Marta, Livius et al.: The Late Bronze Age Settlement of Nyíregyháza-Oros „Úr Csere” (Satu Mare, 2010)
IV. Liviu Marta - Nagy L. Márta - Daniel V. Sana: Ceramics
base of the ceramic items from the settlement45. The vessels made of fine paste have in composition very small-grained tempering material. The fine paste was used for making cups, bowls and terrines, in general vessels with very thin walls. The percentage of this category among the ceramic elements present in the database is of 13.93%. As compared to the previous category, the semi-fine paste contains a larger grained tempering material (sand, grit, finely crushed shards). The semi-fine paste was used to manufacture all types of ceramic pottery, except for the storage vessels. This is the best represented category within the pottery included in the database, with a percentage of 57.43%. The category of the coarse pottery contains largegrained tempering materials, such as crushed shards and gravel. Given the presence of the large grained tempering material, the outer walls of the vessels are often uneven. The vessels made of coarse paste form the category of the thick-walled pottery: storage vessels, pots, portable cooking vessels. The coarse paste has a smaller percentage for such forms as amphorae and terrines.The percentage of the coarse pottery within the ceramic set introduced into the database is 28.64%. As for the methods used for firing the pottery from the settlement of Oros, a greater presence of the pottery fired in an oxidizing atmosphere has been noticed. This type of firing is present especially in the case of the kitchen ware and the storage vessels: pots, portable cooking vessels and storage vessels. The firing in reducing atmosphere is more frequently used for vessels for serving meals: cups, terrines, amphorae. Among the fragments of vessels included in the database, only nine vessels were fired to become shiny black on the outside and brown, brick-red or gray on the inside. The percentage of the dichromic firing is still small, showing that this process was at its beginnings. Amphorae This is a pottery type assigned to the table ware which, although usually made of a coarser paste, it presents carefully finished and often richly decorated walls. For the cultures of the Late Bronze Age, amphorae are considered as the “guiding fossil” within the 45 With regard to the ratio of each category, a bias towards the fine and semi-fine categories is to be considered, due to a more numerous presence of the decoration, element that forms the base for including them into the database. 24
