Unconformist Archaeology

Papers in honour of Paolo Biagi

Edited by

Elisabetta Starnini

BAR International Series 2528

2013
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BAR S2528

Unconformist Archaeology: Papers in honour of Paolo Biagi

Archaeopress and the individual authors 2013

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 Chapter 6
REMAINS OF A SPECIAL PERSONALITY FROM THE COPPER AGE
OF THE EASTERN CARPATHIAN BASIN

Pl RACZKY*
* Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Etvs Lornd University, Budapest, Hungary

Abstract
During 2009 large-scale preventive excavations took place on the outskirts of Pusztataskony on the left bank of the Tisza River.
An isolated inhumation burial found in a 164165cm deep, bee-hive shaped, round pit is perhaps the most peculiar among
the archaeological phenomena recovered at the site. On the grounds of the archaeological arguments it may be said that a
deviant burial was recovered at Pusztataskony. Objects placed in the grave represent a sphere of life that was different from
everyday life and embodied high levels of symbolism. In addition to Bodrogkeresztr style vessels, this female burial also
contained a rich inventory of wild animals commonly occurring in the surroundings of the grave. People who performed this
funeral may have created the special social-sacral status, the external connections of the woman, through these animals. In
other words, the persona of the deceased was constructed at a special location within a special context of material signatures
that makes her different from any other person buried in coeval Copper Age cemeteries in the Upper Tisza region. In light
of these observations it would be appropriate to call the woman recovered from the Pusztataskony burial a Bodrogkeresztr
social-sacral specialist.

Key words: Upper Tisza region, Copper Age, Bodrogkeresztr ceramic style, deviant burial, animals in grave, social-sacral
specialist, AMS dates

Introduction

It is particularly fortunate that an outstanding archaeologist
such as Professor Paolo Biagi, whose impressive life
achievement is celebrated by this volume, can be presented
a special find recently recovered in Hungary. Archaeological
evidence encountered in this prehistoric burial is indicative
of a personality who must have played a distinguished social
role in her own time. It is suggested here that this Copper
Age inhumation recovered in the northern section of the
Great Hungarian Plain as well as its unusual find
circumstances represent a rare symbolic-sacral phenomenon
as well as a new chronological benchmark in interpreting
that archaeological period.
During 2009 large-scale preventive excavations took
place on the outskirts of Pusztataskony on the left bank of
the Tisza River.1 They were carried out in preparation for
creating the Nagykunsg safety reservoir, part of a flood
control system (Figure 6.1). Within the framework of this
project 452 archaeological features were excavated over an
area of 23,263 m2 at the site of PusztataskonyLedence I.
The research team provided by the Institute of
Archaeological Sciences (Etvs Lornd University)
recovered finds from the time period spanning prehistory
and the Migration Period (Fzesi and Sebk 2010).
An isolated inhumation burial found in a 164165cm
deep, bee-hive shaped, round pit is perhaps the most peculiar
among the archaeological phenomena recovered at
Pusztataskony (Feature 381) (Figures 6.1, A and 6.2, 1).
Vessels found in the skeletons immediate vicinity and
especially the small, two-handled cup labelled Find No. 3
(Figures 6.2, 3 and 6.4, 3) within the feature indicated that
this complex archaeological phenomenon can be connected
with great probability to what is called traditionally the
middle Copper Age Bodrogkeresztr culture in Hungary
(Bognr-Kutzin 1958; Patay 1975, 2526, fig. 14; Patay
2008, 38, 48). Finds of this culture are well known on a
regional level from north-eastern Hungary. This is of special
interest in Pusztataskony, as Bodrogkeresztr-type
settlement remains or graves of this time period were not
detected in the vicinity of the burial or even at greater
distances. On the other hand the remains of 12 graves were
found within 6070m of the inhumation under discussion
here (Figure 6.1, B). Their grave goods, however,
represented the characteristic Tiszapolgr style. They had
shallow burial pits of elongated shapes dug into the humus
layer showing no substantial relationship with the person
buried in the deep, shaft-like pit (Fzesi and Sebk 2010,
367). On the basis of these observations it may be said that
the inhumation burial containing Bodrogkeresztr type
ceramics and its accompanying finds represent a singular
archaeological phenomenon within the environment of the
given physical landscape.
It seems that the human body, the accompanying objects,
and special zoological finds recovered from the pit form a
special assemblage whose spatial isolation outside a
contemporaneous settlement and cemetery represents a
transitional position in a distinguished context.

