Paluch Tibor: Egy középső neolitikus lelőhely a kultúrák határvidékén. A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Monographia Archeologica 2. (Szeged, 2011)

Maroslele-Pana: A Middle Neolithic Site at the Frontier of Cultures

72 PALUCH Tibor • MAROSLELE-PANA: EG Y KÖZÉPSŐ NEOLITIKUS LELŐHEL Y A KULTÚRÁK HA TÁR VIDÉKÉN 72 phase in the Körös culture, that is, a period that preceded the Vinca culture. This phase must have been synchronous with the shift between the Early and Middle Neolithic in the Balkans. Thus, the tripartite division of the Körös culture - into an early, middle, and late (early Proto-Vinca ) phase - should be replaced by a division into four phases, where the phase between the early painted and the late (coeval with Vinca A) phases would be divided into two: a classical period and an actual proto-Vinca phase, where the connections between the two are only chronological, not genetic. Cups with one handle appear among the finds of classical Körös culture assemblages, signifying a period associated with the Karanovo Il-Sesklo layer. These were linked to the Körös valley of the middle Tisza region; analogies to this type, however, were rare in the Starcevo-Körös complex (RACZKY 1988, 20-21; HORVÁTH 1996, 127-128; MAKKAY-STARNINI 2008. Fig. 92-103). Research during the past decades, however, has provided new results on this issue. Earlier excavations at the sites of Szajol-Felsőfóld (RACZKY 1988, 3. kép 1-2), Szolnok-Szanda (KALICZ-RACZKY 1982, Taf. 12. 1), Endrőd 6 (MAKKAY-STARNINI 2008, Fig. 165, 2), Endrőd 35 (MAKKAYSTARNINI 2008, Fig. 173, Endrőd 39 (MAKKAY-STARNINI 2008, Fig. 198, 1-4; Fig. 254, 3), Endrőd 119 (MAKKAY 1992, PI. 27, 4-7; MAKKAY-STARNINI 2008, Fig. 276, 1, 3, 7; Fig. 287, 8; Fig. 308, 1-3; Fig. 318, 2; Fig. 320, 4), Szarvas 8 (MAKKAY-STARNINI 2008, Fig. 92, 2; Fig. 96, 3), Szarvas 23 (MAKKAY-STARNINI 2008, Fig. 95, 1, 4; Fig. 96, 4), Szentes, Boros Sámuel utca (MAKKAYSTARNINI 2008, Fig. 99, 1), Szentes-Ilonapart (HORVÁTH 1983, Abb. 1, 3a-b) suggested that the one-handled cups were present in the Körös Valley. New examples, however, excavated in the Körös settlements of the Maros Valley, at Pitvaros (unpublished), and Hódmezővásárhely-Gorzsa, Sand Mine 5 (unpublished) indicate a wider region of penetration. Over the past decades, the number of recorded one-handled cups has increased steeply, partly as a consequence of János Makkay publishing his excavation results from the Körös Valley. He divided the one-handled cups into five subgroups (MAKKAYSTARNINI 2008, 74). In their early form the handle was simply curved; examples are known from the Porodin-Circea-Gradesnitza-Kremikovci-Galabnik-Karanovo II complex. After the Middle Neolithic of the Aegean region and the Early Neolithic of the Balkans, the cups appeared in a modified form, with a knob handle and an elongated body. Examples of such finds are known only from the Paradimi-Karanovo III (Veselinovo)-Circea IV-Dude§ti-Vinca A complex north of the Aegean region (RACZKY 1983, 190). THE 2008 EXCAVATION The Móra Ferenc Museum contracted to conduct archaeological excavations accompanying the building of the new M43 highway between Szeged and Makó and the adjacent public road bypassing Makó. Within the framework of the preparations, in 2010 the museum undertook a heritage-impact study for this section of the highway. Fieldwalking carried out at that time did not reveal archaeological finds. However, as the site excavated by Ottó Trogmayer in 1963 was nearby, a 34 000 irr area of the highway route crossing the Pana was marked out for archaeological excavation, taking the hydrological environment as well as the relief of the area into consideration. The excavations were carried out between 15 August and 15 October 2008. In the designated area the upper layer of humus and the unploughed soil were removed mechanically (Fig. 3. 1-2). There were significant differences in the thickness of the humus layer throughout the ca. 600 m-long and 60 m-wide section; on the hilltop it was only 10-20 cm deep (Fig. 3. 3^4), while in places of deep deposit the depth of the humus layer exceeded 2 m (Fig. 3. 5-6). The latter case was typical in the western part of the excavated area, where the edge of the highway route followed the confluence of Száraz and Porgány creeks and where the surface relief was determined by high Pleistocene banks that once confined the streams. This natural system of water channels served to collect local sediment buildup in the given area; due to natural erosion and human activity, weathered soil from higher surfaces and its organic content was deposited and accumulated in these streambeds. The extremely thick humus layer was not only present in the western corner of the excavated area. During the excavation huge differences in the depth of the upper layer were observed a number of times along the east-west-oriented highway route. The reason for these discrepancies is rooted in the ancient watercourse system made up of a number of parallel streambeds with high banks, oriented from north to south, which determined the relief and hydromorphology of the wider environment of the site. In the 34 000 m

2 area designated for excavation six such ancient waterbeds and the ridges of their deposits were noted, oriented from north to south. The past hydromorphological conditions are portrayed on the relevant part of the military survey map commissioned by Emperor Josef II (Fig. 2. 2). The map shows clearly that except for the higher prominences (e.g., Pana, Lebő, Kingéc), the area must have been covered with water for most of the year. After removing the upper layer of humus mechanically, we continued with hand excavation of the features discovered. The situation was further complicated by the soil conditions, as the soil came off in thick, dense laminae. The extremely hard and fragmented soil made it dificult to uncover the features by hand. The mechanical excavation bucket almost tore up the compressed, clayey soil and the fill of archaeological features when it removed the surface. Under such circumstances hand digging was extremely laborious and difficult; the unfavorable soil conditions also contributed to the heavy fragmentation of the pottery material. The Department of Geology and Paleontology of the University of Szeged contracted with the museum for the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the whole section of the highway route. Within the framework of this cooperation soil samples were collected at several locations in the excavation area; the sampling was undertaken by several advanced MA and PhD students of the department who were present at the excavation. The most spectacular example of sampling was carried out at feature 85. OBNR/91. SNR, where the whole amount of fill (4.5 tons) was transferred into bags during hand excavation. The sample was later transported to the department in Szeged where wet-sieving of the material took place. The analysis was undertaken by scholars of the department, who publish the results in this volume. In the 27 000 m

2 of the de facto excavated area altogether 231 archaeological phenomena were observed and recorded. Only one fourth of these, 71 features, were dated to the early period of the Middle Neolithic. In addition to these, features from the Copper Age Tiszapolgár culture as well as Late Medieval findings were brought to light.