tűzköves elevation. During the digging of the foundations (the ground was disturbed to a depth of 1 m) Mr. Pál Bonus, one of the workers, continually collected in an ordarly manner a number of the artifacts, which were uncovered, and later donated them to the Koszta Museum. The majority of his collection reflects the fact that only the whole, exceptional and recognizable artifacts (mainly chipped and polished stone tools) were kept. Aside from the three nearly complete pots (see below) the ceramic finds further illustrate the deliberate sorting; 10 assorted sized and shaped net-and-loom-weights and 3 fragments of one of the herein described idols. The pots can definitely be assigned to the developed phase of the Tisza culture; 8 Csalog J., Acta Arch Hung XI (1959) 10 and 33. 6 Archives of the KJM (Museum of József Koszta), Inv. no: 984. 7 The sex of the idol is not unquestionable. Although the nudity and the similarity to the sickle-bearing number I. idol of Szegvár suggest a meal dety. For further information see the summary article on male figurines by Makkay J., The Chalcolithic Male Relief from Villánykövesd and the Earliest Male Figurines of South-East Europe. JPMÉ 13 (1968) 39—62. 288