65
 P. Raczky

Figure 6.1. Location of the site of Pusztataskony-Ledence I and the area of the preventive excavation: A the location of the
special feature with a female interment of Bodrogkeresztr type; B the location of the Tiszapolgr graves.

During the Neolithic and Copper Age the immediate
natural environment of Pusztataskony was determined by
the Tisza. As indicated by the rivers meandering oxbows
visible even today, floodplain forests must have covered the
marshy area (Magyari et al. 2012). This micro-topography
and environmental setting may have played a role in
selecting the place of burial.
The environment of the special burial and the archae-
ological characteristics of the find assemblage
The pit
The shape of the pit is unusual among the graves attributed
to the Bodrogkeresztr culture. It was 164165cm deep,

66
Remains of a Special Personality

Figure 6.2. Pusztataskony-Ledence I. Details of the deposited Copper Age assemblage: 1 remains of a womans body;
2 remains of at least 11 snakes under the left forearm; 3 skeleton of a hare with a two-handled cup (no. 3) in front of it; 4 two
vessels behind the back of the womans body.

round, with diameters of 195 and 235cm. According to both
Ida Bognr-Kutzin and subsequently Pl Patay, typical
grave pits of this culture are of oblong shape (Bognr-
Kutzin 1963, 352354; Patay 1975, 36). It is also
remarkable in the case of the Pusztataskony pit, that average
depth of burials at the time hardly ever exceeded 100cm
(Patay 1975, 36). On the other hand, pits of special functions
were identified during the early Copper Age of the Tisza
region among others at the sites of Fzesabony
Pusztasziksz (Sz. Kllay 1990), SzarvasSite 38 (Makkay
2001, 5455) and PolgrKengyel-kz (Hajd 2007). All fit well within the average taxonomic framework of early
these pits were isolated, well-like shafts dug at a distance
from settlements and with clear ritual function. In relation to
these phenomena it may be said that by the early Copper Age
communal-sacral activities began taking place in designated
areas uninhabited by contemporaneous populations, away
from both settlements and cemeteries. Moreover such
communal-sacral acts seem to increasingly point beneath the
Earths surface (Raczky and Anders in press). All this means
that the spatial position of the pit of peculiar shape and size
that contained the Pusztataskony inhumation offered a
special context for the treatment of the deceased. Hence the
use of the term special burial is justified (Chapman 2010).
The human skeleton found in the pit
A contracted skeleton oriented eastwest was placed on her
left side in the middle of the previously described round pit.
According to Zsuzsanna K. Zoffmann these remains
belonged to a woman of 4852 years age who had a gracile
skeletal makeup. The physical characteristics of this person
Copper Age populations in the Carpathian Basin (K.
Zoffmann 2001). The skull of the deceased recovered in
Pusztataskony faced south. The right arm was found over the
chest in a slightly bent position. The left arm was strongly
contracted in front of the body. Bones of the right hand were
found scattered in the pelvic area, which may be easily
explained by natural post-depositional effects. It is
remarkable, however, that the excavators found 1012 bones
of the left hand clustered some 50cm south of the deceased
on top of a hare skeleton (such metacarpal bones were

67
 P. Raczky

Figure 6.3. Pusztataskony-Ledence I. Reconstruction of the complex deposition round the female skeleton: 1 deep
flowerpot-like vase; 2 small bowl; 3 two handled cup; 4 remains of a complete toad; 5 skull of a water vole; 6 remains
of at least 11 snakes; 7 skeletal elements of a frog; 8 complete skeleton of a hare with remains of the human left hand; 9 a
partial hedgehog skeleton; 10 remains of a snake under the deep flowerpot-like vase (no. 1).

