The Lengyel culture settlement in Bu ; any ( preliminary report on pottery processing )

The Lengyel Culture settlement in Bu≠any, county Trnava was discovered during research project work from 1978 to 1981 led by P. Romsauer and J. Bujna. The site of Bu≠any (location Kopanice) is situated on the high right-bank loess terrace of the River Dudváh. An area 530 m long and 60–200 m wide, about 6 ha, was explored during four research seasons. 193 settlement structures and 55 graves were uncovered in this area (Bujna and Romsauer 1982; Bujna and Romsauuer 1986.27). The following cultures were represented at the site: Lengyel Culture (Neolithic), Group Baj≠-Retz (Cooper Age), Madarov Culture (Bronze Age), Kalenderberg Culture (Hallstatt), La Tène Culture group, and sporadic pottery finds from the late Middle Ages.


Introduction
The Lengyel Culture settlement in Bu≠any, county Trnava was discovered during research project work from 1978 to 1981 led by P. Romsauer and J. Bujna.The site of Bu≠any (location Kopanice) is situated on the high right-bank loess terrace of the River Dudváh.An area 530 m long and 60-200 m wide, about 6 ha, was explored during four research seasons.193 settlement structures and 55 graves were uncovered in this area (Bujna and Romsauer 1982;Bujna and Romsauuer 1986.27).The following cultures were represented at the site: Lengyel Culture (Neolithic), Group Baj≠-Retz (Cooper Age), Madarov Culture (Bronze Age), Kalenderberg Culture (Hallstatt), La Tène Culture group, and sporadic pottery finds from the late Middle Ages.
Lengyel settlement, supported with 33 exploitation and refuse pits, was located approximately in the north half of the explored area of some 200 x 250 m.
The excavation of the entire ground plan of a circular feature, probably of a cult character, on the eastern edge of this area is one of the most important achievements.In spite of the fact that a considerable area was examined, the entire settlement was not uncovered and there was no success in uncovering its residential section (Bujna and Romsauer 1981.59-60).
The circular enclosure consisted of two concentric ditches, and an interior palisade comprising trench sections and post-holes (Fig. 1).The interior diameter reached 45.5 m and the exterior diameter reached 67-70 m.Two collateral acuminate ditches 2.6 m-3 m wide and 2.6 m deep were interrupted by gates on four opposite sides.A 10 m long outer ditch runs into two rectangular (pliers-like) arms from the point where the gate was located.Hence the maximum extent of the circular enclosure in the ABSTRACT -The paper presents the preliminary results of the numerous ceramic finds from the Lengyel Culture settlement, excavated between 1979 and 1981, with a circular object, probably of cult nature, in Bu≠any, county Trnava, Slovakia.The analysis focuses on a statistical method of numerical coding that simplifies working with huge data files and helps by exact description and classification of the finds.The starting pointing of this approach is recognition of connections and relations (in typological and decorated respects) of the ceramic material.The most suitable comparisons could be found in material from Neolithic sites of south-west Slovakia, Moravia and Austria.
KEY WORDS -Neolithic settlement; Lengyel Culture stage I; pottery; relative chronology direction of the entrances reached 87 m.The inner ditch was also interrupted at gates locations.In this way the area created was narrowed by two trenches with the pair of stockade pits at their ends, which were probably the remains of the construction of an entrance gate to the inner fenced area.There was a ground plan of a two-room stockade building, 15 m x 7.5 m with, and three big pits in a triangular configuration in the north-eastern quadrant of object.The building was the same age as the circular structure belonging to the group of Lengyel structures (Bujna and Romsauer 1980.56).
At a distance of 100-120 m south-westward and even 200 m northward from the circular structure, skeleton graves were diagnosed, two of which are probably the same age as the Lengyel settlement, and two graves with no finds can be assigned to them on the basis of their orientation, as well as the positioning of the dead (Bujna and Romsauer 1981.60).
Bu≠any-Kopanice is categorized as a Lengyel Culture site of primary importance largely thanks to the discovery of circular enclosure which fits with evidence of buildings typical of a defined phase (early stages) of the Lengyel period of the cultural complex (including Moravian Painted Ware Culture -MMK and Austro-Moravian Painted Ware Group -MOG) and contemporary Stroked Pottery Culture in the broader regional sense.The circular enclosure in Bu≠any was built very functionally and gracefully, without any noticeable repairs which indicates that it probably followed some older pattern (Karlovský 1999.119).The very first circular buildings, the evidence of the oldest monumental architecture in central Europe, appeared as early as the period of Protolengyel in an area of Hungary west of the Danube (Kalicz 1983(Kalicz -1984;;Károlyi 1983Károlyi -1984)).
The fortifications in Bu≠any-Kopanice consisted of a circular structure with two ditches, an inner palisade and four entrances of type 1-2, according to the classification of V. Podborský (1988.243-245).After Trnka's (1991.312-315)classification, the circular building belongs to the group of classical double-circle formations with the 3:2 ratio of outer and inner ditch, with four entrances and outward running arms in the outer ditch.In Slovakia, for example, the circular enclosures in Horné Otrokovce-Berinová, Trnava county (Kuzma 1998.95, Fig.7;Tirpák 1997. 155-156), and Podhorany-Mechenice in Nitra county (Kuzma 2005.Fig. 6. B, C) are assigned to the same type.The ground plan of ditches in Bylany, Czech Republic (Zápotocká 1983.Fig. 6), west of the Leng-yel cultural circle, is practically identical with Bu-≠any.
Bu≠any is an exception from the point of view of the traditional building process of circular enclosures.The outer ditch, usually markedly narrower than the inner ditch (e.g.Svodín -Nemejcová-Pavúková 1995.63), is 40 cm broader in the case of Bu≠any.Hence in Bu≠any it is not very reasonable to think of the outer ditch as of some complementary element in a certain sense, for example, to gain a bigger quantity of soil to build a bank, or for some other reasons (Nemejcová-Pavúková 1997.105).Moreover, Gerhard Trnka (1991.308-316)clearly claims that these circular buildings appeared in one stroke, i.e. the building and its exact appearance was designed in advance.In Bu≠any we do not even register the difference in the width between the outrunning rectangular arms of the outer ditch and the width at the gates of the inner ditch (as in the case of two NNW and WSW entrances, the difference is slightly discernible, but there is no difference in the other two).
While appraising the two-room stockade building, i.e. the house with one open part without a transverse wall in the inner area of circular architecture in Bu≠any, we must emphasize that its construction corresponds to buildings uncovered in a fenced area of a palisade circular enclosure in the settlement of Lengyel Culture (Lengyel II stage) in Ωlkovce (Pavúk 1991.350-354, Fig. 4;1998) on the same terrace as the settlement in Bu≠any, and only some 2.5 km distant.There are also two houses of 'megaron' type at   1994).The ground plans of such houses occurred then in the south-west of Slovakia during at least three pottery phases (Bu≠any, Santovka, Ωlkovce).

