Folia archeologica 8.

Korek József — Patay Pál: A Herpályi-halom kőkorvégi és rézkori települése

The Settlement at Herpály-halom from the Late Neolithic 41 countered 5 — 8 cms deep in the company of a round hearth (1) and three poleholes (c

—e). The layer above floor C and particularly so at a depth of 180—200 cms, had a remarkable quantity of animal bones in it, mostly of the aurochs. Most of the dishes with hollow tubular supports found during the excavation, derived from this layer. Otherwise the objects were much the same as those we had come across in the other three deeper layers below (Plates III: 12-21; IV: 5-7; VII: 6 ; VIII : 1-8). The layer also yielded implements made from antlers (Plates IV : 1—4 ; VIII : 21), a bone awl (Plate IV : 9), and, what was rather significant, a copper bracelet also came to light (Plate IV: 8). Immediately above this level at a depth of 160—180 cms, the layer showed distinct colouring by soot and contained stone and antler implements (Plate V : 1—4) as well as pottefy ware that was, however, of a different character from those discovered in the layers underneath (Plates V : 6-23 ; VII : 12, 14 ; IX : 13-24). The next layer above, at a depth of 154 cms, showed the flooring (D) of a dwelling that had been destroyed by a conflagration, and over the floor was spread the debris of the fallen-in dwelling. A hearth was found on the floor with a raised ledge, and it had the form of a horse-shoe (Fig. 13). The occupational layer, 25—40 cms deep, above the rubble of the debris, produced vessels of an entirely different type from those so far met with : shapes typical of the early copper Tiszapolgár culture were observed (Plates VI : 1 —11, 25, 28). The features of an early Copper Age grew even more pronounced among the objects derived from layer E that also contained fragments of mud-daubing at a depth of 60—80 cms (Plates VI : 12-24; 26-27; IX: 1-12). The two top layers at a depth of 40 cms were sharply distinguished in their general character from all the previous lower layers insofar as the top layers yielded remains from the Ottomány bronze culture. In places, the top layers were disturbed by later interference, and contained displaced objects originally belonging to the dwelling D that had been destroyed by conflagration (Plate VI : 29). The layers described above fairly agreed with the stratigraphical account given by Tompa (Fig. 11). Among the many problems concerning the Neolithic Age in Hungary, the most vexing ones still await solution such as the origin and the chronology, of the cultures from the east and north-east parts of the Great Hungarian Plain. Ida B. Kutzián's excavation at Polgár-Szilmeg in 1950, made us acquainted with the linear-pattern wares of the Hungarian Plain which point to contacts with the contemporaneous Bükk and Tisza cultures. In addition to the Bükk and Tisza cultures, two more culture groups have been encountered in these parts of the country : the Tócó-völgy (near Debrecen) and the Herpály cultures. The latter will be fully dealt with by Ida B. Kutzián in a report on her excavations at Berettyószentmárton. Special mention must be made of some pottery forms found at Herpály such as the dishes with hollow tubular supports and their variants, the biconical (Plate VII : 5—7), and the flat conical shapes. In some specimens, the latter variety is perforated between the dish and its support (Plates VI : 19 ; VII : 12, 14), while in others the perforation is absent (Plate VII : 13). The biconical form shows intercourse with the Tisza culture whereas the flat conical varieties-