Ilon Gábor: Szombathely őskori településtörténetének vázlata (Szombathely, 2004)
Őskorunk 2. slate stone and serpentine of various quality) extracted form these mines. The tracks of their settlements have been recovered on the terraces of the Arany and Perint Creeks as well as their past side waters (the present Potyond-Ditch) and the Bogáca Brook. These are known on the basis of scattered surface data coming from the vicinity of the Csónakázó-tó (Rowing Pond), from the pebble mines of Ujperint and Gyöngyöshermán and north of the Bogáca Brook and the Szombathely-Vép Route. The most recently recovered sites are located at the appartments being built at the Ernuszt Crypt, on the slope under the Reiszig-forest (bypass route, 3rd phase, site no. 5.: Appendix 5., Tables III-IV.) and on the Olad Plateau. The latter one will soon be under construction and we have completed only a field survey to date. The other two sites gave place for further excavations. Although concrete research has not been completed yet, houses made of plastered clay walls and wooden structures must have been erected on the ground surface. The infrastructure of the settlements are still unknown. From this aspect, the excavations scheduled to take place prior to the cunstruction of the appartments on the Olad Plateau bears fundamental magnitude in respect to the closing period of the Neolithic era. The local population of the Late Neolithic is represented by the so-called Lengyel Culture. Being farmers, the peoples had settled corresponding venues, which refers to the genetic relation of the peoples of these cultures, yet they appeared in city regions as well. The population density in the West centered in the areas of the aforementioned Olad Plateau and the Ujperint pebble quarry. Tracks referring to a settlement recovered in site no. 2. of Route 8721 {Alsómező slope. Fig. 46.) located at the northern boundary on the western side of the Perint Creek should be underlined, whilst the area lying east of the Gyöngyöshermán pebble quarry was also inhabited. The pottery fragments of this culture also came to light from Ady Square in the city centre. On the contrary, no further vital, or substantive facts may be published as regards their settlements. The peoples of this culture kept control over the stone raw material mines of the region, the route stretching to the west (Fig. 2) as well as the Northern-Southern path (later Amber Road) that was probably structured at that time (Fig. 7). The Copper Age (Fig. 14) During the early period, the late Lengyel Culture expanding all over the Transdanubian region dominated the territory of the city. An artifact made by the population and considered as unique even in national terms, namely a clay idol (Table II. 1.) perhaps depicting the figure of a sitting god, was found (1939) in the Plachner pebble quarry located in the southern sphere of the city. Two of their villages' remains were completely wasted by the construction works of the Csónakázó-tó (Rowing Pond) and the operation of the Ujperint pebble quarry. Further ceramics fragments collected during gardening in Senyefa also indicate settlements. Another of their dwellings complex was recovered north of Szentkirály in the eastern side of the Gyöngyös. Upon the basis of our current information, the remains of their most outstanding settlement was found during an artifact preservation action completed in parallel to the construction of Metro Holding Hungary Ltd. (from August 2000) situated between Route 87 leading to Kőszeg and the current beltway bypassing the city. Followingly and until now, preventive excavations were conducted in cooperation with the investor-owner МО-WA Ltd. prior to the construction of Minerva appartments and a trade-service quarter. As a result, we have gained knowledge of the largest settlement alike rooting back to this era not only in Vas County, but in the entire Transdanubian region (ca. 15 acres in dimension: see Appendix 3. - 1, 2). As per the (CI 4) radiocarbon dating identification technique (Deb-8486, 8408 and 8518: Fig. 29) the village existed around 4460 - 4200 B.C., i.e. in the second half of the 5th millenia. Furthermore, 3 houses large enough in size, ovens, circle trenches 97
