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Open-Air Szeletian Site and Its Relations at Szécsénke-Kis-Ferenc-hegy (Cserhát Mountains, Northern Hungary) A. Péntek
Open-Air Szeletian Site and Its Relations at Szécsénke-Kis-Ferenc-hegy (Cserhát Mountains, Northern Hungary) A. Péntek
Open-Air Szeletian Site and Its Relations at Szécsénke-Kis-Ferenc-hegy (Cserhát Mountains, Northern Hungary) A. Péntek
Szécsénke-Kis-Ferenc-hegy
(Cserhát Mountains, Northern Hungary)
A. Péntek – K. Zandler
Szécsénke
The site
Legénd
Central and Eastern
Western
Cserhát Mountains
Cserhát Mountains
Vác
Hatvan
Budapest
11,0 km
The site and its environment
Szécsénke
The
Legénd site
Szécsénke-Kis-
Ferenc-hegy.
370,3 m
Legénd-Káldy-tanya.
368,1 m 292,0 m Palaeolithic sites will
be not mentioned in the
300,2 m presentation.
A typical topographic
286,4 m
The site
situation, well known in
the Cserhát Mountains.
The most Middle
Paleolithic and/or Early
Upper Paleolithic sites
are lying along or at the
heads of “dead end
valleys”.
The 1003 lithic artefacts from the Szécsénke Kis-Ferenc-hegy site unifies all the above
mentioned characteristics. The chipped stone artefacts show typological resemblances to the
so-called Szeletian industry. We took typological parallelism from the archaeological
material from well known moravian and bavarian sites which are aspected as belonging to
the Szeletian.
A short description of the site
On an asymmetrical hill-comb, located
between the valleys of the Szécsénke and
Halyagos streamlets at an altitude of 265-
270 m a.s.l..
The site is lying on a plateau of
about 250×200 m area. Its relative altitude
is 70 m from the valley-foot.
258,0 m At the south-west corner of the site
there is a pebble outcrop of 50×50 m area.
Its geological age is Upper Oligocene
Chattian Stage ~ Budafok Sand Formation.
• Quartzite pebbles dominate
• Diverse silex pebbles
256,0 m • Radiolarite pebbles
• Hydrothermal chunks
• Petrified woods
0 1 km
Raw material usage
The so-called local raw materials defined as which can be collected in the direct vicinity of
the site or in an area has at longest 25 km distance from the site.
● Radiolarite (carpathian):
It is known in pebble form at the east side of the Börzsöny Mountains in the „Nagyorosz
Formation“. Actually all potential raw material sources, pebble outcrops contain some
radiolarite pebbles in few amounts of good knapping quality.
Raw material usage
● Quartzite:
Due to its high resistance to weathering quartz is one of the most ubiquitous raw
materials, explaining its high frequency in many Palaeolithic sites, usually linked to
expeditive strategies. It is of common occurence even in the Cserhát Mountains. On the base
of our observations it is related mainly to Middle Palaeolithic or Early Upper Palaeolithic
sites. According to K. Valoch it is the characteristical raw material of the so-called
„Begleitindustrie“ at some moravian and slovakian Szeletian sites.
The only long distance raw material , which originates more than 100 km distance from the
site is the felsitic porphyry (metarhyolite). Its primary geological source is in the east side of
the Bükk Mountains, at Bükkszentlászló in the valley of the Kaán Károly spring. Some years
ago a PGAA analysis was carried out with positive results on some archaeological samples of
the Cserhát Mountains too [MARKÓ et al 2003, 297-314].
Raw material statistics of the artefacts
Artefact/Raw Limnic Felsitic Silex Radiolarite Quartzite Total Percentage
material quartzite porphyry number
Cores 4 4 1 9 0.83
Raw material
4 4 0.37
chunks
* The pieces are actually elongated, mostly asymmetrical blade-like flakes with irregular
cross section.