68
Remains of a Special Personality
recognized in situ on top of the hare skeleton by Lszl
Bartosiewicz in the original documentation (see the relevant
archaeozoological study in this volume). This observation
strongly suggests that part of the left hand was placed on the
dead hare. In contrast to the slightly scattered bones of the
right hand, this degree of complex dislocation cannot be
explained by natural, post-depositional processes. This
observation is also consonant with a similar phenomenon
recorded by Pl Patay in grave 29 at TiszavalkKenderfld
of the Bodrogkeresztr culture, where he noted the complete
absence of the left hand in the case of a mans skeleton
(Patay 1975, 40).
In summary, it may be said that the placement of the
skeleton found in Pusztataskony identified as that of a
female using osteological criteria is consistent with the
previously established pattern that Bodrogkeresztr culture
burials were usually oriented eastwest and women were
placed on their left sides in the grave (Patay 1975, 3638;
Neviznsky 1984, 273277; Lichter 2001, 316329).
These features of the Pusztataskony burial outline a
personality characterized by Bodrogkeresztr ceramic
style and burial rite of female identity consonant with her
biological sex. Given these criteria, her placement in the pit
may be considered a designated burial. Meanwhile the
unusual position of the deviant burial (Chapman 2010,
3235) within the context of the Copper Age is notable in
comparison with Copper Age rituals observed in the Upper
Tisza region.
Ceramic finds found in the pit along with the human
skeleton
A deep flowerpot-like vessel was found behind the back of
the skeleton in the northern, vertically broadening section of
the pit (Figure 6.2, 4, on the right side; Figure 6.4, 1). The
vessel is characterized by coarse gravel temper and a slightly
everted rim. The shoulder is decorated with groups of four
knobs on the bulge and near the rim. According to Bognr-
Kutzin this flowerpot-like vase (Bognr-Kutzin 1963, noted adjacent to the bones of the human rib cage in the area
271274, C2 variant: pl. CXXXIII C21), called Blumentopf
by Patay in German (Patay 1975, 2829, table 14, 17) is a
form commonly found in Bodrogkeresztr type find
assemblages.
A small bowl was also recovered from behind the back of
the contracted skeleton directly on the periphery of this
vertically broadening section of the pit. This vessel has finer
temper and a slightly everted rim. The shoulder is decorated
with four small knobs (Figure 6.2, 4, on the left side; Figure
6.4, 2). This form occurs rarely among the characteristic
Tassen or Schalen vessel types of the Bodrogkeresztr
culture (Bognr-Kutzin 1963, 288292; Patay 2008, 3536,
47, fig. 3, 45). Its parallels are far more common among the
varieties of bowls and cups that belong to the Tiszapolgr southeast at the edge of the vertically broadening pit. The
assemblages (Bognr-Kutzin 1963, 259262; K and L
variants: pl. CXXX; Bognr-Kutzin 1972, 129132, fig.
25, K2j, L3c).
Some 50cm in front of the human skeleton the
aforementioned typical two-handled cup was found. It was
placed in front of the abdominal area of the hare facing the
human skull from the south (Figures 6.2, 3 and 6.4, 3). In
fact it seems closely associated with the hare skeleton. The
body of the finely executed small vessel has a belly
protruding in a sharp profile line, the rim is somewhat
elevated at the attachment points of the two handles. One of
the handles was already missing at the time the cup was
placed in the pit. Both Ida Bognr-Kutzin and Pl Patay
attributed more than cultural determination and southern
origins to this so-called two-handled cup-mug or
zweihenkeliger Becher form (Bognr-Kutzin 1963,
548549; Patay 1975, 2525). In their opinion this stylistic
type represented the culture change between the
Tiszapolgr and Bodrogkeresztr cultures (Patay 2008, 38,
48). However, the hypothetical cultural/chronological
connection between Copper Age two-handled vessels found
in the Carpathian Basin and the classical form described as
depas amphikypellon from the Aegean (Bognr-Kutzin
1958; Spanos 1972; Patay 2008, 38) has been shown to be
erroneous in light of recent calibrated 14C dates (Neustupn
1968, 4852; Sherratt 1985; Raczky 1995, fig. 1; Johnson
1999, 333). Actually, the two cultural worlds (Carpathian
and Aegean) are separated by almost 1500 years in absolute
chronological terms.
Animal remains found in the pit along with the human
skeleton 2
Remains of a complete toad were recovered at a distance of
25cm northeast of the womans skull at the edge of the
vertically broadening section of the pit (Figure 6.3, 4).
The skull of a water vole lay at a distance of 25cm
southeast of the womans skull near the place of her left hand
(Figure 6.3, 5).
In front of the chest of the contracted skeleton (toward the
south) the remains of at least 11 snakes littered a 65x35cm
area underneath the womans left forearm; the minimum
number of individuals is based on the number of most
frequently found head elements recovered among the
hundreds of undiagnostic snake vertebrae (Figures 6.2, 2 and
6.3, 6). It is also important to note that burnt spots were
of the snakes. These spots varied between 78cm in
thickness and occurred near the left femur of the human
skeleton as well. On the basis of these field observations it
may be suggested that placement of snakes in the pit
preceded the deposition of the deceased and that some form
of action accompanied by fire took place as the snakes were
put into the pit.
When recovering the snake remains from the centre of the
burial, some skeletal elements of a frog were encountered
near the southwestern edge of the snake bone deposit
(Figure 6.3, 7).
Parallel with the upper torso of the woman, a contracted
hare skeleton was found at a distance of 50cm toward the
animal lay on the womans right side (Figures 6.2, 3 and 6.3,
8). In this arrangement the human and the hare practically
faced one another after they were laid to rest. Meanwhile the
two-handled cup labelled no. 3 was found upside down near
the hares left elbow. This proximity is suggestive of an
essential relationship between the two phenomena.
A partial hedgehog skeleton (including the skull) was
recovered some 25cm southwest of the feet of the womans
69
 P. Raczky

