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

Domboróczki László: Radiokarbon adatok Heves megye újkőkori régészeti lelőhelyeiről

of the ALP from western Transylvania started from the Körös sites along the banks of the River Szamos.

90 There are also the well-known Szatmár sites on the banks of the River Tisza, where Körös elements can be found in large numbers despite not having any Körös sites in the vicinity.

91 Could it actually be that these are the points where the transition took place? Can we therefore reject out of hand the possibility of transitions occurring on site? As a matter of fact such thoughts about longer-lived, early ALP-sites and mixed finds prompted our reconnoitring expedition of the borders of the Körös Culture, first in Heves and then in Szolnok County, aimed at finding strategically important places. We had already doubted the existence of a Kunhegyes-Berettyóújfalu frontier and the theories which attempted to explain it.

92 The right bank of the River Tisza as it passes through Heves County is flat from start to finish, there are no steep banks. Whilst one can find ALP sites occasionally, there are no Körös sites whatsoever. On the basis of our survey we can say that, with the exception of two instances of raised ground, this stretch of the river would have been either a water-covered flood plain or a marsh for the most part of the year and consequently unsuitable for long-term settlement. Going along the eminences of the onetime flood plains between Tiszafüred and Tiszaroff on the left bank we found more potential sites, but they were either occupied by present-day settlements,

93 dikes

94 or sites which had been recorded as having been bulldózered flat,

95 with the result that the potential early Neolithic sites had been lost. Of all the stretches we have looked at so far only one place, near Tiszaörvény (more than 30km to the north of the what were deemed the outer limits of the culture

96

), on the site known as the Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta-Réti-dűlő, were we able to find a Körös settlement (map 11 .).

97 So, having discovered a Körös site north of Kőtelek, the only question remaining is how far the early Neolithic settlements spread 90RACZKYPál 1986.38. 91 Újtikos-Köztemető: NAGY Emese Gyöngyvér 1998. 121-126., Tiszacsege-Agyaggödör: KALICZ Nándor-MAKKAY János 1977. 165., 240-242., NAGY Emese Gyöngyvér 1998. 118-119., Tiszavalk-Négyes: RACZKY Pál 1988. ills. 20-29., NAGY Emese Gyöngyvér 1998. 73., 89-116. Tiszaszőllős-Aszópart: KOVÁCS Katalin 2001. 88. 92 See the overview at the beginning of the last section (footnotes 110-111.) 93 eg. : Tiszafüred, Tiszaörvény, Tiszabura. 94 We have some very good data on the carrying out of the Vásárhelyi Plan, starting in 1846 (GLATZ Ferenc 1996. 393., 465., SUGÁR István 1989. 89-98). The slicing off of meanders, the digging of new river beds, the widening of the river and the building of dikes must have caused damage on this stretch of the Tisza, as it indeed did in the Berettyó and the Körös regions as well. We know that the Körös Culture settlements were deliberately built on high river banks. Whilst the sites could be extremely long they could sometimes be less than 20-30m wide. I. Kutzián in fact quotes a 19th century site report describing how sites were being destroyed whilst the dikes were being built. (KUTZIÁN Ida 1944. 6-7., 10., 14., 20., 22., etc.). The straightening of the Tisza and the building of the lock system during the 1960s brought with them further destruction. Unfortunately there are some places which do not take archaeological rescue digs seriously (KOREK József 1977. 3.). 95 For example, this took place at Tiszasző lös-Aszópart (KOVÁCS Katalin 2001. 79.). 96 MAKKAY János 2001. 65. 97 Although excavation is still in progress we are already sure that we have come across a small Körös Culture settlement (with one single large pit and intensive ground level finds). Although the finds also have their classical elements it does appear that the late Körös features dominate. It is interesting that ALP forms and motifs can be found towards the top of the pit. 30