Alföld linear ceramics

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The Alföld linear ceramics (ALK), also called eastern linear ceramics , is an early (chronological scheme according to Lüning ) or middle neolithic (Hungarian chronological system) archaeological culture. It is named after the Hungarian Great Plain ( Alföld ) and after the main type of decoration in the pottery, which is composed of incised motifs. The Alföld linear ceramic is related to the western linear ceramic . Its distribution area extends from eastern Hungary via Romania, Slovakia to the Carpathian-Ukraine .

The Alföld linear ceramic band dates between approx. 5500 BC. BC and 4900 BC And is thus at the same time with the LBK in the west.

Research history

To date, Alföld linear ceramics have not received the same amount of attention in research as their western sister. Ferenc von Tompa described the first finds of a late stage of the Alföld linear ceramics, the so-called Bükker culture , as early as 1929. In the 1930s , János Banner excavated several settlements of the Szakálhát group and was able to separate this phenomenon from the classic Alföld linear ceramics. In the decades that followed, numerous smaller excavations (almost exclusively in Hungary) yielded additional material from the Alföld linear ceramics and their later forms, the aforementioned Szakálhát group, the Tiszadob group and the regional groups Esztár , Szilmeg and Bükk . Nandor Kalicz and Janos Makkay succeeded in their great work on "Linear Ceramics in the Great Hungarian Plain" (Budapest 1977) to grasp this wealth of individual phenomena and to organize them chronologically, chorologically and typologically. Recent research was carried out by Nandor Kalicz, Judith Koós and László Domboróczki in Füzesabony -Gubakút and Mezökövesd -Mocsolyás during the construction of the M3 motorway . They provided important insights into the settlement system and death ritual of the Alföld linear ceramics.

Distribution area

The origin of the Alföld linear ceramics lies on the river system of the Tisza . It includes the eponymous Alföld lowlands in eastern Hungary and extends beyond that into eastern Slovakia , Carpathian Ukraine and north-western Romania . The range in the north and east was limited by the Carpathian Mountains. In the west, an empty area forms the border to the Danube region. The southern border was formed by the central Tisza region, which was followed by the settlement area of ​​the Körös culture . In the more recent phases the distribution area of ​​Alföld linear ceramics expanded further south to the border of the Vinča culture and to Romania.

Map of the Tisza river system.
Riverside landscape at the confluence of Someş and Tisza .

Chronological structure

The ALK arose from the Körös culture . In the settlement of Füzesabony-Gubakut, Korös ceramics were found in the oldest pits in addition to Szatmár material. These pits could be dated between 5620 and 5470 cal. BC . A sequence from Körös to ALK was also found in Tiszaszőlős -Domaháza-puszta.

Based on the ceramic, the Alföld linear ceramic can be subdivided into several levels. The oldest stage is sometimes named after a place where it was found as the Szatmár group and is uniform in large parts of the distribution area. According to the data from Füzesabony-Gubakut, early Szátmar and late Körös overlap. In its further development, the Alföld linear ceramics (like the western linear ceramics!) Breaks down into many small regional groups, which can be distinguished by their ceramics. The most important regional groupings are the Bükker culture , the Tiszadob group and the Szakálhát group of Eastern Hungary, the Raskovce group in Slovakia and the Ciumeşti or Pişcolt culture of Romania.

Settlement

The ALK settlements have a linear structure. Not all houses were inhabited at the same time, however. Most of the houses are located along a river. In the area of ​​Füzesabony, larger settlements were often surrounded by smaller satellite settlements. For a long time it was assumed that the carriers of Alföld linear ceramics lived in so-called pit houses , as no house floor plans were known from post holes. More recent excavations in Füzesabony-Gubakút, however, have produced floor plans of large long houses, as is also known from western linear ceramics . The roof is supported by stud posts. The spaces between the posts are connected with wattle that is pelted with clay to form the walls. As the rise of the houses has not been preserved, the position of doors and possible windows and the height of the houses cannot be reconstructed with certainty. The settlement existed from 5600 to 5200 BC. Other houses are known from Polgár – Király-Érpart. In Mezőkövesd-Mocsolyás there are no post holes at all, the house floor plans are only visible as concentrations of metallurgical clay .

Economy

The carriers of the ALK practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. In Füzesabony -Gubakút 95% of the animal bones belonged to domesticated species, cattle and ovicaprids ( sheep / goat ) were represented in approximately equal proportions. In Tiszacsege , however, the sheep predominated. Fishing is also documented; Overall, however, the importance of hunting and fishing seems to have decreased compared to the Körös culture. Domboróczki assumes that the new economy developed when the bearers of the Körös culture left the lowlands and had to adapt to the drier surroundings in the hills.

Material culture

Ceramics

The ceramic of forms of the alföld-linear ceramic comprises bowls, dishes with a straight and a bent wall half to dreiviertelkugelige vessels (so-called Kümpfe ), mugs, cups and bottles. Of particular note are the bowls and bowls that rest on a tall cylindrical base. In the oldest stage of Alföld linear ceramics, the ceramics are organically lean . It is decorated in the form of broad incised lines that form curvilinear and rectilinear motifs. Painted ceramics also appear in the oldest stage. The painting is applied to the surface of the vessel in white, red or black. In the more recent phases of Alföld linear ceramics, ceramics are hardly organically thickened. Painting and incised decoration continue to exist in parallel. In the most recent form of Alföld linear ceramics, numerous individual phenomena occur, which are divided into the Tiszadob group , which is widespread in southern Hungary, the Szakálhát group , which is widespread in northern Hungary , the Bükker culture to the west and the Esztár-Pișcolt-Raskovce group in eastern Hungary, Romania and Slovakia justify. These groups can be differentiated based on the treasure trove of motifs on their ceramics or the decoration technique.

