Grindstone: Grinding... and Human Sacrifice? Why?

Three features, dated to diverse periods of prehistory (Neolithic: Transdanubian Linear Pottery Culture; Bronze Age: Tumulus culture; Iron Age: Celtic Period) are presented in the current study. One of our main goals is to encourage the introduction of an otherwise generally accepted protocol for the investigation and sampling of similar phenomena to Hungarian archaeological research. The method focuses on the examination of 1, complete or partial human skeletal remains; 2, complete or partial animal skeletal remains;3, offerings according to social position; 4, tools for food preparation and equipment of the ritual feast; 5, traces of burning or fire; 6, patterns of the action sequence burning–fragmenting–scattering, together with material analyses for all samples. This way a categorization of the results might open a possibility for a more adequate interpretation. The features under study fall into category A in Joanna Brück’s classification system of human skeletal remains,1 but I regard the phenomena also containing grindstones a subcategory. The ritual in the course of which these were created might have been practiced for millenia in an unchanged form; its possible interpretation was described by István Tóth. According to our view such actions represent the liminal zone between the worlds of the living and the dead

Értékmérő, avagy egy profán tárgy öntőformája a velemi Szent Vidről?

Judging from the small weight of Enkomi T67, it could be justifiably assumed that the mould discussed here had been used for casting miniature weights or some other measures of value. It is noteworthy that a similar, but somewhat larger bunshaped ingot occurs together with a “Keftiu”-type ingot in the Lovasberény hoard. However, we cannot reject the possibility that the mould had been used for producing punches, engravers or tattoo needles, or perhaps arrowheads. The object with triangular section has some relevance for the artefact’s date because this was a rare, but nevertheless widespread trait from the onset to the close of the Urnfield period. A similar piece from Sveti Petar would suggest a date in the later Urnfield period

Halomsíros kocsimodell töredéke Mesterházáról (Nyugat-Magyarország, Vas megye)/Fragment of a Tumulus culture wagon model from Mesterháza (Western Transdanubia, Vas county)

Jelen tanulmányomban egy magántulajdonban lévő kocsimodell töredékét mutatom be. Ez egy, a Halomsíros kultúra kezdetére keltezhető (BB1), de erőteljes Věteřov kerámiaművességi hagyományokat mutató, a központi nyilvántartásban nem szereplő településről származik. Ugyanúgy szórvány, mint az ott felszedett bronz balta és tű. Mindezek a tárgyak tovább színesítik azt a kulturális (Gáta-Wieselburg, Věteřov, Litzen, Halomsíros) keveredést, amelyet az utóbbi két évtizedben egyre inkább rögzített a magyar kutatás is a Dunántúl nyugati részén

The Vámoscsalád‒Kavicsbánya Site (Vas County) : Preliminary Results of the Evaluation of the Lithic Assemblage

The archaeological artefacts of the Vámoscsalád-Kavicsbánya site were discovered, collected and preserved by István Marton and his brother, András Marton, mineral collectors from Mesterháza, in about 2015. The slight elevation on a terrace of the Répce River was mined for the M86 highway in 2012–2013. Apart from knapped stone tools, the main subject of our paper, several polished serpentinite and greenschist tools have been recovered from the site, which could be in use between the Neolithic and the end of the Bronze Age. Only a few potsherds indicated a settlement of the Transdanubian Linear Pottery culture (TLPC). Of the Copper Age, Lengyel III and Baden pottery fragments and a clay spatula are worth mentioning. Almost the entire Bronze Age is represented, the most exciting find being a rim fragment of a bowl, decorated with an encrusted geometric pattern on both sides, of the Somogyvár–Vinkovci culture. Given the presumed mixed character of the knapped stone record of the Vámoscsalád-Kavicsbánya site (as the finds were not recovered from a closed stratigraphic context), we looked for possible cultural analogies and relationships, primarily those corresponding to the system of raw material–technology–typology. Although the pottery fragments of the TLPC recovered from the site are few and uncharacteristic, and the recovered finds may represent more than one phase, the knapped stone assemblage most likely represents the industry of the Middle Neolithic cultural unit, as suggested by raw material composition, technological features, type distribution and characteristics of the retouched tools. It is perhaps even possible that we are dealing with relatively old, if not the oldest TLP finds ever unearthed in the county

Eggshell remains in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age assemblage at Ménfőcsanak–Széles-Földek = Tojáshéj maradványok Ménfőcsanak-Széles-Földek bronzkori és kora vaskori anyagában

An exciting collection of archaeozoological finds have been found in the Bronze and Early Iron Age material of Ménfőcsanak–Széles-földek site: among the animal bones, a larger amount of bird bones and even eggshell fragments were identified. In addition, there were chicken bones in the objects of the Tumulus culture which are considered to be the earliest findings in the Carpathian Basin so far. The significance of this new finding is enhanced by the fact that the remains of hatched eggs have been found, that proves not only hen raising but also the breeding of species. The present study has a dual role, as it analyses bird bones and eggs, and enriches Hungarian archaeological literature with a number of new results. = Egy izgalmas archeozoológiai leletegyüttes került elő Ménfőcsanak–Széles-földek lelőhely bronzkori és kora vaskori anyagából: az állatcsontok között nagyobb mennyiségben madárcsontok, sőt tojáshéj töredékek is megtalálhatók. A Halomsíros kultúra objektumainak anyagában tyúkcsontok is előfordultak, amelyek a Kárpátmedencében eddig a legkorábbiaknak számítanak. Ennek az új eredménynek a jelentőségét tovább növeli, hogy kiköltött tyúktojás maradványai is előkerültek, bizonyítva ezáltal nemcsak a tyúktartást, hanem a faj szaporítását is. A tanulmány hiánypótló szerepet kíván betölteni, hiszen egyszerre elemzi a madárcsontokat és a tojásokat is, számos új eredménnyel gazdagítja a hazai régészeti szakirodalmat

Cemetery of the late Tumulus – early Urnfield period at Balatonfűzfő, Hungary

On the outskirts of Balatonfűzfő, an excavation was carried out by Sylvia K. Palágyi between 1991–1994 as a continuation of the excavation in 1966 that preceded the construction of the so-called Delta junction of roads no. 71–72. In 1992–1993, during the excavation of a Roman Age pottery workshop five graves of a late Tumulus – early Urnfield period (Br D2–Ha A1) cemetery came to light. Each cremation grave (with the cremated remains either scattered in the pit or put in an urn) was characterised by a certain burial rite. The richest grave (no. 6) was that of an adult male, buried with his weapons, among them a uniquely decorated knife with a grip terminating in a bird's head. Graves no. 2 and no. 4 contained female burials with jewellery, while grave no. 1 belonged to a child, and included jewellery as well as several ceramic vessels

Könyvismertetés - Vörös Gabriella: Szarmaták két folyó között. A kiskunhalasi Thorma János Múzeum római és római kori szarmata gyűjteményei (1–5. század)

Opitz Archaeologica 21. Budapest – Kiskunhalas, Martin Opitz, 2022. p. 207