A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1997-1998 (Debrecen, 1999)

Utak a múltba - Kivonat az M3 autópálya nyomvonalán feltárt régészeti leletek kiállítási katalógusából

Thanks to these excavations, the north-south extent of the settlement could be identified (400450 m) as well as its southern edge. To date, 36 of the settlement's houses have been excavated. They formed groups and were often accompanied by auxiliary economic features. Twenty-eight of these latter could also be recognized. The units consisting of houses and auxiliary buildings were also accompanied by refuse pits, 237 of which were investigated. The "house/auxiliary building/refuse pit" unit usually also had 1-2 wells associated with it. Thirty-four such wells were excavated. This latter observation is a striking novelty in archaeological research into the Hungarian Neolithic, since such a large number of wells was previously unknown from this period. Obviously, the houses and pits excavated in the investigated surface were not all used at the same time, that is, it may be considered unlikely that the entire 28 ha large settlement was inhabited at any given time. Meanwhile, it must be emphasized that the features excavated at this site all represent a more-or-less homogeneous and unified time period. While large pieces of plastering found on the floors of houses preserved the imprints of structural elements used at the stratified tell, neither the rubble nor the floor level of houses were preserved in the horizontal settlement. On the basis of various features, especially post holes, surviving from the prehistoric structures in this latter portion of the settlement, oblong houses oriented east to west may be considered characteristic. Their lengths varied between 8 and 12 m, while the widths ranged from 4 to 5 m. Their superstructures were supported by 3, 5 or 7 rows of posts. Of these, the middle row supported the edge of the saddle roof. The other rows of posts were placed symmetrically on both sides of this middle row. Large refuse pits found by the sides of these houses are a most valuable source of Neolithic artefacts. The finds recovered from these pits usually originated from the houses. They include zoological and other biological materials that bear witness to the ancient lifeways at this settlement. The shapes of wells that belonged to the units represented by houses and pits were of a uniform type. They were composed of a slanted entrance and the actual water-pit. The depth of these wells varied between 3 to 4 m below the present surface. All of them reached the sandy-gravelly layer thus efficiently filtering the water. One of the aforementioned wells was dug up secondarily and used in some kind of a ritual activity. Assemblages of peculiar clay dishes were buried here on at least three separate occasions. An evaluation of the find circumstances suggests the possibility that this represents that very rare archaeological monument, a special sacrificial pit. Sixty-eight vessels from this sacrificial well could be restored. Amphorae are most commonly encountered here. They belong to a rare type with their quadruple carinated bodies and tall necks. Bitumen based painting and straw decoration embedded in the bitumen both occur frequently. To date, 73 burials have been found at this settlement. Men were usually laid on their right sides and women on their left sides in the grave. People of both genders were buried in a contracted position. The orientation of graves was east-west. The most characteristic grave goods recovered from men's burials include stone axes, the boar mandibles or pairs of perforated plates carved from wild boar tusks. Characteristic pieces of female attire found in women's burials include "belts", i.e. several strings of large Spondylus shell beads originating from the Adriatic region, or beads ground from marble that were placed around the waist. In the case of women, strings of beads were also found in the area of the head, suggesting that some beads may also have been braided into the hair. Another piece of female jewellery found in these burials is a type of bracelet ground from Spondylus shell. Traces of red ochre were found in several graves, regardless of the gender of the deceased. A symbolic burial may be considered particularly 163