Csengeri Piroska - Tóth Arnold (szerk.): A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 54. (Miskolc, 2015)
Régészet - Patay Róbert: Kora és középső rézkori telepnyomok Mezőzombor–Községi temető lelőhelyről
130 Pat ay Róbert EARLY AND MIDDLE COPPER AGE SETTLEMENT TRACES AT THE SITE OF MEZŐZOMBOR-KÖZSÉGI TEMETŐ Keywords: Copper Age, Tiszapolgár Culture, Bodrogkeresztúr Culture, settlement, pottery Several excavations took place at the site of Mezőzombor-Községi temető in the past few years (Fig. 7; KOOS 2003; CSEN- GERI—PATAY R. 2003; BAKOS—FISCHE 2012, 57—59), and finds from various archaeological periods were recorded (KALICZ-KOÓS 2000; PATAY R. 2002; CSENGERI 2004; KOÓS 2006; SIKLÓSI-CSENGERI 2011). Two survey trenches were explored in 2001, adding up to a surface of 400 m2. Altogether 72 features were discovered. Based on the unearthed finds as well as the field walks (BAKOS-FISCHL 2012, 59) the area seems continuously habited from the Middle Neolithic to the Period of the Árpád Dynasty (except for the Iron Age). Dense settlement traces were brought to light of from all trenches in both excavation seasons, resulting in a high number of features relative to the size of the survey area. This paper discusses the Early and Middle Copper Age features excavated in 2001 and the finds they yielded (Fig. 2). The Early Copper Age assemblage is small; these finds were unearthed from four pits. All these were circular or ovalshaped garbage pits with curving sides and trough-shaped or leveled bottoms. The pottery fragments (Fig 3—7) suggest a connection to the Basatanya group of Tiszapolgár Culture, described by Ida Bognár-Kuztián (BOGNÁR-KUTZIÁN 1972,172—173). The Early Copper Age pits yielded a few animal bones, whose taxonomic ratios are unreliable due to the small sample size. A pit associated with the Middle Copper Age Bodrogkeresztúr Culture was also partly excavated. This pit was found separately from the Early Copper Age features and yielded a small amount of potsherds (Fig 8). The pit was partly explored in 2000 (PATAY R. 2002). So far, no systematic archaeological excavations have been made in North-eastern Hungary, and so only a few Early (KALICZ 1958; PATAY 1979; SELJÁN 2007) (see appendix and Fig 9) and Middle Copper Age (KALICZ 1958; 1966; PATAY 1979; PATAY R. 2002) (see appendix and Fig 10) settlements are known in the region. Therefore, it is crucial to publish the findings unearthed at Mezőzombor. New dates of absolute chronology are available in a relative abundance from the eastern half of the Carpathian Basin (KOVÁCS-VÁCZI 2008, Table 1; CSÁNYI-TÁRNOKI-RACZKY 2009, Table VI, Figs. 8-12; YERKES-GYUCHA- PARKINSON 2009; RACZKY 2013, 71, Figs. 6. 5-6; RACZKY—SIKLÓSI 2013, 557-567, Figs. 2, 4; SCHIER 2013, 573-674, Table 1; BRUMMACK 2014, 5-7, Tables 1-6, Figs. 12-13). Chronological problems of the Early and Middle Copper Age have been in the focus of scholarly attention both in Hungary and internationally (CSÁNYI—TÁRNOKI—RACZKY 2009, 28-29; YERKES-GYUCHA-PARKINSON 2009; BRUMMACK 2015, 7-14, Figs. 17-22; BRUMMACK-DI- ACONESCU 2014; DIACONESCU 2014; DRA§OVEAN 2014; RACZKY-SIKLÓSI 2013; RACZKY-ANDERS- SIKLÓSI 2014, 331—340). Absolute chronological data are not available for the Mezőzombor assemblage, and therefore, the finds can only be dated to the Early and Middle Copper Age within the chronological framework suggested by Sven Brummack and Dragoj Diaconescu (BRUMMACK—DIACONESCU 2014; DIACONESCU 2014; BRUMMACK 2015). [Translated by Kyra Lyublyanovics] Pataj, Köbért
