UDK 903.23'i5.02(437.6)"634" Documenta Praehistorica XXXIV (2007) The Lengyel culture settlement in Bucany (preliminary report on pottery processing) Noemi Pa/inova Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, Constantine University Nitra, Slovakia npazinova@ukf.sk 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 Bucany, county Trnava, Slovakia. The analysis focuses on a statistical method of numeri- cal coding that simplifies working with huge data files and helps by exact description and classifica- tion 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. IZVLEČEK - Tema predstavlja preliminarne rezultate številnega keramičnega materiala iz naselja lengyelske kulture, ki je bilo izkopano med leti 1979 in 1981 v kraju Bucany, okrožje Trnava na Slo- vaškem. Predstavljamo tudi okrogel objekt, verjetno kultne narave. Analiza se osredotoča na statis- tično metodo numerične kode, ki olajšuje delo z velikimi podatkovnimi datotekami in pomaga pri natančnem opisu in klasifikaciji najdb. Izhodišče pristopa je prepoznavanje tipoloških in ornamen- talnih povezav in razmerij. Primerjave najdemo pri materialu iz neolitskih najdišč jugozahodne Slo- vaške, Moravske in Avstrije. KEY WORDS - Neolithic settlement; Lengyel Culture stage I; pottery; relative chronology Introduction The Lengyel Culture settlement in Bucany, county Trnava was discovered during research project work from 1978 to 1981 led by P. Romsauer and J. Bujna. The site of Bucany (location Kopanice) is situated on the high right-bank loess terrace of the River Dud- vah. 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 Bajc-Retz (Cooper Age), Madarov Culture (Bronze Age), Kalenderberg Culture (Hallstatt), La Tene 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 circu- lar feature, probably of a cult character, on the east- ern edge of this area is one of the most important achievements. In spite of the fact that a consider- able area was examined, the entire settlement was not uncovered and there was no success in uncove- ring 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 diame- ter reached 45.5 m and the exterior diameter rea- ched 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 Copyright by Department of Archaeology, Faculty of arts, University of Ljubljana. 299 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 confi- guration 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, skele- ton graves were diagnosed, two of which are proba- bly 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). Bucany-Kopanice is categorized as a Lengyel Culture site of primary importance largely thanks to the dis- covery of circular enclosure which fits with evidence of buildings typical of a defined phase (early stages) of the Lengyel period of the cultural complex (inclu- ding Moravian Painted Ware Culture - MMK and Au- stro-Moravian Painted Ware Group - MOG) and con- temporary Stroked Pottery Culture in the broader re- gional sense. The circular enclosure in Bucany was built very functionally and gracefully, without any noticeable repairs which indicates that it probably followed some older pattern (Karlovsky 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- 1984; Karolyi 1983-1984). The fortifications in Bucany-Kopanice consisted of a circular structure with two ditches, an inner palisade and four entrances of type 1-2, according to the clas- sification of V. Podborsky (1988.243-245). After Trnka's (1991.312-315) classification, the circular building belongs to the group of classical double-cir- cle 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 cir- cular enclosures in Horne Otrokovce-Berinova, Tr- nava county (Kuzma 1998.95, Fig. 7; Tirpak 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 (Zapotocka 1983.Fig. 6), west of the Leng- 0 50 m 1_i_,_,_,_I Fig. 1. Bucany-Kopanice circular enclosure ground plan (after Bujna and Romsauer 1986.Fig.2). yel cultural circle, is practically identical with Bu- cany. Bucany is an exception from the point of view of the traditional building process of circular enclosu- res. The outer ditch, usually markedly narrower than the inner ditch (e.g. Svodin - Nemejcova-Pavükova 1995.63), is 40 cm broader in the case of Bucany. Hence in Bucany 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 quan- tity of soil to build a bank, or for some other reasons (Nemejcova-Pavükova 1997.105). Moreover, Ger- hard 