Preformed and Performed. On the Pedestalled Bowls with Perforated Bottoms in the Lengyel Culture

The results of extensive investigations in Slovakia have shed considerable light on the problems of the emergence, development and cultural and chronological interconnections of the Neolithic Lengyel culture. This includes the economy and social structure of its bearers.Typological methods make it easy to demonstrate a local origin for the Lengyel culture, defining clearly its innovative component which was introduced from the south, from the sphere of the Vinča culture (Vinča B2/C1), then in the process of transformation, carried to the territory of the nascent Lengyel culture by the Sopot culture (S. Dimitrijevič 1968; Pavúk 1981a; Kalicz 1988). The Lengyel culture emerged on the base of the Želiezovce cultural group which gave birth to the earliest stage of the former culture – Proto-Lengyel – under impulses from and with participation of the Sopot culture. Such a fusion of local and foreign elements may well be demonstrated in pottery, especially in the development of its shapes and decoration. This process is accompanied by a major paradox: continuous development of pottery is contradicted by the discontinuity in settlement sites. Not a single site excavated either in Slovakia or in Hungary has yielded a settlement with material both from the last stage of the Želiezovce group and from the early stages of the Lengyel culture (the Bíňa-Bicske group, Lužianky, Lengyel I) which could constitute evidence for local evolution.

The prehistoric settlement Kup-Egyes is located near the city of Pápa, N-Central Transdanubia. It was located in 1974. Sándor Mithay, archaeologist, director of the Pápa Municipal Museum (later: Esterházy Károly Castle Museum) used to perform authenticating excavations on the site where he found settlement traces of the Linearbandkeramik and the Lengyel culture. The excavated material of multiple field seasons is published in details below. The pottery is dominated by the Late Neolithic – Early Copper Age Lengyel culture ceramic, apart from which abundant quantity of LBK sherds were also found. As a new element in the occupation of the settlement, Middle/Late Copper Age finds associated with the Proto-Boleráz culture were also located. The settlement was excavated by manual methods; the excavation features – pits, ovens, house debris – could be mainly associated with the Lengyel culture. Within the finds, lithic artefacts have an outstanding role, primarily in the chipped stone industry, the procurement and processing of the dominating Upper Cretaceous Tevel flint used to represent an important element in the life of the community. Considerable quantities of animal bone were also found on the site; the exceptional specimens (aurochs, bull and dog skull) were probably related to building offerings.

The place of the Svodín type anthropomorphic vessels in the Neolithic of the Danube Basin . The author carried out the typological analysis of the Neolithic and Early Copper Age anthropomorphic vessels of the Danube Basin on 70 complete or reconstructed items recovered from 53 sites and found analogues as far as Anatolia. He also determined the place of the “Svodín type” anthropomorphic vessels in the large group of anthropomorphic vessels of Central and Southeast Europe. A so-called threepartite “Schultergefäß” furnished with human traits (arms/hands, plastic breasts and plastic or painted facial parts) can be regarded as the archetype of the Svodín (Szőgyén, Slovakia) type anthropomorphic vessels. The vessels and the fragments that can be grouped in the type have been found on the territories of SW Slovakia and Lower Austria, at Aszód and Csabdi and also in larger numbers at a few sites of the Southern Transdanubian Lengyel culture, especially at Györe.The anthropomorphic vessels from Central and Southeast Europe entered into the database can morphologically be grouped into three forms (Gattung), eight series (Serien), 23 morphological groups and 42 versions. Basically, standing (72.3 %), sitting/enthroned (22.3 %) and hollow-pedestalled (5.2 %) vessel shapes can be differentiated. According to the analyses, vessel shapes that appeared only in the early or the middle or the late phase or only in the Aeneolithic and transitional shapes can be differentiated. The author also examines the meaning of the discussed anthropomorphic vessels, to what purpose they were made, based first of all on the finding circumstances.All the “Svodín-type” anthropomorphic vessels characteristic of the eastern occupation zone of the late Neolithic Lengyel culture came from the early phase of the culture. It could be observed that the figural plastic representations of the Lengyel culture show many similar traits to those of the Tisza culture in the Alföld, which is not surprising since the two cultures even shared a few sites on the territory of Northern Hungary.Regarding the anthropomorphic vessels, regional divergences can be discovered in the early Neolithic of Southeast Europe, which divergences increased in the subsequent periods and differences appeared between cultures and also between the individual sites.

The paper discusses a structure of the settlement pattern of the Late Band Pottery culture – the Lengyel culture, Brześć Kujawski group, in a part of the Kujavia Plateau. In the first part, a microregional analysis of three selected sites is presented, in addition to discussing a special character of the associated artefacts. The second part focuses on the geography of settlement.

