Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)
(6100-4500 ВС) О here are no written sources from the long millennia of prehistory and thus an idea of the lifeways, the settlements, the burial customs, art and religious beliefs of the prehistoric populations (or cultures) settling in Hungary can only be gleaned from the archaeological finds and the observations made during excavations. Most prehistoric cultures and groups are named after a famous site (e.g. the Hatvan and Pécel cultures), a pottery 1. ware typical for and used only by that population (e.g. the Linear Pottery culture) or their burial customs (e.g. the Tumulus and Urnfield cultures). The excavations conducted on Neolithic sites offer a glimpse into the lifeways of early farming communities, which represented a profound change compared to the hunter, fisher and gatherer subsistence of the Palaeolithic preceding the adoption of a production economy. The shift to food production, in turn, led to the appearance of preceding settlements and villages, the manufacture of fired clay vessels for cooking and storing foodstuffs, various crafts such as spinning and weaving, and the creation of tools and implements necessary for cereal cultivation, as well as a wide range of stone axes used for forest clearance and woodworking. County Pest was settled by two major, related cultures in the Middle Neolithic, spanning the later 6th millennium. The area west of the River Danube was occupied by groups of the Transdanubian Linear Pottery culture, who also penetrated the Danube Bend and the Gödöllő Hills, while the plainland areas were settled by communities of the Alföld Linear Pottery. These two regional cultures, which shared a common cultural origin, maintained contact with each other as shown by their archaeological heritage. One major advance in the research of this period is that remains of above-ground houses built around a framework of upright timbers connected with wattling and daubed with clay are now known from various sites in County Pest too. The deceased were buried according to strict rites, usually in a crouched position, in the unoccupied areas of the settlement. They were often provided with lavish grave goods. The hauntingly lovely face pots and the sacrificial pit uncovered at Abony are reflections of their religious beliefs. 1 2 3 1. Vessel of the Zseliz culture from Érd 2. Fragment of a face pot from Biatorbágy 3. Figurine fragment of the Szakálhát culture from Cegléd • Klára Kővári The Neolithic , (6100-4500 BC)
