Vértesszőlős

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Vértesszőlős
Vértesszőlős coat of arms
Vértesszőlős (Hungary)
Vértesszőlős
Vértesszőlős
Basic data
State : Hungary
Region : Central Transdanubia
County : Komárom-Esztergom
Small area until December 31, 2012 : Tatabánya
District since 1.1.2013 : Tatabánya
Coordinates : 47 ° 37 '  N , 18 ° 23'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 37 '0 "  N , 18 ° 22' 45"  E
Area : 17.12  km²
Residents : 3,178 (Jan 1, 2011)
Population density : 186 inhabitants per km²
Telephone code : (+36) 34
Postal code : 2837
KSH kódja: 31264
Structure and administration (as of 2020)
Community type : local community
Mayor : Csaba Nagy (independent)
Postal address : Tanács et al. 59
2837 Vértesszőlős
Website :
(Source: A Magyar Köztársaság helységnévkönyve 2011. január 1st at Központi statisztikai hivatal )

Vértesszőlős [ veːrtɛʃsøːløːʃ ] (formerly Szőllős , Croatian Seluš ) is a Hungarian community in the county Tatabánya in Komárom-Esztergom county with just under 3,200 inhabitants. It is located between the towns of Tata and Tatabánya on the banks of the Átalér River , a tributary of the Danube at the foot of the Gerecse Mountains .

history

In the course of time, the Átalér has worked its way through the travertine rock and so washed out four to five terraces, which in the Paleolithic period were ideally suited for a settlement, also due to the springs occurring there. In these river terraces , limestone has been mined in stone quarries since Roman times , which is very suitable for building due to its low weight.

Research history

Due to a lack of research, there were no Paleolithic sites in Hungary for a long time. Only botanical finds were known from Vértesszőlős, the prints of which were well preserved in the travertine rock. These plant fossils are 400,000–500,000 years old. It was only with the research of Ottó Hermans and later by the paleontologist Ottokár Kadics in the Szeleta Cave that it became known that the area of ​​today's Hungary was also settled in the period beyond the Neolithic . It was not until 1962 that the geologist Márton Pécsi, who wanted to document a stratigraphic sequence of the rock layers in field work with students, came across the first archaeological finds: Oldowan made of quartzite and animal bones with traces of burns. Oldowans are simple rubble tools that are hewn by a rock with a hard blow.

From 1963 to 1968, several excavations took place in Vértesszőlős under the direction of László Vértes, who, so to speak, can be regarded as the father, but contrary to popular opinion but not as the namesake of this site. On May 1, 1968, the open-air museum of the Vértesszőlős site, an external section of the Hungarian National Museum , was opened in today's nature reserve around Vértesszőlős. László Vértes is often quoted with the sentence I live and die for Vértesszőlős . This statement came true shortly after the museum opened: Vértes succumbed to a heart condition that he had probably contracted as a result of the stress at work in Vértesszőlős.

Stone tools

During the excavations a total of 8,890 stone tools were found in Vértesszőlős . The raw material of these artefacts consists exclusively of rocks that occur in the vicinity, mainly from the deposits of the Átalér. Most of them are limestone and quartzite . Around 50% of all artifacts found are actually tools, some of which also show signs of wear. Among these tools are choppers , chopping tools , tees that could be used as cutting tools , scrapers, scrapers and tips for all kinds of work, and also very simple hand axes.

Vértes attempted to establish the stone utensil inventory as its own typological niche. He called the tool industry from Vértesszőlős "Buda industry", but this did not catch on. Nowadays the stone finds are mostly attributed to the old Acheuléen or Abbevillian industry .

Bone tools

In Vértesszőlős, 105 bone fragments were also found, which could be clearly identified as tools that were not simply split, but were made by chipping, similar to the stone tools. A hand ax made from bones is also known from Vértesszőlős. In addition to tools, bones were probably also used as fuel, as indicated by the large amount of burnt-on bone fragments.

Vértesszőlős I

During the excavation in 1965, four tooth fragments were found in the travertine layers, which belonged to the deciduous teeth of an approx. 7 year old child. These are the left canine tooth and the left molar of the lower jaw (Vsz I). The anthropological determination of the species turns out to be difficult, since the genealogical research of this time is very controversial. What is certain is that it is a species of human that lived in Europe before the Neanderthals (probably Homo heidelbergensis ).