The paper contains ananalysis of flint materials belonging to the Lengyel culture in the region of Kujawy. The analysis included materials coming from the following excavations: Krusza Zamkowa (administrative district of Inowrocław), Konary (adm. district of Dąbrowa Biskupia ), Kościelec (adm. district of Pakość) excavated by the Kujawy Expedition of Institute of Archeology University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań, headed by doc. dr habil. A. Cofta-Broniewska as well as materials from archeological locations groupe in the Pakoskie Lake gully (Broniewice, adm. district of Mogilno, Dobieszewice, adm. district of Mogilno, Jankowo, adm. district of Pakość) discovered in the course of salvage researches conducted by Archeological and Conservation Laboratory PKZ in Poznań. The analyzed materials represent two developmental horizons in the Lengyel culture in the Kujawy region: the Early-Lengyeland the Late-Lengyel horizons. This chronological differentiation is also reflected in differentiation of technological-utility rules between both horizons. Technological difference concerns mainly rules of obtaining semi-raw materials. In materials belonging to the Early-Lengyel horizon (Jankowo 4, 15, Konary 20) there appeared flakes and blades cores with one striking surface while in findings of the Late-Lengyel culture dominate technique, which is bipolar flaking on an anavil. Toxonomic differences in the set of tools concern mainly the group of scrapers, which appeared to be quite numerous in the collection coming from the Early-Lengyel horizon with almost complete dificit of them in the Late-Lengyel collection, in the latter-retouch and microretouch specimens obtain a high index. The presented differences between materials provided by the Early-Lengyel horizon (Konary 20) and Late-Lengyel horizon (Broniewice 1/18) find their confirmation in development of the "lowland" group of the Lengyel culture. Flint materials of the Early-Lengyel horizon in Kujawy show many features common with excavations of the so-called Malicka group, and with excavations included by J. K. Kozłowski to the first chronological horizon in the Lengyel culture.

Methoden derLes nouvelles méthodes de datation et d’analyse des correspondances et AMS nous permettent de préciser et d’améliorer les schémas de chronologie relative dont nous disposons. Ainsi, pour la culture de Lengyel, (également connue sous le nom de Groupe morave-autrichien oriental), des schémas de chronologie absolue sont disponibles, mais la situation du Bassin des Carpates est actuellement différente: il n’existe pratiquement aucune date publiée pour la culture de Lengyel dans cette région. Un nouveau modèle chronologique pour la culture de Lengyel est proposé ici, sur la base d’une étude de la céramique retrouvée dans les ensembles funéraires qui fait usage de la méthode de l’analyse des correspondances et des approches Bayésiennes. Il en résulte que certains synchronismes (tels Lengyel I and II = Néolithique final = cultures de Tisza-Herpály: Lengyel III = Chalcolithique ancien = culture de Tiszapolgár) ne semblent plus valables.The AMS data and correspondence analysis methodology could correct and improve the relative chronology picture. For Lengyel culture (also named Moravian-Eastern-Austrian group) absolute chronological models have already been proposed. In Carpathian Basin the situation is quite different for the moment. Almost no absolute data are published for Lengyel culture in this area. A new chronological model for Lengyel culture is proposed based on the morphological aspects of the pottery inventory from funerary contexts and using correspondence analysis cross-checked by Bayesian approaches. The most interesting fact is that relative chronology synchronisms such as Lengyel I and II = Late Neolithic = Tisza-Herpály cultures and Lengyel III = Early Copper Age = Tiszapolgár culture do not seem to be valid anymoreModelarea datelor AMS şi utilizarea analizei de corespondenţă, ca şi metode de lucru, pot îmbunătăţi şi corecta tabloul cronologiei relative. Pentru cultura Lengyel (numită şi Grupul Morav – est-austriac) au fost deja propuse modele cronologice absolute. În Bazinul Carpatic situaţia este la acest moment un pic diferită. Extrem de puţine date radiocarbon pentru cultura Lengyel sunt publicate pentru acest areal. Un nou model cronologic al culturii Lengyel este propus aici, bazat pe analiza aspectelor morfologice ale inventarului ceramic provenit din contexte funerare. Analiza de corespondenţă, dublată de abordări Bayesiene ale datelor 14C, au fost folosite ca şi metode de lucru. Cel mai interesant aspect al rezultatelor obţinute este faptul că sincronisme ale cronologiei relative de tip Lengyel I–II = Neolitic Târziu = culturile Tisza-Herpály şi Lengyel III = Epoca Timpurie a Cuprului = cultura Tiszapolgár par a nu mai fi valabile.