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 Bucany we do not even register the dif- ference in the width between the outrunning rectan- gular 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 discer- nible, 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 trans- verse wall in the inner area of circular architecture in Bucany, 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 Žlkovce (Pavük 1991.350-354, Fig. 4; 1998) on the same terrace as the settlement in Bucany, and only some 2.5 km dis- tant. There are also two houses of 'megaron' type at Database section Rated category Data type A. General Registration number of pot Numeric Inventory number Numeric Serial number of box Numeric Year of field research Numeric Feature number Numeric Type of feature Numerical code Layer of feature (cm) Numeric Fragmentary remains (quantity) Numeric B. Typological Pottery class (type) Numerical code Pottery class (variant) Numerical code Degree of pot conservation Numerical code Form of the vessel rim Numerical code Form of the neck Numerical code Form of vessel collar Numerical code Form of the lower half of vessel Numerical code Profile of the bottom Numerical code Form of the pedestal Numerical code Profilation of vessel Numerical code C. Metric Diameter of the rim (cm) Numeric Diameter of the convexity (cm) Numeric Diameter of the bottom (cm) Numeric Diameter of the pedestal (base) (cm) Numeric Thickness of the pot-wall (mm) Numeric Thickness of the pot-wall Numerical code D. Technological and decorative Pot-surface preparation, exterior Numerical code Pot-surface preparation, interior Numerical code Density of ceramic material Numerical code Grade of grain classification Numerical code Grain roundness Numerical code Material roughness Numerical code Addition to the ceramic material Numerical code Surface color, exterior Numerical code Surface color, interior Numerical code Type of interior decoration Numerical code Type of exterior decoration Numerical code Incised decoration technique Numerical code Placing of the exterior incised decoration Numerical code Type of the exterior incised decoration Numerical code Placing of the interior incised decoration Numerical code Type of the interior incised decoration Numerical code Placing of the plastic decoration Numerical code Placing of the engraved decoration Numerical code Type of plastic decoration\application Numerical code Type of engraved decoration Numerical code Multiplication of plastic decoration elements Numerical code Plastic decoration or serviceable forms Numerical code Placing of the exterior painted decoration Numerical code Exterior color combination Numerical code Exterior paint motif and its variants Numerical code Placing of the interior painted decoration Numerical code Interior color combination Numerical code Interior paint motif and its variants Numerical code Tab. 1. Database structure of the Lengyel Culture pottery finds from Bucany. Fig. 2. Pot-quantity share of the basic pottery classes in the circular enclosure components. Ceramic classes Circular enclosure Pots and Large- Bowls and Beakers Special Small Unidentified Total components pot-like pitcher bowls on types forms (object 60) types pedestal Outer ditch 9 2 1 3 1 0 13 29 Inner ditch 15 4 7 3 0 0 28 57 Outer entrance 13 6 7 1 0 1 20 48 Inner gate 5 2 1 0 0 0 7 15 Posthole-house 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Palisade 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 Surface collection 3 0 1 3 0 0 2 9 Total 45 14 17 10 1 1 73 161 the settlement in Santovka, synchronous with the Moravian Painted Ware Culture Ib-c phase in south Moravia (Pavük 1994). The ground plans of such houses occurred then in the south-west of Slovakia during at least three pottery phases (Bucany, San- tovka, Žlkovce). Database structure of pottery finds The centre of material found in the Lengyel settle- ment of Bucany is comprised of pottery, which is overall processed in database system. The basic struc- ture of the pottery database (Tab. 1) partially arises from a detailed system made for the Moravian Pain- ted Ware Culture (Podborsky et al. 1977). Lengyel settlement pits and pottery finds from Bu- cany form a rich source of information. Their analy- sis and evaluation is the condition for understand- ing the chronological and dimensional structure not only of the settlement itself, but also of the posi- tion 