Prehistoric Industrial Area in the Bakony Mts.
Exhibition of the Laczkó Dezső Museum, Veszprém and the
Hungarian National Museum
15th of March 1995 - 31st of December, 1995.
Arranged by Katalin T. Biró and J. Regenye
Veszprém, 1995
Szentgál, West-Central Hungary
Map of the Tűzköveshegy exploitation area and the Füzi-
kút settlement
Foreword
This exhibition aimed at presenting the results of two
excavations performed in the past ten years. Both
excavations were conducted in the environs of a rich
and large village lying in the southern parts of the
Bakony Mts., West-Central Hungary. One of these
excavations was performed between 1983 and 1985, and
continued after a few years' break in 1993 and 1994.
This work aimed at the investigation of the
prehistoric mine located on the Tűzköveshegy. The other
excavation opened up a Late Neolithic settlement lying
only three kilometres from the mining area. These two
excavations were interrelated, apart from the
geographical proximity, in the basic unity of the
questions the archaeologists aimed to answer by the
work, i.e., prehistoric industrial activities in the
light of contemporary settlement relations and social
background.
The present exhibition endeavoured to present the
lifestyle and technological knowledge of prehistoric
people, on the basis of the results of these
investigations.
The computer presentation installed in the exhibition
aimed at providing further information in text and
pictures. You are invited to browse in it for getting a
glimpse of the origin of the roots of our high
technology.
The Szentgál-Tűzköveshegy flint mine
Mining is a hard physical work even today, using the
modern facilities of metals and machinery. In spite of
this, it is detected among very ancient proofs of human
activities. Exploitation sites for necessary, useful
and suitable quality raw materials which can be
described best, according to our modern notions of
activity areas as mines are known since Palaeolithic
times. The most ancient mines were typically exploiting
lithic raw materials, mainly silices, i.e., 'flint',
used for the production of chipped stone artifacts.
These mines are generally referred to as 'flint mines'
without specifying the exact name of the rock.
An essential part of the contemporary tools like picks,
shovels and wedges made of wood or transporting vessels
made of hide or basketry can be reconstructed, due to
the perishing organic raw material, from ethnographical
analogies only. Rarely,lucky finds can serve traces of
these perishable goods in the soil or traces of working
by these tools on more lasting finds.
The most frequently found working tool in a prehistoric
mine is the hammerstone. They are typically made of
quartzite pebbles of handy size, but there are quite
big and heavy hammers as well. These heavy percussion
tools could be used directly for breaking the flint
bed. It is more likely,however, that the layers were
loosened by the joint application of using wooden
wedges, natural moisture and heat effects. The large
broken blocks of flint were shaped by the help of the
smaller hammers into portable blocks for transport and
further processing.
The raw material exploited at Szentgál-Tűzköveshegy
The site has preserved in its name, possibly for dozens
of centuries, the memory of the treasure of the
mountain. 'Tűzkő' in Hungarian means flint, a specific
kind of siliceous rocks. It is composed basically of
SiO2 minerals, quartz and chalcedony. The name of the
rock reflects its role in kindling fire (= tűz). Even
in our century, the shepherds' kit had to include
facilities for kindling fire; flint, steel and tinder.
Names like 'Kovásdomb' (Silex Hill) or 'Tűzköves'
(Flinty) were preferentially given to places, slopes,
hillsides where flint was abundantly found by field-
walking people. These parts of the countryside often
proved to be prehistoric settlements, mines or
workshops.
Before the use and general spreading of metals an
essential part of the tools were made of 'stone',
typically, hard, lasting and easy-to-flake silex.
The Tűzköveshegy (Flintstone Mountain) at Szentgál is
one of the richest natural sources of silex. The rock
exploited here - by its exact geological name,
radiolarite - supplied the Northern parts of
Transdanubia and regions beyond with good quality
lithic raw material.
Radiolarite belongs to the family of siliceous rocks.
It is composed of micro- and cryptocrystalline quartz
and chalcedony. The bulk of the rock is built up from
the skeletal elements of siliceous microfossils called
Radiolaria.
This rock is formed in the deepest regions of tropical
and subtropical oceans. During the Jurassic period, the
large equatorial ocean called Tethys accumulated
incredible amounts of these beings which can be found
today in the form of radiolarite belt from Spain till
the Himalayas along the Alpean mountain system.
Radiolarite as a rock is quite widely distributed. Its
quality, however,is essentially influenced by local
geographical and geological conditions.
The radiolarite of the Tűzköveshegy is of specially
homogeneous character, void of tectonic fractures. It
is found here in vivid attractive colours (red, yellow)
which is not typical for other geological sources. Its
bedrock is called after its raw white colour and porose
texture porcellanite, wwhich is composed basically of
opal CT and can be exploited more easily than the
radiolarite found in the siliceous limestone layers of
the Gerecse Mountains. Favourable strike and easy
transport conditions at Szentgál-Tűzköveshegy (the
former mining area lies along currently important
international mainroad and railroad lines) probably
contributed to the formation of the largest workshop
and exploitation area complex in Hungary.
