Kovács Tibor - Stanczik Ilona (szerk.): Bronze Age tell settlements of the Great Hungarian Plain I. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 1; Budapest, 1988)
Márta SZ. MÁTHÉ: Bronze Age tells in the Berettyó valley
The pattern decorating a jug (Pl. 22 :10) is analogous with that of a vessel found in an early cremation grave of the Battonya cemetery. 28 The scored pot (PI. 22:2) is also an early type,similarly to the wide bowl with out-turned rim (PI. 22:6) and a squat ovoid vessel decorated with an incised zig-zag line (PI. 9:11). The household pottery (PI. 23:8—17) cannot be separated according to types since scored and undecorated sherds are frequent in both periods. The chanelling and spiraloid ribbons, framed stitch ornamentation characteristic of the Wietenberg culture are also present (PI. 21:12, 13; PI. 23:1, 2), together with a clay "pommel" (PI. 21:3) known from the Derzsida (Dersida) tell and other sites of the Wietenberg culture. 29 This object occurs only rarely in the Berettyó area; it is thus certainly of Wietenberg origin. The miniature altar (plate resting on four feet) with a suspension-handle (PI. 21:4) is a variant of the altar found at Herpály. The fact that it had been suspended strongly supports its religious function and the symbolic meaning of the altar-table. The large storage-vessel with spiral decorated knobs (PI. 22:1) belongs to the Gyulavarsánd culture. It is comparable with the "moustache"-ornamented specimen from Szalacs. 30 A few Gyulavarsánd mugs with slightly curved sides decorated with incised arcades and continuous spiral design (PI. 21:1, 5, 6; PI. 22:3). a perforated pedestal (PI. 9:10) and a Pécska-type jug (PI. 22:5) were also found in the trench. Stone implements were quite rare on the site. The fragment of a trapezoidal perforated axe must be mentioned. The type is characteristic for the Middle Bronze Age (PI. 24:11). A trapezoidal celt fragment (PI. 3:21) and a pencil-shaped whetstone with a groove near its butt for the suspending cord (PI. 3:18) whose flat rectangular variants are known from Gyulavarsánd-Laposhalom and Békés 31 was also found. The bone industry is represented by an abundance of the usual implements such as points and other tools made of sheep-bones and ribs, as well as various antlerpicks that have little chronological value (PI. 9:1—3). Level 4 yielded a few bone spacers with multiple perforations (PI. 17:1). These clearly indicate that fayence and/or amber beads occur not only on Kostany, Nitra, Mierzanovice and Wietenberg sites where these beads were used since the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, but also in more southerly areas as well, and perhaps suggest the possible mediatory role of Eastern Hungary in this respect as far as the Wietenberg culture is concerned. 32 Summary It is the Bakonszeg-Kádár domb tell which indicates most clearly that the majority of tells in the Berettyó valley were founded by the indigenous population of period B of the Otomani culture. Even if they were joined by newcomers or simply influenced by new cultural impulses from the south, this same population survived and played a decisive role in the transformation of the material culture leading to the formation of the Gyulavarsánd culture. The continuity of certain pottery types and ornamental motifs can be traced throughout the entire period and new forms including the classical spiral knobs, jugs with turban-shaped body, grid fragments of portable fireplaces appear together with the old ones. The Gyulavarsánd C period is only poorly attested (grid fragments). The Gyulavarsánd characteristics (primitive channelling, spiral knobs) make their appearance in level 4 where Otomani B pottery is still dominant. Even though relatively more Gyulavarsánd pottery was recovered from level 1, this does still not represent an overwhelming majority compared with the types surviving from earlier periods. The change is also reflected by the reorganization of the settlement. The ditch which had functioned continuously was filled in during the period represented by level 1 and the settlement extended over it. Ordentlich made the same observation at the Szalacs site. The tell was encircled by two concentric ditches in the Otomani 1 period. The inner ditch was filled in and houses were built over it during the Otomani II period. 33 Ordentlich suggested a population increase that required more space for houses, but without going into an analysis of the possible factors leading to this change. 34 BERETTYÓÚJFALU-SZILHALOM Introduction The tell lies at the confluence of the Kék-Kálló main channel and the Szilér canal on the western periphery of Berettyóújfalu. This area was formerly called Kendereskert. The island-like Szilhalom tell rises above the surrounding area that had previously been covered by backwaters and marshy tracts as shown by an autographic map drawn before the regulation of the Berettyó in the last century (Figs 10-12). The site was unknown to archaeology earlier. It was not detected by Makkay in his survey of the area, although local private and school collections include some finds from the mound. 35 The surface survey yielded Neolithic and Bronze Age sherds. The tell is in fact the highest point of the