Vértesszőlős II

During the same excavation period, another remnant of the same prehistoric species was found on August 21 in a travertine layer, approx. 8 m from the old site (Vsz II). The fragment of the occipital bone ( occiput ) probably belonged to a young adult male. The deformations that can be recognized by it all appeared postmortem due to the embedding in the travertine layer; none of them are pathological. On the foramen magnum (occipital hole), however, a few traces can be seen that led Vértes to the conclusion that this could have been a ritual removal of the brain and perhaps even cannibalism . But this opinion is now considered very unlikely. The classification is just as difficult as with Vsz I, the skull volume is estimated at 915–1225 cm³, which corresponds to that of Homo heidelbergensis .

The problem of the classification of the human species in Vértesszőlős is of a fundamental nature. What is certain is that the people who lived then were a pre-form of the Neanderthals and / or modern humans. How they should be called or what kind they belonged to is disputed. A widespread opinion is that of Homo erectus of Homo heidelbergensis and - no matter - the archaic Homo sapiens have evolved.

One of the special features of Vértesszőlős is the good preservation of the traces of settlement of the people in the early Paleolithic. In the area of ​​the site, in addition to very many remains of fauna, which for the most part have nothing to do with human settlement (footprints were also found), bone fragments were also found that could be clearly identified as leftovers. Cuts were found on the bones , which testify to the flesh, bones from which the epiphyses were separated or which were split in order to gain access to the bone marrow.

Mainly horses (Equus mosbachensis) , red deer (Cervus elaphus Ssp.) And probably bison (Bison schoetensacki) were processed in Vértesszőlős . However, a large amount of bear bones (Ursus deningeri) could also be found here, although it is unclear whether these represent a natural occurrence or were actually consumed by humans.

Since the theory of carrion utilization is becoming more and more of a backseat, one can speak of an old Paleolithic hunting station in Vértesszőlős despite the lack of clear evidence for the hunt due to the high concentration of processed animal bones.

However, it was probably not about real hunting, but rather a tactic that is still common today with some native tribes: a herd of animals is ambushed while drinking at a waterhole or river, then they are caught by noise, projectiles and, last but not least, fire Panic. The panicked animals injure themselves partly by trampling down, partly by slipping, etc. so that the hunters can easily kill the helpless animals afterwards. This technique seems the most plausible for Vértesszőlős, since the inventory found does not contain any weapons that would be suitable for hunting in the classical sense. At that time, bows and possibly also spears were still unknown.

In 1966, Dr. István Skoflek during his field work concerning the palaeolithic fauna in a loess layer an approx. 5 cm thick lenticular charcoal layer with a diameter of approx. 7 m. After a detailed examination of the findings, the 47 charcoal particles found and the partly suntanned loess , the suspicion was confirmed that this is a fireplace that, as the thickness, color and the floristic remains prove, over a longer period of time, probably even has been used for several years.

This fireplace represents a further archaeological sensation, because due to the old age hardly any fireplaces are known from these times and for a long time, in some cases until today, it has been discussed whether the people of that time even controlled the fire. The Vértesszőlős site provides further evidence of this. More fireplaces were found, but the literature does not provide enough information. The burned bone fragments found in the fire pits were thrown into the fire. Since bones can smolder for days under the right circumstances, a fire can be rekindled after a day or two.

Dating

The layer in which the human skull was found was dated to approximately 350,000 years using the Th / U method, which was confirmed by electron spin resonance dating , which led to the result 333,000 +/- 17,000 years. This would define the term ante quem , the term post quem can be easily determined using the geomagnetics of the layers, which, due to their normal orientation, can be determined for a maximum of 600,000 years. This means that the finds from Vértesszőlős can be dated inaccurately, but definitely to an age between 350,000 and 600,000 years ago. By dating the animal bones and pollen found, the age of the site can be determined to be approx. 350,000 years and thus to the Middle Pleistocene.

Meaning of the reference

Due to the finds in Vértesszőlős, this site has to be named on a par with the great names of early Paleolithic research such as Bilzingsleben , Schöningen , Boxgrove , Swanscombe and others, as it is extremely rare that a settlement from this period can be found and evaluated almost in situ . In addition, Vértesszőlős means that humans had already settled the European continent from the British Isles in the west to the Carpathian Mountains at that time. However, Vértesszőlős, certainly not least because of Hungary's political past and the associated difficulties in research, still plays a very small role in researching the way of life of the people in the Old Paleolithic and their migration to Europe, which will, however, change in the next few years should change decisively.

Community partnerships

Attractions

traffic

Vértesszőlős is on the main road number 1 . The community is connected to the railway line from Tatabánya to Komárom .

literature

Web links