Database structure of pottery finds
The centre of material found in the Lengyel settlement of Bu≠any is comprised of pottery, which is overall processed in database system.The basic structure of the pottery database (Tab. 1) partially arises from a detailed system made for the Moravian Painted Ware Culture (Podborský et al. 1977).
Lengyel settlement pits and pottery finds from Bu-≠any form a rich source of information.Their analysis and evaluation is the condition for understand-ing the chronological and dimensional structure not only of the settlement itself, but also of the position of Lengyel village within the partial regional units.We decided to present the results of a pottery set analysis from the building complex with the circular architecture ground plan (Fig. 2) and from some selected settlement pits from Bu≠any (Fig. 3).These so-called common settlement pits generally contain the largest number of structures in Neolithic settlements.The pits are of approximately oval or irregular ground plan, with variously shaped walls, and flat, concave, or waved bottoms.Probably bigger sets of pits uncovered in Bu≠any can be interpreted as building clay pits which became dumps after fulfilling their function (e.g.structures 4 and 180).Also, smaller pits which were originated in relation to the need for clay for building purposes served for the purchase of clay.We have chosen to analyze the following structures: 1, 29, 82, 117, 153, and 155.The selected pottery ensemble from Bu≠any-Kopanice includes 617 specimens.365 (60 %) of them can be categorized into six basic types of pottery classes (Fig. 4), and each of them can be further categorized into variants of pottery classes enabling a shape diagnosis of particular vessels.
Pottery vessels were made of dough with a high content of sandy admixtures.Strong-wall pottery (more than 0.5 cm thick) is hence mostly grain and wholegrain, usually containing bigger pebbles and micas.
The colour of the pot surfaces varies depending on the kind of burn: black, grey, here and there changing to brown, orange and yellow.Of the final surface design techniques, a natural surface fine-tuned by smoothing is prevalent.The surface of thin-wall pottery (up to 0.5 cm thick vessel walls) was usually tuned by polishing, and rarely painted with a special clay layer.

