A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 47. (2008)

Veres János: Régészeti adatok egy Hernád-völgyi szkíta kori településobjektum elemzése kapcsán

The dominance of barrel shaped vessels and the almost complete absence of biconical urns with outturned rim in the ceramic assemblage recovered from the building harmonises with the observation made in other Scythian cemeteries that the pottery from north-eastern Hungary is characterised by barrel shaped vessels, while that of the central and southern regions of the Great Hungarian Plain by biconical forms (KEMENCZEI 2001, 34). The presence of horseshoe shaped appliqué decoration bearing grain shaped stamping provides an important chronological anchor for dating the hand-made pottery (PL III). Horseshoe shaped prominent appliqué decoration appears on the pottery finds from the La Tcne cemeteries in north-eastern Hungary, such as Kislokaj-Kültelek (B. HELLEBRANDT 1999, 264, Pl. LXXIV. 1) and Bodroghalom-Medvetanya (B. HELLEBRANDT 1999, 254, Pl. LXIV 1. 6), as well as in the cemeteries investigated in western Romania (B. HELLEBRANDT 1999, 195), and reflect the continuity of local traditions. The polished, carefully fired pottery fragments with a red core representing wares showing Celtic influences differ from the characteristic wheel-turned grey Scythian wares as regards both their quality and their form. These fragments come from bowls with indrawn rim, pots with outturned rim, one-handled cups and large storage jars (Pl. VIL I, Pl. IX. 2-3, Pl. X). Accounting for 31 per cent of the wheel-turned wares from the building, this pottery is dominated by bowls and one-handled cups, although its impact can be felt on the entire range of wheel-turned wares. This firing and potting technique showing the influence of Celtic potters can be noted in the case of spindle whorls and the period's rare figurines too. The three figurines from the Hernádvécse settlement are realistically modelled with a wealth of smaller details. The quality, modelling and the tempering agent used for the carefully made animal figurines (Pl. XII. 2-3) point towards local pottery traditions, while the brownish-black horse shaped pendant or amulet (PL XII. I) with its different form and function can be assigned to the finds reflecting cultural impacts from the Celtic world. The realistically modelled animal is portrayed with one foot forward. A deep groove runs along the base of the neck, on the back and on two sides of the body, perhaps an indication of the saddle. The depiction of the animal's downward curving tail has several analogies from the Carpathian Basin. A bronze horse with a suspension loop, assigned to the Prescythian material, is known from the Kiskőszeg hoard (GALLUS-HORVÉTH 1939, Pl. XXXV. 6), while a comparable horse decorated with incisions is a stray find (HAMPEL 1886, PI. LXVIII. 1). The modelling of the figurine from Hernádvécse can thus be derived from local models, although its choice of fabric is unusual and one which was infrequent compared to the similar metal prestige items. The find assemblage was probably part of a larger ceramic depot kept in the building, which may have functioned as a storage building. The dating of the Hernádvécse settlement poses few problems since the settlement features and the finds contain many elements, which have a good dating value. The bench running along the wall became widespread from the early La Tcne period in the Carpathian Basin. Glass paste beads (PL XL 5) and horseshoe shaped appliqué decoration (PL III), as well as pottery and spindle whorls reflecting Celtic influence (Pl. VII. I, Pis IX-X, Pl. XL 12-13) date the settlement to the second phase of the Scythian period in the Great Hungarian Plain. Considering the dating of the pottery with classical horseshoe shaped appliqué decoration from Bodroghalom and Kistokaj to the La Tcne B

2-C, period and that most of the formal parallels to the finds from Hernádvécse can be quoted from the mixed Scythian-Celtic cemeteries of the La Tcne B period, the settlement can be assigned to this period. The less careful modelling of the horseshoe shaped appliqué decoration and the smaller proportion of wares reflecting Celtic influence suggest that the finds from settlement represent one of the earliest instances of contact between the two populations. This contact cannot have occurred earlier than the later 4th century BC according to our present knowledge (MARÁZ 1981, 98: B. HELLEBRANDT 1997; SZABÓ 2005). János Veres