Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
34 WHATTHE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS TELL US The Culture of Lengyel having developed from that ofthe linear pattern pottery under southern influence during the Late Neolithic Age (5000/4900- 4500/4400 BC) and the Early Copper Age (until 4000 BC) populated not only Transdanubia but - just like its predecessors - its people settled in the Danube Bend, the Cserhát District, the Gödöllő Hills and the Galga Valley. However, unlike the culture ofthe linear pattern pottery they penetrated into higher regions too; remains have been found in the Börzsöny Mountains as well. In the villages of (the Culture of) Lengyel there were two common types of houses: beam-framed long-houses built on the surface ofthe ground, and buildings dug into the ground without any vertical walls. This culture provided the first examples of cemeteries where the graves were within the confines of the settlement but outside the inhabited part. (We know of only a small number of burial places scattered in Hungary from earlier periods ofthe Neolithic Age.) Findings in the north-western fields of Vác in the settlement on Szék Hill include common articles of everyday life, mainly fragments of clay pots and animal bones. Some fragments were painted red and white. The bones allow us to deduce the species ofthe animals raised and hunted there. At the end of the Neolithic Age the climate turned colder and wetter. Obviously this had an impact on the natural environment and through that on the lives ofthe people. Especially in the eastern part of the country farming was being replaced by stock breeding in the Copper Age (4500/4400- 2800/2700 BC). As a result, smaller settlements were established which were inhabited for shorter periods of time compared to earlier periods. The new lifestyle affected the way of burial as well: in Eastern Hungary cemeteries with a large number of graves were established separately from the settlements where strict burial rites prevailed. The greatest achievement of the age was the discovery of a new raw material: copper. Besides copper, jewellery made of another metal, gold also appeared around the same time. During the Early Copper Age the culture of Lengyel was still present in Vác and its vicinity, but in the next period the picture changed. In the Mid-Copper Age the Culture ofLudanice settled in the northeastern part of Transdanubia and the south-western part of present-day Slovakia while the related Culture ofBodrogkeresztúr prevailed in Eastern Hungary. Remains ofthe Culture of Bodrogkeresztúr have been found in Vác and its area to the south and south-east. While to the north remains ofthe Culture ofLudanice have been excavated. Vác is lucky enough to have both settlements and graves from the period. Grinding and abrasive stones (PMMI-TIM 84.86.54-55) Lots of pot fragments, animal bones and shells in heaps have been brought to light from the Mid- Copper Age settlement excavated in the middle of today's town in Szentháromság (Holy Trinity) Square. Among the fragments there was a grinding stone and a matching abrasive stone, which were common tools used for grinding corn in the Prehistoric Age. Fragments of pots with the shape of a milk jug, which are latticed pots encrusted with lime and are considered as the main type of Bodrogkeresztúr pottery, are especially characteristic ofthe age. On the northern confines of Vác on the Danube bank one of the graves of the culture contained a knotty-footed embossed bowl and a round bellied pot. In the first part ofthe Copper Age there were several groups of people in Hungary who were different from each Fragment of a "Milk-jug" shaped pot (PMMI-TIM 84.87.1)
