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. KAUCZ-P. RACZKY The burials of the Late Neolithic of the Tisza region contained few, if any, goods. Pottery, for example, was rarely deposited, and little can be inferred concerning the sex or the social standing of the deceased from the grave goods. Prestige or symbolic items, such as the multiple rings mentioned in the above, were hardly ever laid in burials, and their sporadic occurrence at the best marks only the beginnings of the indication of social differentiation through burial rites. The number of deposited grave goods, including prestige items, gradually increased during the Late Neolithic. However, it is still not clear whether this reflects social change or merely changes in the funerary customs. Boar tusk pendants and boar mandibles were only recovered from graves of the Herpály and Csőszhalom cultures, a custom that survived into the Copper Age Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztur periods. A unique burial practice was observed at Öcsöd: a few scattered cremation burials, with red ochre strewn onto the ashes. The multiple burials and the deceased laid in an extended position with their faces downward are also exceptional. Symbolic graves have been reported from Csőszhalom. Remains of four successive burials were uncovered in a regular pit lying in the centre of a grave group at Cicarovce. The burial rite and the uniqueness of the grave goods that included animal masks definitely suggests that the deceased had been persons engaged in ritual activities (VÍZDAL 1980,145-147). SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS There is only indirect evidence for the reconstruction of the economy and subsistence patterns: the testimony of grain remains and animal bones, even if certain conclusions in this respect can be drawn from the geographic and environmental setting of a site, and, to a more restricted extent, from settlement patterns. The archaeological observations indicate that the economy was predominantly based on grain cultivation, animal husbandry and hunting, and the diet was occasionally supplemented by fishing. Little is known about agricultural techniques. The use of animal-drawn ploughs already in the Late Neolithic has been suggested (MAKKAY 1978, 181), in contrast to views maintaining that the soil was still loosened with bone and antler tools (SHERRATT 1981, 261-272, for example, dates the introduction of the cart and plough to the Baden period). The archaeological evidence for reconstructing a hierarchy in agricultural production is still insufficient (MAKKAY 1982,130). Most of the grain remains recovered from various excavations were identified as Triticum monococcum and d/'coccum, with a few millet and barley seeds, as well as peas (HARTYÁNYI et al. 1968, 9-11; HARTYÁNYIMÁTHÉ 1979, 97—114). The day to day processing of grain is indicated by the grinding stones and grinding areas in houses, 24 The so-called 'Altar of Kökénydomb' with a stylized human face in the upper part of its triangular, meander-decorated front side. Hódmezővásárhely-Kökénydomb. Tisza culture. H: 46 cm [12] as well as the presence of ovens and large-sized flat baking trays. The proportion of domestic and hunted animals gradually shifted, with hunting gaining in importance. The faunal samples from various sites reveals a 52 to 77% of domestic, and 48 to 23% of hunted animals. At the eponymous site of the Herpály culture, however, preliminary analyses showed this ratio to be 40 : 60%. Micro-environmental factors undoubtedly played an important role in this wide range of data (BÖKÖNYI 1985, 69-88; 1959, 39-102; 1974, 21-30, 88-93, 95-225, 337-437; RACZKY et al. 1985, 270-274). A continuous domestication of aurochs has been noted in the Herpály culture. The Late Neolithic saw the dominance of cattle among the domestic animals, followed by pig, while goat and sheep gradually lost their former importance. Another indirect proof for stockbreeding is the presence of a corral observed, for example, at Öcsöd. Aurochs predominated among hunted animals, followed by roe deer, red deer and wild pig. The quantity of available meat - as estimated from the bone remains - probably exceeded by far the basic needs of the population and probably led to the elaboration of meat preserving techniques. It has been suggested that the sudden appearance of various prestige items from distant territories can be plausibly linked to successful strategies in stockbreeding, since the only exchangable com-