New data on the history of the copper age in the region beyond the Tisza

The present publication reports some finds from copper-age settlement remains dug up in East Hungary in recent years (Fig. 1).

Kétegyháza I: a settlement of Bodrogkeresztur type

The settlement was opened up by Gyula Gazdapusztai in the course of his research into mound burials of the pit-grave type (Yamnaya culture). The people of the pit-grave kurgans dug in one of its interments into a slight mound developed by the settlement in question, and then raised a further small mound over it, utilizing the environmental culture layer of the settlement. Thus, the finds of the Bodrogkeresztur type came to light in the course of the excavation of the mound in both primary and secondary positions (Figs. 2—7, Tables I—VII).

The find material exhibits connections with the Bodrogkeresztur settlements of Her-culane II and Tarnabod. In addition to the material presented, the documentation of the excavation mentions the finding of a „Scheibenhenkel", which was lost after the death of the leader of the excavation. The author assumes that from a chronological point of view the settlement may be contemporary with the cemeteries of Jászladány and Pusztaistvánháza

Kétegyháza II: settlement of the Cernavoda III—Boleráz type

This settlement lies a few hundred metres from the Bodrogkeresztur settlement described above, and similarly came to light during the excavations of Gyula Gazdapusztai. Some of the finds (fireplaces around the central grave of mound 5/a, object „A" at the activity level of mound 6) are presumably directly related with the basic burials of the pit-grave kurgans. This is indicated by the finding of horse-bones among the objects of the settlement. The find material represents the early Cernavoda III level (Figs. 8—16, Tables VIII—X).

No connection at all can be detected in the material of these two settlements, which were dug up in the immediate vicinity of each other. We assume that the direct cause of the termination of the Bodrogkeresztur settlement was not the arrival of the Cernavoda III population. The find material containing elements of the „pure" Hunyadihalom type, or more exactly late Salcuta and certain Cernavoda elements, can be dated to the period between the two settlements. Since the extent of these settlements beyond the Tisza covers the area of incidence of the material of a Cernavoda III—Boleráz character, but their finds are not mixed, it may be assumed that the Cernavoda III—Boleráz groups arrived in the region of Eastern Hungary immediately after the late Salcuta population27-41. Relics of the settlement of the late Salcuta population are surmised in the material of the settlement discovered at the Mezőberény—Békési road site in the course of the excavations by Borbála Maráz (Fig. 1, notation 2). Find material: Figs. 17—20, Tables XI—XII.

Those early Baden settlement traces in the material of which the Boleráz types occur in great number can be arranged chronologically between the Cernavoda III period and the hitherto discovered classical and late Baden material from beyond the Tisza. It is here that the settlement material found at the Szeghalom—Dióér site is connected to the material of the sites thus far presented (Fig. 1, notation 3).

The material of trench III/l, providing material of a practically purely early nature, is particularly interesting (Tables XIII—XIV). Numerous early types again come to light from the culture layer of the settlement, together with classical types (Figs. 21—22, Table XV).

The chronological sequence of the settlement remains presented is therefore : Kétegyháza I—Mezőberény—Kétegyháza II—Szeghalom-Dióér.

The author assumes that after the Bodrogkeresztur period an extremely dynamic era began beyond the Tisza, in which a significant part may have been played by the first groups of the people of the pit-grave mounds. In successive waves there arrived in this region the late Salcuta and then the Cernavoda III populations, and the steppe groups perhaps giving rise in part to the entire migration ; the first kurgan burials of these in Romania and the area beyond the Tisza must be reckoned with from the Cernavoda I—III periods.

La Tene-age isolated graves and small cemeteries on the South Hungarian Plain

The finds to be reported below are linked by one of their main characteristics : all of them came to light from isolated burials or from cemeteries containing only 3—4 graves, and it proved during the corroboratory excavations that more graves can not be reckoned with in the given area (Fig. 1.)