Stone tools

Characteristic of the earliest stages of Alföld linear ceramics, i.e. the Proto-ALK or Szatmár group, are small, ground, trapezoidal axes. There are also larger axes with a slightly convex cross-section. This form is also retained in the younger stages. In the younger ABK there are large shoe last wedges . Another innovation is the first stone tools with drilling. These include axes and clubs. The latter appear spherical or disc-shaped.

The preferred material for making stone implements, especially in the northern Tisza region , was obsidian . This occurs in the distribution area of ​​Alföld linear ceramics exclusively in the Semplin Mountains in the Hungarian-Slovakian border area and was negotiated up to a distance of 500 km. Depot finds of core pieces and finished devices as well as production workshops suggest a specialization of individuals or small groups in the manufacture and trade of stone devices.

Bone artifacts

The Alföld linear ceramic band knows a wide range of different bone devices. Awls , harpoons , but also spoon- and spatula-like devices occur. Sometimes devices were also made from deer antlers. Overall, however, bone devices appear only very sparsely in the archaeological finds.

Cult and religion

Cultic expressions of the Alföld linear ceramics are available from the entire distribution area. There are human statuettes, facial vessels, incised human representations and, rarely, representations applied to vessels. As a special feature, one has to mention so-called “hybrid beings”, human faces on four-legged bodies. Depictions of animals are rarer. A vessel in the shape of a pig comes from Tiszacsege and dates back to the oldest stage of Alföld linear ceramics ( Szatmár group ). More recent are the remains of vessels in the shape of animals from the Slovakian Šarišské Michaľany : They date to the time of the Bükker culture and the Tiszadob group . So far, no earthworks, as they are known in western linear ceramics, have been found in the field of Alföld linear ceramics.

Ritual of the dead

So far only a few burials of eastern linear pottery are known. These are mostly stools that were buried with a few ceramic accessories. Real burial grounds are rare; a cemetery with several burials in Mezőkövesd -Mocsolyás has been excavated for the oldest stage of eastern linear ceramics . From Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-puszta comes a settlement burial in the cultural layer; it consisted only of a few long bones, a skull fragment and finger bones.

literature

  • Nándor Kalicz, Judith Koós: A settlement with the oldest Neolithic graves in northeast Hungary. In: Alexandra Krenn-Leeb, Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer , Annaluisa Pedrotti (eds.): Attuali problematiche sul Neolitico dell'Europa centrale. = Current questions of the Neolithic in Central Europe (= Preistoria Alpina 37, 2001, ISSN  0393-0157 ). Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento 2002, pp. 45-79.
  • Nándor Kalicz, János Makkay: Line ceramic in the Great Hungarian Plain. (= Studia Archaeologica Vol. 7). Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1977, ISBN 963-05-1039-1 .
  • Jan Lichardus : Studies on the Bükker culture. (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 12). Habelt, Bonn 1974, ISBN 3-7749-1306-4 .
  • Joachim Preuss (Ed.): The Neolithic in Central Europe. Cultures - Economy - Environment. From the 6th to the 3rd millennium BC, overviews of the state of research. Volume 1, Part A. Beier & Beran, Weißbach 1998, ISBN 3-930036-10-X , pp. 268-273.
  • Pál Raczky (Ed.): Utak a múltba. Az M3-as autópálya régészeti leletmentései. = Paths into the past. Rescue excavations on the M3 motorway. Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum et al., Budapest 1997, ISBN 963-9046-094 .
  • Michael Strobel: A contribution to the structure of the eastern line ceramics. Attempt a feature analysis. In: Saarbrücker studies and materials for antiquity, vol. 4/5, 1995/96, ISSN  0942-7392 , pp. 9-98.
  • Ferenc von Tompa: The ceramic band in Hungary. The Bükker and Theiss cultures. = A szalagdiszes agyagmuevesség kultúrája magyarországon. A buekki és a tiszai culture. (= Archaeologia Hungarica Vol. 5/6, ISSN  0066-5916 ). Budapest 1929.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map distribution map of the linear ceramic and the Alföld linear ceramic culture.
  2. ^ Preuss: The Neolithic in Central Europe. 1998, p. 268.
  3. ↑ a b c d László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), p. 140.
  4. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), pp. 148, 153.
  5. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), p. 161.
  6. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), p. 162.
  7. ^ Eszter Bánffy, Tracing the Beginning of Sedentary Life in the Carpathian Basin: The Formation of the LBK House. In: Daniela Hofmann, Jessica Smyth (Eds.), Tracking the neolithic house in Europe: sedentism, architecture and practice . Springer, Berlin 2013, 123
  8. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), p. 141.
  9. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), 155
  10. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), p. 169.
  11. ↑ Joachim Preuss: The Neolithic in Central Europe. Weißbach, Beier and Beran 1998 p. 269.
  12. ↑ Joachim Preuss: The Neolithic in Central Europe Weißbach, Beier and Beran 1998, pp. 269–270.
  13. ↑ Joachim Preuss: The Neolithic in Central Europe Weißbach, Beier and Beran 1998, p. 270.
  14. ↑ László Domboróczki: Report on the excavation at Tiszaszőlős-Domaháza-Puszta and a new model for the spread of the Körös culture . In: Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski, Pál Raczky (eds.): Neolithization of the Carpathian basin: northernmost distribution of the Starčevo / Körös culture . Papers presented on the symposium organized by the EU project FEPRE (The Formation of Europe: Population Dynamics and the Roots of Socio-Cultural Diversity). Kraków, Polska Akademia Umiejętności; Budapest, Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University (2010), pp. 151, 153.