Fülöp Éva – Cseh Julianna szerk.: „Die aktuellen Fragen des Mittelpaläolithikums in Mitteleuropa”. „Topical issues of the research of Middle Palaeolithic period in Central Europe”. Tata, 20-23 October 2003. (Tudományos Füzetek 12. Tata, 2004)
András Markó–Miklós Kázmér: The use of nummulitic chert in the Middle Palaeolithic in Hungary
of the gravel formations varies from the Lower Miocene (Ipolytarnóc: Eggenburgian, Slovenské Darmoty: Egerian/Aquitanian) through Middle Miocene (Rákosszentmihály) to the Pleistocene and Holocene (in the Pest Plain, and in the Ipoly/Ipel' valley). Recently some outcrops were found in the Pest Plain (Délegyháza, Dunavarsány) and in the Cserhát Mountains (Debercsény-Mogyorós, Vanyarc — Makói oldal). In archaeological context the use of the raw material was first identified in the case of the Charentian site near Erd 6 and on the surface sites lying in the Ipoly/Ipel' valley (Mala Calomija, Bátorová, Opatovská Nova Ves and Kiarov II.). 7 On the Early Palaeolithic site of Vértesszőlős and on the Mousterian site of Tata nummulitic limestone pebbles were used for tool-producing. 8 During the intense field surveys in the territory of the Cserhát Mountains and the revision of some older assemblages several sites have been identified where the raw material was used. Some of them dates to the Aurignacian (Acsa-Rovnya), Gravettian (Püspökhatvan-Takács-hegy, Galgagyörk-Kelemen-földek, Csővár-Arany-hegy), and Epigravettian period (Pebble Gravettian or Ságvárian after V. Dobosi: 9 Szob). The assemblage from Hont-Várhegy was interpreted as Epipalaeolithic, while a core of Neolithic character came into light near Nógrádsipek, Several sites from the outskirts of Vanyarc, Bér, Galgagyörk, Kalló, Erdőtarcsa and Cserhátsurány has no proper dating for the time being. Finally a depot find have to be mentioned from the territory of the Bronze Age fortified settlement of Dunaföldvár. The pieces of this later assemblage were examined by petrographical methods (thin sectioning) too (Map i.). 10 l. In the followings the use of the nummulitic chert in the MP will be discussed (Table i.). Two types of archaeological industries used the pebble raw material in great quantity. The Charentian site of Erd was investigated in 1963—1964 11 . The ratio of the nummulitic chert is 4,61% among the tools. They are mainly side scrapers (20 pieces), raclettes (3), couteau a dos (4), choppers and chopping tools (4), two pseudo-Levallois points and a burin. Artefacts made of nummulitic chert came into light exclusively from the upper culture bearing layer. The uppermost level a was the most important, where 9 side-scrapers, two chopping tools, a retouched flake, a worked pebble and a burin (14 pieces altogether) came into light. Level b yielded an atypical chisel, 3 couteau à dos (one of 6 DIENES 1968. 7 BÁRTA-PETROVSKY-SICHMAN 1962, 300., 304-306.; MISÍK 1969, 127-129., Abb. 1.; 1979, 9.; BÁRTA 1979, 9. 8 VÉGH-VICZIÁN 1964,129.; VARGHA-MÁTHÉ 1990, 287. 9 DOBOSI 1994. 10 BÍRÓ 2000, 242-243.; BIRÓ-DOBOSI-SCHLÉDER 2000: Litotheca 1416. 11 GÁBORI-CSÁNK 1968. The petrographical study links to the name of István Dienes. - For further data about this site see the study of Zsolt Mester in this volume. 54
