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

period. The material of this phase cannot be identified with the Otomani A. The population groups which founded the tells at Herpály, Bakonszeg, Békés, etc. had a specific material culture and it is this culture that characterizes the sites of this period in the Berettyó region. Incised decoration makes its appearance, primarily bundles of incised zig-zagging on bowls with rounded shoulders (PI. 42:2). The jars are either ornamented with panels filled with incised garlands (PI. 42:13), or scored with notched rims (PI. 42:8-9). The "textile ornament" of Hatvan style occurs rarely and its quality is definitely inferior (PI. 42:11). The vessels with inner knobs (PI. 42:12) and the excised decoration (PI. 42:3, 5) are of Nyírség origin. The finds include bowls with rounded shoulder and inturned rim (PI. 42:4) and some cups with incised decoration (PI. 42:1). The vessels with strongly facetted profile are certainly later than those of Nyírség origin (PI. 42:7). Two cups (PI. 41:2—

3), although recovered from level 2, can be definitely assigned to the Gyulavarsánd period. This period is represented by the uppermost level 1 (PI. 41). Only a few sherds were found on the floor level itself (PI. 46:3—4), the bulk of the material was recovered from the humus-subhumus layer. The most characteristic type is the portable fireplace which seems to be confined to the Gyulavarsánd period (PI. 46:4). The fragments are from specimens of different size, but they all belong to the same type. Their walls and grids are thick, the arched openings are rimmed, there are two solid lugs on the sides. The type has been reported from every settlement of the Gyulavarsánd culture. It does not occur earlier, i.e. in the Otomani B layers. They cannot be compared to the portable cauldron-like fire-places (pyraunoi) of the Füzesabony culture since they have a different structure, even though a similar origin can be assumed for both.

94 The latest occupation of the tell is represented by the Gyulavarsánd C type pottery recovered from the subhumus layer. This is the classical phase of the Gyulavarsánd culture that differs significantly from the finds from earlier layers, in spite of certain surviving motifs. These include parallelly incised lines that gradually evolve into spirals and spiral decorated knobs (PI. 41:6,10,14,16). Biconical cups with facetted shoulders also occur (PI. 41:1, 12). These are also frequent in the Füzesabony region, as well as in the Gyulavarsánd area, but the best comparable finds are known from the Ér valley. A rare and probably very late type is represented by the jug with widely out-turned rim. It is ornamented with large conical lugs, surrounded by fluted decoration (PI. 41:13—15), Similar finds have been recovered at Bárca (Barca) and Szepescsütörtök (Spissky Stvrtok).

95 The Gáborján-Csapszékpart tell was founded in the late period of the Nyírség culture. Only the southeastern mound was occupied in the Nyírség period, the other areas of the plateau were not settled. The material and the stratigraphical data do not appear to provide a sound basis for assuming a firm genetic relationship between the Otomani layers and the Nyírség ones. It seems possible that the late Nyírség and the early Otomani populations were neighbours for some time, thus the Nyírség-type pottery in the Otomani layers can be regarded as sign of synchronity instead of surviving traditions. Level 1 differs markedly from the earlier layers not only in terms of the architectural remains, but also as regards the pottery. The finds from level 1 represent the classical Gyulavarsánd culture, even though a few sherds indicating the late Gyulavarsánd period also came to light. The Gyulavarsánd sherds found in trench I and the vessel fragments scattered over the entire area of the site clearly indicate that the whole plateau was occupied in this period. The ditch has not been investigated thus its chronology is unclear. There are similar but fortified settlements in the Otomani B period, but the Csapszékpart site is larger than the other settlements we have excavated and this is a fact to be considered. No fortified settlements of the Nyírség culture have been identified in the Berettyó valley so far, even though all the tell assemblages in museum collections contain Nyírség sherds. These, however, may have originated from pits preceding the founding of the tell itself, i.e. from a period when the site was not fortified.

96 INTERPRETATION Architectural features Ethnographic analogies can be misleading if folk architecture is used for interpreting prehistoric remains. For example, ethnographic research tends to emphasize the interrelation between the walls and the roof according to the load-bearing capacity of the walls.

97 Bronze Age architectural remains cannot be clearly interpreted by analogies borrowed from ethnography. Wattle-an ddaub, terre pisé and timber-framed walls can be reconstructed which, even though strong enough in themselves, may not have been able to support the roof. The details of the roof construction are uncertain. In some cases the posthole for the post supporting the purlin or rows of postholes of similar function were found, but no traces of the roof-construction itself have survived. Another possibility for the reconstruction of thej-oof is to take the wall construction as a starting point, with the assumption that the roof can be reconstructed from the remains of the supporting wall. In case of a timber loghouse the walls themselves supported the roof. This house-type is represented by the remains from Békés