Kovács Tibor - Stanczik Ilona (szerk.): Bronze Age tell settlements of the Great Hungarian Plain I. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 1; Budapest, 1988)

Márta SZ. MÁTHÉ: Bronze Age tells in the Berettyó valley

material from Zoltai's excavation does not show any marked difference as far as the history of occupation is concerned. Material culture The first settlers of the Kádárdomb site were the people of the B period of the Otomani culture, the tell consists of the occupation levels of this population.

13 The deepest level (level 7) yielded but scanty material. The lack of abundant material can perhaps be attributed to the fact that the feature found in the sounding had not been a house. The pottery consisted mostly of broom stroked coarse ware. A peculiar neck fragment of a jug resembling a Nyírség form was also found here. The incised variant of its grooved decoration is common in the material of the Szőreg culture (PI. 18:7). Another exceptional type is a bowl ornamented with an Otomani B pattern of incised zig-zag lines, although its archaic form is more frequent in the Nyírség culture (PI. 14:8).

14 The cups of the Pannonian Incrusted Ware representing the Szekszárd and Pécs groups have been reported from practically each tell in Eastern Hungary. The fragment of an incrusted cup was recovered from level 6 (PI. 18:6). Its chronological value has been analysed by Bona in his comprehensive study.

15 A complete cup of Pécs type was found in level 2 of Herpály (Gyulavarsánd culture), whilst another fragment was uncovered by Zoltai in 1922 at a depth of five spits, which roughly corresponds to level 4 (Otomani B period).

16 Similar sherds from Tiszaug-Kéménytető definitely belong to the Hatvan period, similarly to those from Tószeg,

17 even though their presence is not uncommon in later layers either, as for example at Békés.

18 The finds from level 6 also comprised but a few sherds, mostly coarse warer. The sherds of a complete barrel-shaped storage vessel were found here. The vessel whose outer surface was broom-stroked was ornamented with a plastic band. The remains uncovered in level 6 do not appear to have belonged to a house either, the postholes and the charred grain remains suggest rather a sty or some similar building.

19 The pottery from level 5 (Pis 19-20) belongs to the Otomani B period. It comprises mostly household pottery decorated with various patterns. The archaeological literature generally describes these as broom-stroked ("Besenstrich") ware although various groups or styles can be distinguished as shown by our finds. This broom-stroked decoration first appears in the Nyírség culture. Our material reflects a stylistic change with the strokes becoming lighter, running in the same direction and covering the entire surface of the vessel (PI. 19:9, 17; PI. 20:3-5). The coarse Nyírség-style stroking still occurs (PI. 19:10; PI. 20:18). The rarely arranged thinner or wider lines incised in various directions, or bundles of stroked lines become more frequent (PL 19:1,2, 7-9, 15,16, 18, 21; PI. 20:6, 7, 14). This latter type of decoration appears to have been incised by a comb-like implement. The fabric- or textile-impressed ornament that is diagnostic of the household pottery of the classical Hatvan culture only occurs sporadically (PI. 19:11), as it is relatively unfrequent in the Otomani complex. The broom-stroked jars vary greatly in profile. The earliest types have a flat rim (PI. 20:11, 17). The rims of the pots are mostly thin, outward leaning, often decorated with incisions (PI. 20:2, 5-9,12, 14). Most bowls have rounded shoulder and are for the greater part undecorated (PI. 20:1, 4, 13, 15, 19), except for the occasional bundle of incised zig-zags (PI. 20:10) and wavy framed stitch decoration (PI. 2:16) characteristic of this period. The small vessels —cups—are likewise decorated with hatched ribbons (Pl. 19:3—4) and concentric semicircles (PI. 20:22), but small undecorated pouched jugs are also frequent (PI. 14:7). It must be noted that a few incrusted sherds with excised Nyírség ornament also occur in the early layers of most tells, i.e. in the Otomani B period (PI. 20:21). The survival of another tradition is attested by the cup with flattened globular body ornamented with vertical ribs (PL 2:6; PI. 24:13) which finds its origin in the Nagyrév culture and occurs in the early layers of the tells (Gáborján: Pl. 44:4, Bihar

dancsháza).

20 The ribs forming spirals may have been adopted from the Wietenberg culture (PI. 24:9-10). The domestic ware of level 4 is characterized by a slight change in the broom-stroked decoration, which no longer covers the entire vessel surface, with the widespaced bundle of lines incised from different directions (Pis 15 — 18). This scoring primarily occurs on large pots and storage vessels with single or double plastic bands under the rim marked by cuts or indentations and overarched by stout ribbon handles (PI. 15:1; PI. 17:12,15, 19; PI. 18:1—5). A deep bowl with perforations whose inner and outer surface is scored, was also found (PL 15:8). Judging from the perforations on its side Bona suggested that this vessel type had perhaps been used as a pickling-vessel

21 but considering a similar Nagyrév vessel from Diósd it may have been used for fermenting as well.

22 Smaller jars are partly similar to the above described vessels. The undecorated of finely scored thinwalled ovoid jars with flaring mouth and without handle are more characteristic (PI. 13:4; PI. 14:1; PI. 17:11). The one-handled globular jar represents a variant of this form. It is decorated with incised zig-zags or arcades dividing the surface into a smoothed upper and a scored lower zone (PI. 13:8). This combination of smoothed (or burnished) and roughened vessel surfaces is highly diagnostic of the period. The occurrence of a thin-walled and carefully burnished deep bowl with wide mouth (PI. 15:7) is unexpected on this site even though it has been reported from other Otomani sites.

23 The bundle of incised zig-zag lines generally ornaments thick-walled vessels (PL 15:2, 5; PI. 16:10), whilst the incised herring-bone motif and the jabbed ornament combined with scored lines which are general in the Szőreg and Hatvan cultures also occur (PI. 17:5, 7). The combi-