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 cir- cular architecture ground plan (Fig. 2) and from some selected settlement pits from Bucany (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 ir- regular ground plan, with variously shaped walls, and flat, concave, or waved bottoms. Probably big- ger sets of pits uncovered in Bucany can be interpre- ted 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. Object No. Year of field research Length\cm Width\cm Max. depth\cm Pots and pot-like types Large-pitcher Mushroom Bowls and bowls on pedestal Beakers Serviceable forms Special types Small ceramic forms Unidentified fragments Total 01 1978 450 200 80 10 6 0 11 13 0 0 0 15 55 04 1978 520 440 140 12 2 0 13 10 2 0 0 2 41 29 1978 450 340 80 10 4 0 5 10 0 0 1 12 42 82 1979 > 7° 370 n. 13 0 0 29 13 1 0 0 28 84 117 1980 > 0 200-220 65 5 1 0 3 3 1 1 0 12 25 153 1980 600 375 60 10 2 1 9 12 0 0 0 57 91 155 1980 380 350 100 11 1 0 14 9 2 0 0 17 54 180 1981 700 530 190 6 5 0 13 3 0 0 0 36 63 Total 77 21 1 97 73 6 1 1 179 456 Fig. 3. Representative Lengyel Culture structures: basic data and pot-quantity share in the pottery ensem- ble (n. - not detected). Fig. 4. Pot-quantity share of the basic pottery types in the pottery ensemble. The selected pottery ensemble from Bucany-Kopa- nice includes 617 specimens. 365 (60 %) of them can be categorized into six basic types of pottery clas- ses (Fig. 4), and each of them can be further cate- gorized into variants of pottery classes enabling a shape diagnosis of particular vessels. Pottery vessels were made of dough with a high con- tent of sandy admixtures. Strong-wall pottery (more than 0.5 cm thick) is hence mostly grain and whole- grain, usually containing bigger pebbles and micas. The colour of the pot surfaces varies depending on the kind of burn: black, grey, here and there chang- ing 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 pot- tery (up to 0.5 cm thick vessel walls) was usually tuned by polishing, and rarely painted with a special clay layer. It is possible to divide the complex into four pottery groups according to wall thickness (Fig. 5): a. thin-wall pottery (thick wall max. till 0,25 cm), b. slightly halfrough-wall pottery (thick wall between 0,25 and 0,5 cm), c. halfrough-wall pottery (thick wall between 0,5 and 1 cm), d. rough-wall pottery (thick wall over 1 cm). Forms of the vessels Pots and pot-like types (Fig. 6). These two cate- gories are unified, due to obvious fragmentation, which prevents further determination. It is possible to include 158 samples in this category. Large pitchers (35 pie- ces), 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 be- long 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 sur- face of large pitchers (37 %). An em- bossed 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 bos- ses. Incised decoration appears on the surface of only eight specimens as true meander motifs, true (conti- nuous multiple) spirals and zig-zag motifs. Painting is discernible in the case of 37 exemplars. The motif of vertical, horizontal or oblique bands appears re- peatedly. 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 exami- ned can be classified as slightly half rough-walled pottery, 72 % as half rough-walled pottery, and 7 % as rough-walled pottery. The set examined contai- ned five main variations of bowls, from which the most numerous were bowls with symmetrical col- lars (13 %), then with opened (14 %) and inward- leaning collars (9 %), and finally conic bowls (7 %). Examining the form of the vessel rim, the oval-sha- ped rim which appears in the case of 60 specimens predominates. Narrow rims also appear relatively of- ten (11x). The decoration was preserved on the sur- face 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 cir- cle motif, and once a diagonal net motif. Engraved decoration does not occur. Plastic decoration is re- presented mainly by bosses. Hemispherical (11x), conical (8x) and projecting (5x) bosses are the most Fig. 5. Percentage shares of various pottery wall thickness groups. commonly occurring. Incised decoration was diagnosed in the case of three exemplars. In the first case there is a zig- zag motif grouped in vertical stripes made with simple thin line; in the second case the exterior surface of bowl is de- corated with a single fine in- cised line which created a convex-concave star shape motif aided by an incised net