Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)
Á fortified Copper Age settlement at Vác (61 00-4500 ВС) (2700/2500-800 ВС) (4500-2700 ВС) A salvage excavation was conducted on Szék Hill overlooking the Danube north-west of the city in 1995, prior to the construction of the Vác bypass of Road 2. The investigated area extended over 10,000 m1 2 3 4. The perhaps most noteworthy result of the excavation was the discovery of an elaborate defence system with two construction periods. Two parallel, north-west to south-east oriented ditches, one 5 meters wide and the other 5-8 meters wide, had been first dug at a distance of 6 meters from each other. A third, 1-2 metres wide ditch was made at some later date, which in part ran parallel to the two earlier ditches, and was in part dug into one of the earlier ones. The fill of the ditches yielded pottery of the Neolithic Lengyel culture and of the Late Copper Age Boleráz group. Pottery fragments of these two cultures lay in the area between the ditches and in the pits found south-west of the ditches. Pit 25, dating from the Boleráz period, yielded an especially rich assortment of pottery fragments, from which several vessels could be assembled. 1. Vessels of the Boleráz culture 2. Section of the ditch protecting the settlement 3. Aerial view of the excavation 4. Reconstruction of the figurine K-i oMol A figurine of the Baden culture from Vác The construction of apartment buildings and a shopping centre was begun in late January, 2000, on the northern fringes of Vác in an area called Szérűskert. The foundation pits yielded finds of the Late Copper Age Baden culture, among them a female figurine made from clay. The figurine can be assigned to the figurines with removable head, a type typical for this culture. The head, made from some organic material, was fitted into a vertical slot in the middle of the body. The obliquely incised lines flanked by tiny punctates symbolize the chest band slung over the shoulder or across the chest, both of which appear frequently on the culture’s other figurines. • Klára Kővári
