Zur Typologie und Stellung von Kulttischchen der Lengyel-Kultur im Mittel- Und Südosteuropäischen Neolithikum
On the typology and position of cult tables of the Lengyel culture in the Central and Southeastern European Neolithic

Summary/Abstract: The authors discuss a group of objects having specific or cultic functions in the late neolithic Lengyel culture, which had formerly been referred to as “lamps”, “clay lamps” or “small clay altars”. These objects have been known from the entire occupation territory of the Lengyel community. However, recent excavations uncovered similar finds in a few graves of the Lengyel cemetery at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, which represent new types of the discussed group of objects. The Alsónyék cemetery with the unearthed 2400 burials of the Lengyel period and the settlement with 90 houses are the largest cemetery and settlement of the Eurasian area to date. The authors describe and publish these objects and the crouched inhumation burials that contained them. They also classify the finds and determine their typological and chronological place first of all within the Lengyel community. The possible antecedents are also reviewed in the Central and SE European Neolithic and Early Copper Age. Based on H. Schwarzberg’s study of the Anatolian and SE European finds, they suggest the name “Kulttischchen” for the finds of the Lengyel culture as well. According to the anthropological analyses, these objects were placed exclusively beside women at Alsónyék and also in the Mórágy late neolithic cemetery, which indicates the role that women played in the cultic life of the contemporary communities.

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