Prehistoric villages around the Tűzköveshegy
The environs of the Tűzköveshegy at Szentgál was
uninhabited for most periods of prehistory. Uncertain
traces of Palaeolithic material were reported from the
vicinity of Városlőd, the neighbouring village;
however, there were no notable traces of settlement
here till the end of the Late Neolithic period.
Neolithic farmers could not permanently settle inside
the mountains. Therefore, in spite of the fact that the
material originating from the mining area is known
permanently from the sites of all periods denoting
continuous access and exploitation, the immediate
environs of the mine were not populated, with the
exception of a short period, till the end of the Bronze
Age. The exploitation of the area was probably solved
by temporary - seasonal - expeditions, from the
habitation areas lying in the distance of one or two
days' walk. The expeditions could probably be performed
during the early spring when visibility is excellent
and the night frost can help the work of the miners.
By the end of the Late Neolithic, the source area was
surrounded by a ring of contemporary settlements
comprising 8 prehistoric villages. Processing the
lithic raw material was seemingly a central activity in
the life of these settlements. The densely located
settlements on a formerly uninhabited area can be
explained by intensive protection of the area and the
increase of the production of the mines.
Temporal and quantitative dimensions of the use of the
Tűzköveshegy mine
The age of archaeological finds and features is
generally determined on the basis of the formal
characteristics by typological method. This means that
the individual classes of objects are ordered into
types on the basis of morphological similarity and
these types are arranged in a relative chronological
order. Most of the classes of objects used in
prehistory have an elaborate typology like pottery,
metals and stone tools as well.
The typological system of stone tools was established
basically for Palaeolithic implements, within the
latter category, to retouched tools. The basic
techniques of chipped stone tool production were
already in use by the Upper Palaeolithic period (cca.
30000-10000 B.C.). Compared to the Palaeolithic
assemblages, more recent prehistoric communities did
not develop chipped stone tool producing technology
essentially. Moreover, the material of workshops and
exploitation areas contain mainly rejected flakes,
spoilt tools which serve very poor typological
evidence. Therefore,the determination of the period of
use for workshop areas is extremely difficult.
Generally, the age of the exploitation area can be
directly determined on the basis of objects suitable
for traditional archaeological dating or scientific
dating methods. This can be pottery fragments or
charred wood, bone tools suitable for C-14 dating.
Unfortunately, the Szentgál mining area did not furnish
so far finds which could be unambiguously dated.
Therefore the period of the use of the mine was
determined by indirect methods. Distribution of the raw
material originating from the source area was used as
an indirect indicator for the utilisation period.
The characteristic Szentgálradiolarite was spotted
already in the oldest assemblages known from the
territory of Veszprém county, the paint extraction pits
of the Early Upper Palaeolithic Lovas site. From this
early period on, the use of the material is continuous
till the historical periods. The most intensive period
of utilisation can be dated to the Neolithic age.
The use of silex tools did not end with the termination
of the Neolithic period. They were intensively used in
their original functions till the Iron Age.
Szentgál, Füzi-Kút: the excavation of a Neolithic
settlement
The term 'Neolithic' is used for an important phase in
human history. The name itself implies the use of 'new
stone tools', denoting an important technological
innovation. In the New Stone Age, polished stone tools
appear supplementing the former tool-kit comprising
chipped stone implements alone. Modern prehistoric
research has demonstrated that the appearance of this
technological novelty is only one element of an
important historical change. This process can be
characterised by food production, sedentary way of life
and, consequently, appearance of permanent settlements.
The formation of the new world based on these factors
was probably the most decisive turn of the human
history.
Historical evidences on the New Stone Age in
Transdanubia
The Neolithic period started in Transdanubia in the 6th
Millenium B.C. and lasted till the 4th Millenium. As
there are no written sources from these days, we cannot
call these people by their name, not even
approximately, because it is not possible to decide for
a group ofpeople with similar material culture if they
belong to the same people or tribe. In Transdanubia,
two great cultural units were separated which followed
each other in time. The first group of people here who
cultivated the land were the people of the Linearband
Pottery Culture. They were inhabiting the loess regions
of Central Europe including Transdanubia. At the turn
of the 6/5th Millenium B.P., a small group of people
arrived from the South, across the river Drava. Only a
score of villages are known from these people, who
assimilated fairly quickly, during 100-200 years into
the local communities. Roughly at the same time, the
other great cultural unit was formed. This culture was
named after its first significant site, Lengyel, a
village in Tolna county, South-Central Hungary. This
culture lasted over thousand years, till the middle of
the Copper Age. The settlement excavated at Szentgál-
Füzi-kút, reconstructed in the exhibition, belonged to
this cultural complex. The settlement existed at the
turn of the Late Neolithic and the Early Copper Age.
The Füzi-kút settlement is located to the West of the
modern village, along the road lying to rkút on a
steep hillside. Its area is fairly large within
prehistoric settlements, extending over 700 * 500
square meters. During three years of excavation the
ruins of a burnt house and further details of the
settlement were found. The place of the house was
indicated by traces of doub which preserved the print
of twigs used for the construction of the walls. Refuse
pits were opened with variable amount of archaeological
remains, mainly pottery, doub and lithics. Animal bones
unfortunately perished in the soil. There were two
graves found on the settlement. One of them was a
cremation grave. The ashes and a pot probably
containing food or drink for the dead was placed into a
shallow pit and later deteriorated by modern
agricultural activities. The other grave was that of an
elderly female buried into a deep ditch preserved by
thick layer of silt. On the model of the site, these
features are reconstructed on the basis of the original
finds of the excavation.
