Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 16. 1975 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1978)
Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Makkay János: Excavations at Bicske. I, 1960. The Early Neolithic – The Earliest Linear Band Ceramic. p. 9–60.
excavations carried out in this area by J. F i t z revealed two fire-places, a house pit and two larger refuse pits( 6 ). The 1959 construction work involved not only the road cut, but also land used for fill material in the area of the vineyard lying between the road cut and land parcel register number 6819. This second area was cut horizontally in an oblique line with the deepest and therefore the greatest site destruction to the Southwest near the road. In the area southwest from parcel register number 6821 therefore no Neolithic remains survived, since even the deepest of the Neolithic pits did not extend into this lower loess level. Later this graduated surface destruction will be important in the understanding of the particular excavation problems of trenches 1 — II. 1974, the fortification ditch lying within trench Ш. 1974, and finally the problems of the pit in trench III. 1976. To further complicate matters black earth was brought in to produce a new agricultural surface, so that anyone lacking prior knowledge of the construction work in the area might be misled into thinking that this was the original surface. On the brighter side of things however, this same black earth preserved the underlying Neolithic remains which otherwise would have been destroyed by erosion. In 1954 É. F. P e t r e s published a paper which clarified the chronology and other problems of the graves from the 1932—1933 Marosi excavations^). Although she did not concentrate on the settlement portions of the site, hers was the first work to call attention to its archaeological importance. With this realization the museum began a program of new excavations at Bicske, with a small trial excavation in 1965, from October 20 to October 31. This small excavation was carried out on the parcel of -János Dobronyi (land parcel register number 6818) and that of Sándor Szabó (land parcel register number 6819). Two trenches (1. and 2.) and one larger quadrate (I.) excavated by myself contained no finds, however trench 3 produced many sherds in its eastern portion. At this time then, three small quadrates were excavated (2., 2a., 2b.) in the area where the finds first began appearing. The stratigraphy of these small quadrates was as follows: the uppermost level of 60 — 80 cms in depth contained soil from the eroded portions of the upper hill and was further disturbed by agricultural activities, although the level between 60 and 80 cms contained some surviving remains of the Late Neolithic Sopot — Bicske Culture. Jn the level between 80 and 100 cms was an area of apparently sterile soil, again coming from the eroded upper portions of the hill. A pit cut into the virgin soil was found below 100 cms. The ((>) J. FITZ, Bicske-Galagonyás. RégFüz, XIII, 1900, 4. — Excavated and scattered finds, belonging to different phases' of the Linear Band Pottery including some early LBP finds (for example a reconstructed vessel, seen on PI. XI, S, Cat. No. 38). (7) É. F. PiiTRES, о. c, 1954 and 1959. greatest part of this pit had a depth of 160 cms, although a small portion of it reached a depth of 220 cms. The pit contained sherds, animal bones and stone implements, but no trace of any settlement features. The paucity of the recovered remains made it impossible to date the pit exactly at the time of the excavation in a preliminary report. Nevertheless it was clear that the late Neolithic Sopot— Bicske material from the level of 60—80 cms was contemporary with the graves discovered by Marosi in 1932— 1933. It was also clear the the pit lying below 100 cms belonged to a very early period of the Transdanubian Linear Band Ceramic Culture( 8 ). The next excavation possibility occured in the years 1971 and 1972. The 1971 excavation was carried out from May 3 to May 22 and in 1972 from May 2 to 23. The chief purpose of these two excavations was to find the remaining portions of the cemetery partly excavated by A. Marosi in 1933. The choice of the excavation site was determined by 1. which areas were free from vine cultivation, and 2. proximity to the area of the original grave finds. The area of land lying northwest from land parcel register number 6811 was chosen as a place which met both of these criteria, since it lies on uncultivated land behind the wine cellar built in 1931. In 1971 trenches I. and II. were excavated. Trench I. contained pit „A" which final excavations showed not to be a pit but in fact a pit house, here called house 1. 1971. The final excavation of house 1. 1971. was carried out in 1972. Pits В, С and D from the Late Neolithic Sopot — Bicske Culture were also uncovered in 1971. The 1972 trenches were placed in areas adjacent to the 1971 excavations. Final excavation of house 1. 1971 occured in trench V. In the same trench three ovens (ovens 1., 2. and 3.), probably belonging to this pit house, were uncovered. In 1972 trenches 1ГТ., IV., VI. and VII. the following features were excavated : 1. the remaining parts of pit C, remaining parts of pit D, pit E, a portion of pit F, pit H, and pit I. All these pits contained Sopot— Bicske finds. Pit G was found in trench IV and contained Notenkopf ceramic material. No actual cemetery material was uncovered, however trenches I. 1971 and VI. 1972 contained the remains of the old 1933 excavations trenches of A. Marosi. (These old trenches appear as dotted lines on the site map in this article.) The next excavations were conducted in 1974 from 26 August to 25 September. These excavations lay on partially destroyed land lying between the highway and the vineyard road, on land parcels register numbers 6818-6819-6810. Pit „a" from trenches (8) J. MAKKAY, Die neolithischen Funde von Bicske. átudijné Zvesti AŰSAV, XVII, 1969, p. 262; N. KALICZ — J. MAKKAY, Die neolithische Sopot-Bicske — Kultur. AÉrt, XCIX, 1972, 3—4; Cf. J. MAKKAY, Bicske-Galagonyás. RégFüz, XIX, 1966, p. 4. — text abbreviated by the redactory board, containing fully meaningless dates. I и
