A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1957 (Debrecen, 1958)

Patay Pál: Tanulmányok Debrecen vidékének rézkoráról

Contributions to the History of the Environs of Debrecen in the Chalcolithic Paul Patau It is known from the excavations made by L. Zoltai and J. Sőregi at Hajdúszoboszló and Konyár that the environs of Debrecen were inhabited, in the second half of the Chalcolithic by the people of the Bodrogkeresztur culture. The observations made in the cemeteries dug up then may now be seen in a wider perspective in the light of researches made elsewhere and further finds of the region in question. I. Newer Chalcolithic Finds Mikepercsi way, Debrecen: Objects were taken to the Déri Museum in 1948 and four times subsequently. These seem to be finds from five graves belonging to the culture of Bodrogkeresztur. The number of the graves may be concluded from the number of flint knives and milk-jug-snaped pots «brought in each time. The finds contain objects (three axes shaped like shoemaker's lasts and two striking stones) which are presumably not finds from the same graves but írom a sTtlement of another period, situated at the same place. Of these finds only a milkjug is noteworthy because it has two handles on its „shoulders" too. Felsőj ózsa-Bózsáscsárda: A milk-jug-shaped vessel was found in 1927. Hortobágy next to Pipáshalom No. 4.: A flower-pot-shaped vessel has come to light at the digging up a mound. Konyár, pits for making adobes, south of the village: Here J. Sőregi found a fragment characteristic of the pottery of the Bodrogkeresztur culture in a pit for making adobes. The existence of graves or waste-pits n?ay be surmised here. Konyár — Dam of Telekhatár: Some fragments gathered in by J. Sőregi may have come from some ransacked graves of the said culture. II. The Significance of Cemeteries in the Environs of Debrecen As the graves excavated in the cemeteries situated in the environs of Debrecen contain only a part, and probably a minor part of the bodies interred there, they are unsuitable for drawing indisputable conclusions regarding the regularly followed method of interment. Some problems may, however, be settled. In connection with partial interment mentioned by J. Sőregi (graves no. 6, 9 and lo, Konyár), it is possible — as the skeletons of these graves were found lying in the correct anatomic position — that the absence of certain skeletal elements is due simply (as was the case with the incomplete skeletons of Fényeslitke)to the destructive processes of the soil at work over many thousands of years. As to the graves No. 6, lo and 14, mutilation of the corpses seems to be more probable. The „vessel grave" no. 5 would sooner be taken, on the strength of its contents and form, for a wastepit of a somewhat earlier settlement. J. Sőregi himself hesitated in designating grave no. 8 as a „vessel grave". , , As regards the finds from the cemeteries in the environs of Debrecen, the rich contents of the graves in Hajdúszoboszló are conspicuous. Grave no. 1 contained two flint knives, which is quite exceptional, while the fact that minor blades or a blade scraper were also found beside the flint knives, is not uncommon. A great many arrowheads also came to light in Hajdúszoboszló, with two trapezoidal ones among those of the usual triangular shape. So far trapezoidal arrowheads have not been known from sites of this culture. Though arrowheads were generally made from «obsidian, here a considerable number of such objects made of flint were to be found. 27 #