Nagy Emese Gyöngyvér - Dani János - Hajdú Zsigmond szerk.: MÓMOSZ II. (Debrecen, 2004)

P. Barna Judit: Becsehely-Homokos. Előzetes az M7 gyorsforgalmi út 71. sz. lelőhelyén feltárt neolitikus telep kutatásáról (1999-2000)

ther there is any correlation between the location and the function of the kilns and the working pits, which only occur at a certain part

—i.e., on the eastern edge

—of the settlement. The contents of these working pits display traces of intensive heating, with a lot of pebbles and mud-flakes but with little pottery (e.g.: Objects 126 and 152, and the southern end of Objects 140 and 145). 2. Sacrificial pit: Object 147/a is a narrow, oval, N-S longitude pit, which contained a lot of findings with charcoal-graind filling (Picture 6/2). In its northern end, there were shards of a pair of grinding stones underneath a pot turned upside down, with a small cup standing next to the pot (Picture 6/1). Both vessels are practically intact (Picture 6/3, 4a-4b). On the basis of the character of the findings and the context of its surfacing, I would identify the pit as a cult pit containing the remnants of a sacrifice offered in the framework of the fertility rite. The presence of the pair of grinding stones can also assist us in concluding at the concrete form of the rite: the ritual grinding (Makkay 1978a). The shape of the pit and its position would support the assumption that these findings can also be interpreted as a building sacrifice (Makkay 1983, 1986), as the object is located right underneath the wall of the former house, in its foundation ditch. Within the enormous amount of neolithic findings unearthed, the majority of the pieces belong to pottery, and the number of supplementable vessels is also significant. The quantity of the stone implements is considerable but the animal bone remains are minimal, due to the chemical composition and features of the soil. A preliminary survey of the findings shows the dominance of the older phase of TLPC, in comparison to the classical and the younger phase (Keszthelyi-group). The great majority of the pottery-related findings comprise different shards of pots and vessels in the usual fine and coarse categories of forms characteristic of TLPC: bowls of various profiles, pedestalled bowls, cups, vessels of bomb or hemisphere shapes, bottles, amphorae, bins, and hods. The usual forms are complemented with the usual ornaments created according to the usual principles and techniques both in the material belonging to the oldest phase (Makkay 1978, Kalicz 1995, Pavuk 1980) and in that of the Keszthelyi-group (Kalicz 1991) (Picture 2). The total absence of Schlickwurfornamentation is quite noteworthy. There has not been found any imported pottery, except for one small, hemispherical bowl, whose ornamentation might have been inspired by the decorating style of the Malo Korenovo Culture (Picture 3/4). Among the particularly special forms, we should note a miniature goblet (Picture 4/6), a small two-necked vessel (Picture 4/3), and an octangular bowl (Picture 3/2a-b). Among the rest of the pottery-related findings, particular attention should be paid to a flat, oval clay object perforated at six places, the function of which is still unclear to us (Picture 3/1), and which has been unparalleled as yet (P. Barna 2000). Objects of cultic function include altar-legs, idol-sherds (Picture 4/1-2), shards of clay pendants (Picture 4/4), and the representation of a highly stylized human figure etched on the neck of a soup bowls can also be classified as belonging to the cultic sphere (Picture 4/5). The shards of two spindle-buttons manifest the presence of the contemporary practice of spinning and weaving. P. BARNA JUDIT BALATONI MÚZEUM 8360 KESZTHELY MÚZEUM u. 2. pbarna@dpg.hu