Cristian, Virag (szerk.): Neolithic cultural phenomena in the Upper Tisa Basin (Satu Mare, 2015)
Katalin Kovács: The Role of Bodrogzsadány int he Late Neolithic Evolution of the Bodrog Valley
The Role of Bodrogzsadány in the Late Neolithic Evolution of the Bodrog Valley Katalin KOVÁCS Keywords: Late Neolithic, Bodrog Valley, Bodrogzsadány, Csőszhalom, Lengyel culture Abstract: The aim of this paper is to introduce the Late Neolithic settlements at Bodrogzsadány, in particular the site of Bodrogzsadány-Templomdomb. Several systematic excavations were conducted at the settlement located on a small hillock along the banks of the Bodrog River, which brought to light pits, fireplaces and the rubble of dwellings. The find material excavated at the site, with signs of local development, shows strong ties with the Lengyel culture; however, the influences of the Tisza culture are missing from the ceramic assemblage. Based on these data, the Templomdomb settlement is later than the Sárazsadány-Akasztószer site a few kilometres away from it, where the presence of the Tisza culture can be shown. The changes of the effects of the two cultures are not only characteristic of the sites at Bodrogzsadány, but determine the whole Late Neolithic development of the Bodrog Valley. The appearance of the cultures in the region, as well as the settlement density characteristic of the area may be explained by the occurrence of obsidian, whose mining and exchange was probably supervised by the local settlements. Introduction The research of the Late Neolithic period in the Bodrog Valley has received little attention in the past few decades, even though excavations of settlements in the north-eastern region of Hungary had already started since the beginning of the 1900s.1 The significance of the excavations conducted at the end of the 1950s is shown by the fact that Ferenc Tompa and Ida Bognár-Kutzián, in their chronological categorizing study of the Neolithic and Copper Ages, primarily referred to the finds found at these sites.2 The direction of research changed after the 1960s, when archaeology turned towards the tell settlements of the southern Great Hungarian Plain; and only recently has its northern area gained more attention again, due to Polgár-Csőszhalom.3 Thanks to the above, the chronology and settlement history of the Tisza culture, which spreads across the entire Late Neolithic period, is well-known in the southern region of the Great Hungarian Plain; while at the same time, we know very little of the Late Neolithic development in the north-eastern half of the Carpathian Basin, and the Bodrog Valley within that area. The paper aims at introducing one of the most excavated, yet still unpublished sites in the Bodrog Valley; as well as attempts to reconstruct the developmental phases of the Late Neolithic period in the Bodrog Valley through the documented finds. 1 Kenézlő-Fazekaszug: Jósa 1914, 304-340; Fettich 1931, 78-102; Tompa 1929, 23; Kenézlő-Szérűskert: Kiss 1939; Bodrogkeresztúr-Kutyasor: Tompa 1927; Tompa 1937, 43; Patay 1957; Kalicz 1994; Paszab-Öved: Tompa 1929, 56. 2 Tompa 1929; Tompa 1937; Bognár-Kutzián 1966. 3 Kalicz 1994; Raczky et al 1994; Raczky et al 1997; Raczky et al 2002; Lichardus/Lichardus-Itten 1997; Raczky/ Domboróczki/Hajdú 2007; Raczky/Anders/Bartosiewicz 2011; Kovács 2013a.