I. Battonya-Kertész-timber-yard : the La Tene-age finds were discovered in 1937, and may have belonged to at least 2, and at most 3—4 graves ; one of them was crematoria!2. Inventory: 7- and 8-membered bullate leglets (Fig. 2; Table I, 1—2), an iron sword, an iron chain, two jugs with handles and a bowl (Fig. 4, 1). The small burial-ground can be dated to the first half of the LT С.

II. Földeák: individual grave, probably with crematorial rites (large urn covered by a bowl, and in it six smaller vessels). This is dated to the LT D period.

III. Kiszombor В : individual grave excavated by Ferenc Móra in a 426-grave cemetery of the migration period. A grave containing a skeleton of N—S orientation; on the right foot a hollow anklet made from a bronze plate, and decorated with wolf's toothlike groovings (Fig. 3,1); on the chest a fragment of a button-based iron fibula (Fig. 3,2) This can be classified in the LT С period.

IV. Kiszombor С (Nagyhalom) : 300—500 m from the isolated grave Kiszombor B, Ferenc Móra excavated four La Tene-age graves in the side of the Nagyhalom kurgan; three of these contained skeletons, and one was crematorial. The finds: urns, a bowl, a mug with a handle, a two-handled amphora and an iron spear (Table II, 1—3; Fig. 4, 2—4). On the basis of the finds, the small cemetry can be assigned to the LT С period.

V. Mártély—Gátőrház: probably an isolated female grave; E—W orientation. Inventory: fragment of bronze pendant, a bronze girdla , glass beads, a blue glass bracelet decorated with white inlay, two small bronze rings and a clay pot (Tables III— —IV; Fig. 5). This can be dated to the second half of the LT С, or to the 1st century B. C.

VI. Székkutas—Sóshalom: probably a female grave; of SE—NW orientation. Inventory: a turned bowl, a lignite bracelet and four-membered bullate leglet pair, and pieces of a bronze chain (Table V). The skeletal-ritual isolated grave can be ascribed to the LT D period.

VII. Szeghalom—Halaspuszta: a small cemetery consisting of 4—5 graves, with skeletal ritual. Inventory: repeatedly folded iron sword and vessel

Isolated graves and those in groups of three-four can be found throughout the entire territory inhabited by the Celts. As regards the reasons for their existence, it can not be considered that the indicate „princely" burials separated by design, since with the exception of the Mártély grave (which alone may be regarded as belonging to the richer, ruling layer), all of them are common burials. Nor is it probable that, for instance, the weapon- supplemented graves are the individual burying-places of soldiers who were killed during the marauding expeditions of migrations, for they occur in the small cemeteries together with female graves. These burials are not the results of a brief, transitory Celtic passage or a scattered settlement, and they do not show that the Celts merely passed through the region of the South Hungarian Plain in the course of their raids towards the south and south-east. Thus, there is a continual increase in the number of cemeteries in this region which contain sometimes more than a hundred graves (Békéssámson, Gyoma—Egei halom, Orosháza—Gyopáros), and this points to a more considerable Celtic occupation.

The isolated graves and small cemeteries show that the Celts do not exhibit the phenomenon observed in the migration-period nomadic peoples that the cemetery was the "centre" of a larger community based on kinship, where everyone was interred regardless of his dwelling-place (or simply the lack of a permanent dwelling-place). The considerable fluctuations in the number of graves in the Celtic cemeteries may have been caused by the fact that these cemeteries simply followed the settlement system. Accordingly, the isolated graves and small cemeteries may have been attached to farms consisting of only one or two houses, to vicus-type settlements or to settlements inhabited for only a very brief period ; the large cemeteries sometimes containing more than a hundred graves may have belonged to extensive villages or oppida.