motif. The third bowl with in- cised decoration technique had true spiral motifs made with a group of fine lines on its exterior surface and conti- nuous meanders with hooks on its internal surface. Beakers (Fig. 8). They be- long to the category of thin- walled pottery (70 %), possi- bly to a slightly half rough- walled pottery (30 %). In the set of shapes identified they comprise one quarter. In the case of bigger fragments (34 %). We were successful in de- termining their variation. Bea- kers with biconical bodies pre- dominate here (29 %), follo- wed by beakers with a globu- lar body (21 %), then by bea- kers 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 accentua- ted (6 %), and, finally, one fragment has a bevelled rim. Decoration occurs on the surface of 77 cups. In- cised 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 or- naments, 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 %), fol- lowed by hemispherical bosses (17 %), asymmetri- cally projecting bosses (16 %) and vertically projec- Fig. 6. Bucany-Kopanice. Pots and pot-like types: 1, 3 - structure 29; 2, 4, 7-9 - structure 60; 5, 6 - structure 153. 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 inte- rior side of the neck only, and 21 fragments were painted on both sides. Within the colourful combina- tions 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 perpen- dicular 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 conve- xity (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 belong- ing 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 pottery ensemble from the Lengyel Culture set- tlement in Bucany is very in- teresting as it has typical fea- tures of a young phase of the first stage of this culture. Fi- gure 10 denotes the division and synchronization of the first stage of the Lengyel cul- tural complex. Settlement cor- responding to this dating has not been completely proces- sed in Slovakia yet. But since the examined pottery set was studied and evaluated accor- ding to the Moravian Painted Ware Culture numerical code, it can be compared with ot- her localities of the Lengyel cultural complex processed in similar way. In the process of comparing and evaluating, We took into consideration mostly the sites contempo- rary with the settlement in 'Kopanice' and those which enabled objective conclusions thanks to their extent and quality. The locality of Kamegg in Austria (Doneus 2001), Te- setice-Kyjovice (Kazdova 1984), Jaromerice nad Rokyt- nou (Kosturik 1979), Popüv- ky (Paleckova 2004) in Mora- via, and finally Svodin (Kli- cova 2004) and Santovka (Diškancova 2006) in Slova- kia met these conditions. Fig. 7. Bucany-Kopanice. Bowls and bowls on hollow pedestals: 1, 6 - struc- ture 04; 2, 3,9 - structure 153; 4, 5,10 - structure 60; 7 - structure 155; In our analysis we mostly exa- 8 - structure 117. mined the decoration of pot- tery which, however, has a higher evidentiary value for the older stage of Lengyel Cul- ture. Painted decoration did not offer many possibilities for study as it is not well pre- served. Particular patterns of decoration were often not readable at all, or we could determine them only in part. Considering this fact, the tra- ces of painting (red, white, or yellow) could have been iden- tified on the surface of 181 pieces. However, it was usu- ally impossible to determine the particular type of decora- tion. The scale of colours is typical of classical Lengyel Culture first stage. The appli- cation of this painting predo- minated on the surface of beakers (39 %). The follow- ing two types of painting oc- curred in the set: simple paint decoration on the natural sur- face, and paint decoration with incions. Tracking the placement of painted decora- tion in particular parts of ves- sels was useless because there was a distortion caused by considerable fragmenta- tion and poor remaining con- dition. Only a small number of discernible motifs remai- ned from the original painted ornaments. Vertical, horizontal plain bands (stri- pes) and their mutual combinations are the most common. This motif has no specific value as evi- dence of chronology, as it does not occur evenly du- ring 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 pot- tery from Bucany-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- Fig. 8. Bucany-Kopanice. Beakers: 1, 2, 8 - structure 01; 3-6 - structure 60; 7 - structure 04; 9 - structure 153. 