Marta, Liviu: The Late Bronze Age Settlements of Petea-Csengersima (Satu Mare, 2009)
III. Habitation of te Suciu de Sus Archaeological Culture
III.3. Surface management in the settlement The dwellings of the Suciu de Sus culture occurred more concentrated in the western zones II, III and V (Fig. 2). The fragments of fired walls also present in other areas of the setdement suggested that other dwellings existed in those areas. The habitation in the eastern area of the settlement was illustrated by the result of the archaeological analyses that attested recent operating complexes in this area. This fact stands for an asynchronous habitation in the eastern and western sides of the Suciu de Sus settlement. Some beehive shaped pits were located nearby the dwelling areas. Storage pits were concentrated in S37 (zone III — Fig. 8). This sector was situated nearby the north-eastern margin of the settlement that might be appreciated as an area used for storage. A particular area was clearly outlined in the eastern side of the settlement. It uncovered a bronze deposit and four vessel depositions, of which three belonged to the Suciu de Sus culture. As it can be seen, these depositions have a ritual character. Their group was situated in the eastern side of the setdement and created a peripheral area used for depositions - the “sacred” area of the settlement66. III.4. Ceramics The rich pottery finds from the Suciu de Sus settlement at Petea — Csengersima offer the opportunity of a re-evaluation of the repertory of pottery forms and of the decorative motifs from the advanced phase of the Suciu de Sus culture. The studies regarding the pottery of this culture attained only a rough approach, on a general level, limited to short listings of pottery forms, of decorative techniques and of some ornamental motifs67. All these were analysed on the whole, taking into account the pottery from several sites even though the pots had been attributed to different phases of evolution of the Suciu de Sus culture. The pottery from the necropolis at Lăpuş were part of a more complex treatment. The general study of the pottery from the two phases of the necropolis leaves an unanswered question regarding the position and function of some of the pottery forms and ornaments within each phase68. A database has been created for the pottery of Petea—Csengersima which comprises all pot types, subtypes and variants together with the palette of ornamental motifs used for decoration. For the first time this offers the possibility to determine the frequency of each form and of each decorative element within the pottery of the settlement69. Thus, comparing 66 The existence of such areas was suggested by several depositions with ritual character found at the margins of some setdements originating from the BzD-HaA. Those setdements were located on a small territory near the northern frontier between Romania and Hungary. It is the case of a bronze hoard with objects of the type Uriu-Opályi laid on purpose, which were found in 2008 at the margin of the Suciu de Sus setdement at Császló (information provided from Pintye Gábor). The bronze hoard at Carei - Spitz Farm was found in the margin of the settlement and of the small hill (Németi 1990, p. 32, fig. 10). The bronze hoard at NagykáLló was found by A. Mozsolics nearby a vessel laid upside down. The archaeological excavation was made in an area where the works at the building of a road uncovered two complete bulging, conical vessels suggesting a ritual deposition. The margin of the setdement was attested by the rare pits, although the central area (towards the west) had the cultural layer of 80-100 cm thick (Mozsolics — Hegedűs 1963, p. 252; Kemenczei 1982, p. 73-78, abb. 2). 67 Bader 1978, p. 70 -73; Balahuri 2001, p. 259, 261. 68 Within an unpublished study regarding the analysis of the pottery of the necropolis at Lăpuş there are several references to the pottery of the Suciu de Sus culture (Kacsó 1981, p. 25-67). 69 The database comprises only the pottery found in archaeological complexes to avoid the disproportion that could have been caused by the impossibility of culturally attributing some of the pottery forms from the 20