We know about such settlement-forms of the Celts from archaeological observations, but primarily from the writings of the ancient authors (Caesar, Tacitus, Appianos). However, the same is shown by our knowledge to date of the settlements on the South Hungarian Plain: in addition to the oppidum-like settlements, others which were extremely small and inhabited for brief periods are also known from Csongrád — Vidre island, from Szegvár, from the Ószentiván VIII find-site, from Hódmezővásárhely—Fehértópart and from Kiszombor.

Our presently known La Tene-age settlements and cemeteries indicate therefore that the appreciable differences in extent of the cemeteries have been caused by the settlement-forms and settlement system of the Celts.

New data on the history of the county of Békés in the period of the Hungarian conquest

A brief factual account is presented of archaeological and anthropological relics from Gerendás and Mezőkovácsháza, where two cemeteries dating from the period of the Hungarian conquest were excavated during archaeological topographic operations. In both sites incomplete cemeteries came to light in the course of the digging, with 5 graves at Gerendás and 7 graves at Mezőkovácsháza. The cemeteries can be dated to the 10th—11th centuries. The finds do not display particular characteristics, and did not permit conclusions as to the internal order of the cemetery. The equestrian interment in grave 1 at Gerendás supports the assumption that in this burial form the stripped-off horse-skin was folded together; this form of burial is very widespread in the common Hungarian interments and is also frequent in the county of Békés.

As regards the anthropological characterization, the article contains the R. Martin-type data of these 12 graves, and their brief taxonomic analysis in the nomenclature of P. Lipták. Turanian and Turkic features belonging to the ruling layer of the Magyars do not occur in the Gerendás cemeteries, and the Cro-Magnon type feature may be traced from either the local inhabitants or from the original home of the Magyars. At the same time, grave 1 in the Mezőkovácsháza cemetery is of mixed Turanian-Eastern Baltic type, which is a characteristic of the "good" early Magyar cemeteries in this region in this age.

At the end of the article there is a brief summary of the findings of János Matolcsi regarding the animal bones.

The aim of the article was to subject two valuable cemetery sections to a complex scientific data-presentation treatment, in order to establish the facts for posterity and for a future larger review work.

Some Avar-age finds in the county of Békés

An account is given of some scattered finds from among those which have found their way into the museums of the county during the past ten years.

Kevermes. Finds from an Early-A var female grave : a gold ear-pendant of large globular type; two compact silver barcelets, of horn-ended type, on one of which there is a chased rhombus decoration. The finds from the grave also include a gilded bronze cosmetic spoon, a gilded bronze knife handle sheathing and two spindle-rings. The finds can be dated to the beginning of the 7th century.

Mezőkovácsháza. On the basis of the finds discovered during the exploration of 16 graves in an Early-Avar cemetery, the site-section can be assigned to the middle of the 7th century. The most important finds are a silver ear-pendant of large globular type, inlaid pearls and pressed belt-studdings. Partial equestrian interments were observed in several graves, the horse-bones having been placed on one or other side of the human skeleton. The majority of the examined graves had been disturbed.

Körösladány. A scattered find which has been placed in the Békéscsaba museum is a pyramidal shaped gold ear-pendant with granulous decoration. This ear-pendant can be dated to the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century.

Doboz. In the course of agricultural work a number of graves were destroyed, but from the finds out of the graves three objects found their way into the museum. These are a griffe-foliated bronze large belt end, an open-work, foliated-motive bronze buckle, and a loop-lugged, child's iron stirrup. The finds can be assigned to the middle of the 8th century.

In spite of the scattered nature of the finds presented, they are of significance as regards the history of the Avar-age settlement in the county.

Carved stones of the Csolt monastery at Vésztő

The Csolt monastery, which is at present being explored, stood long ago on the Mágor hill to the west of Vésztő. This article discusses the most important of its carvings.

The group of church buildings were constructed in several periods. The first was a small church with one nave and a chancel ending in a semicircular arch ; this was probably there in the 11th century. A church was later built in its place with three naves and a basilican arrangement. Its main nave ended in a semicircular arch, and its side-aisles with straight walls. The monastery was built to the south of the church, and according to the data to the present it was connected to the church in a U form. The three-nave church and the monastery may have been built in the 12th century. The buildings were richly decorated with various carvings, the following fragments being the most important of these.

