Vaday Andrea – Bánffy Eszter – Bartosiewicz László – T. Biró Katalin – Gogältan Florin – Horváth Friderika – Nagy Andrea: Kompolt-Kistér : Újkőkori, bronzkori, szarmata és avar lelőhely Leletmentő ásatás az M+-as autópálya nyomvonalán (Eger, 1999)
The site of Kompolt, Kistér
353 THE SITE OF KOMPOLT, KISTÉR It is exactly the presence of these stylistic groups that contributes to the complexity of the site's inner chronology. First, it had to be studied whether various features contained (predominantly) finds associated with different groups. Once such differences were established, their underlying reasons also had to be investigated. Should no noteworthy differences appear between features, then the homogeneity of this phenomenon must be explained: how was it possible that such quantities of material representing various groups ended up in an area that fell outside the main distribution areas of their respective stylistic groups. Finally, it was necessary to tackle the question of whether these extraterritorial finds could be considered imports. Analyses, naturally, included vessel types, usually characteristic types of decoration, other types of clay objects as well as Spondylus finds. Other finds are significant due to their small numbers in the assemblage or their absence from the archaeological record. To date, the best studied aspects of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain were contained in the 1977 monograph by N. Kalicz and J. Makkay. Unfortunately, the more than two decades since the publication of that work, have seen but a small increase in the number of studies dealing with sites of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain. This holds especially true for the northern counties of Hungary. This is why the analysis presented below is chiefly based on the afore mentioned 1977 book, in addition to some earlier and a very few later publications. With a few exceptions, vessel forms identified at Kompolt represent types of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain. Conical and semispherical bowls, pots with segmented necks and funnel-like mouths, mugs and small cups accompany the entire history of this culture. Examples of a few biconical vessels with four knobs on their bellies (giving the impression of an almost square cross-section) also occur among the Kompolt finds. It is noteworthy, however, that tubular pedestalled bowls, so characteristic of this culture, are almost completely missing. In general, however, it may be said that in the find material of this settlement, characteristics of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain are much more represented by vessel forms than by the poorly represented decorative elements of this culture. It seems that incised decoration, typical of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain, was almost completely abandoned at Kompolt-Kistér Vessels decorated with simpler linear decoration do not mirror ornamental techniques of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain, because the displaced clay was not smoothed along the incised line decoration. The two edges of decorative motifs are deeper and rougher, as is characteristic of the Szakáihát Linear Pottery decoration. Elements of decorative patterns and plastic decoration that are considered characteristic of the late Linear Band style 4 seem to show the influence of regional groups. Differences also occur in painted decoration. In the case of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain, painting is typical of fine ceramics, since it is placed on smoothed or burnished surfaces. 5 At Kompolt-Kistér, painting also occurred on the rough surfaces of pots. Another difference stems from the fact that in the Pottery Ceramic culture of the Great Hungarian Plain, black painting is as common as red. In fact, vessels with incised decoration are often decorated with complementary black painting. 6 At the site of KompoltKistér, on the other hand, no sherds were found with traces of black paint! Even red painted ware was found only in about a dozen cases, although a fragment of a small altar may be included among these. It must also be mentioned here, in spite of the most meticulous observation, that no painted sherds were found during the course of analysis which indicated the presence of the beautifully painted ware known as the Esztár group. Among the Neolithic features excavated at the site of Kompolt-Kistér, the following revealed significant quantities of sherds with stylistic characteristics of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain: Feature 13 (linear decoration); Feature 26/99 (spouted vessel, biconical vessel with angular belly, fragment of pedestalled bowl, rib decoration broken at a right angle); Feature 125 (vessel with a handle in the shape of a hand, semi-spherical profile line, conical bowl); Feature 132 (pot with two handles and a funnel-like mouth, ribs decorated with imprinted circles); Feature 140 (conical bowl with a sectioned rim, rib decoration broken at right angles); Feature 294 (linear decoration, ribs in an oblique and upside-down "U" arrangement, spouted vessel, pot with a funnel-like mouth and sectioned rim). Ceramics of Tiszadob type are characteristic of the entire find material. It is equally represented by the material of fine ceramics, the sandy temper and dark grey colour. Relevant types include biconical vessels of rectangular cross-sections, which were also recorded in the Tiszadob group by N. Kalicz and J. Makkay. 7 Large, spouted vessels that were found in several cases at Kompolt - Kistér, may be considered a Tiszadob stylistic influence even in later periods of the Linear Pottery culture of the Great Hungarian Plain. However, they are still most characteristic of the Tiszadob group. Among the plastic decoration placed on vessels, four equidistant knobs are very common at Kompolt as well. Within this form of decoration, however, almost anything occurs on the walls of vessels from Kompolt 14. They may include fine rows of dots, short arched patterns, bands usually composed of five lines, as well as patterns of "U" and semicircular shapes. 8 Meandering lines and sub-divided surfaces also occur among the decorative motifs found in the Kompolt material. They were always used on the surfaces of small, thinwalled vessels. 9