Figure 6.4. Pusztataskony-Ledence I. Bodrogkeresztr type vessels from the special deposition: 1 flowerpot-like vase;
2 small bowl; 3 two-handled cup.

70
Remains of a Special Personality

Sample Lab. no. Feature Material BP SD 13C cal BC cal BC References

no. (1)* (68.2%) (95.5%)

1 Poz-33547 F381/S494 human bone 5460 40 -26.10.5 43604260 43704230 Raczky and Siklsi
2013

2 Poz-33548 F381/S494 snake bone 5490 40 -24.60.5 43704260 44504250 Raczky and Siklsi
2013

3 Poz-33549 F381/S494 hedgehog bone 5420 40 -23.20.5 43404250 43604080 Raczky and Siklsi
2013

4 Poz-33550 F381/S494 brown hare bone 5420 40 -24.00.5 43404250 43604080 Raczky and Siklsi
2013

Figure 6.5. Pusztataskony-Ledence I: radiocarbon measurements from the deposited human and animal (hare, hedgehog and
snake) remains. All calculations are based on the IntCal09 calibration curve (Reimer et al. 2009) and were performed with
OxCal v 4.1.7 (Bronk Ramsey 2009). * The 13C values cannot be used for palaeoecological reconstructions because of the
method of sample preparation.

skeleton, at the edge of the vertically broadening section of deposition took place within the framework of a single
the pit (Figure 6.3, 9). event, following choreography of a distinct social-sacral
Remains of another, non-venomous snake were identified behaviour.
underneath the flowerpot-like vessel (described as Find No.
1) behind the womans back (Figure 6.3, 10).
Interpretation of the special Copper Age female burial
Archaeologically this may be indicative of the sequence of
excavated at Pusztataskony-Ledence I
deposition.
Following the survey or archaeological characteristics it
became clear that the Copper Age burial recovered at the site
The chronological position of the special female burial
of Pusztataskony is unparalleled among the Tiszapolgr and
excavated at Pusztataskony
Bodrogkeresztr type graves known so far in the Tisza
On the basis of ceramic style, the special inhumation burial region. Its unique position is especially remarkable
excavated at Pusztataskony may be attributed to the considering the diverse assemblage of accompanying finds
Bodrogkeresztr complex. The assemblage as a whole offers beside the womans body, including a set of animals
special evidence on the basis of which this phenomenon may characteristic exclusively of the wild natural environment
be treated as a single depositional event, representing a (Bognr-Kutzin 1963, 377386; Neviznsky 1984,
spatial/temporal unit. Radiocarbon samples taken from 271272, 285287; Lichter 2001, 287289, 338341).
various components of the assemblage have corroborated During the archaeological analysis of this female burial,
this working hypothesis. AMS measurements were carried the methodological approach was to proceed from the
out on the human bone as well as the remains of snakes, broader context of the feature, gradually zooming in on
hedgehog and the hare in the Poznan Radiocarbon increasingly fine details of the complex phenomenon.
Laboratory (Poz-3347, Poz-3348, Poz-3349, Poz-3350).
The results detailed in Figure 6.5 offered consistent dates,
encompassing a combined time interval of 4340 to 4260 cal
BC (Figure 6.6). 3 These dates are considered altogether
remarkably earlier than the previously accepted absolute
dates established for the Bodrogkeresztr culture. However,
the new dates clearly fall in line with the new chronological
model outlined on the basis of recent AMS measurements in
the Tisza region (Csnyi et al. 2010). According to this novel
approach, rather than representing a single unilinear
diachronic sequence, artefactual assemblages characterized
by the Tiszapolgr and Bodrogkeresztr ceramic styles were
nearly synchronous during the second half or the 5th
millennium cal BC (Raczky and Siklsi 2013; Raczky et al.
in press). Moreover, the AMS dates presented here also offer
clear evidence that the special burial recovered along with its
unique finds at Pusztataskony form a single contiguous
structure both in space and time. Interpretations of this Figure 6.6. Pusztataskony-Ledence I: combined calibrated
deviant burial may thus be based on the argument that dates for the Bodrogkeresztr type of special deposition.