Forms of the vessels
Pots and pot-like types (Fig. 6).These two categories are unified, due to obvious fragmentation, which prevents further determination.It is possible to include 158 samples in this category.Large pitchers (35 pieces), for which horned ears are typical (Fig. 9.5.7) are markedly present here.Mushroom pots appear sporadically in this set (Fig. 9.1).Pots, other pot-like types and large pitchers, generally belong to the group of thick pottery, 20 % of which can be classified as slightly half rough-walled pottery, 64 % as half rough-walled pottery and 16 % as a rough-walled pottery.The oval-shaped rim obviously dominates (71 %) in the examined set.Extended horned ears with a hole mostly appear on the surface of large pitchers (37 %).An embossed design is also represented by simple vertically extended bosses and also by a variation with a horizontal hole, then asymmetrically projecting, hemispherical, conical, projecting and sporadically tongue-like bosses.Incised decoration appears on the surface of only eight specimens as true meander motifs, true (continuous multiple) spirals and zig-zag motifs.Painting is discernible in the case of 37 exemplars.The motif of vertical, horizontal or oblique bands appears repeatedly.

Bowls and bowls on hollow pedestals (Fig. 7).
This pottery class is also very numerous, with 114 specimens.In many cases it was not even possible to decide reliably if it is a bowl or bowl on a hollow pedestal.35 bowls on hollow pedestals appear in the set examined.Bowls are usually classified as rough-walled pottery, while 21 % of the set examined can be classified as slightly half rough-walled pottery, 72 % as half rough-walled pottery, and 7 % as rough-walled pottery.The set examined contained five main variations of bowls, from which the most numerous were bowls with symmetrical collars (13 %), then with opened (14 %) and inwardleaning collars (9 %), and finally conic bowls (7 %).Examining the form of the vessel rim, the oval-shaped rim which appears in the case of 60 specimens predominates.Narrow rims also appear relatively often (11x).The decoration was preserved on the surface of 65 % of fragments, on which painting was found in the case of 59 specimens -it is usually a motif of vertical, horizontal or oblique bands, 7x circle motif, and once a diagonal net motif.Engraved decoration does not occur.Plastic decoration is represented mainly by bosses.Hemispherical (11x), conical (8x) and projecting (5x) bosses are the most commonly occurring.Incised decoration was diagnosed in the case of three exemplars.In the first case there is a zigzag motif grouped in vertical stripes made with simple thin line; in the second case the exterior surface of bowl is decorated with a single fine incised line which created a convex-concave star shape motif aided by an incised net motif.The third bowl with incised decoration technique had true spiral motifs made with a group of fine lines on its exterior surface and continuous meanders with hooks on its internal surface.
Beakers (Fig. 8).They belong to the category of thinwalled pottery (70 %), possibly to a slightly half roughwalled pottery (30 %).In the set of shapes identified they comprise one quarter.In the case of bigger fragments (34 %).We were successful in determining their variation.Beakers with biconical bodies predominate here (29 %), followed by beakers with a globular body (21 %), then by beakers with upper convexity and tall thin beakers with bent necks and biconical bodies, both types representing 14 % in the set.The most of the cups have an oval-shaped vessel rim (60 %), then narrowed (20 %), pointed (11 %), sharply accentuated (6 %), and, finally, one fragment has a bevelled rim.Decoration occurs on the surface of 77 cups.Incised decoration occurs on the exterior surface of 43 specimens.A double-thin line decoration technique dominates here (26x), but there is also a group of fine thin incised lines (11x) and simple thin lines (6x) in the ensemble.From the motifs of incised ornaments, mainly true spiral (63 %), meander (15 %), stripe (10 %) and zig-zag motifs (10 %) are applied in the case of cups.Plastic decoration in the form of bosses occurs on the surface of at least half the cups.Projecting out bosses predominate here (25 %), followed by hemispherical bosses (17 %), asymmetrically projecting bosses (16 %) and vertically projec-ting bosses (11 %).Painted decoration is frequently present on cups, as it occurs on the surface of 61 specimens, one of them being painted on the interior side of the neck only, and 21 fragments were painted on both sides.Within the colourful combinations on the surface of the cup ensemble purely red paint dominates (80 %).However, there occurred also a combination of red and yellow (15 %), as well as red and white (5 %).Horizontal monochrome bands, eventually a combination of horizontal and vertical bands on the interior neck surface, are the most common motifs of painted decoration applied on the surface.There were two examples of perpendicular plain red bands on the interior neck surface of cups lined with white bands.A circle motif (8x) applied also round the boss was a typical decoration of the exterior.The motif of a horizontal letter 'S' of multiple white was recognized on the surface of one beaker with a bent opened neck and lower convexity (Fig. 8.1).A plain red spiral motif was identified on the surface of two beakers.
Serviceable forms.Casks, lids and ladles belong to this category.In the set examined these forms are not widely represented.Only two casks with a wide mouth, two flat lids, one with an ear, and one ladle with socket applied at an angle (Fig. 9.2) were found within the ensemble.Special forms.We defined two specimens belonging to this category.They are special forms of bowls with quadratic and oval bottoms, with plastic deco-ration on the edge in the form of button-like bosses.The forms resemble small tubs (Fig. 9.3, 4).