Fragment with foliated scroll-motive (Fig. 1) from the debris at the entrance to room "A" of the monastery, and palmetted door-frame fragment (Fig. 2) and smooth engaged-column corniced door-frame fragments (Fig. 3) from this same debris. The significance of the small leaf-motive fragment found in the apse of the church is provided by the tool-marks visible on its surface (Fig. 4).

The cornice fragment found in one of the houses in the village is the most important of the carvings discovered so far. Its delineation is individual, and its craftsmanship is of an artistic level. This stone was one of the left-side cornice sections of the west door of the church (Figs. 5—6). The representation of a bearded "turbanned man" of eastern appearance on the stone has no equivalent in Hungary from the 12th century.

In a south-west part of the monastery a white marble capital was found. Three of its sides are decorated: one dog is on each of two sides, while on the third there is a triple leaf-motive. The fourth side is plain. Because of the representation of the dog, the capital is very important and is without parallel at present among the Romanesque carvings in Hungary (Figs. 7—10).

Also of importance are the stone crowns, and the palmetted door-frame fragments found during the excavations in 1972 (Figs. 11—12).

Restoration of the horse-driven mill at Szarvas as an ancient monument

The only horse-driven mill in Hungary to have remained in its complete entirety in equipment and structure is in the town of Szarvas. The mill was kept going until 1962, but after the illness and the death of the then owner, Sándor Tomka, in 1963, the personal and material conditions for its operation no longer existed. Its further existence was ensured when it was bought, together with the related out-buildings, by the Directorate of the Békés County Museums in 1968.

The horse-driven mill was built in 1836 for the family of Count Bolza, the local landowner. The date of the construction is carved into the beam of the millstone support in the mill-house. In the same place there was originally a coat-of-arms, presumably that of the Bolza family, but this was removed in the course of a later reconstruction. Tradition has it that the builders of the mill were Czech master-craftsmen, but this does not appear probable, and apart from the one verbal account no other data point to this. There were mill-building master-craftsmen in both Szarvas and the other market-towns of the Hungarian Plain. Mill-building was a flourishing trade, even in that time. The millers, grouped in guild-associations, were then still carving master carpenters too.

In the first half of the 19th century the number of horse-driven mills increased continuously. In Szarvas the windmills did not succeed in ousting them. Of the 48 mills operating in the town and on the farms in the period 1847—1857, 44 were horse-driven mills, 3 were windmills and 1 was a steam-mill.

Horse-driven mills in the county of Békés are mentioned in a written account dating from 1449. Inventories from the following centuries, and particularly the 18th—19th centuries, list many horse-driven mills throughout the country, but mainly in the towns of the Great Hungarian Plain.

In the war of liberation against the Turks, Szarvas was destroyed and stood neglected and uninhabited for decades. It was obtained by J. György Harruckerrn in 1720, and its re-settlement was begun. In 1723 it had already received the franchises of a market-town. Among the first requests of the settlers was the construction of a communal horse-driven mill, and permission for this was granted. In the agricultural chronicle of the market-town of Szarvas, Sámuel Tessedik gave an account of the position of the horse-driven mills. He would gladly have seen water-mills in their place, for the horses employed deteriorated.

In the middle of the 19th century the town mills of the former landowners were found with few exceptions in private hands. Of the 48 mills recorded between 1847 and 1857, 45 were privately owned. This well reflects the social and economic changes of that age. The booming agricultural market-production, the good quality of Hungarian wheat and flour, and the commencement of its delivery abroad, all ensured a temporary prosperity for the horse-driven mills. Their number increased rapidly in the 1850's. There were still few steam-mills operating in that period, but at the beginning of the 20th century the number of steam-mills increased to such an extent that the horse-driven mills could not compete with them.

