Tálas László szerk.: The late neolithic of the Tisza region (1987)

The Late Neolithic of the Tisza region: A survey of recent archaeological research (N. Kalicz and P. Raczky)

N. KALICZ-P. RACZKY riety, without any apparent regularities. Gorzsa, for example, had been protected by a deep, circular ditch during a certain phase of its occupation (HORVÁTH-TROGMAYER 1985, 37), whilst one settlement nucleus of the Öcsöd-Kováshalom site had been surrounded by a narrow rectangular ditch into which posts of a fence had been set. Remains of deep ditches with V-shaped cross-section have been reported from several sites of the Herpály culture (Berettyódjfalu-Herpály, Berettyóújfalu-Szilhalom, Szentpéterszeg-Kovadomb) that were either circular or oval in form. Unfortunately, there is practically no information of this kind for the Csőszhalom settlements since these have only been probed with small trial trenches. Recent large-scale excavations on Tisza sites, uncovering a larger area, indicate that the houses had been closely spaced and formed smaller clusters. The number of houses in separate clusters ranged between 10 and 13 at Kökénydomb, and between 4 to 6 at Öcsöd. The houses of the Gorzsa settlement apparently surrounded an open area. The observations made at Öcsöd and Kisköre suggest that individual house clusters had been surrounded by a 3 to 6 m wide open area, with the pits originally opened for the extraction of clay needed for the construction of houses lying outside this open zone (RACZKY 1985,105; KOREK 1986, Fig. 2). The internal organisation of Herpály settlements differs slightly: the area enclosed by the ditch was usually entirely built in, leaving only a small central area free, and thus the clay needed in house construction had to be transported from the area beyond the ditch. In the absence of large-scale excavations, practically nothing is known about the layout of Csőszhalom settlements. The construction techniques and form of Late Neolithic houses were first reconstructed by Banner on the basis of his excavations in the Hódmezővásárhely area (BANNER 1943, 1-25). Following his reconstructions, it became a widely accepted axiom of Hungarian Neolithic research that most houses had been semi-subterranean with a pitched tent-like roof. Similar pit dwellings were reconstructed for Szegvár-Tűzköves (CSALOG 1958, 95-114), and for Lebő and Kökénydomb (KALICZ 1970, Figs 4 and 27). Nonetheless, our knowledge of house plans and construction techniques was greatly augmented by the observations made in the course of recent large-scale excavations. Most common in the Great Hungarian Plain were houses with rectangular groundplan that were either entirely aboveground constructions, or only slightly dug into the soil. The dimensions of individual houses varied. It can be said as a general rule that earlier excavations tended to uncover smaller buildings, a phenomenon that can perhaps be attributed to inaccurate observations. The houses excavated at Kökénydomb, for example, ranged between 4 to 9 m in length, and 4 to 5 m in width. House floors were usually of beaten, stamped or plastered clay, but since floor plastering rarely survived in its entirety at the Kökénydomb site it is possible that surviving patches of plastering were interpreted as belonging to two separate houses. This possibility definitely merits consideration in the light of recently uncovered multi-roomed longhouses. Three types of floors can be distinguished in these latter buildings: a slightly dished floor dug into the contemporary living surface, plastered clay floors, above the living surface and a clay plastering covering a raised wooden substructure. This latter type has been termed 'ploschadki' construction and is a characteristic architectural feature of the Neolithic and Copper Age cultures of South-East and Central Europe. This 'ploschadki' construction has also been frequently observed in Herpály houses, a feature that links both the Tisza and Herpály cultures to the Neolithic and Copper Age tell cultures of South-East Europe. Beside timber-framed houses, remains of simple térre pisé houses were also uncovered at Kökénydomb, while special tauf walled houses have been reported from Vésztő, with burnt mud fragments occasionally preserving the imprint of the light planking covering the outer plane of the wall. The excavations at Gorzsa uncovered houses with a length of 16 to 18 m (HORVÁTH 1982, 207; HORVÁTH-TROGMAYER 1985, 37). The dimensions and tripartite division of the Gorzsa houses are matched by similar construction from the Herpály site and by the houses of the Öcsöd-Kováshalom site lying in the transition zone (KALICZ-RACZKY 1984, 99-107; RACZKY 1985, 105). Recent excavations suggest that similar houses can be assumed also for other sites of the Tisza and Herpály culture, as well as for the Csőszhalom group, since parts of similar houses have been uncovered on the Csőszhalom tell. The spacing of post holes observed on various sites clearly indicate that these houses were erected around a framework of upright posts that reinforced the walls and supported the pitched roof. Most houses were oriented northwest to southeast, or northeast to southwest, probably corresponding to the direction of the prevailing wind. The upright posts were connected with a wattling of intertwined twigs, smaller branches and reeds subsequently daubed with clay both on the inside and on the outside. The walls were often ornamented with impressed or incised decoration, sometimes accentuated with painting, as at Kökénydomb, Gorzsa and Herpály. Triangular gable ornaments were occasionally mounted above the wall at the gable end of the house at Csóka and Kökénydomb, and gable ornaments taking the form of animal heads modelled from clay are also known from various other sites. Deep post holes were dug for the timber uprights supporting the side walls and the roof, while the posts reinforcing the partitioning walls were occasionally set in a continuous bedding trench. The posts supporting the purlin were spaced between the uprights of the parallel longwalls, while other posts bearing the roof construction were generally positioned on either side of these. The timbers of the wooden framework were most often aligned in five rows, a configura18