Neolithic Settlements and Soilscapes in Eastern Hungary (original) (raw)

The European Archaeologist

Recently the spatial organisation of small settlements from the Late Neolithic in Eastern Hungary (ca. 5000 BC) and the relationship between these settlements and the larger and better known Late Neolithic tells and Early Copper Age settlements (ca. 4500 BC) has been approached using geoarchaeological methods, spatial analyses and a soil as material culture approach (Salisbury 2010). In spite of extensive surveys, two decades of rescue excavations and more than a century of excavations at tell sites, small Late Neolithic settlements have remained largely unexplored. To fill this gap, small farmsteads in Békés County, Hungary were examined . All of the sites are located on ridges or lag islands along defunct palaeomeanders within the Körös river system. Sites were hand-cored for stratigraphic characterization and soil sample collection. Vertical stratigraphy was described based on soil colour, soil texture, and presence of cultural material. Soil samples were tested for relative levels of phosphates to determine vertical and horizontal site limits and a general idea of activity areas. Select samples were tested for multi-element characterization and magnetic susceptibility to gain better understanding of activity areas within the settlements. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) 1 was performed on the multi-element data to reduce the number of variables, under the assumption that related elements covary because they are related to the same input. Results of all data were mapped in ArcGIS 9.2 using ordinary kriging 2 to interpolate prediction maps . One of the most interesting results is the identification of activity zones within Neolithic household clusters. Geochemical and geophysical analyses identified middens, cooking areas and other activity areas. Activity zones were modelled by combining the household cluster concept originally developed by with communal/family zones as developed by and . Household clusters were identified at . Each cluster contains a house, several pits, a food preparation area and middens. Concentrations of burnt daub, typical remains of burnt wattle-and-daub construction in Central and Southeast Europe, marked the houses. The sites examined here contained a 'front' zone relatively clear of chemical enrichment but having thick cultural layers. This area was surrounded by the house, pits and food preparation areas. Outside of this area were middens and additional pits, forming the family back zone. These three zones fall within an area where cultural sediments are clearly visible in cores, and where relative levels of phosphate are elevated compared to regional background levels. Site locations along relict stream meanders suggest that these channels were also part of the cluster, supplying wetland resources. A communal back zone composed of the palaeomeander, meadows, and portions of the loess ridge surrounds the inner zones. Garden plots were not identified with these methods but were likely located on the loess ridge adjacent to the household cluster.