Differences in the selection of raw materials at the site of Polgár-Csőszhalom, northeast Hungary (original) (raw)
Related papers
Chipped and ground stone implements from the Middle Neolithic site of Polgár 31 (north-east Hungary)
2016
The site of Polgar 31 (Ferenci-hat) is situated on the left bank of the Upper Tisza, within the so-called “Polgar Island”. The site consists of single features dated at the Alfold Linear Pottery Culture (ALP) I-III, while the majority of features belong to the youngest phase (ALP IV) attached to the Bukk Culture. Our analysis focuses on both the chipped stone and the ground stone implements. The most important raw material used for the chipped stone industry of ALP IV phase was obsidian, followed by limno-hydroquartzites. Extra local raw materials played a minor role. Both in the case of obsidian as well as limnohydroquartzites on-site production was limited, while most artefacts were produced off-site. The structure of retouched tools shows that end-scrapers dominate slightly over marginally retouched blades. The most commonly exploited raw material in the ground stone industry were various types of rhyolites deriving from the areas 40 to 50 km north of the site. Among tools predom...
A. Choyke - S. O'Connor (eds.): From These Bare Bones: Raw materials and the study of worked osseous objects. Proceedings of the Raw Materials session at the 11th ICAZ conference, Paris, 2010, 2013
The site of Aszód–Papi földek in Central Hungary lays on the border between the two main cultural complexes of the Late Neolithic (5000/4900 – 4500/4400 BC), the Lengyel and Tisza Cultures. It has long been suggested by researchers that the people living here controlled local obsidian exploitation and played an important role in the circulation of this and other raw materials and products such as Spondylus or antler. Traces of this role emerge from comparison of the archaeozoological material and the worked osseous assemblage. The archaeozoological material is characteristic of the Late Neolithic in the region with cattle dominating faunal assemblages and an increased importance of game animals. The worked osseous material shows clear preferences for skeletal elements from cervids, caprines and an increased role for red deer antler compared to earlier Neolithic periods. In this paper, I will look at some of the rules governing raw material selection at Aszód–Papi földek in comparison to two other coeval Late Neolithic sites in Hungary and explore why the people living here produced antler tools in such great numbers.
Acta Archaeologica, 2006
In Hungary, prehistoric archaeology, and Neolithic research in particular, has reached the level at which the problems of demography as well as those of social organisation and structure can be more intensively studied, beyond the primary analysis of material culture. 1 This development fits a general research trend pursued across Europe. This qualitative change was, in part, facilitated by guest researchers from abroad, who became involved with prehistoric research in the Carpathian Basin through their personal archaeological projects. Their new approaches have inspired the emergence of a broader view among local archaeologists. 2 On the other hand, it is an indubitable fact that, for a long time, the comprehensive work by János Makkay 3 has remained the benchmark study in the forefront of neolithic research in Hungary that also guided the clarification of demographic and social relations. Makkay's book may be considered a milestone especially, since it directed attention to the importance of settlement history in dealing with these problems. Prior to that time, on the basis of the analysis carried out in the Tiszapolgár-Basatanya cemetery, 4 it had been generally assumed that social questions in Early Prehistory may be dealt with chiefly on the basis of archaeological observations made in burials. To some extent, that attitude has remained influential in connection with the Lengyel culture, its research is concentrated on the analysis of cemeteries within the framework of "sozialarchäologische Forschungen". 5 In addition to the gradual adoption of the interpretive frameworks of the most influential trends in European archaeology (processual, post-processual, cognitive-processual and interpretative archaeology) 6 in Hungary, another development of similar importance must be mentioned: large surface excavations could be carried out * The shorter version of this paper was presented at the conference entitled "(un)settling the using modern techniques. 7 Parallel with these excavations, several field surveys on a regional level facilitated the study of higher levels of settlement history, including the Neolithic Period as well. 8 Meanwhile, an evidently important basis for assessing prehistoric social relations is the availability of comparative archaeological information from the settlements and cemeteries of cultural units investigated. 9 A great variety of the possibilities of analysing the various levels of pathways to power (e. g.: data on mortuary practices, artefacts and settlements) are presented in the theoretical syntheses written by M. Parker-Pearson, 10 B. Hayden, 11 P. K. Wason, 12 and F. McHugh. 13 Another important requirement in studying social archaeology is the availability of a certain chronological framework, as has recently been convincingly demonstrated by J. Müller in relation to the Neolithic of the Middle Elbe-Saale region. 14 Owing to the aforementioned circumstances, the site of Polgár-&VV]KDORPKDVRIIHUHGXQLTXHH[FDYation results 15 . In relation to these, questions of social relations in the Late Neolithic of the Upper Tisza Region can not only be posed, but also discussed in sufficient detail.