Small ceramic forms.
Miniature vessels belong to this varying group.There are two exemplars in the set examined.One comes from the filling of clay pit 29.It is not clear of what shape it is; however, its surface is smooth natural, with plastic decoration (one small asymmetrically projecting boss on the convexity).Second presents a small mushroom-like pot with engraved and plastic decoration.

Relative chronology
The In our analysis we mostly examined the decoration of pot- tery which, however, has a higher evidentiary value for the older stage of Lengyel Culture.Painted decoration did not offer many possibilities for study as it is not well preserved.Particular patterns of decoration were often not readable at all, or we could determine them only in part.
Considering this fact, the traces of painting (red, white, or yellow) could have been identified on the surface of 181 pieces.However, it was usually impossible to determine the particular type of decoration.The scale of colours is typical of classical Lengyel Culture first stage.The application of this painting predominated on the surface of beakers (39 %).The following two types of painting occurred in the set: simple paint decoration on the natural surface, and paint decoration with incions.Tracking the placement of painted decoration in particular parts of vessels was useless because there was a distortion caused by considerable fragmentation and poor remaining condition.Only a small number of discernible motifs remained from the original painted ornaments.Vertical, horizontal plain bands (stripes) and their mutual combinations are the most common.This motif has no specific value as evidence of chronology, as it does not occur evenly during the whole of the first chronological stage of Lengyel Culture.
Incised ornaments, which have a better chance of remaining in their original condition than painting, are important for the building of a smooth relative chronology.Incised ornaments present on the pottery from Bu≠any-Kopanice are made either in the double-thin line decoration technique, or in groups of fine thin incised lines.While the first technique mentioned occurs on the material from the first as well as the second Lengyel stage settlements, and hence is of continuous character, the second techni-que is typical only of sites of the first stage.The smooth transition from multiple incised lines through a double, smoothly incised line, to the single incised line is a generally known trend observable in the incising decorative technique of the Lengyel I stage.
The number of techniques used on objects is shown in Figure 11.One of the usual decorative elements was a strip, which was used in phase Ia of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture; it is not very common in phase Ib.Spirals and meanders were also frequently used, which corresponds to the situation of younger as well as older phases of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture.Zig-zag elements follow in popularity.Among the motifs on incised ornaments, the following occur most frequently: true spiral (31x), zig-zag grouped in vertical stripes (7x), true meander (5x), vertical stripe (3x), true diamond (2x).1981.Fig. 9.3, 5).An incised net is also documented in the oldest Lengyel pottery from Hungary, e.g.Aszód (Kalicz 1985).
In the set examined, plastic decorative and serviceable forms are present.They are applied in various pottery classes, together on the surface of 160 specimens, i.e. their representation in the entire set is 26 %.More than a quarter of the plastic elements occur on the surface of cups, as well as on bowls and bowls on hollow pedestals.Then pots and pot-like types follow (20 %), and 16 % decorates large-pitchers.In the foundation examined, bosses without a hole are definitely prevalent (thirteen variations recognized on the surface of 107 vessels altogether); their occurrence in percentage according to variations is shown in Figure 13.Bosses with a hole are in the second position.Two variations of these were identified in the set: vertically extended (2x) and circular (6x), both with a horizontal hole.These types are typical of the Ib phase of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture, but they occurred even before.Relief adjustment on the surface of edges occurred in the case of three pot-like vessels; two of them with overprinted edges, and the third one had an indented edge, or decorated with little notches.In the examined set of pottery with serviceable forms three variants of horned ears occur: extended with a hole (13x), compressed with a hole (6x) and smooth edged with a hole (2x).These shapes were chosen by Eli∏ka Kazdová (1984) as chronologically important features of the Ia phase of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture pottery.A delicate chronological indicator is also the spread of plastic decoration on the vessel.The overwhelming majority of plastic shapes was placed on the convexity, and on the neck of cups, which is typical of Lengyel I.The range of motifs mentioned above enriches the incised motif in the form of a net applied on the exterior surface of a conical bowl on a hollow pedestal, together with the element of an incised circle and half-arch (Fig. 7.1).It is formed with a simple thin line.Analogy to this kind of decoration can be found in the settlement of Santovka (Di∏kancová 2006.Fig. 2.7,9;Pavúk 1981.Fig. 9.12;1994.Fig. 3.3), which represents the interim phase between

