A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 41. - 1999 (Nyíregyháza, 1999)

Régészet - Mikhailo Potushniak: A multilevel settlement on Mala Hora at Mukachevo/Munkács–Kishegy

A multilevel settlement on Mala Hora at Mukachevo/Munkács-Kishegy group have got a rough exterior surface and slightly smoothed, plain interior one. Another small group of pottery includes vessels with engobed exterior surface of reddish-yellowish color and with smoothed interior surface. The clay of these vessels is tempered almost exclusively by chamot. The thickness of the engobe is 1-2 mm. Generally, this ceramics is of good quality, fired in a kiln. Its color is homogeneous from both sides. The thickness of the walls is 0.4-1.2 cm with a significant thickening at the transition to the bottom and thinning at the widest part of the body. Judging from the profiles of the fragments the majority of the pottery belonged to amphorae, pear shaped forms of different variants. Among them some had a slightly or strongly spherical body, a high or a low neck, straight or slightly diverging edges of the rims. The body is widening in its middle part or closer to the bottom (Pl. VII.1-2, VIII.2-5,7-8,12-13, IX.2,4,7,9-10,12,16, X.2,5,13, XI.15,17,20, XII.23,7,9-10,14-15). At the shoulders or on the widest part of the body the amphora shaped vessels had semispherical, loop handles with horizontal hole (PI. VII.6,9, IX.9). The second group from the point of view of quantity is represented by bowls among which we can separate bowls with ovoid or S-shaped profile, and conical bowls with diverging walls. Several pieces of ovoid bowls have small loop handles attached to the rims, and a clearly profiled bottom (PI. VII.4,7, IX. 1,3,13,15, X.15). It seems to us that the majority of fragments with plain profile belonged to conical bowls. Among the single forms we can separate small pots with a narrow neck and slightly diverging edges of the rim. Their body is widening about the middle of the height (PI. VIII. 1, IX.6). We can get an idea on their form from a large fragment on the basis of which a whole vessel was restored. The body from the shoulders down to the bottom has got a "plastered" uneven surface of brownish gray color. The interior is black polished. At the shoulders there is a pair of small loop handles with a horizontal hole. Restored sizes are the following: the diameter of the rim - ca. 15 cm, that of the bottom - 5-6 cm, height - ca. 13 cm (PI. VII. 10). The second type is represented by a simple (restored) pot with a widely open neck, slightly, conically narrowing to the narrow bottom. The sharpening edges of the rim are everted. The bottom is clearly profiled. The exterior is smoothed, light brown, the interior is dark brown. The whole surface of the pot is covered by vertical comb imprints made without a system. There is sand in the clay. The firing is of good quality. The sizes are the following: the diameter of the rim - 13 cm, that of the bottom - 5 cm, height- 19 cm (PI. XII. 1). Among other forms a special attention is attracted by a fragment of a probably large, basin like deep bowl. The diameter of its rim is about 25 cm. The rounded edges of the rim are ornamented by densely cut short lines and deeply incised ribbons filled with notches. Its surface is light brown, smoothed (PI. XI. 1). Some fragments of the collection belonged to a pear shaped scoop (PI. XI. 15, XII.3-4,15). We have another fragment of a pear shaped vessel with a filter. Its strongly widening body is densely perforated. The fragment is grayish brown from the exterior and in its middle, rough. The rim is slightly thickening, rounded (PI. VII.

2). We have two more interesting fragments of handled vessels. The first one probably belonged to a drinking glass shaped vessel, the edges of its rim were slightly everted. Its massive loop handle was attached under the rim. There could have been a pair of such handles (Pl. VII.8). The second one belonged to a pear shaped vessel with an anthropomorphic handle the profile of which resembles a hand holding the neck of the vessel with the finger of the hand (PI. VII.

5). Such finds are frequent at the settlements of the Baden Culture. The majority of the Baden ceramics are composed by ornamented fragments. The ornament is incised, it was made by a sharp or obtuse stamp on the rough, smooth surface before the firing. We can separate some types of the ornamental composition: a. Nail impressions - patterns impressed by the fingertip, miniature ovoid and rectangular imprints, notches, round imprints made with a stamp. They are placed in 2-3 rows under the rim, embracing the neck. This ornament can be met mainly on the pear shaped pots, independently (PI. VII. 1, IX.4-5,7,

10,11,13,16, XI. 17) or combined with another ornament (PI. VIII.

1,3,5,8, IX.

7, XI.

15, XII.

3,7,11,12,15). Sometimes nail impressions were put onto the pot in several horizontal rows at the widest part of the vessel (PI. IX. 14) or covered the whole surface of the vessel vertically and horizontally (PI. IX.

8). The edges of the rim were also decorated by notches, imprints (PI. VII.7, IX.2,7,13,16, XI.1,20). b. Vertical combings covering the surface of the vessel without any system, from the rim down to the bottom or only the body (Pl. VIII.7, X.3, XII. 1-2). c. Parallel, deeply incised lines situated far from each other. They were cut vertically on the surface of the pots (PI. X.7,9,11). 15