Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)

Л Neolithic and Copper Age settlement at Biatorbágy

(2700/2500-800 ВС)

(6)00-4500 ВС)

A roughly 50,000 m2 large area was investigated on the outskirts of Biatorbágy in 2006. Three locations were excavated in an area known as Mocsaras-dűlő, extending over a former marshland and a stream floodplain, and their broader area. Over five hundred archaeological features were uncovered, most of which can be dated to the Neolithic Zseliz culture.

The finds from the Mocsaras-dűlő site illustrate the process of how the first farming settlements emerged in this region during the Middle Neolithic (6th millennium BC). The changes in lifeways are reflected by a rich variety of finds and various archaeological features: vessels for storing foodstuffs, the remains of above-ground, timber-framed houses built by the settlement’s occupants, an assortment of stone tools made chiefly from obsidian and quern stones used for grinding cereals. A few settlement features date from the Copper Age. These include large buildings, three of which were excavated. A handful of Bronze Age pits indicate the site’s occupation during the Early Bronze Age.

The fragments of two face pots of the Zseliz culture, several finely decorated ,,

vessels and four pedestal fragments 5';

of the Ludanice culture must be men- , y'fl " (

tioned among the more outstanding _/ f .

finds from this site. i : •

• Tamás Repiszky