Tálas László szerk.: The late neolithic of the Tisza region (1987)
Hódmezővásárhely-Gorzsa (F. Horváth)
F. HORVÁTH Grave 29 with rich grave goods. Phase B, beginning of the Proto-Tiszapolgár phase [7] occupational phase. On the testimony of earlier excavations and the observations made in the trenches opened during more recent campaigns, as well as the data yielded by the subsurface probings, the settlement attained its maximum extent in this phase (appr. 35 000 m 2 ). The presently available evidence suggests that the houses had been arranged around an open central area. However, no reliable estimates of the number of contemporary houses and their inhabitants can yet be made. The settlement had been completely destroyed by fire several times during this period, and thus the layout of the settlement and the various house types can best be reconstructed for this phase. The settlement belonging to phase B has not yet been unambiguously identified on the tell. However, the grave groups dug into the various occupation levels of phase C unmistakably indicated a distinct phase preceding the period represented by the graves. The areal and stratigraphical position of these grave groups at the same time suggest that following the destruction of the settlement in phase C, a basic change occurred in the layout of the settlement and the location of the residential focus. The settlement part excavated by Gy. Gazdapusztai in trench 1956/1 lying to the north of the tell that, according to the excavation diary, yielded no incised Tisza pottery can probably be assigned to this phase. Even though the pottery recovered from the graves does not in itself reliably document the changes in the ceramic inventory, our overall picture does not contradict the changes observed in occupation patterns that at Gorzsa signal the end of the telllike development and the transition to the Proto-Tiszapolgár period. An irregular elliptical ditch that enclosed the highest point of the mound was constructed between phases B and A (diam: 70 x 105 m, W: 4 m, depth from the contemporary surface: 3 m). The presence and location of the ditch was indicated by the preliminary borings; its chronological and stratigraphical position were defined by cutting it through along a 2 m long section. The section clearly showed that circular ditches had probably enclosed the settlement in earlier phases, even though the definition of their exact location requires further investigation. Since the ditch cut into several burials belonging to phase B, and had been mostly filled in by phase A, it clearly represents an independent chronological horizon (phase A^. This is also corroborated by the fact that the location of the ditch shows no causal relationship to earlier settlement features. The regular layout of large-sized post holes within the area enclosed by this ditch suggests that a wooden construction had belonged to this ditch. No traces of an earthen embankment were detected in the investigated section of the ditch. The function of the ditches enclosing the settlement cannot be unambiguously defined owing to the limited scale of investigation of these ditches and of the settlement itself. However, the following factors need be considered when attempting to interpret their function: (1) The ditches date to various phases of the settlement; (2) They only enclosed a part of the settlement; (3) The shift of the residential foci of the settlement during various phases also involved the relocation of the ditches; 36