The excavation of the settlement offered the
possibility to get an insight into the everyday life of
prehistoric people and reconstruct on models and
drawings the contemporary phases of work and
corresponding technological solutions. The village
model is naturally idealised because not all the finds
could be found at the same time, on the same place. Our
aim was to present everyday activities like stone
working, grinding, production of vessels as well as
indicating plant cultivation and animal husbandry as
basic sources of living.
The technological level of the New Stone Age can be
best evaluated if compared to later periods of
prehistory.
The technique of the construction of houses practically
did not change throughout prehistory. The sedentary way
of life appeared as a consequence of permanent
agriculture and resulted in the appearance of stable
houses with constructed walls. This type of housing was
developped practically by the earliest farming
communities and remained unchanged till the appearance
of the first urban settlements. The only technical
difficulty was bolting large distances, a task which
was solved by the development of carpentry during the
Neolithic period. This development could clear the
interiors of the house from the rows of columns.
The structure of the Neolithic house was made of wood.
The pillars were deepened into the ground for about one
meter. The space between the pillars was filled by
twigs and plastered by clay. The length of the houses
varied between 10-40 meters, and they were 6-7 meters
wide.
The lifestyle of the Neolithic peasent communities was
very similar to that of any human societies who earn
their living basically of agriculture. It has a lot in
common with Medieval village life with the difference
of lacking metals. Animal husbandry has brought about
the formation of elementary technological inventions
which were preserved by tradition and need throughout
the centuries. It was not modified basically till the
introduction of machines.
The rythm of life was determined, as for any farming
communities, by the sequence of agricultural activities
throughout the year. Everyday work included the
production of food and the production of implements for
food production.
Apart from the immediate needs of nutrition, the
Szentgál-Füzikút settlement housed two basic industrial
activities as well. The vicinity of the raw material
sources allowed mining and stone tool production to be
essential in the life of the village. The existence of
the source area was probably the most important
motivation for the villagers to settle here. Raw
material prospection, mining, tool production and trade
were additional activities performed by the inhabitants
of the site.
As regards the actual technological level of plant
cultivation, similar observations can be made. The
knowledge of farming was established throughout the
centuries all over Europe. In the reconstruction of the
working tools, however, we have to use our imagination
again because wooden implements have perished. In the
primeval agricultural societies, new land was
established by clearing forests. The most likely
function of the great technological invention of the
age, i.e., polished stone tools was probably felling
trees. Etnographical analogies indicate that part of
the polished stone axes could be used as hoes as well.
The hard, clayey soil around the Füzi-kút settlement
let us suppose the knowledge of ploughing by some
wooden implement.
The crops were harvested by sickles. These are the most
ancient agricultural tools we have concrete evidences
about. Small bladelets were inserted into a wooden
hafting or jaw-bone for cutting cereals. Working with
the sickle on wheat and grass left visible traces on
the implements known as sickle polish.
After harvesting, further processing was needed to get
edible food from the crops. Treshing could be performed
by wooden sticks which is adequate for barley. Wheat
had to be roasted first to get rid of unwanted chaff.
The grains were ground in hand-mills, using a grinder.
Production of tools
During the Neolithic period and even later, the most
important tools of production were chipped stone
implements. Basic techniques of lithic technology were
known since the Palaeolithic period. The technique of
polishing is also an ancient invention. The method of
production was chosen according to the function and raw
material of the tool to be produced. Cutting edges were
preferentially made of chipped silex but felling wood
demanded large, heavy polished axes.
The production of axes started with flaking by hard
percussion technique to reach the base form. After
that, sandstone polishers were used to get smooth,
symmetrical axes.
The first axes were fastened to the hafting by ropes.
Later they were pierced to get more stable hafting.
Piercing a hole into the stone did not mean more from a
mere technological aspect than polishing. In both
cases, the abrasive matter was wet sand. The polishing
of bone tools (chisels, needles) was performed in a
similar way.
The Neolithic households had a large number of ceramic
cessels, as it is reflected by the masses of pottery
finds. The potter's art was formed after the general
spreading of agricultureand the appearance of
permanent settlements. Neolithic pots, which had quite
often an artistic beauty and individual design were
made by hand without turning wheel and sophisticated
owen.
The role of flint in historical times
The use of metal implements, especially the spreading
of the less valuable iron tools gradually replaced
flint as the raw material of tools. The mechanical
properties of flint, i.e., it gives a good spark when
hit with steel or another quartzose stone became more
important than its traditional functions. As part of
the shepherds' kit, flint was used from Early Medieval
times till our century. Its industrial scale
exploitation started in the 16th century, based on its
spark-producing quality as part of fire arms
('gunflint'). Modern industry use silices especially in
grinding mills and the production of jewellery.
Tartalom *
Krónika *
Cikkek *
Képek