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

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

Surface finish A thin clay slip was often applied to the surface of the vessel prior to firing in order to give a smoother surface and a livelier colour. This slip was usually red, ochre-yellow, occasionally grey in colour, and often shows signs of having been burnished. The slip layer can be easiliy detected owing to its différent colour in the broken section of the sherd. If the vessel was tempered with pebbles or broken pottery ground to fine powder, the thin, coloured "slip" was applied to the surface of the vessel intermixed with some organic tempering matter. This type of surface finish is one of the main reasons why coarse, thick-walled vessels are sometimes mistaken for fine ware. Vessel surfaces show but slight traces of burnishing. This is due to the mineral salts in the soil and ground water which dissolved the polished surface. A 3—5 mm thick chaffy slip which was most probably applied after drying can often be detected on the surface of thick-walled, coarse cooking pots. This slip served to enhance the heat-preserving capacity of the vessels. Painting was often employed to set off the incised decreation of vessels. Pastose red paint was especially favoured for decorating incised bands; alternately, sometimes it was the incised pattern which was left unpainted with only the background decorated giving a contrast effect. White encrustation served a similar purpose, namely to highlight the incised pattern (Fig. 16). Apart from red paint, orange, ochre-yellow and white paint was also used (the latter being somewhat less frequent). Bichrome painting occurs on a meander-patterned lid which was decorated with alternating bands painted white and orange (PI. VII: 3); red and white painting can be seen on human face vessel 1 (PI. III). The pattern on the shoulder of the bowl shown in Fig. 16 was fashioned by the rhythmic alternation of orange and pastose red painting, the linear mo

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ifs being enhanced by white encrustation. Red ochre was a valuable commodity of both everyday life and funerary cults (body painting). A late Bükk suspension vessel with traces of red paint inside it was recovered from pit 14 (PI. 1

:4). This imported vessel was most probably used for storing paint. Among the finds indicating the use of paint, an amorphous lump of red ochre recovered from pit 5 should also be mentioned (PI. X: 17). The decoration of fine ware Apart from the painting and encrustation techniques described in the above, fine ware also often decorated with incised linear motifs. These motifs are extremely varied, the most frequent being spirals or spiraloid patterns either encircling the vessel or forming interlocking, horizontally placed 'S'-shaped motifs. This pattern is usually flanked by a garlandlike thin incised line which runs parallel to the main motif of interlocking 'S'-shaped spirals (PI. 1:5,10 and Fig. 15). The pattern itself is either positive or negative according to whether it is the background which is polished and the linear motifs which are painted or the other way round. The pattern described above often ornamented the body of large storage jars with human face representation and various bowls, jugs and "Bombengefässe". (P. VII:l)orlids(Pl. VII:3). An interesting pattern covers the walls of an angular vessel recovered from pit 9 (PI. VI:21). Incised bands of parallel lines are sometimes filled with random stabs. 36