This study presents the non-invasive investigation of a Late Neolithic circular enclosure discovered not long ago. We were able to document traces of a settlement and the nearly complete layout of a treble circular enclosure system (roundel) from the Lengyel culture at Ligetfalva, Gesztenyés-dűlő in Zala County. We provide a review of the possibilities and limitations of non-invasive research methods regarding Neolithic circular enclosures by presenting the investigations of the roundel at Ligetfalva conducted by land survey, aerial photography and geophysical survey.

Pregnancy in the cult of Lengyel culture and the Neolithic of South-East Europe . The present paper examines the role of idols of pregnant women and pregnancy in the Neolithic cult of Central and Southeastern Europe after 72 selected representations. The study started from three clay idols showing marks of pregnancy from the Moragy, Gyore and Santovka sites of the Lengyel culture and the burial of a woman who had died in childbirth unearthed in the Lengyel culture cemetery of Alsonyek-Kanizsa-dűlő. The first representations of pregnancy appeared in the Palaeolithic and they also occurred, even though sporadically, in the Neolithic of Near East and Southeastern Europe as well.Pregnant women are represented in the clay idols in standing, sitting (enthroned) and half-sitting positions just as it was normal at the idols of the Neolithic, although most of them belong among the standing representations. Sixteen groups of the representations of pregnancy could be differentiated by size and shape.Idols showing ma...

Neolithic settlements in the Kujawy region of central Poland are represented by seven archaeological sites which have botanical material archaeologically dated to the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) (ca. 5400-5000 cal. B.C.) and the Lengyel culture (ca. 4400-4000 cal. B.C.). The composition of plant remains suggests that Stipa pennata s.l. played a certain role in the economy of the Neolithic settlers. The presence of this xerothermic grass is best explained by local gathering rather than distant transport or coming into the sediment by chance. The finding of Hierochloe cf. australis grains represents the first identification of this plant in archaeobotanical material from Poland. This, now rare, plant contains coumarin and for this reason could have been useful in prehistory. Other plants such as Bromus spp., Chenopodium album type, Fallopia convolvulus and Galium spp. were found in large quantities, and although common weeds now, they could also have been collected by the Neolithic settlers. Plants such as Corylus avellana and Vaccinium vitis-idaea that are typically considered to be collected as foods are present in the studied material but in very small quantities.

The article examines the treatment technology of the obsidian chipped stone industry, which, like the other findings, is mostly obtained from the major feature B15. The remains of an oven with a dome-shaped vault were also discovered inside it. Obsidian has an extremely high ratio among raw materials used in tool manufacturing at the monocultural site, accounting for 62% of the assemblage. All phases of its processing are present, allowing the reconstruction of technology. Obsidian is commonly used in the Lengyel culture sites in south and southwest Slovakia, but it is usually found in smaller quantities because it is a raw material obtained from a considerable distance. Until now, the more abundant assemblages have received insufficient evaluation in Slovakia. Kiarov is distinguished by the presence of miniature cores, which were utilized primarily to produce tiny bladelets, likely used as parts of more complex tools. In addition to obsidian, Tevel-type flint, limnosilicite, and silicite from the Kraków-Czêstochowa Jurassic were used in the manufacture of tools. These raw materials yielded larger blades. The Kiarov-Veľké ortovisko site demonstrates the different usage of several raw materials.

The article informs about the discovery of the remains of a circular structure called a rondel, in this case featuring a double rondel in ‘Padělky’ field near Uherský Ostroh (SE Moravia, Czech Republic) and offers the results of non-destructive methods of research performed there in 2016–2020. The double circular complex was discovered during an analysis of satellite images of the Earth’s surface and subsequently verified by geophysical prospection. The resulting magnetogram revealed two ditches interrupted by five presumptive entrances at the site, along with dozens of anomalies that can be interpreted as potential archaeological features. Multiple-phase prehistoric occupation at the site was later proved by surface surveys. Occupation of the earlier phase of the Linear Pottery culture and the Lengyel culture has been documented. The age of the rondel itself remains an open question for the time being, however; it can only be clarified by a regular excavation. The present study discusses the existing possibilities of dating from various perspectives. Besides a probable dating the rondel to the Lengyel culture, a later, Early Eneolithic or Early Bronze Age, dating cannot be ruled out either.

