Viola T. Dobosi: Paleolithic Man in the Által-ér Valley (Tata, 1999)

It can be a far-fetched deduction to trace back an object of modern age and the embedded spiritual contents into the age of the Neanderthal men. Australian aboriginals, however, follow one of the most ancient way of life among the known peoples and their life-style and believes preserved Palaeolithic traditions. It is also certain that the Tata mammoth-tooth plate was not suitable for practical tasks and in its form, it resembles the chourounga. Thus the interpretation of László Vértes is not the most unlikely among the possible explanations. Concerning the age of the site, we are troubled by the abundance of evidence. Samples taken from the Porhanyóbánya and several points of the site have been investigated in several leading research laboratories of the world from Canada to Moscow. The results are varied, ranging through almost all of the time span attributed to Neanderthal people. In a cynical way we could say that everybody could select their favourite dating, fitting best into their theories Fortunately the site was not destructed during the excavations as it is unfortunately typical for open-air sites. Thus new samples can be collected for more exact studies, completing the existing archaeological and scientific results. Thus the age of the site, harmonising with other sites of similar chronological position can be estimated around 100 thousand years. 59