71

During the course of this work, the general impression
developed that the categories of objects placed in the pit for
the purposes of this burial and their relations to the deceased
had been determined both temporally and spatially.
Thus, the animal remains, ceramic vessels and the body
of the deceased may each be seen as the material
environment for a spiritual medium. In other words, it may
be hypothesized that the message conveyed by the burial as
a whole represents hierarchically superposed levels of
semiosis (Lemke 2000).
Using a top-down approach, starting with the broad
picture, the segments of information concerning the
Pusztataskony ceremonial burial may be broken down as
follows:
1. Interpreting this feature as part of the wild world,
neither settlement nor cemetery, leads to the perception of
this burial as occupying a liminal zone in the widest
sense that includes the entire burial feature and the
microenvironment in which this prehistoric funeral once
took place. These elements create a social arena that
would be unusual within the context of known early
Copper Age activities documented in the Carpathian
Basin thus far (on the problem of social arenas, see
Chapman 1991, 160161).
2. The curious form of the beehive-shaped pit represents the
next level, creating a meaningful context for the deposit
that includes, among other things, the human body
(Lichter 2001, 316318).
3. When placed within the interpretational framework of
this special burial, the special taxonomic and numerical
composition of animals found in the pit looks like an
animal world of the microcosmos. Within this symbolic
context the large number of snakes (at least 11+1
individuals) is of particular interest. Emphasizing the
symbolic meaning of snake iconography has almost
become a topos in the Neolithic and Copper Age of
Southeastern Europe (Gimbutas 1982, 93101; Todorova
2003, 307; Zalai-Gal 2007). It is possible that the fire
detected at the bottom of the deposit was related to the in
situ killing of snakes. All animals in the assemblage from
Pusztataskony represent species that could be found in the
immediate natural environment. The number and
diversity of these remains is unique in comparison with
both ordinary graves and settlement features during the
Copper Age of the Tisza region (Neviznsky 1984, table
XIX; Meisenheimer 1989, 7273; Lichter 2001,
287289, 338339). Symbolic meaning may also be
attributed to the fact that some animals were represented
by complete skeletons in the burial and were possibly
killed within the pit (snakes). Other animals were only
represented by partial skeletons in the burial pit, possibly
showing signs of previous symbolic use.
4. The next level of deposition, i.e. phase of symbolic
behaviour, was the act of placing the three ceramic
vessels in the pit. Among these vessels a Bodrogkeresztr
type two-handled cup that had evidently been in use for a
long time may mean association with a community whose
members used pottery made in this style (the fact that this
vessel had been used before the funeral is indicated by the
broken state of one of the handles). The way these three
vessels were placed into the Pusztataskony burial pit
P. Raczky
corresponds to the general rules of deposition observed in
the Bodrogkeresztr stylistic sphere (Patay 1975; Lichter
2001, 330333). Since traditional Bodrogkeresztr
burials most commonly contain 23 vessels, the three
pieces recovered at Pusztataskony fit the general burial
custom at this time (Lichter 2001, fig. 145). In addition to
these meaningful pieces of pottery, however, it is
remarkable that no other grave goods commonly
encountered in Bodrogkeresztr culture burials were
encountered in the Pusztataskony feature. It seems that
different choreographies were followed in representing
the mundane world and general rules, respectively, during
this burial.
5. The last phase in the ritual was placing the body of the
dead woman in the pit. As mentioned before, her position
in the burial perfectly mirrored Bodrogkeresztr
tradition: women in this culture tended to be buried on
their left sides in a contracted position, oriented eastwest
(Patay 1975, 3637; Neviznsky 1984, 276; Lichter
2001, 321329). Placing the female body at the centre of
the pit allowed for the manifestation of possible
relationships between the human and animal remains. It
looks as if a person with Bodrogkeresztr stylistic and
female gender identities was set up in this pit surrounded
by the external sphere of animals.
Meanwhile, it is also interesting that the left forearm of
the deceased rested on the bodies of at least 11 snakes as if
the importance of physical contact were emphasized.
Removing the palm of the left hand, placed over the body of
the dead hare, must also have been of symbolic significance.
Excavation photographs show that metacarpal bones and
