Balogh Csilla – P. Fischl Klára: Felgyő, Ürmös-tanya. A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Monumenta Archeologica 1. (Szeged, 2010)
The Bronze Age settlement and cemetery at Felgyő
A felgyői bronzkori temető és település 115 FINDS FROM THE EA RL Y BRONZE A GE 2 0 Makó culture With their outturned rim, curved neck and ovoid body, the pot fragments from Graves 144 and 145 (Fig. 41. 5, 42. 2) share similarities with the typical pots of the Makó culture. The decorative elements on pots are restricted to simple knobs and ribs (KALICZ 1984, 97). Two of the three pot fragments from Felgyő have the knobs set on the shoulder. Although flattened round knobs are relatively rare, they are typical for the Makó culture, known from several sites in the Makó distribution, for example on pots and storage jars from the Csongrád-Sertéstelep settlement (TÓTH 2001, Fig. 19. 1, 7, 17. 11). Pointed knobs have been found at Tiszaluc-Sarkad, another settlement site (SZATHMÁRI 1999, Taf. VI. 4). Analogies to the pot with a small loop handle at the junction of the neck and shoulder (Fig. 55. 4) can be quoted from the Csongrád material (TÓTH 2001, Fig. 14. l). : i Only one single fragment of the typical Makó pots with cylindrical neck and ovoid body has come to light at Felgyő (Fig. 50. 8). The neck adjoins the shoulder with a gentle curve, the vessel body is decorated with scoring. Vessels of this type were quite popular on Makó sites. Several have been found on sites near Felgyő, for example at Csongrád-Sertéstelep (TÓTH 2001, Fig. 17. 9) and Battonya (G. SZÉNÁSZKY 1988, Fig. 8. 5). Interior decorated footed bowls were used by several cultures of the Early Bronze Age. The fragment from Felgyő (Fig. 55. 3) can be assigned to the Makó culture in view of the location of the Felgyő site and the other finds of the Makó culture. The fragment represents a less elaborately decorated variant of these bowls. The design cannot be accurately reconstructed and it is therefore difficult to quote precise analogies. Interior decorated bowls have been brought to light on other contemporary sites in the Csongrád area, for example at Csongrád-Sertéstelep (TÓTH 2001, Fig. 7. 5) and Csongrád-Saroktanya (GAZDAPUSZTAI 1966, Fig. 7. 1-3). One fragment comes from a small conical bowl (Fig. 50. 6), one of the perhaps most popular wares of the Makó culture, occurring with the most varied rim forms. The bowl fragment came to light from Intrusion 4 in Trench III during the 1965 campaign. A comparable bowl was found at Csongrád-Sertéstelep (TÓTH 2001, Fig. 7. 7). The bowl fragment with thickened-out rim (Fig. 49. 4) found in 1964 can be assigned to this group too. Similar fragments with a thickened-out rim were found at Battonya-Aradi Road (G. SZÉNÁSZKY 1988, Fig. 5. 7-8) and at the more distant Tiszakiirt Homoki-szőlő site (CSÁNYI 1996, Pl. II. 7). Nagyrév culture Several pottery fragments exhibit typical Nagyrév traits. Unfortunately, the greater part of the pottery represents general Early Bronze Age forms and thus their finer cultural/chronological attribution runs into difficulties. Conical and globular jugs with outturned rim, inverted funnel shaped neck and a handle springing from under the rim are one of the hallmarks of the Nagyrév culture. Their exact dating is generally based on the fonn of the shoulder and the belly. The shoulder and belly form of the unstratified jug fragment (Fig. 50. 3) found in Trench IV during the 1965 campaign is not known. The later variants of Nagyrév jugs generally have a more elongated neck and a more curving form. The Felgyő fragment can probably be assigned to the earlier Nagyrév jugs in view of the proportions of the neck and handle. Similar jugs occur in the assemblages of the Middle Tisza region (R. CSÁNYI 1983, Fig. 17. 1-9) and, more recently, of the Danube Tisza Interfluve (TÓTH 1999, Fig. 3. 1-3). Two fragments from similar bowl types can also be assigned to the Nagyrév culture. Both come from small conical bowls with outturned rim, short curved neck and prominent or rounded shoulder, with the handle spanning the rim and the shoulder (Fig. 54. 1). The shoulder is accentuated with a rib on one fragment (Fig. 53. 9). Variants of this bowl type retained their popularity from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age. The basic form of the type occurs among the finds from both settlements and cemeteries. Comparable bowls were placed in the early Nagyrév burials of the Rákóczifalva-Kastélydomb cemetery (R. CSÁNYI 1983, Fig. 5. 2-3, Fig. 8. 7-8). Similar bowls occur in Ökörhalom type assemblages too (BONA 1963, PI. III. 7-8, PI. V. 1-3) and among the finds from the Ökörhalom site (CSÁNYI 1999, Fig. 4. 3). The use of this bowl type spans the entire Nagyrév sequence (CSÁNYI 1999, 188), appearing also among the finds of the Kulcs and Szigetszentmiklós groups (BÓNA 1960b, Pl. II. 7, PL. III. 4; BONA 1963, PI. XVI. 16, Pl. XVIII. 1). The finds from Trench XVIII of the 1965 campaign included the fragment of a pot decorated with scoring under a finger-impressed rib. Similar fragments have been found at Bäks (P. FISCHL-KISS-KULCSÁR 1999, Fig. 18. 1, 30. 2). In the case of some pottery fragments, and especially regarding base fragments, it proved impossible to determine whether they came from Nagyrév or Vatya vessels. The base fragment from Grave 14, an inhumation burial (Fig. 8. 1), allows the reconstruction of an early Nagyrév/Vatya transitional urn or a general Vatya pot. Late Nagyrév and early Vatya material has not been found yet in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve. The sites known from this region date from the classical Vatya period. It is also uncertain whether this fragment had indeed been part of the grave furniture. In view of the above, the reconstruction of a Vatya pot seems more likely. The cultural attribution of the base fragment of a pot decorated with combed bundles of lines (Fig. 49. 6) and the base fragment of a jug (Fig, 54. 5) is likewise uncertain because comparable vessels were part of the ceramic inventory of both cultures. The urn from Grave 23 (Fig. 11. 1) bespeaks strong Nagyrév traditions both as regards its form and decoration. Since material reflecting the transition between the two cultures is not known from this region and thus exact analogies cannot be quoted, this vessel can be regarded as the oldest vessel of the cemetery. No other vessels in the Felgyő material can be assigned to an early Vatya pottery type. The Makó and early Nagyrév pottery in the ceramic material from the settlement represent the relics of an earlier occupation of the site. Early forms of this type are unknown in the grave pottery. 20 We would here like to thank Gabriella Kulcsár for her help in identification and the cultural and chronological attribution of the Early Bronze Age finds. 21 The handle was sometimes set on the shoulder (TOOTH 2001, Fig. X. 6).
