Agria 39. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2003)
Domboróczki László: Radiokarbon adatok Heves megye újkőkori régészeti lelőhelyeiről
we can be sure of what happened during this period of cultural transition. Although we cannot say anything with any certainty it would be worth familiarising ourselves with some of the debates relating to the spread of pottery styles, in order to take into account the possibilities when studying the Szatmár-Körös transition. We believe that in accounting for the new decorational types, the arrival of linear designs, as well as the other formal innovations, it is not absolutely necessary to attach them to a completely different (or in our case Mezolithic) people. 146 Stylistic development took place several times during the course of the Körös Culture, one only has to think of the diverse datings and presumed regional groups which were drawn up on the basis of stylistic characteristics. 147 Stylistic development also took place throughout the entire ALP period. What is significant is that it is by no means sure whether one needs to go back to Mezolithic ethnic precedents when tracing the formation of regional groups. 148 We can assume that trade helped to maintain close relations between the different regional communities. Although contacts and spheres of interest could also of course have had their roots in family relationships, geographical factors would have placed strict restrictions on the spread of individual types, with greater homogeneity expected within the immediate surroundings rather than over a larger geographical area. Over the larger area it is not likely that new ideas circulated in every locality to such a degree that it became a common tradition. It is however possible that there were some types which were very popular in one place, in time becoming a local tradition and part of the cultural identity whilst not spreading onto the wider stage. During the course of the settlement of new areas, a feeling of solidarity 149 may have created an inner need to create a common tradition. We see in pottery a medium capable of expressing cultural identity to a community capable of creating and respecting traditions. 150 In this regard it is therefore vitally important to note how changes going on in individual territories managed to build themselves up into a common tradition. In other words what they decide to pass on as a common tradition, and why they keep or reject what they do. At the present time we are not particularly familiar with this regenerative mechanism. 151 We could quite easily imagine the changes occurring in the Szatmár Group to have happened within the stylistic development of the Körös Culture. The same linear designs can be seen within the Körös Culture occurring occasionally on the surfaces of vessels. Significantly pointing towards the Szatmár Group, the linear designs appear on four-legged altars and zoomorphic figurines as well. 152 It could be that this interest in decoration was considered an exciting innovation and, as it was related to objects of cultic importance, quickly spread at a regional level. The most important fact here is that the arrival of the 146 See footnote 102. 147 In relation to early and late Körös finds: TROGMAYER Ottó 1964. 82-83. Protovinca material: MAKKAY János 1982a. 26-31., Pinched row, Schlickbewurf, Protovinca material: RACZKY Pál 1983. 166, 181. Deity figurines: RACZKY Pál 1983. 10. Transylvanian and Alföld characteristics in general: RACZKY Pál 1986. 27. 148 MAKKAY János 1982a. 57. 149 BOGUCKI, Peter 1988. 121. 150 CHAPMAN, John 2001. 149-150., WHITTLE, Alasdair 1996. 115. 151 CHAPMAN, John 2001. 149. 152 RACZKY Pál 1982.12., RACZKY Pál 1980. 16. ills. 1-2., KUTZIÁNIda 1944. VI. 6., XXXVI, 10., KALICZ Nándor-RACZKY Pál 1980a. 337. fig. 9/4-5. 39
