Horváth László szerk.: Zalai Múzeum 17. (Közlemények Zala megye múzeumaiból, Zalaegerszeg, 2008)

KREITER ATTILA: A Celtic pottery kiln and ceramic technological study from Zalakomár-Alsó Csalit (S-W Hungary). Kelta edényégető kemence és kerámia technológiai megfigyelések Zalakomár-Alsó Csalit lelőhelyről

ZALAI MÚZEUM 17 2008 131 Attila Kreiter A Celtic pottery kiln and ceramic technological study from Zalakomár-Alsó Csalit (S-W Hungary) The site The settlement of Zalakomár-Alsó Csalit is situated on the eastern side of Zala county (Fig. 1 ). In 2006 a rescue excavation was carried out at the site prior to the M7 motorway construction. Within the area that was affected by motorway constructions, 29916 m

2 were excavated. The archaeological site is situated east from an approximately north-south oriented natural elevation and the Celtic settlement itself was situated on a low lying area of that natural elevation. The settlement was occupied during the Early Neolithic by the Transdanubian Linear Pottery culture. During the Late Bronze Age a cemetery was established there by the Urnfield culture and in the Iron Age the Celts settled there. In this paper only the bi-chambered Celtic pottery kiln is discussed and specifically the ceramics from the kiln in terms of production technology. The settlement features of the Celtic occupation are discussed by László Horváth (HORVÁTH 2008). The site is dated to the La Tène Cl a period, around 250-230 BC (IBID.). Celtic settlements are usually situated close to water and the site at Zalakomár is no exception. Even today the area east from the cluster of Celtic houses is waterlogged and the site is situated at the edge of the former Little Balaton Lake. Since the excavated area is relatively large, it can be assumed that the Celtic village discontinued north, west and east. This indicates that the kiln situated at the edge of the settlement, was relatively close to the water. Structure of the kiln Understanding the design process of a kiln is a necessary first step toward interpreting the connected archaeological records. The main advantage of a kiln is that it efficiently allows control of the firing temperature, the rate of heating and atmosphere of firing, and they protect the vessels from coming in contact with fuel, wind and moisture (RICE 1987, 109). The pottery kiln at Zalakomár is a bi-chambered updraught kiln (Figs. 2-3). Updraught kilns have enclosed firing chambers in which the heat moves upward from underneath the pots and is then vented outward (RICE 1987, 159). Fuel is fired in a firing chamber through a stokehole, through which air is also admitted. The flames and combustion products rise through Hues in the top of a fire chamber, which is also the floor of the pottery firing chamber, and exit through Hues or openings at the top of the kiln (RYE 1981, 100). The kiln appeared under the subsoil as a round red patch. The filling of the kiln was grey and black sand. The kiln was dug into the clayey subsoil and it crosscut two Neolithic pits (features 379 and 352). Inside the flues tool marks, which had a straight end, were observed. The tool marks in the flues indicate that the kiln was dug into the subsoil. Because of the filling of the Neolithic pits differed from the filling of the stoke hole, the fillings could well be identified and their finds could be separated. The stoke hole has a rectangular shape with rounded edges. The bottom of the stokehole was ca. 35 cm deeper from the bottom of the firing chamber. The yellow subsoil at some places in the stoke hole, close to the opening of the flues, was burnt red. The firing chamber of the kiln was rounded with a thick dividing rib in the middle. The width of the firing chambers measured 129 cm internally and 145 x 155 cm externally. The total length of the kiln including the flues was ca. 225 cm. The rib in the middle of the firing chamber is 17 cm thick on its top and tapered downward towards its bottom showing 27 cm in thickness. The rib divided the kiln into two equal parts and with no connections between the firing chambers. Thus the pottery kiln was bi-chambered and the two chambers had to be fired separately. The kiln had two flues with square openings and they run parallel to