Tárnoki Judit szerk.: Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 19. (2009)

Régészettudomány - Patay Róbert - A Nagyrév-kultúra korai időszakának sírjai Szigetszentmiklósról

Régészettudomány Róbert PATAY Burials of the early Nagyrév culture from Szigetszentmiklós A salvage excavation was conducted at Szigetszentmiklós on the outskirts of Budapest in 2006-2007.1 (Fig. 1). In addition to the 225 graves of a Bell Beaker cemetery, burials of the early Nagyrév culture were also brought to light during the investigations. Most of the Bell Beaker graves lay on a heavily eroded north-east to south-west oriented ridge, while the burials of the early Nagyrév period came to light west of the ridge and the Bell Beaker graves, in the western section of the excavated area (Fig. 1. 2). The three Nagyrév graves (Figs 2-6) were scattered cremation burials, with the ashes of the deceased (23-x year old adults) strewn beside and among the vessels deposited in the graves. Only the grave goods of a fourth burial could be saved (Figs 7-8). Similarly to the burials of the early Nagyrév cemeteries in the Tisza region, the graves at Szigetszentmiklós lay scattered over a larger area: it seems likely that they had been part of two grave clusters lying farther from each other.

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4 Two scattered cremation burials of the early Nagyrév culture had earlier been found some 400 m away in an area known as Laki-hegy-Duna-dűlő, probably part of a grave cluster of the same cemetery.

5 The scattered cremation burials from Szigetszentmiklós can be assigned to the early Nagyrév phase (Ökörhalom phase). The graves and their finds share many similarities with the grave goods from the early Nagyrév burials of the Middle Tisza region

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7 and the Budapest area,

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8 as well as with the finds from the early Nagyrév occupation levels of the tell settlements in these regions.

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19 The cup from Grave 139 is decorated with symbolic depictions and stylised human figures portrayed with upheld arms (Figs 9-10). Comparable symbolic motifs and stylised human depictions are known from other Nagyrév assemblages too, most of which can be dated to the culture's late phase.

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3 The pedological and chemical analysis of the soil samples from three vessels recovered from the burials indicated a high concentration of nitrogen and phosphate (Fig. 2. 2, Fig. 3. 5, Fig. 5. 3), suggesting that these vessels had contained a substance with a high protein content, most likely meat, i.e. food offerings. In contrast to the major find assemblages recovered from the early occupation levels of the tell settlements in the Danube region,

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8 very few graves and grave assemblages are known from the early Nagyrév period.

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9 The burials from Szigetszentmiklós too can be assigned to the early Nagyrév graves along the Danube. The horizontal stratigraphy of the site indicates that the early Nagyrév burials were part of a smaller grave cluster of a burial ground separate from the Bell Beaker cemetery. The graves can be assigned to the Early Bronze Age IIB period in the chronological system elaborated by Rózsa Kalicz-Schreiber.

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0 Similarly to other Hungarian prehistorians, I regard the Bell Beaker culture as representing an independent cultural complex, which appeared without any antecedents in the Carpathian Basin and the Budapest area during the Early Bronze Age IIA period.

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1 The calibrated radiocarbon dates for five Bell Beaker graves in the Szigetszentmiklós cemeteries suggest that the cemetery was used between 2500-2200 BC. Since there was no connection whatsoever between the Bell Beaker and the early Nagyrév burials, the latter can be dated to around 2200 BC or later.

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4 The cup with symbolic decoration from Grave 139 furnished additional proof that symbolic depictions appeared as early as the Early Bronze Age II period in the Carpathian Basin. 227 |