Nagy Emese Gyöngyvér - Dani János - Hajdú Zsigmond szerk.: MÓMOSZ II. (Debrecen, 2004)

Farkas-Pető Anna – Horváth Tünde – Kozák Miklós: Fejér megye középső bronzkori földvárának kőanyaga. Régészeti és petrográfiai feldolgozás. I. rész

kozd might as well have served as indicators of rank or social position. The moulds unearthed at Pákozd, Lovasberény and Kajászó denote the former presence of metalwork at the settlements. The casting mould of the buckle of belt uncovered at Lovasberény is also significant from yet another aspect: it is the evidence of the development of a type of object that had been made formerly of bone as raw material. The presence of saws used at the harvesting of crops in the material finds belonging to earthworks is also almost general. In quite a number of cases, they are made of radiolarite, considered a classic regional import within the territory of the culture, while in other cases, they are made of the locally excavated budai hornstone raw material. The same frequency of occurrence is true for the rotund, fluvial, grinding pebbles, used in pottery making, or for the fine grain rubbing stones/sheets. For the stone-axes, mostly locally available raw material was used (for example, andésite of the Visegrád or Nadap type) but at times the imported ophiolite versions coming from Bölcske and Százhalombatta also appear (Kőszeg-Rohonci-mountains). When we compare the general picture gained through the preliminary macroscopic examination of the stone implements coming from Vatya earthworks in Fejér County with the already processed results about Százhalombatta (Pető et al. 1998, Pető et al. 1999.) and Bölcske (Horváth et al. 2000), it can be observed that the raw materials connected to the individual functions (e.g., grinding stone: sandstone, fine conglomerate; stone-axe: andésite; chipped flint implements: flintstone, hornstone, jasper), and the locations of their sources do overlap for all the settlements, and that even the places of origin of stones from more remote parts point in the same directions. Each of the earthworks representing the western side of the Vatya residential area are located on extremely good quality soil, so their primary economic role must have been the production of grain and crops. This kind of activity can be well demonstrated through the material finds, too (grinding and harvesting implements). If we also consider the fact that Vatya culture was the first one during the prehistoric age that populated the sandy area between the rivers Danube and Tisza, which was not necessarily ideal for agricultural activities, we must recognize that this strategic expansion could have been brought about only in the background of a significant economic factor. As there were no great changes in agriculture during the Middle Bronze Age as compared to the Early Bronze Age (the same plant species were sowed and cultivated in basically the same way, see Horváth 2000), we must assume that this sprawl to "no man's land" could be based only upon safe and high yielding economic areas to the west. This is how it happened for the first time during the prehistoric times that the Vatya culture could produce and amass an amount of surplus that proved sufficient for the constant food provision of the entire area of the culture through internal trade and commerce. Obviously, for this kind of activity, we must assume the presence of not only a highly developed cultivation and production of grain crops but also a fairly sophisticated level of trade and commerce. When we asess the Vatya earthworks in Fejér County on the whole, we must clearly see that the previous excavations and explorations were carried out in such quantity and quality that would not be sufficient any more for a meticulous and convincing evaluation, let alone for one that would be necessary for statistical calculations. They are perfect for the purpose of providing a general and rather loose outline of what kind of activities used to be pursued at these settlements but they are not adequate for the objective of arriving at far-reaching conclusions.. By any means, it has become clear even from this perspective that the former Vatya earthworks used to be places of accommodation where commercial and economic activities used to prosper at a fairly high level. As a consequence, social differentiation (chieftains' strongholds) was also more emphasized. This assumption is supported by the host of instruments and implements used in business and economic life, including the following items: casting moulds, grinding implements, harvesting saws, maces (that could also serve as articles indicating social prestige), diadems, belt buckles, polished axes of individual shapes, and the other special treasures uncovered within or around the earthworks (e.g., at Sárbogárd, Pákozd, Százhalombatta, Bölcske or Dunaújváros). FARKAS-PETŐ ANNA 3525 MISKOLC DÓCZYJ. U. 20. II/5. KOZÁK MIKLÓS DEBRECENI EGYETEM ÁSVÁNY- ÉS FÖLDTANI TANSZÉK 4025 DEBRECEN, EGYETEM TÉR 1. PF. 4. HORVÁTH TÜNDE MTA RÉGÉSZETI INTÉZET 1014 BUDAPEST, ÚRIU. 49.