Tálas László szerk.: The late neolithic of the Tisza region (1987)

Öcsöd-Kováshalom (P. Raczky)

P. RACZKY Aerial view of the excavation showing the subsoil remains of the settlement features [3] thus in a rather poor state of preservation. Moreover, the clay debris and floors of collapsed houses had been heavily damaged by subsequent erosion, and the inhabitants themselves who often levelled the occupied area prior to rebuildings. 91 Arpadian age graves, as well as houses and pits from the same period (11—12th century) cut into the prehistoric levels and thus conditions for clarifying the stratigraphy of the Late Neolithic settlement were not exactly favourable. It was observed in the course of the excavation that the accumulation of house remains and other deposits often showed a differing stratification in various settlement parts; one might even say that each house had a different use-life and architectural history. Most houses had not been rebuilt simultaneously, creating thereby a 'spiral stratigraphy similar to that noted on Near Eastern sites (KRAMER 1983, 354-356; BAR-YOSEF 1986, 159). At the same time, traces of large-scale uniform rebuilding operations according to a preconcieved plan could also be noted, implying that that the multilinear development of the Öcsöd site as a whole had in certain periods been unilinear (HARRIS 1979, 50-52). It would appear that the excavation of a settlement like Öcsöd basically presents the same problems as that of a large tell. The layer sequence of the Öcsöd-Kováshalom settlement ranged between 150-160 cm in the central part and between 50-120 cm towards its boundary. 6 main levels could be distinguished from the present surface to the prehistoric humus level. It follows from the above that this sequence of 6 superimposed levels could only be observed in a few parts of the site. In the northern part of the excavated area faint traces of rebuilding were noted that were not observed elsewhere. This uncertain niveau allowed the division of level 4 into two sections: 4a and 4b. The lower levels (6 to 4) represent phase A, while the upper levels (3 to 1) can be correlated with phase B of the settlement. This internal periodisation is corroborated also by changes in occupation patterns and in the material culture. Nonetheless, the continuous, uninterrupted development of the settlement must be emphasized in spite of this two-fold division. Periods A and B in fact represent two successive house levels in the life of the Öcsöd settlement. The buildings of the upper level were either entirely new construe64