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

chisel from Szalacs which is synchronous with the gold finds. The socketed chisel with curved rim and socket ribs was recovered from level 1 at Szalacs; I. Torma clearly demonstrated, on the basis of the Balatonakaii grave, that this type predates the Koszider period. The grave contained a gold lock-ring akin to those from Bakonszeg and Szalacs.

127 Neither can the bronze hoard recovered from the uppermost layer at Gyulavarsánd-Laposhalom be assigned to the Koszider period.

128 The pottery finds from certain sites definitely suggests that the tells were not abandoned at the same time, and that certain population groups remained in the settlements. However, the material recovered from the soundings is insufficient for identifying it with a new period, be it labelled Otomani III—a term covering differring periods as used by Romanian scholars—, or Koszider period.

129 NOTES 1 Archives of the Bihar Museum, inv. no. 1/1980. 2 The water of the marshlands is fed into the Berettyó river by the Határ-ér canal, but the relief of the area has remained virtually unchanged, and after heavy rains the deep areas are often filled with water and the islands become inaccessible. 3 BADER 1982,47-70. 4 The island-type tells in the Ér valley include the following (BADER 1982, 48, Abb. 1): Ottomány-Földvár (OtomaniCetatea de pämint), Szilágypér-Vársziget (Pir-Cetatea), Székelyhíd-ökörvár (Sácueni-Cetatea-Boului), Mezőterem-Kendcreshalom (Tiream-Movila cínepü), etc. The tell settlements of the Nagy Sárrét and the Berettyó—Körös area have not been systematically mapped, but Szilhalom and Herpály, as well as Esztár-Fenyvesdomb seem to satisfy Bader's criteria. Each can be regarded as an island, even though the "fortress-islands" of circular form were founded by the Herpály population during the Neolithic. The fortification ditches of the Bronze Age tells are rather symbolical. 5 ZOLTAI 1922, 55-60. 6 It seems unnecessary to repeat in detail the heroic story of István Kádár and the anti-Turkish fights of the 17th century recorded in the Szalárdi chronicle and surviving also in the folklore of the region. It is a fact, however, that Zoltai excavated the site on the request of the Kádár family and he did uncover burials without grave goods in one of his trenches. He identified one as the grave of István Kádár who was killed in battle against the Turks in the 17th century. 7 Acquisitions register of the Déri Museum, Debrecen: inv. no. IV. 1920. 8.1-11.43. 8 ZOLTAI 1922, 56. 9 The description of the layers (habitation surfaces, floor niveaus) follows the actual chronological sequence, beginning with the earliest, and therefore last-excavated, lowermost level since it was thought that the sequence of actual building activities, levellings or renewals reflects better the actual history of the site, the process in the course of which the inhabitants of the Kádárdomb occupied and finally abandoned the tell. We kept the original numbers used for distinguishing the levels in the excavation diary. The house remains and other architectural features were not numbered separately as the finds were grouped according to levels. 10 Tompa found similar postholes enclosing a larger circular area in the lowermost level of the Füzesabony tell. In the lack of a fire-place he interpreted this as a store-room. TOMPA 1937, 93-94, Pl. 38: 3. 11 We were wary of using the expression "groundsel", even though certain timber remains could only have served this purpose in view of their size. The Bronze Age and prehistoric architectural terminology was adopted from the ethnographic one (RÉG. KK. 1955, 194-215). The ethnographic analogies showed that the groundsels were not perforated, whilst the Bronze Age ones were. Thus the term is used for the lack of a better one (BALASSA 1977, SZŰCS 1943, DÁM 1972,1975, BAKÓ 1978, GYÖRFFY 1986). 12 In the recent past shepherd huts with vertical walls were still to be found in the Hortobágy area. I had the opportunity to observe one which had an open fire-place in one corner. The thin wattle-and-daub wall was burnt bright red near the fire-place. It seems possible that the remains in question represent a similar building part. 13 SZ. MÁTHÉ 1984, 156-157. 14 WOSINSZKY 1904, Pl. XHI, upper row, left. 15 BONA 1975, 221. 16 BONA 1975, Abb. 19:12. Archaeological Archives of the Déri Museum, Debrecen: Zoltai documents. 17 BONA 1975, 259-260, CSÁNYISTANCZIK 1982, 252, Fig. 11:2. 18 BONA 1975, 221. 19 I am indebted to Borbála P. Hartyányi and Katalin M. Kassai (Museum of Hungarian Agriculture) for the determination of the grain remains. The material contained: einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.J 418 grains; emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon Schränk^ 5143 grains; mult, row barley (Hordeum vulgare L.J 486 grains. 20 MESTERHÁZY 1965, 25, Fig. 5. 21 BÓNA-NOVÁKI 1982, Pis XXXH etc. 22 PATAY 1965, 165-166, ROMÁN-NÉMETI 1986, Fig. 5/2.205. at has been reported from the "pre-Otomani" settlement at Piskolt.) 23 KOVÁCS 1982, 156, Abb. 4:6. 24 KALICZ 1968, PI. LXXIV: 1. 25 CHIDIOSAN 1980, PI. 22. 26 BONA 1975, Abb. 18:14. 27 CHIDIOSAN 1974, Pl. V : 1-2. 28 SZABÓ, J. J.: A battonyai korabronzkori temető (The Early Bronze Age Cemetery at Battonya.) Manuscript. Grave 27. 29 CHIDIOSAN 1980, PI. 23:14-31. 30 Unpublished. Exhibited in the Nagyvárad (Oradea) Museum. 31 BONA 1975, PI. 150:4-5, BANNER-BONA 1974, PI. 26:31. 32 CHIDIOSAN 1980, PI. 39 :29.