Pásztor Emília (szerk.): A fény régészete. A természetes fény szerepe az őskori ember életében - Bajai dolgozatok 20. (Baja, 2017)

Pásztor Emília: A bronzkori fényszimbolizmus

is found regarding the placing of a building, it has been associated to the prevailing wind.

It seems a logical assumption that building orientation was largely determined/driven by practical reasons. A house shouldn't be exposed to XYZ the local weather, it should receive most of the sunshine in winter and the least during the summer, it should also have enough natural light inside. Studying Bronze Age houses, research shows houses of this period/era had more natural light than Iron Age buildings. Perhaps the open triangle below the roof on facades also served as the admission of natural light. (Topping 1996,162). Figure 1

Maybe the "sunbeam" gabled houses characterizing the area of Szeged (widespread throughout the 18th century) are the late remains of this light admission. The attic aperture shaped as a triangle ("istenszöm" meaning God's Eye) on the gable of the street frontage and, according to folk lore/superstition, had an apotropaic role (Bálint 1976). Figure 2

However, there are house orientations which disregard practicalities and chose a direction seemingly contradictory to environmental factors. Ethnographic studies also strongly suggest the role of non-environmental factors in every phase of house construction (Bereznai 1999) Figure 3. The analysis of European settlements of linear

A ság hegyi korong Disc discovered at Sághegy

ornate culture also support/confirm this theory (Coudart 1998, 84-89). Studies of Bronze Age house orientations clearly indicate the presence of both guiding forces in house construction (Pásztor 2011, 2009). Thus, it is possible the entering light during the winter solstice determined the orientation of Early Bronze Age Harangedény- Csepel class houses (Pásztor 2005, Endrődi - Pász-123