Social dimensions of the Late Neolithic settlement of Polgár-Csőszhalom (Eastern Hungary)
Acta Archaeologica, 2006
In Hungary, prehistoric archaeology, and Neolithic research in particular, has reached the level at which the problems of demography as well as those of social organisation and structure can be more intensively studied, beyond the primary analysis of material culture. 1 This development fits a general research trend pursued across Europe. This qualitative change was, in part, facilitated by guest researchers from abroad, who became involved with prehistoric research in the Carpathian Basin through their personal archaeological projects. Their new approaches have inspired the emergence of a broader view among local archaeologists. 2 On the other hand, it is an indubitable fact that, for a long time, the comprehensive work by János Makkay 3 has remained the benchmark study in the forefront of neolithic research in Hungary that also guided the clarification of demographic and social relations. Makkay's book may be considered a milestone especially, since it directed attention to the importance of settlement history in dealing with these problems. Prior to that time, on the basis of the analysis carried out in the Tiszapolgár-Basatanya cemetery, 4 it had been generally assumed that social questions in Early Prehistory may be dealt with chiefly on the basis of archaeological observations made in burials. To some extent, that attitude has remained influential in connection with the Lengyel culture, its research is concentrated on the analysis of cemeteries within the framework of "sozialarchäologische Forschungen". 5 In addition to the gradual adoption of the interpretive frameworks of the most influential trends in European archaeology (processual, post-processual, cognitive-processual and interpretative archaeology) 6 in Hungary, another development of similar importance must be mentioned: large surface excavations could be carried out * The shorter version of this paper was presented at the conference entitled "(un)settling the using modern techniques. 7 Parallel with these excavations, several field surveys on a regional level facilitated the study of higher levels of settlement history, including the Neolithic Period as well. 8 Meanwhile, an evidently important basis for assessing prehistoric social relations is the availability of comparative archaeological information from the settlements and cemeteries of cultural units investigated. 9 A great variety of the possibilities of analysing the various levels of pathways to power (e. g.: data on mortuary practices, artefacts and settlements) are presented in the theoretical syntheses written by M. Parker-Pearson, 10 B. Hayden, 11 P. K. Wason, 12 and F. McHugh. 13 Another important requirement in studying social archaeology is the availability of a certain chronological framework, as has recently been convincingly demonstrated by J. Müller in relation to the Neolithic of the Middle Elbe-Saale region. 14 Owing to the aforementioned circumstances, the site of Polgár-&VV]KDORPKDVRIIHUHGXQLTXHH[FDYation results 15 . In relation to these, questions of social relations in the Late Neolithic of the Upper Tisza Region can not only be posed, but also discussed in sufficient detail.
In the last few decades, archaeological research has invested more energy into better understanding of past societies than ever before. There are several different factors that have made these changes possible. The development of non-destructive investigating techniques has made it possible to choose more precisely where to collect new data. Furthermore, advances in information technologies and the natural sciences have provided new tools to analyze and evaluate the data. Our project started in 2012 in order to evaluate the enormous amount of archaeological material excavated at Polgár-Csőszhalom, the most significant site of the post-LBK period in NorthEast Hungary. Our main motivation was to reconstruct the community of this complex site with the application of multilevel statistical methods and spatial information technologies. The investigation of raw material from the chipped stone industry yielded sixteen different activity zones on the flat settlement. The differentiation of these zones was possible through the recognition of the repeated patterns of the raw materials used. The analyses show that whilst individual households, as the elementary building modules of the settlement community, were self-sufficient in tool making, the procurement of raw materials seems to have been communal. The homogenous picture apparent from the distribution of the local raw materials and the lack of accumulation from more distant sources suggest conformity at household level.
Approaching household units from chipped stone assemblages at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, south Hungary
Bulgarian e-Journal of Archaeology, 2017
A B S T R AC T This article summarizes the current state of research on the chipped stone assemblages from the settlement of Alsónyék-Bátaszék. This site belongs to the southeast Transdanubian group of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture. Over 300 Lengyel culture sites are known in Hungary, about half of which are in southern Transdanubia. However, the site with the largest number of houses and graves is Alsónyék. Its huge extent and more than one thousand archaeological features make this one of the most important Neolithic sites in Central Europe. The chipped stone tools come exclusively from the settlement at Alsónyék-Kanizsa-dűlő. For this reason, only the preliminary results from the Kanizsa-dűlő settlement will be presented. Technological analysis of the chipped stone tools provides an opportunity for the reconstruction of the toolmaking process, which may be the result of the tool production system of a cultural unit. The research emphasis is on raw material identification. The focus of the interpretation is the technological and typological analysis and the aspect of household archaeology.
“Archäologie in Eurasien" 31, Berlin, pp. 105-128.
The paper summarizes the present state of the ongoing multidisciplinary research on the stone artefacts (chipped, polished and ground stone tools) from the excavation of the Late Neolithic tell settlement of Hódmező vásárhely-Gorzsa, in southeastern Hungary. The excavated area represents the complete sequence of the Tisza culture, from its early phase to the later. Moreover, the excavation showed that the settlement had al onger life and that it was also occupied during the Copper, Bronze, Iron, Sarmatian and Middle ages. Some lithic artefacts were collected and examined from these occupational horizons as well. However, in the present paper only the preliminary results of the Tisza culture artefacts will be illustrated. Our method of research involves am ultidisciplinary, global approach to the whole stone assemblage, that is, chipped, polished and ground tools, which were studied from the point of view of typology, technology, use-wear and raw material analyses. These latter employed diff erent archaeometric technologies, ranging from macro-, meso-, to microscopic scale descriptions. The results achieved until now have shown that ac omplex network of interactions was activated at Gorzsa during the entire Late Neolithic habitation, and that the courses of the Temes/Timi ,T isza and Maros rivers acted as main axes for establishing these connections. Fig. 1 . 1 Map with the location of the tell Hódmező vásárhely-Gorzsa; 2 plan of the excavation squares; 3 -4 the present geographicals etting around the site.
Archeovest V1 – In Honorem Doina Benea Interdisciplinariate ȋn Archeologie şi Istorie, Asoia ția Archeovest, 2017
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