Agria 39. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2003)

Domboróczki László: Radiokarbon adatok Heves megye újkőkori régészeti lelőhelyeiről

explained merely by unsatisfactory excavation methods or carelessness on the part of the restorers, despite the fact that the areas between the pits and the humus level above some of them were cleared by a mechanical digger. The pit contents were not sifted but collected with the utmost care. Even so errors cannot be ruled out both here and during the sorting and restoration process. Nevertheless, looking at the proportion of vessels successfully restored, it would appear that the material found in the pits was already in a fragmentary and incomplete state. The fragmentary nature of the evidence is indeed understandable. Why otherwise would they have thrown away perfectly good vessels (although there were only a few cases where this was indeed the case)? Nevertheless, the number of incomplete vessels still requires explanation. Rather than being buried immediately after they had been broken and collected together, the fragments would have spent some time kicking around the walking surface. During this time fragments were dispersed before finally finding their way into a depression or hole. The substantial number of missing pieces and the large quantities of small fragments originating from numerous different vessels suggest that the pits had not been built primarily for refuse purposes. If this had indeed been the case many more complete vessels would have come down to us, having been collected up and disposed of once the vessel had broken. It would seem more probable, therefore, that the rubbish stayed on the ground for a longer or shorter period of time and that, with one or two exceptions, took a rather fortuitous route into the pits, having been broken up further along the way. This is supported by the fact that the majority of pieces are badly worn. The fragments which were most worn tended to be found in the upper humus layers of the pit, something explained by the fact it was precisely these pieces which would have spent most time on the ground (open to the elements and the risk of being trodden on).

22 If we accept the view that the pits were not primarily meant to be refuse pits, then the most likely explanation, bearing in mind the lack of other alternatives, is that they were clay pits.

23 The clay extracted would have been used as daub for the wooden-framed and wattled-walled dwellings and for the production of vessels. Although we did not actually find a daub level in situ in Gubakút we did find samples of burnt debris in the refuse pits. We know that during the ALP period houses were plastered with thick layers of clay with the result that if the houses burnt down the debris left a lasting impression. Although burnt house remains were recently uncovered in Mezőkövesd,

24 the best documented remains continue to be those in Krasznokvajda, excavated at the beginning of the 1980s.

25 It was in the spring of 2002 that we found the 22 MILLER-ROSEN, Arlene 1986. 93-95. 23 The suggestion that the pits were in fact dwellings we are not prepared to accept. At Gubakút it is quite clearly the postholes which mark the positions of the houses. In the areas where linear pottery has been found the long pits running along the sides of the houses have been thought by many to have been for channeling away rain water (LÜNING, Jens 1988. 69.). Such a hypothesis can certainly not be applied to the long and wide pits found in ALP areas. 24 KALICZ Nándor-KOÓS Judit 1997a. 133. 25 See F. Losits's excellent excavation notes and commendable documentation: (LOSITS Ferenc 1980. 28. and ills. 1,5,6,9,10,16.). It is worth considering here how the "knowledge filter" works. This is the mechanism by which new and seemingly contradictory results are nevertheless used to prove old (obsolete) ideas. F. Losits persisted in believing that the layer of debris covering an area 9x5m with post holes underneath were the remains of a 5x4m house. One only has to ask oneself the degree to which prevailing attitudes influenced the evaluation made. The author also suggests 14