Madaras László – Tálas László – Szabó László szerk.: Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 9. (1996)

Róbert Kertész: A New Site of the Northern Hungarian Plain Mesolithic Industry in the Jászság Area (Jászberény IV) (Az észak-alföldi mezolit ipar újabb lelőhelye a Jászságban — Jászberény IV)

sented poorly. Besides backed blades (Fig. 6. 2— 3) they are represented only by a piece with stroke bulb, manufactured in the proximal

—medial part of the left edge of its ventral face (Fig. 6. 4) and by a piece retouched obliquely at its distal part (Fig. 6. 10). A bulky flake is retouched irregularly on the left edge of its dorsal face, is notched on the distal part and there is an alternate retouch on its right edge (Fig. 6. 11). The assemblage contains also blanks and unretouched microblades (Fig. 6. 5—8) of slight typological value, which, together, with unworked flakes and cores suggest a local processing of raw material. Among cores there are irregular conical and spherical pieces, the latter ones with single or double soles as well (Fig. 6. 24—26). Regular conical or cylindrical pieces are absent. The raw material of the chipped stone tools collected on the surface at Jászberény IV derived mostly from the Mátra Mts., which is not far from the site. The raw material stock of Mátra origin consists of siliceous materials of limnic origin. The number of long-distance import pieces is very slight; there are only two pieces in the assemblage which are made of Carpathian obsidian. Limnic materials originated mostly from the SW part of the Mátra Mts., (first of all from the Szurdokpüspöki area) as well as from the fluvially transported weathered parts of these formations. The inhabitants of the Jászberény hunters' campsite could get these raw materials either directly from the alluvial deposits of the area or from the alluvial fans within a few decades of kilometres or from the exposures in the Mátra Mts. itself, being at a 25—50 kms' distance from the site.

34 Limnoquartzite and hydroquarzite are present in the deposits of practically every stream running southwards in the southern piedmont area of the Mátra Mts. between the towns Hatvan and Gyöngyös because the catchment area of these streams includes the Central and Western Mátra metalliferous areas of the Mátra Miocene andesitic stratovolcanic series as well as the numerous hydrothermal siliciferous zones connected to tectonic lines following the margins of the central caldera structure and the areas of those limnic siliceous formations which rim the hydrothermal zones. SE of the town Hatvan at about 4—6 kms' distance in the mixed material of the gravel alluvial fan of the Zagyva not only andesite but also limno- and hydroquartzites of Mátra origin are found in great quantity; their largest specimens are even bigger than 10 cm, though usually they are much smaller. Due to river controls (training banks, cut-off channels, water power stations, storage lakes, etc.) the transport capacity of the river Zagyva had considerably changed in our century, however, its gravel deposits originated from the end of the Pleistocene can be traced in an accessible depth as far as Jászfényszaru.

35 The raw materials of limnic origin in the site Jászberény IV archeological assemblage are covered with patina. The thickness of this milk-white coat is variable; it could be even of several mm's. According to our investigations made earlier

36 we gathered that in those cases when the patina covers a finished tool's whole surface in an even thickness, the patina coating had been developed after the manufacture of the tool, therefore it is the product of the past 8.000 years that is it is connected with the hydrogeological and geochemical conditions of the soil in the environment of the buried objects. Among these factors decisive role had the movement of groundwater level, that of the capillary domain of this level, and of the triphase zone (soil—water

—air), furthermore the pH of groundwater, its temperature, its solvent power, its degree of saturation in dissolved materials, its aggressiveness, its constellation with the different soil zones (levels А, В and C) and especially the process of carbonate accumulation (solution

—precipitation) in the soil and in groundwater. Those few chipped stone tools on which this alteration cannot be observed at all or if it is present, only in a very slight degree and evenly, refer to the absence of those factors which result in local patination. That is this correlates with local morphology, soil formation, the movement of groundwater table and with the depth of the buried objects. Another possibility for the development of different patina coatings is that Mesolithic hunters had collected already previously patinated pieces as raw materials for their tools and they did not remove the patina because of its great solidity. This latter hypothesis is supported 34 A detailed petrographic study of the lithic industry at the site Jászberény IV, found on the surface, is in progress. According to Dr M. Kozák (KLTE Mineralogical and Geological Department, Debrecen) who makes these studies, the raw material stock of this find assemblage can be divided into four genetic groups and regarding its certain elements it differs from the raw material stock of other Mesolithic complexes in the Jászság published earlier. 35 Kertész 1995, 22; Kertész et al. 1994, 38—39; 1994a, 25 36 Kertész et al. 1994, 33—35; 1994a, 22—23 37