Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)
A Late Copper Age settlement at Abony ШЯШШЯШ (6)00-4500 BC) (2700/2500-800 BC) (4500-2700 BC) 2. The excavation of the site lying south of Abony in a former marshland area covered with reedbeds was necessitated by mining in the clay mine operated by the Wienerberger Ltd. company. The archaeological investigations begun in 2004 in an area known as Turjányos-dűlő brought to light the remains of a settlement dating from the onset of the Late Copper Age. The overwhelming majority of the 352 settlement features uncovered on the site extending over an area of 100,000 m2 could be dated to the Proto-Boleráz period. In addition to the typical settlement features (storage and refuse pits, clay extraction pits, wells), nine other, most unusual and remarkable pits were uncovered on the site’s northern edge. While clearing these pits, it became clear that they were not the usual refuse pits, often secondarily re-used for human burial, but sacrificial pits dug with a specific intention. These pits differed from the settlement’s other pits both as regards their size and their stratification. The depth of the pits varied between 2 and 4.5 meters and most had a diameter of 3-3.5 meters. The human skeletons formed separate deposits, with one deposit containing up to five skeletons. Animal bones, vessels and various stone implements lay beside the human remains. Carefully arranged pottery vessels, animal skeletal remains and complete cattle skulls lay on the floor of the pits. Two curved bedding trenches and three post-holes indicated the remains of a building not far from the sacrificial pits. This type of ground plan is not known from other sites of the initial period of the Late Copper Age. North of this building lay a pit complex with several intersecting pits, which yielded a huge amount of burnt daub fragments, many of which bore the imprints of planks and twigs. The daub fragments probably came from another nearby building. The excavation of the site will be continued over the coming years. • Szilvia Fábián, Tibor Marton and Gábor Serlegi
