Majorossy Judit: A Ferenczy Múzeum régészeti gyűjteményei - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, D. sorozat: Múzeumi füzetek - Kiállításvezetők 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Rajna András: Rézko
During the Neolithic clay vessels were made without a potter’s wheel, by coiling technique. The wall of the most beautiful vessels could even be 2-3 millimetres thin, and their surfaces were brightly polished and decorated with rich incised, painted patterns. These patterns were usually simple, geometric motifs, straight or wavy lines, interlocking, horizontally placed bands, triangles, rectangules, “comb patterns”, and “ladder patterns”. In the Transdanubia during the middle phase of the Neolithic the straight line decorations were combined with small impressed circles, therefore such types are called “music note decorations”. In the exhibition a small cup with this type of ornament is to be seen. This cup is unique since it was found in a site near Cegléd, which is due to the trade relations between the Neolithic Great Plain and the Transdanubian territories. Neolithic vessels were painted with red and yellow ochre only after firing. Beside the fine ware, a lot of coarse, thick-walled pots, bowls, and mugs could be found in New Stone Age settlements that were used in everyday life. These vessels were usually decorated with plastic ornaments, knobs, finger-tip impressions, and clay ribs with finger-nail impressions. Rather characteristic Neolithic potteries are the so-called “face pots”. In the exhibition one can see beautiful pieces of the Szakálhát culture. These pots are large, usually 60-150 centimetres high storage vessels, with cylindrical neck and big, round body tapering to the base. On the neck of these vessels, under the rim, the Neolithic potters portrayed human faces. The eyes and the mouths were represented by short, horizontal, incised lines, the noses were small knobs, ears were seldom portrayed by plastic ribs, while on some vessels even the hair-styles were represented by incised lines. A characteristic feature of these “face pots” of the Szakálhát culture is the “M”-sign under the representation of the human face. It is not exactly clear what the “M” motif means. Some researcher interpreted it as a symbol of fertility, others connected it with water. The big face-decorated vessels were basically storage jars for crops or water, but they might also be connected with spiritual-sacral life, because these pots or their fragments with human face representation were often found in sacrificial pits. On the sides of the neck of “face pots” one can see column-like, thick handles, which probably portrayed the human arms, while the protruding parts of the handles represented bracelets made of marine shells. In the Neolithic not only vessels were made of clay, but also spoons, net and loom weights. The small figures called idols, which were used in spiritual-sacral life, were also made of clay. In the exhibition the representation of a human leg made of clay is on display. This piece probably broke off from a vessel used during spiritual rites. The chipped and polished stone implements were important tools of the Neolithic era. The raw materials of the stone tools were flint and radiolarit originated from the Bakony Hills and the North Hungarian Hill Region, while the famous black obsidian came from the surroundings of Tokaj. The small, chipped stone blades were put into handles made of bone or wood. Axes, chisels, and the grinding stones, which were the frequently used, characteristic artifacts of the Neolithic settlements were prepared by a polishing technique. Thin, sharp needles and awls were made of polished animal bones, while the polishers were made of rib bones. The polished plates of wild boar tusks were special jewels and the signs of social status. The plate that can be seen in the exhibition came from a Middle Neolithic site near Cegléd. In the Late Neolithic wild boar tusk plates were put in pairs into adult men’s graves, and they were found especially in burials rich in grave goods. Men 12 Arcos edény töredéke, középső neolitikum / Face pot fragment, Middle Neolithic