The appearance of the first farming groups on the North European Plain was the turning point for the Mesolithic foragers who had inhabited that region for almost 7000 years. Interrelations between these two very different communities are fascinating for archaeologists interested in the northern European Stone Age. Research at Dąbki in Poland provides elements for a discussion of the Neolithic transformation along the southern Baltic coast. Pottery from the regions inhabited by Danubian societies has been found in a hunting-gathering context (), a fact that sheds light on relations between local Late Mesolithic communities and early farmers. Imports from the Linear Pottery Culture, the Stroked Pottery Culture, the Lengyel Culture, and the Ertebølle Culture are found associated with Late Mesolithic layers, while pottery of the Bodrogkeresztúr Culture is related with the local Funnel Beaker settlement. This imported pottery reflects long lasting contacts between Mesolithic and those Neolithic communities that promoted the neolithization of the coastal region.

The paper publishes a recently excavated grave and the possible remains of an adjacent, but destroyed grave, both dated to the Late Neolithic Lengyel Culture. The graves were found in 2010 during a rescue excavation near the village of Borjád (Baranya County, southwestern Hungary). The intact grave (and most probably the destroyed one, too) belongs to a recently discovered type of high-status burial within a large rectangular burial pit with hollowed corners. Many of these graves are richly endowed with grave goods. Though hundreds of Lengyel Culture graves have been published so far from Baranya, the intact Borjád grave is the first of the type from the county, and second outside the site (Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Tolna County) where the type was discovered.

The landscapes of the Mohelno settlement microregion are mostly gently undulating, but also dissected by two deeply incised river valleys – the Oslava River valley in the north and the Jihlava River valley in the south. The western boundary is formed by Zelený kopec (491 m above sea level, while the eastern boundary is marked by Biskoupský kopec (397.3 m above sea level) and Vodanský kopec (397.5 m above sea level). This microregion was settled at different intensities during the whole duration of prehistory. The ‘Boleniska’ elevation is located in the central part of the microregion and forms a strategic point – the entire microregion is visible from this elevation. This elevation comprise of an occupational palimpsest with intensive occupation during three different periods: at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (probably more than one techno-complex), the Late Neolithic (Lengyel culture) and at the end of the Eneolithic period (Bell Beaker culture). There is a high density of sites in this microregion from all three periods of interest. A similar settlement pattern (similar topography and cultural sequences) is known from other Moravian microregions. A preliminary testing of the site’s spatial distribution and a visibility analysis support the hypothesis indicating Mohelno – ‘Boleniska’ as a central site within the entire microregion only in the Paleolithic. The number of similar palimpsests composed of Paleolithic, Neolithic and Eneolithic sites is low within the entire microregion and the interpretation of this phenomenon must also take into consideration climatic factors, subsistence strategies, and socio-economic conditions in future research.

To the east of the main excavated area at Alsonyek, a small investigation took place which revealed a Sopot culture occupation, represented by pits, four ditches and 18 graves with the remains of 20 individuals. Some time-depth to the occupation is seen in the ditches cutting the pits, and some of the graves cutting the third ditch. The enclosed area was about five hectares, based on geomagnetic survey, but it is not possible to estimate the entire size of the occupation. The Sopot culture is normally regarded as a horizon with a questionable chronological position on the boundary between the Middle and Late Neolithic in western Hungary. Its role in the formation of the large-scale Lengyel complex remains controversial. Scholars can agree that it was brought to the region from the south, but there have been different views concerning the timing of its spread in the western Carpathian basin. Some have seen it as an entirely pre-Lengyel development, and others as at least partly contemporaneous with the early Lengyel culture. Dating within the ERC-funded project, The Times of Their Lives, aimed to provide formally modelled estimates of the timing and duration of the Sopot occupation at Alsonyek, and in so doing also to contribute to better understanding of the context and development of the Sopot culture in Hungary. The paper presents 17 dates on human and animal bone (including five existing dates from burials), which are modelled in a Bayesian statistical framework. The model concentrates on the samples available from the burials, and its main element regards the burials as representing a continuous period of activity in this area of the Alsonyek complex. The model estimates that the Sopot burials probably began in 5095-5020 cal BC (68% probability), probably lasted for 220-340 years (68% probability), and probably ended in 4825-4750 cal BC (68% probability). The model also estimates a terminus ante quem for the digging of Ditch 211 of probably 4930-4870 cal BC (68% probability). These estimates help to inform debate about the relative sequence of cultural developments in the region, and the relationship of Sopot communities to those of the LBK and the Lengyel cultures. As Alsonyek is the largest currently known Sopot burial ground in Hungary in eastern Transdanubia, this chronology is particularly valuable for modelling cultural interactions along the Danube between the northern Balkans and the Carpathian basin. The Sopot component also contributes significantly to the construction of a robust chronology for the long sequence of occupations at Alsonyek.