Raw material statistics of the artefacts
1.66 0.83
17.07
42.44 Limnic quartzite
Felsitic porhyry
38.01 Silex
Radiolarite
Quartzite
Raw material statistics of the tools
End-scrapers 5 13 14 2 34 28.57
Side-scrapers 4 13 5 1 23 19.33
1.66 0.83
17.07
42.44 Limnic quartzite
Felsitic porhyry
38.01 Silex
Radiolarite
Quartzite
Some technological characteristics of the lithic assemblage
Few cores were left (9 pieces altogether), among them there are no core of felsitic porphyry.
The detailed technological analysis lacks, we have no concrete theory about the applied
debitage.
The ratio of the flakes greater than 15 mm inclusive the blade-like flakes is 31,20 %, that of
the flakes less than 15 mm is 55,81 %. That is 86,81 % is debitage-material.
Among the flakes there are no blanks usable for tool making, there are mainly flakes originate
from the shaping and preparation of the cores and from the tool making and retouching.
The traces of the Upper Palaeolithical blade technology are scarce, there are only 3 tools
made on blades or on blade–like blanks. Two high end-scrapers of Aurignacian-character
[#49, #55] and. a leaf point [#81].
There are releatively much (13 pieces altogether) elongated, blade-like flakes, they come to
1.2 % of the lithic material.
#49 #81
End-scrapers
The most numerous category (34
pieces - 28,57 %).
An end-scraper made of
felsitic porphyry has a
Clactonian notch at the left
side of the base [#65].
Typological resemblances are
reported in Bavaria at Zeitlarn.
These pieces are combination
tools as a matter of fact.
#65
End-scrapers
End-scraper made of felsitic porphyry [#60].
Both lateral edges are retouched, on the distal
part of the right edges has an atypical nose.
Such pieces occur at some moravian Szeletian
sites as eg. Neslovice, Vedrovice V. or
Vincencov or at Zeitlarn too.
#60
#49 #55
Leaf shaped tools
Among the tools the percentage of the leaf shaped tools is high (20 pieces - 16,81 %).
The raw material preference is significant. 13 pieces are made of felsitic porphyry, 5 pieces
are of silex and only 2 pieces are of limnic quartzite.
Most pieces are symmetric or slightly asymmetric to the longitudinal axis. These pieces are
actually leaf points.
Leaf shaped tools
#3
Clactonian notch
#76
Leaf shaped tools
Some relatively short and wide pieces [#1, #57, #74, #75].
#1 #57 #74
A piece made of
nummulitic chert [#57].
A fragmentary piece made of limnic quartzite [#81]. Relatively symmetric to the longitudinal
axis, has a biconvex longitudinal and a plano-convex cross section. On the ventral face only
the edges are retouched, givig the piece some similarities to the „pointe à face plane“ point which
occur in the moravian Szeletian, eg. Neslovice és Ondratice . This phenomena could be
interpreted as the influence of the Jerzmanowician industry postulated by W. Chmielewski.
Side-scrapers
#58
Double/convergent side-scraper made of silex. The
Dorsal face #54
dorsal face is nicely elaborated, the base is thinned on
the ventral face, the butt is prepared.
#69
Ventral face #54
Double side-scraper of small dimensions Double side-scraper made of felsitic porphyry.
made of radiolarite. Its right edge is The right edge is partially bifacially retouched, on
bifacially retouched. the right side of the base a notch could be seen.
Bifacially elaborated tools
#32
Bifacially elaborated tools
#33 #34
Eliminated bulb
of percussion
Other unspecified
6 3 1 1 1 12 44.44 10.08
tools
Total number 7 6 10 1 3 27
#113
Summary
It could be established that in the lithic tool set the ratio of the tools (side-scrapers and bifacial
tools), characterizing the Middle Palaeolithic is 31,94 %.
The ratio of the leaf points is high (16,81 %), their elaboration is generally relatively
rudimentary, don„t reach the refinement typifies the leaf points of the developed Szeletian
industry.
The most end-scrapers have an archaic character, only some 6 pieces represents the Upper
Palaeolithic types.
There are only one burin (a core burin) and one borer in the lithic assemblage.
Among the miscellaneous tools is significant the ratio of the archaic pieces (tranchets, notched
tools).