Chipped and ground stone implements from the Middle Neolithic site of Polgár 31 (North-East Hungary)

The site of Polgár 31 (Ferenci-hát) is situated on the left bank of the Upper Tisza, within the so-called “Polgár Island”. The site consists of single features dated at the Alföld Linear Pottery Culture (ALP) I-III, while the majority of features belong to the youngest phase (ALP IV) attached to the Bükk 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 predominate implements related to food preparation such as a variety of grinding stones, pestles, grinders etc. As part of rituals these tools were destroyed. Sometimes the fragments were used for crushing mineral dyes. Both: fragments of ground stone as well as chipped stone tools occur also in the graves

Mesolithic occupations and environments on the island of Ikaria, Aegean, Greece

The most important Mesolithic site on the Island of Ikaria, Kerame 1, extends 80 m along the sloping edge of the cliff and is up to 40 m wide. The site is a sum of repeated sojourns of Mesolithic groups that had left behind concentrations of lithic artefacts, which were subsequently displaced by post-depositional agents, fi rst of all by erosion. As a result, the site reveals now a large concentration of fi nds in Trenches E, C, and G. Moreover, post-depositional agents caused the destruction of permanent features such as the hearths associated with the various khsemenitsas, or - possibly - stone rings surrounding the dwelling structures. Only in trenches D, B and E the remains of a circular stone rings, probably around hearths, were registered. The lithic industry of Kerame 1 displays considerable similarity to the site of Maroulas on Kythnos; the techno-morphological differences are, probably, the effect of differing raw materials structure at Kerame 1 and at Maroulas. At Kerame 1, the distant interregional contacts and the infl ux of extralocal raw materials (documented by the fl ow of obsidian nodules from Melos and Yali) caused that production in a full cycle was carried out on-site. Thus, there was no specialization of lithic production, and unworked nodules of raw material were exploited in the particular social clusters in a full cycle, whose outcome were tools to be used by a given unit. Regretfully, because organic materials (also bones) have not been preserved we have no data to determine seasonality at Kerame 1. Nevertheless, we can say with all certainty that Mesolithic groups visiting Kerame 1 were mobile, which is evidenced by the network of interregional contacts. The most noticeable similarity between Kerame 1 and Maroulas can be accounted for by the chronological closeness of the two sites. The AMS determinations from Maroulas concentrate in the fi rst half of the 9th millenium cal. BC (Facorellis et al. 2010). Similarly, the dates from obsidian dehydration from Kerame 1 (if their broad standard deviation is overlooked) correspond to the fi rst half of the 9th millenium cal. BC

A bullet core specimen form NE Bulgaria

The paper discusses the first find of a bullet core from the territory of Bulgaria. This core fills in a gap in the occurrence of this technology in between the Marmara Sea basin and the northwestern part of the Pontic region. Because the core from the vicinity of Varna is a surface find it is difficult to determine its chronological position

Before the neolithization: Causes of mesolithic diversity in the Southern Balkans

The Balkans, particularly southern and central, were sparsely populated in the Mesolithic and the occupation networks in that period were discontinous and highly diversified, contrasting with the density and homogeneity of the Early Neolithic. The aim of this paper is to describe the environmental conditions of the Mesolithic sites in relation to Early Holocene climatic fluctuations and to discuss the causes of specificity and diversity of culture and behaviour at this period. Some general trends are observable in the adaptation to Early Holocene environments (trends in faunal exploitation; for ex. shift from high ranked large game to low ranked small animals) but also particular adaptations to local conditions (technological changes due to difficulties in access to better quality lithic raw materials, adaptations to coastal or to terrestrial resources reflecting the unique features of site use, etc). The diversity of the Mesolithic is also reflected in cultural taxonomy: in some sequences continuity of the Balkan Epigravettian techno-morphological tradition can be seen as opposed, in other sequences, to highly isolated groups with technology and tool morphology adapted to local raw materials and specific activities. The Balkan Mesolithic was not completely cut-off from the Western Mediterranean techno-morphological influences (particularly in Southern Greece) and from the Anatolian lithic traditions (seen only in the Northern Aegean). A more intensive network of marine contacts is confirmed by obsidian circulation in the Aegean Basin

Early/Middle Neolithic Western (LBK) vs Eastern (ALPC) Linear Pottery Cultures : ceramics and lithic raw materials circulation