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 in- cising 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 Mo- ravian Painted Ware Culture; it is not very common in phase Ib. Spirals and meanders were also fre- quently used, which corresponds to the situation of younger as well as older phases of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture. Zig-zag elements follow in po- pularity. Among the motifs on incised ornaments, the following occur most frequently: true spiral (31x), zig- zag grouped in vertical stripes (7x), true mean- der (5x), vertical stripe (3x), true diamond (2x). Fig. 9. Bucany-Kopanice. 1 - mushroom shaped vessel (structure 153); 2 - ladle with handle (structure 82); 3-4 - special bowls (3 - structure 117; 4 - structure 60); 5-7 - horned handles (5 - structure 155; 6,7 - structu- re 153). the first and second stages of the Lengyel Culture in Slova- kia. This interim phase corre- sponds to the chronological position of Moravian localities of phase Ib of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture. A spo- radically simple incised net motif is registered also in the excavation context of the Lengyel II stage in Trakovice and Vel'ke Kostol'any (Pavük 1981.Fig. 9.3, 5). An incised net is also documented in the oldest Lengyel pottery from Hungary, e.g. Aszöd (Kalicz 1985). A true spiral motif is used in phase Ia as well Ib of the Moravian Painted Ware Culture; a motif of conti- nuous meanders with hooks (once in the ensem- ble) is very common in the phase Ib of the MMK (Ko- štufik 1979); a zig-zag motif grouped in vertical stri- pes, is also very typical of phase MMK Ib. The rela- tion 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. The range of motifs mentioned above enriches the incised motif in the form of a net applied on the ex- terior surface of a conical bowl on a hollow pede- stal, 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 (Diškancova 2006.Fig. 2.7,9; Pavük 1981.Fig. 9.12; 1994.Fig. 3.3), which represents the interim phase between Slovakia Moravia (independently) Moravia and Austria stage culture phase Subphase culture, phase subphase A Lengyel I B MMK Ia Iai MMK/MOG I Iai Ia2 Ia2 Ia3 Ia2/Ib(i) phase Santovka Ib Ibi Ib Ib2 Ib3 Ib/IIa Ic Ic Fig. 10. Differentiation and synchronization of the first stage of the Lengyel cultural complex. 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 pla- stic 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 va- riations recognized on the surface of 107 vessels al- together); 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 Mora- vian Painted Ware Culture, but they occurred even before. Relief adjustment on the surface of edges oc- curred 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 Elis- ka Kazdova (1984) as chronologically impor- tant 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 over- whelming majority of plastic shapes was placed on the convexity, and on the neck of cups, which is typical of Lengyel I. Structure No. Total Incised decoration technique 01 04 29 60 82 117 153 155 180 group of fine lines thin 1 0 4 1 3 0 2 5 0 16 double-thin line 6 4 6 4 4 0 7 1 0 32 simple thin line 1 2 3 0 2 0 2 0 1 11 Total 8 6 13 5 9 0 11 6 1 59 Fig. 11. The amount of incised decoration techniques used in selected structures. Conclusion The pottery presented in the ar- ticle is just a part (one third) of the whole assemblage excavated in Bucany-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 se- lected structures processed in a database system, the following conclusion can be stated: The shapes of the set in general include bigger pain- ted 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 ana- lysis, the typical features of the first stage of Leng- yel Culture are discernible in the set examined (pot- tery decorated by incisions and polychromic paint- ing - red, yellow and white, but not pastose). Clas- sical Lengyel Culture, with a typical incising orna- ment and mostly red painting, which is best com- parable to Moravian Painted Ware Culture pottery, was defined in Slovakia on the basis of pottery ma- terial from the settlements of Nitriansky Hradok-Za- mecek (Točik and Lichardus 1966), Vel'ke Hoste (Lichardus 1961), Kolare and Bardonovo (Urmin- sky 1998), and on the basis of comparable units from Svodin-Busahegy (Lichardus and Šiška 1970; Ne- mejcovä-Pavükovä 1995). According to Juraj Pavuk (1981.270), the finds from Vel'ke Hoste are youn- ger; hence they will probably not belong to the Leng- yel I phase. With the progressive increase of finds, a more detailed classification of stage Lengyel I seems to be more atractive because qualitative and quanti- tative differentiation is obvious in the comparison of finds. The processing of the pottery from the Leng- yel settlement in Svodin in Slovakia (Kličova 2004. 