A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve, 1982/83-1. (Szeged, 1985)

Régészet - Hegedűs Katalin: The Settlement of the Neolithic Szakálhát-Group at Csanytelek–Újhalastó

could be excavated was fairly large in proportion to the thickness of its walls. The groundplan of the SE

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NW oriented building could be followed for 11m, its northern long wall and eastern short wall fall into the unexcavated area. The beaten earth floor of the house was renewed several times. The remains of an inner partitioning wall were observed at a distance of 6.2 m from the western short wall of the house. The presence of the inner partitioning wall was indicated by two large posthole lying at a distance of 1.2 m from the side walls ; two decayed subsils were found between these postholes. The room (probably a kitchen judging by the hearths) lying in the eastern end of the house could probably be entered at this point. In the author's opinion the partitioning wall was probably erected at the midpoint of the longitudinal axis of the house. The two large posts mentioned in the above had a triple function, namely to ensure the rigidity of the partitioning wall, to serve as door jambs and to support the roof, exonerating thereby the mural crowns. The houses of the Szakáihát group listed and described in the foregoing differ from the Csanytelek house both in their dimensions and their building technique. The latter share numerous affinities with the longhouses of the Linear Pottery cultural complex. The houses excavated at Szegvár, Tápé—Lebő, Szentes—

Ilonapart, the environs of Battonya and Vésztő are smaller than the Csanytelek houses; they are sometimes semi-subterranean hut-like structures, sometimes bipartite with massive timber framing. No traces of the three parallel rows of posts and the "Binderkonstruktion" so characteristic of the Linear Pottery longhouses have been observed in them. In contrast to the houses of the Linear Pottery Culture, the floor of these houses is usually covered with a thich debris of burnt wattle and daub, moreover ovens and other objects of inner furnishings (e.g. large storage jars) are also often found on the floor. 7350 m

2 of a single-layer settlement of the Szakáihát group were excavated in 1979 in the environs of Bokros lying on the left bank of the Tisza river at a distance of с 30 km to the north-east of Csanytelek. The excavations conducted by the author were necessited by the building of the Tisza III barrage. In the course of the rescue excavations lasting for nine months 9 graves with contracted skeletons, 52 refuse pits filled with Szakálhát-type finds, a Neolithic well and the badly preserved remains of houses were uncovered.

38 The houses were built employing a similar technique as in the case of the Csanytelek houses. It was erected around a massive timber framework with three rows of posts running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the house supporting the roof. No culture layer or floor was observed within the house, the only finds being two large storage jars dug into the ground. The fact that the five Linear Pottery longhouses found to date on the territory of Hungary (four at Csanytelek and one at Bokros) are located on the western periphery of the distribution area of the group and are but at a short distance from each other cannot be regarded as a mere coincidence. Neolithic research has long awaited the discovery of such structures since numerous innovations of the Central and Western European Linear Pottery complex (anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, vessels with human face representation and, in the opinion of certain scholars, even the houses themselves) were diffused from South-East Asia and reached this area via the Balkans and the Carpathian Basin.

39 The houses from Csanytelek and Bokros would support such a suggestion. It is the opinion of the author that they can be regarded as "missing links" which have at last been found. 38 Csongrád—Bokros, Bokrospuszta (1979). Excavation Diary. KJM Archives 80.998. A. 39 Dahn, W., Germania 28 (1944—50) 5. 20