In this paper we focused on the relations between the north-eastern range of the Linear Bandkeramik (LBK) in the Upper Vistula basin and the area of Eastern (Alföld) Linear Pottery Culture (ALPC) in eastern Slovakia, separated by the main ridge of the Western Carpathians. Contacts between these two Early/Middle Neolithic cultural zones were manifested by the exchange of lithic raw materials (Carpathian obsidian from south-eastern Slovakia and north eastern Hungary vs Jurassic flint from Kraków-Częstochowa) and pottery. Ceramic exchange was studied by comparing the mineralogical-petrographic composition of the local LBK pottery from sites in the Upper Vistula basin and sherds from the same LBK sites showing ALPC stylistic features, and pottery samples from ALPC sites in eastern Slovakia. Observation under polarized light microscope and SEM-EDS analyses resulted in identification of a group of pottery samples with ALPC stylistic features which could be imports to LBK sites in southern Poland from Slovakia, and a group of vessels with ALPC decorations but produced in the Upper Vistula basin from local ceramic fabric, which were imitations by the local LBK population. The second group of pottery appears mostly in the pre-Notenkopf and Notenkopf phases of the LBK, correlated with Tiszadob-Kapušany Groups of ALPC, in contrast to the pottery imports attributed mostly to the Želiezovce group/ phase, synchronous with the Bükk Culture/Group

Linear Band Pottery Culture (LBK) lithic industry from Apc

The general inventory of the chipped stone artefacts coming from the LBK features at Apc indicates that a specific, small scale, local lithic production was conducted on-site. Majority of used raw materials are limnoquartzites (nearly 70%) originating mainly from the Mátra and Cserhát Mountains. The use of rather poor quality local raw materials influenced the technique of working raw materials, which was employed throughout the period of the functioning of LBK settlements at Apc. As a consequence, most tools were made on flakes. At the same time, as early as the oldest phase a limited supply of blade blanks and blade tools, produced elsewhere, was used. The ground stone artefacts and fragments included lower and upper grinding stones, plaquettes with polished surfaces, hammerstones, grinders/pounders. The raw materials used in the ground stone industry are either local (quartz, conglomerate, sandstone) or mesolocal (gabbro, basalt) coming from river alluvia or from the hills at the Hungarian—Slovakian border. Andesites, probably from the Mátra Mountains, occur in small quantities. Thus, the raw materials exploited at Apc demonstrate contacts with eastern region, however the site is the easternmost LBK settlement. | Az apci lelőhely VK-objektumaiból származó pattintottkő-leletek általános összetétele arra vall, hogy a telepen speciális, kis léptékű, helyi kőeszköz-előállítás folyt. Legnagyobb mennyiségben (közel 70%) limnokvarcitokat használtak fel nyersanyagként, amelyek a Mátra és a Cserhát hegységből származtak. A többnyire gyenge minőségű nyersanyagok felhasználása befolyásolta a feldolgozási technikákat is, amelyek nem változtak az apci VK-telep teljes fennállása alatt. Ennek következtében az eszközök nagyrészt szilánkon készültek. Ugyanakkor már a telep életének legkorábbi fázisától kezdve használtak egy kevés pengét és pengeeszközt is, amelyeket máshonnan szereztek be. A csiszolt eszközök és szerszámkövek között találunk alsó és felső őrlőköveket, csiszolt felületű kőlapokat, ütőköveket és mozsártörőket, valamint azok töredékeit. Az ebben az iparban felhasznált nyersanyagok vagy helyiek (kvarc, konglomerátum, homokkő), vagy regionálisak (gabbró, bazalt), amelyek folyóüledékekből vagy a magyar—szlovák határnál lévő hegyekből származhatnak. Kis mennyiségben előfordul andezit is, valószínűleg a Mátrából. Így hát az Apcon felhasznált kőnyersanyagok keleti területekkel mutatnak kapcsolatot, holott a lelőhely a nyugati VK legkeletibb települése

Excavation along the easternmost frontier of the LBK in NE-Hungary at Apc-Berekalja I (2008–2009)

The topographical position and size of the site, the number of detected houses, the presence of the early phase make the Apc-Berekalja I settlement one of the most significant sites of the LBK in Hungary. The ongoing processing of the excavation data provided already some very important observations. The geoarchaeological results demonstrated the presence of the in situ soil of the Neolithic period and effects of floods on the settlement. The study of the chipped and ground stone material coming from the Neolithic features revealed no conspicuous changes in the lithic industry of the settlement from the pre-Notenkopf to Želiezovce phases of the LBK. Lithic raw materials came exclusively from territories to the east of the site, which is an evidence of the isolation of the LBK groups that inhabited Apc. | Földrajzi helyzete, a lelőhely mérete, a megfigyelt házak száma és a korai fázis megléte alapján Apc-Berekalja I. az egyik legjelentősebb magyarországi VK-település. Az ásatási adatok még folyamatban lévő feldolgozása során közlésre méltó eredmények születtek. A geoarcheológiai vizsgálatok kimutatták egy neolitikus korú talaj in situ meglétét, valamint a települést sújtó áradásokat. A neolitikus korú objektumokból származó pattintott és szerszámkövek a település fennállása alatt a kőipar lényegi változatlanságáról tanúskodnak a VK korai időszakától a zselízi fázisáig. A településen élők a kőnyersanyagokat kizárólag a keletre eső területekről szerezték be, ami az itt lakó csoport izoláltságát igazolja

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Praca recenzowana / peer-reveiwed pape