97-107), Tesetice-Kyjovice in Moravia (Kazdovä 1984) and Kamegg in Lower Austria (Doneus 2001) are among such attempts. In the detailed analysis of incised ornaments on the pottery set from Bucany, the examined locality de- fies the frame of all the finds from Slovakia. From the point of view of quality, the occurrence of inci- sed ornamentation, according to Juraj Pavuk (1981. 270), is even approaching the situation in southern Moravia, where the incised ornamentation is signi- ficantly more frequent than in the west part of Slo- vakia. In this case the presumption of the existence of a phase with a frequent occurrence of incised or- namentation in the south-west of Slovakia (from Ko- lare on Poiplie up to Bucany on Považie) could be possible. If we concentrate on particular excavation units, then after the Protolengyel group Luzianky, in which the incised ornament is absolutely absent, we must count with the developmental section without or only with rare occurrence of incised elements in Lengyel I stage. (e.g. in Bardonovo and Svodin). Af- ter that, the developmental section characterized by regular or unusually frequent occurrence of incised ornamentation follows. So we can assume, as Pavuk (1981.270) claims, that the pottery in stage Lengyel Incised decoration motif (codes after Podborsky et al. 1977.179-188) Incised decoration technique 21 23 24 31 31, 32 34 31, 41 41 53, 85 71 81 91 93 group of fine lines thin 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 double-thin line 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 22 0 0 2 1 0 simple thin line 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 7 Total 3 1 1 4 1 1 1 30 1 1 2 1 7 Fig. 12. The relation of the incised decoration technique and motif (21 - vertical stripe; 23 - fringe; 24 - ladder-like stripe; 31 - true meander; 32 - meandroid; 34 - continuous meanders with hooks; 41 - true spirals; 53 - convex-concave star-shape;71 - cross in "X"-form; 81 - true diamond; 85 - net; 91 - conti- nuous multiple zig-zag; 93 - zig-zag grouped in vertical stripes). Fig. 13. Bosses without holes - occurrence in percentages accor- ding to variations. I in the south-west of Slovakia underwent develop- ment from the phase without or only with rare oc- currence of incised ornamentation, through a phase with regular and more frequent occurrence of inci- sed decoration. The next developmental trends of the final phase of the Lengyel Culture first stage are evident in finds from Santovka (Pavük 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 va- rious kinds of bosses. For the territory of Slovakia the following conclusion is notable: only after the not very widespread plastic decoration of the pot- tery of the Lužianky group does the older stage of Lengyel pottery include an elaborated system of pla- stic decoration placement in the form of bosses. The examined locality of Bucany-Ko- panice is of great importance for the disposal of contemporary cultures, mainly via their typical decoration. The situation of archaeological con- text in the area examined and the analysis of pottery in this site indicate continuous settlement during the younger section of the first chronolo- gical stage of Lengyel Culture - Leng- yel 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) - Zengovarkony 3 - Mörägy-Tuzködomb (Hungary). -ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS- An early draft of this paper was presented in 1984 at the international conference in Nove Vozokany, Slo- vakia, and was later published in its proceedings. I would like to thank Professor Peter Romsauer and Professor Jozef Bujna, who kindly gave me the Leng- yel Culture pottery finds from Bučany for analysis, and I also thank Dr. Mihael Budja, who invited me to take part in the 13th Neolithic Seminar and to pre- sent this research. REFERENCES BUJNA J., ROMSAUER P. 1980. Vyskum v Bucanoch v roku 1979. Archeologicke vyskumy a nälezy na Slovensku 1979:56-60. 1981. 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