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

Hódmezővásárhely-Gorzsa (F. Horváth)

HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY-GORZSA Large storage vessel with plastic decoration. Phase A, Proto-Tiszapolgár phase. H: 66 cm 18] (4) The known dimensions of the ditch belonging to phase A

t (depth: 3 m, width: 4 m) indicate that its construction involved the removal of 15 000 m

3 of earth, suggesting that it had functioned as a fortification. Little is known about the settlement belonging to phase A. Only a few settlement features and pits mark the presence of a All excavated houses were above-ground structures with rectangular groundplan. However, remains of bedding trenches, uncovered on other settlements of the Tisza culture, have not yet been observed on this site; the Gorzsa houses had without exception been constructed around a framework of upright wooden posts with wattle and daub walls and a pitched roof. Only partial house plans are known from phases A and D. Their floors were thickly plastered with clay. The groundplan and dimensions of the excavated houses cannot, however, be reconstructed with precision partly because of the limited extent of excavation and partly owing to contemporary levelling. Considerably more is known about the settlement of phase C that had burned down several times. Outstanding among the buildings belonging to this phase is a six-roomed large house (level 10) that is unparalleled in terms of its dimensions and Necked amphora. Phase C, Tisza culture. H: 39 cm 19] groundplan among the presently known Neolithic houses of the Tisza region. The walls, ovens and thickly plastered floors of this house had been strongly burnt. Surviving sections of the walls, mostly the short walls and the internal partitioning walls - often preserved to a height of 70 cm - could be uncovered in situ. The conflagration destroying this house had been so sudden that its inhabitants barely had enough time to salvage their most precious items (mostly personal ornaments and figurines) since the internal furnishings and a variety of artefacts lay in situ in areas that had not been disturbed by later pits. It was observed that some of the pits cutting into the heavily burnt wall remains had been dug from directly above the debris and never cut into the floor suggesting that these pits had been dug for the retrieval of various objects. Nonetheless, the greater part of the furnishings and utilitarian objects remained under the ruins and thus yielded a reasonably accurate picture of the house inventory that included over 100 vessels. The fragments of burnt wattle and daub preserved valuable information concerning construction techniques and the ornamentation of the walls. 37