Conclusion
The pottery presented in the article is just a part (one third) of the whole assemblage excavated in Bu≠any-Kopanice.However, it reflects well the characteristics that are assumed relevant for the entire pottery ensemble of the site.
After evaluating the pottery set from the building complex of circular architecture ground plan, and selected structures processed in a database system, the following conclusion can be stated: The shapes of the set in general include bigger painted pot-like vessels, large-pitchers, profiled bowls on high and low hollow pedestals, bowls with opened collar and short lower half, and thin-walled cups with painted and incised decoration.
On the basis of pottery shape and decoration analysis, the typical features of the first stage of Lengyel Culture are discernible in the set examined (pottery decorated by incisions and polychromic painting -red, yellow and white, but not pastose   1994), where the rare occurrence of incised pottery is again, and, moreover, the ornament itself is changing, too.
From the point of view of the decorative richness of the pottery examined, besides incised and painted decoration, plastic elements are also dominant and presented by the rich shape and size scale of the various kinds of bosses.For the territory of Slovakia the following conclusion is notable: only after the not very widespread plastic decoration of the pottery of the Lu∫ianky group does the older stage of Lengyel pottery include an elaborated system of plastic decoration placement in the form of bosses.
The examined locality of Bu≠any-Kopanice is of great importance for the disposal of contemporary cultures, mainly via their typical decoration.The situation of archaeological context in the area examined and the analysis of pottery in this site indicate continuous settlement during the younger section of the first chronological stage of Lengyel Culture -Lengyel IB phase.This phase can be more exactly synchronized with MMK/MOG Ia (Ia2 and 3 or Ia2/Ib1) in Moravia and Austria, with the Lengyel Ib stage in western Hungary, and with the younger IVa phase of the Stroked Pottery Culture in the Czech Republic, and at the same time continuously lock onto the transitional phase Santovka (Slovakia) -MMK/MOG Ib (Austria, Moravia) -Zengővárkony 3 -Mórágy-Tűzkődomb (Hungary).
An early draft of this paper was presented in 1984 at the international conference in Nove Vozokany, Slovakia, and was later published in its proceedings.I would like to thank Professor Peter Romsauer and Professor Jozef Bujna, who kindly gave me the Lengyel Culture pottery finds from Bu≠any for analysis, and I also thank Dr. Mihael Budja, who invited me to take part in the 13 th Neolithic Seminar and to present this research.

Fig. 4 .
Fig. 4. Pot-quantity share of the basic pottery types in the pottery ensemble.

The
Lengyel culture settlement in Bu;any (preliminary report on pottery processing) 307 A true spiral motif is used in phase Ia as well Ib of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture; a motif of continuous meanders with hooks (once in the ensemble) is very common in the phase Ib of the MMK (Ko-∏tuřík 1979); a zig-zag motif grouped in vertical stripes, is also very typical of phase MMK Ib.The relation of motifs and the incised decoration technique chosen is shown in Figure 12.It can be stated that the motifs which are typical of a certain phase are made with the technique typical of this phase.

Pot-quantity share of the basic pottery classes in the circular enclosure components.
Fig. 3. Representative Lengyel Culture structures: basic data and pot-quantity share in the pottery ensemble (n.-not detected).