Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
52 S. Berecki-S. J. Sztáncsuj probably storages, used after their abandonment as refuse pits, fact which explains their content of ceramic shards, stone, flint and copper tools, charcoal, ashes and animal bones. The observations of I. Kovács (1915, 231, 234) referring to the discovery of daub fragments keeping the traces of posts and beams indicate the existence of surface constructions/houses of wattle-anddaubed wooden structure. Daub fragments came to surface in 2007, too, from the trenches SI-4. Even if the archaeological research - both the more recent ones and those made by I. Kovács - do not offer sufficiently precise details about the Copper Age settlement from the centre of Tärgu Mures, based upon the materials discovered some considerations about its position and character can nevertheless be drawn. The constructions and other building activities from the modern ages largely changed the original aspect of the place. The historical data reveal that the prehistoric site was on the margin of the inferior plateau of the Mures River. The extensive plateau is sloped to the south-west, it exceeds the everglade of the Mures River by 10-15 m (see the I. Kovács’s photo from the Mikszáth Kálmán Street, Pl. 2/2), margined in this area by precipitous declivities, while at south and south-east it is flanked by the Poklos Stream. Following to north-east-south-west the valley of the Mures River, fragmented by narrow secondary valleys, the long terrace represents a territory densely populated in different periods of the history of this region, beginning with the Neolithic till the Middle Ages.3 The real dimension of the archaeological site is almost impossible to be established; yet, based on the dates provided by I. Kovács and the recent field observations one can consider that its surface was about 1.5 ha, situated approximately on the territory of the present day Unirii Square, Artei (former Mikszáth Kálmán) Street and the adjacent zones from the south-western side of the Köteles Sámuel Street. The archaeological materials from the Copper Age collected from the features described and from the whole researched area, consist of a considerable quantity of potsherds, wattle and daub, a few stone - flint and obsidian - tools and flakes. In the fill of the Af. 3 a milling-stone was discovered. The pottery is very fragmentary, no vessel could be entirely reconstructed, fact which renders the reconstitution of the forms difficult. Though, based on the characteristics of the fragments and the analogies, the type and the dimension of several vessels could be established. From the point of view of the techniques, the pottery from Tärgu Mures-Tornakert presents the traditional categories of fine, semi-fine and coarse wares. Quantitatively reduced (ca. 16%), the fine pottery (PI. 5/9,11; 8/6; 10/1-3, 7,8) is made up by fragments from vessels of small and medium dimension, with a height between 20 and 25 cm; they were tempered with fine sand, submitted to oxidizing fire, having light colours of reddish-yellow and brick-red, and rarely light brown or black. Their walls were thin, the surface well evened, but seldom polished. Exceptions would be the fragments from cups with polished walls and glossy aspect (PI. 10/1,3, 7). The semifine pottery (Pi. 5/3-5,8; 7/2-4,7; 8/3, 7-9) present in a proportion of 21%, represented by small and large-sized vessels, was modelled from a less compact paste, tempered with coarse sand and crushed potsherds. Unlike the coarse wares, this type of pottery was well modelled and the surfaces were evened, having generally a neat aspect. Usually the firing is of good quality, sometimes incomplete though, the majority of the recipients having a dark colour, from brownish-brickred to dark brown or brownish-grey. The coarse pottery (PI. 5/1-2, 6-7, 10; 6/1-2, 5-9; 7/1, 5-6; 8/2, 5; 9/3; 10/9-10) represents 69% and contains fragments of middle-sized and large (some of them were higher than 50 cm) vessels, made of clay, tempered with coarse sand and frequently 3 For the archaeological discoveries from these areas, see: Lazár 1995, 211-213 (Sängeorgiu de Mure§), 255-260 (Tärgu Mure§).
