A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 22. (Veszprém, 2002)

Regenye Judit: A sopot kultúra kronológiai helyzete Magyarországon

REGÉNYE JUDIT CHRONOLOGICAL SITUATION OF THE SOPOT CULTURE IN HUNGARY

1 The Sopot culture in Hungary was short lived, limited only for its middle phase (Sopot 1-B - II)

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, being represented by only a few sites and with an alien ancestry. We do know that the culture came from beyond the Drava to our region. The sudden appearance of the culture to the north of the Drava, on a populated settlement area of the Linear band pottery culture (LBPC) is not yet solved in every detail. The Sopot culture is a typical phenomenon of the transition from the Middle Neolithic to the Late Neolithic. Its situation is determined by the fact that it is situated between two big cultures, the Linear band pottery culture (LBPC) and the Vinca culture and for this reason plays an intermediate role. Its short Hungarian life is modelling well the influence of the historical change within the Vinca culture on the neighbouring territories. The research of the Sopot culture concerns in certain respect the theories about the formation of the Lengyel culture, since it is standing in time between the LBPC and Lengyel culture. According to Stojan Dimitrijevic

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, the Sopot culture developed from the Starcevo culture on the effect of the Vinca culture. In essence, it could be considered as the simplified version of the Vinca culture, that came into existence at the border of it, showing a lot of relationships with the LBPC. Its appearance in Hungary took place in the phase I-B of the Croatian Sopot culture

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, the first Transdanubian finds (Becsehely

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, Komlósd

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) appear still in the late Zseliz period (Vinca B2). But in the time of its Transdanubian distribution the Zseliz group probably came to an end, at least the fact that Zseliz and Sopot features turned up on the same sites (Baláca

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, Nagycsepely

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) and on sites close to eachother (Békásmegyer

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, Szentendre

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) can be interpreted this way. There is another possibility to interpret this situation - in accordance with E. Neustupny's infiltration theory" - that they lived together. In the Hungarian material two groups can be separated, a western and an eastern one

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. The north-south dividing line running between them is the straight continuation of the border between the Slawonian classical Sopot culture and the Brezovljani type. (Fig. 1.) The material of the western sites (Becsehely, Baláca, Gellénháza'

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, Zalaegerszeg

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) is definitly of Brezovljani type. This type of the Sopot culture came into existence at the end of the Sopot I-B phase through the effect of the classical Sopot culture on the Korenovo culture

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. Considering its chronological situation, the Croatian research dates it by the end of Sopot I-B, beginning Sopot II, that is the beginning of Vinca C

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. Bicske, Hidas, Izmény

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(Fig. 2.7.), on the site of the late Sopot culture, known well from the late LBPC previously

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. It is seen further in the house building, since the long house with post-construction of the LBPC lives on in the Sopot culture

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. It can feel well, how the elements of the local LBPC build in the typically southern culture of Vinca origin. The transmitter could be the Korenovo culture, serving as a base main31