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

Öcsöd-Kováshalom (P. Raczky)

ÖCSÖD-KOVASHALOM and the same house: the posts carrying the roof and the timber uprights reinforcing the walls of house 4 (phase A) still functioned in house 1 of phase B. The use-life of house 4 spanned at least 50, but not more than 100 years without need for renewing its wooden framework; the approximately 50 to TOO years represented by house 4 and house 1 (the internal renewal of the former) saw a stylistic change in the material culture. Changes in the ornamental style of pottery can rarely be archaeologically pinpointed during the use-life of a settlement feature (LÜNING1979,108-113) and thus the observations made at Öcsöd are cardinal to the internal periodisation of the Tisza culture. The areas to be excavated were chosen with a view to gaining a picture as representative as possible of this Tisza settlement. Following successive campaigns we have a fairly clear Vessel with incised circular motif and red and black paint applied after firing. Early Tisza culture. H: 7.2 cm [6] idea of the spatial organisation of this tell-like settlement. 4 to 6 northwest-southeast oriented large houses stood in the central part that were surrounded by a 3-5 m wide open area where day to day activities were carried out. In spite of heavy erosion, remains of open-air ovens, refuse deposits, as well as traces indicative of on-site stone and bone working were noted in this open area enclosing the house cluster. The largesize pits dug for the extraction of clay used in the construction and renewal of houses, and later reused as refuse pits, lay outside this 'work area'. The microstratigraphy of these pits and the nature of their fill has been analysed by J. Rasson with a view to their implications for the whole of the settlement Contracted skeletons and cremation burials with the remains of red ochre. Graves 26,27,28. Early Tisza culture [7] (RASSON 1985, 1-7). Some of these pits were beehive shaped and were burnt inside, probably to ensure better damp proofing: these had obviously been used for storing foodstuffs. The preliminary analysis of these pits revealed certain variations in their fill suggesting that the relative frequency of certain waste materials reflects the different activities carried out in their vicinity. The bedding trench of a fence containing the post holes of round posts and unsquared planks was identified beyond these pits. This fence enclosed a roughly 35 x 42 m large rectangular area from the west, the north and the east, while the former watercourse bordered the settlement from the south. The 67