At the request of the Directorate of the Békés County Museums, the National Monument Advisory Board prepared a plan for the restoration of the horse-driven mill as a monument in 1969. (The architect-designer of the restoration was Béla Sisa, and the ethnographic and historical treatment of the mill was prepared by Mrs. Z. Erdélyi.) Since its construction 130 years previously, the double horse-driven mill had been repaired or reconstructed on several occasions. The last repair of the remaining single mill had taken place about 10 years before, but during this period all of the structures of the mill had seriously deteriorated and had become unsuitable for further use. The task of the restoration was complete technical renewal (taking into consideration the ancient-monument principles) and the putting of the mill in working order. The horse-driven mill was restored in accordance with the requirements of the owners, and subsequent to the restoration will function as a museum.

The horse-driven mill consists of a circling pavilion, a mill-house and a repair-shop. During the restoration, the outbuildings which had been added to the mill at a later date, and which were architecturally and historically of no value, were demolished. The supporting columns of the circling pavilion had become unsuitable for further load-bearing, and nine of these colums therefore had to be exchanged. Similarly, strengthening of the masonry of the mill-house had to be carried out, and here the original aperture-closing structures were re-installed. For reasons of technical necessity, about half of the roof structure had to be replaced. The brick supporting-columns of the circling pavilion were plastered and the adobe masonry of the mill-house was rebuilt, and these were then lime-washed three times. The shell of the roofing was prepared from shingle in accordance with the original covering. The finial of the circling pavilion was reconstructed on the basis of analogous examples. An effort was made to restore the interior of the mill-house uniformly. The structure of the horse-driven mill had remained comparatively sound, and thus only adjustment was necessary.

Also exhibited on the site attached to the horse-driven mill are the horse's stall, the draw-well and the maize-barn.

The restoration of this horse-driven mill means the preservation for posterity of one of the most important industrial-historical monuments in Hungary.

Slovak Folklore Múzeum in Békéscsaba

In the resettlement of Békéscsaba, which had been completely destroyed during the Turkish occupation of Hungary, an important role was played by settlers from the Slovak highlands. The town of Békéscsaba has paid a tribute to the superhuman work of the Slovaks in the resettlement by converting one of its most beautiful folk-architectural relics to a muzeum.

The building stands at 21 Garai St. The house was built for András Csankó, and according to the plaster decoration on the face the date of the conclusion of the building was 1865. The master-builder is not known. The ground-plan lay-out and the heating arrangement make the house one of the most developed examples of the type of house characteristic of Central Hungary and the Great Plain.

The house at 21 Garai St. is a typical porched building of Békéscsaba. In its present form it contains only part of the unified state it was in in 1865; this is due to the division of the ground-plot which took place later. The reconstruction of the stables and the outbuildings could not be carried out as these now lie outside the boundaries of the plot.

The ground-plan lay-out : room, kitchen, room, closet. From the porch running along the wall facing the court-yard open another closet, the entrance to the cellar and the entrance to the attic. A porch was built in front of the house.

In the course of the restoration as a monument the planner aimed at re-establishing the 1865 state within the present boundaries of the plot. One of the tasks of the restoration was the static strengthening of the building. The demolished free-chimney was reconstructed on the basis of a similar example, as was the stove in the back room in accordance with that still present in the front room. The heating arrangement in the free-chimneyed kitchen was restored on the basis of examples still existing today. The decorative colouring of the heating arrangement and the decoration of the ceilings of the closets was carried out by Károly Gaburek, in accordance with the guidance of elderly Slovak women of Békéscsaba, on the basis of traditional examples. The more modern brick pillars of the porch were demolished and the original carved wooden porch was restored. The deteriorated mortar decorations and columns of the gable were replaced with special attention. The fence and the gate were reconstructed on the basis of analogous examples.

The planner of the reconstruction was László Borbola, an architect (Békéscsaba Council Planning Enterprise). The restoration as a monument under his direction was performed at a high level. The restored building can therefore be listed among the best folk-monuments in Hungary.

