Garam Éva szerk.: Between East and West - History of the peoples living in hungarian lands (Guide to the Archaeological Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum; Budapest, 2005)

HALL 1 - The Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic (400,000-6000 B.C.) (Viola T. Dobosi)

13. Enigmatic plaque polished from mammoth tooth lamella found at Tata. C. )00,000 B.C. the best strategic points of the Northern Mountain Range on 180-200 m high hilltops, in the piedmont and near water. An intriguing culture, named Ságvár culture after its best known Hungarian site, appeared some 20 thousand years ago. The lifeways of these communities differed little from the other contemporary Upper Palaeolithic cultures. Their tool-making technique, however, showed a surprising divergence since the lithic assemblages included pebble-tools - a tradition which had apparently survived in spite of the long millennia during which these tools had disappeared. These simple, old-fashioned tools apparently suited their needs - the craftsmen of this period could easily manufacture the artefacts best suited to their needs by knapping. The proportion of obsidian tools in their tool-kit is conspicuously high, especially in view of the distance from which this raw material was obtained. In addition to the favourable properties of obsidian, the other main attraction of this lithic was probably its size: obsidian was collected in the form of nodules the size of a larger egg, which could be worked similarly to flint and quartzite pebbles. The Ságvár culture was a strong, marked complex. Its settlements were occupied by several families or hunting groups. In addition to the pebble tools of the Ságvár culture, other traditions too survived into this period. A few millennia later, about 16—18 thousand years ago, the descendants of the classical "blade cultures" colonised the Great Hungarian Plain, as evidenced by the settlements found near Szeged and in the Jászság area. Still, most communities remained in their accustomed settlement locations. The Danube Bend is one of the most thoroughly investigated areas in Hungary. The excavations conducted over the past seventy years have provided an insight into the late Upper Palaeolithic settlement history of this attractive region, extending from Budapest to Esztergom. Hunters' camps have been found no more than 800-1000 m apart on the late glacial terraces flanking the river and along the edges of the river valleys