Madaras László – Szabó László – Tálas László szerk.: Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 8. (1993)

T. Dobosi Viola: Jászfelsőszentgyörgy-Szunyogos, felsőpaleolit telep

The lithic inventory of this upper level is so poor that it is unsuitable to make a culture determination based on it and we are unable to decide whether it has any connection with the culture layer. Both at Jászfolsőszentgyörgy and at Tetves-tető there is a sterile loess layer of 80-100 em's thickness between the two levels. During our work, even if they were only small-scale excavations, we have not observed that the finds of a culture layer had ever got to the surface. We have never experienced e.g. the wedging out of a culture layer in the slope of a dune. Therefore exactly these finds of the upper levels were those which had been the indicators of the locality. At Jászfelsőszentgyörgy-Szunyogos — the culture layer is in the bottom of the loess, at the top of the sand in an average depth of 100 cm (see Pál Sumegi's paper), (Fig. 3). — the occupation level is slightly poorer than that can be expected (than that is common is the Danube Bend area) which can be explained by the fact that we found the margin of the settlement (Figs. 4-5) — beside the unsystematically scattered tools, flakes, in a surface of 2 dm

2

's extension we found 14 glassy quartzporphyry flakes - most probably it was a workshop for making implements — we observed two spots with ashes of a diameter of 50-60 cm in the excavated area. Around and below them the soil had burnt through to a depth of about 10 cm. The margins of the ash-spots are uncertain, indistinct. At the edge of the section we found burnt none fragments within a small oval spot but we did not observed charcoal — the presence of the culture layer is marked also by the presence a few ochre grains still coming off — the already traditionally present snail trinkets are represented here only by a Melanopsis fragment — the culture layer is 10-15 cm thick (average), we excavated it by two digging levels. The surface plan demonstrates the two levels summarized. Archeological material The list of types is incomplete, the types are represented only by a few implements a part of which is atypical. The material makes possible an unambiguous determination of the culture yet the quantity of finds is insufficient to make a statistical evaluation. The cause of it is perhaps the poor typological inventory (compared to Western European localities) but it may be also the small extension of the excavated area. End-scrapers and their fragments, 9 pieces (Fig. 1-5). The basic form may be either regular, narrow blade or a blade-like flake, flat or with a high ridge, with triangular or trapezoid cross-section, cut off crosswise or obliquely at the proximal end. The working part is strongly or slightly arched, symmetric or slightly oblique, manufactured with a fan-shaped retouch. We may observe here and there some working at the edges as well. The striking surface is point-like, it has an Upper Paleolithic character, the size of the bulb depends on the raw material used. The type can be characterized by finely manufactured tools of "young" character. Flake scrapers, 3 pieces The scraping parts are made on small, irregular flakes, they are slighty atypical. It is not a characteristic group. Planes, 3 pieces. In contrast to the classical type these tools are rather cores with chisel parts subsequently manufactured at their rims. Borer, 1 piece. Typical borers are absent in the Hungarian Upper Paleolithic material. Yet it is quite evident that implements suitable for making holes were simply essential. E.g. a great part of snails which were used as trinkets, found at the Upper Paleolithic localities were suitable for use only after they had been perforated, bored through to fasten or string them. The absence of bone awls used to pierce hides can be explained by the general absence of bone tools, the fossilization of bones in loess is so poor that traces of manufacture can be observed on the tools only very rarely. Originally the quantity of bone and antler tools was evidently much greater. The absence of typical lithic borers in Hungarian localities is so over-all that we may almost regard it as a feature characteristic of a culture. Most probably this function was taken over by those flakes which according to the traditional system belong to the category of unworked flakes. These pieces became suitable for boring and piercing by making use of the natural cleavage surfaces of the lithic raw material. (Dobosi-Homola 1989/a, 50). Burins, 14 pieces (Fig. 6. 6-10) 47