Alsónyék-Bátaszék: a new chapter in the research of Lengyel culture

Abstract

There can be no doubt that one of the major archaeological discoveries made in Hungary during the past ten years was the prehistoric settlement at Alsónyék–Bátaszék. The area was intermittently occupied from the Early Neolithic to the end of the Late Neolithic and the onset of the Copper Age. The prehistoric settlement attained its greatest extent during the Late Neolithic Lengyel period, as shown by the 2359 burials and over 100 post-framed buildings uncovered at the site. This preliminary report describes previous research on the architecture of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture in Hungary and the Lengyel settlement at Alsónyék and its architecture.

Neolithic and Copper Age settlement dynamics in the Western Carpathian Basin and Eastern Alps

“…Alsónyék-Bátaszék became a large aggregation of people, with a population that suddenly increased almost fifty-fold. This aggregation stayed in place for only one generation, followed by an equally fast dispersal (Osztás et al 2012;. This process coincides with the Neolithic expansion into the SE Alps, especially the area of modern Slovenia, which started after 7000 BP.…”

Tracing mobility patterns through the 6th-5th millennia BC in the Carpathian Basin with strontium and oxygen stable isotope analyses

“…At the end of the Neolithic, decreased mobility rates, can be seen among the Transdanubian Lengyel communities, although the comparatively large proportion of non-local individuals highlights supra-regional inputs that could be related to the archaeologically assumed influx from the south [ 24 , 25 ]–if corresponding non-local individuals belong to the first generation of settlers. In the Alföld, the Szakálhát groups are generally more mobile compared to Lengyel communities, but around one-half of the site outliers are classified as micro-regional ( Fig 11 ).…”

“…Finally, the huge Lengyel cultural tradition (that extended from the Sárköz region to eastern Austria and Moravia in the west, and Slovakia and even Lesser Poland in the north) was imbued with South-East European impacts. Alsónyék, which had a dense TLBK occupation phase and a probably large Sopot settlement within eyesight of the Lengyel houses, is currently the largest and most important Lengyel site in Europe [ 24 , 25 ]. With its over 120 sturdy timber-framed houses and no less than 2300 burials as well as an unparalleled population growth around 4700 BC, the site is an invaluable source for evaluating diet and mobility through stable isotope investigations.…”

All things bright: copper grave goods and diet at the Neolithic site of Osłonki, Poland

“…The multi-generation differences in human diet and unequal access to exotic grave goods observed at Osłonki—possibly underpinned by differential access to high-quality cattle pasture—are consistent with the interpretive framework of socioeconomic inequality advanced by Mulder Borgerhoff and colleagues (2009) and with the emerging view of Lengyel society during the fifth millennium BC. Grave goods and mortuary rites at Lengyel settlements, such as Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Zengővárkony and Aszód-Papi földek in Hungary (Siklósi 2007; Zalai-Gaál 2010; Osztás et al 2012) and Svodín in Slovakia (Demján 2015), have been interpreted as indicating social differentiation. The isotopic evidence from Osłonki supports this scenario.…”