The furnishing of the house was the work of Dr. György Tábori, and recalls the dwellings of the more well-to-do Slovak householder in the second half of the 19th century.

German personal names in the village of Elek

A study is made of the personal names of the German population indigenous to the village of Elek in the county of Békés for the period between 1734 and 1945. The year 1734 was chosen as the starting-point of the study for the reason that accurate parish registers detailing the inhabitants of Elek are available from that time.

The article deals with naming as the active manifestation form of general taste and of the intellectual aspect of a community (christian names, nicknames, and Magyarization of surnames), but it also gives an account of surnames with regard to their frequency.

The author distinguishes three periods in the history of Elek, on the basis of the composition of the inhabitants: (1) the Elek of the Middle Ages, which was destroyed after the affair of Gyula (1566); (2) the Harruchern-period Elek. Frank settlers moved to the site of the Middle-Age village in two waves (1724 and 1744), and founded the still existing village; (3) the development of the „four-nationality" Elek after 1946. The article examines the second of these three periods ; the registers indicate that in this period, for a century following the settlements, the population of the village became firmly established, and as regards the farm-working inhabitants this had already happened by the end of the 18th century. The 19th century settlers pursued trades or other middle-class occupations, and became assimilated with the indigenous inhabitants within one or two generations. The most frequent surnames at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century were all of 18th century origin.

The part dealing with the christian names uses the data in the registers to analyse the frequencies of occurrence of male and female names and their interrelation in the 18th— 19th centuries, and refers to the factors influencing the use of the names.

The investigations concerning nicknames extend to the development of the names and their social role. The author systematizes the nicknames and discusses their different types. He turns to linguistic questions of the use of names, and finally to the problem of the Magyarization of names too.

Six Soutern Slav folksongs from Battonya

The author presents six folk-poetry works of the Serbian ethnic group in the three-nationality village of Battonya on the South-East Hungarian Plain. These were collected in 1969—1972.

In the introductory part of the study, some problems of comparison are examined; then, following from the prosodie, structural characteristics of the texts from Battonya, and from a comparison with Yugoslav literary data, the relevant, current evidence of the survival and traditional passing-on is analysed.

It is shown that certain, outstanding pieces of Serbian oral tradition in Battonya (Kosovska bitka) have essentially been preserved in a traditional way since the resettlement, and have lost practically nothing from their beauty.

The article is supplemented by the author's translations in Hungarian.

The short-toed lark in the district of Orosháza

The subspecies of the short-toed lark nesting exclusively on the Great Hungarian Plain (Calandrella brachydactyla hungarica Horváth 1956) lives in insular-like segregation on the Hortobágy and the Kardoskút reservation. The article gives an account of the population around Orosháza and deals with the problems of the evolution of the hungarica-race. According to the author, the Calandrella genus became acclimatized in the Carpathian basin either in a postglacial xerothermal steppe-period 7—5000 years ago, or during recent centuries. In the former case the hungarica-race may have developed alike by slow acclimatization or by mutation. According to the second hypothesis, however, it can have evolved only via mutation.

Bibliography of ornithological research in the county of Békés

The composition and quantitative relations of the continentally significant avifauna of Hungary are extensively affected by the particular zoogeographical characteristics in the county of Békés. A comprehensive treatment of its fauna is extremely desirable. The literature of the ornithological research work carried out so far in the territory of the county, or affecting the county, is a rich one, but as a consequence of its scattered nature it is difficultly accessible. The collection and publication of these works of reference is aimed at the promotion of the realization of an ornothological monograph on the county of Békés.

The form of the citations follows the method now general in the international ornithological specialist literature. With only a very few exceptions, the listed books, specialist articles and popularizing works (which are also of scientific value) can be found in the library of the Ornithological Institute (Budapest, XII., Költő u. 21.). The collection contains publications which appeared up to 31 December 1972.