phalanges of the right hand were scattered within a small
area on the left hip bone and on the distal segment of the
right forearm of the woman.
So much dislocation may even be caused by decay
processes in the abdominal area (and of the hand itself). The
association of the womans removed left palm with the hare
may also have symbolic meaning.
Discussion
Summing up the aforementioned archaeological arguments,
it may be said that a deviant burial was recovered at
Pusztataskony (Chapman 2010). Objects placed into the
grave represent a sphere of life that was different from
everyday life and embodied high levels of symbolism. In
addition to Bodrogkeresztr style vessels, this female burial
also contained a rich inventory of wild animals commonly
occurring in the surroundings of the grave. People who
performed this funeral may have created the special social-
sacral status, the external connections of the woman,
through these animals. In other words, the persona of the
deceased was constructed at a special location within a
special context of material signatures that makes her
different from any other person buried in coeval cemeteries
in the region (Neviznsky 1984, 298305; Meisenheimer
1989; Sofaer Derevenski 1997; Chapman 2000, 117119;
Lichter 2001, 344349). One may thus conclude that her
communal role defined a new dimension in social
communication. As for the relation between the deceased
and the grave animals, a problem statement by Lambros
72
Remains of a Special Personality
Malafouris in relation to a Mycenaean sword is worth
paraphrasing here. Construe Are they me or are they
mine? (Malafouris 2008, 115).
The other question is whether the animals originally
belonged to the deceased or were just collected by the
funeral party for the purposes of the ceremony. Both
possibilities may have contributed to the diversity of this
small but unique faunal assemblage (Budja 2010). It remains
a question whether associations evoked by these animals
were a proper reflection of the individuals role in the
community. These logical steps lead to the main question
and Malafouris main problem. One of the possibilities is
that regardless of their actual origins, the animals (and
animal parts) became part of the physical environment
around this inhumation. The other option is that they were
attributed to the substance of the personality and functioned
as the external extension of a partible person (Budja 2011,
47, 52). According to this latter scenario, the identity of the
buried person may be re-distributed within various animals
in the way they represent the world. All this is supposed to
help in physically reintegrating the personality of the
deceased.
Among the animals found in the grave, the hare and
snakes seem to most reliably contribute to outlining a
personhood that may be best characterized as dividual and
partible. Placing the hand bones from the Pusztataskony
womans left palm on the hare may have been an important
element within this framework of reference. Budja compares
such phenomena to the sacral practice of os resectum
pursued by Romans (Budja 2011, 5152).
The animal world constructed around the woman buried
at Pusztataskony also raises the possibility that this special
circle of animals represented an even more complex
universe of cosmic proportions. Something along these lines
must have been meant by Aleksander Durman who
discussed the special decoration of a vessel from the late
Copper Age multiple human burial from Vuedol. He
interpreted the incised pattern running around the external
surface of this vessel as images of Orion and Pleiades
dated to a time period of c. 31002750 BC (Durman 2000,
4357). By that period the awareness of time and cyclicality,
as well as the ability to identify cosmological objects, may
perhaps have justified this interpretation (Morley 2010,
718).
Trying to define the personality of the special Copper Age
individual whose remains were recovered at Pusztataskony,
it may be said that the person was associated with the
Bodrogkeresztr style and had a well-defined gender
position. In terms of personal skill, the interval of
interpretations enhanced by the set of animals included a
person with a specific social role, who probably embodied a
dividual personhood composed of organic parts. This
possibility is especially interesting in light of a recent review
of Southeast Europe by John Chapman and Bisserka
Gaydarska. They reconstructed a process beginning in the
Neolithic that entailed personal individualization within the
framework of everyday life (Chapman and Gaydarsaka
2011, 3637). The Pusztataskony personality may have
played a special social-sacral role; however, she retained
some characters of an archaic dividual person. On the basis
of these considerations one may cautiously conclude that
this middle-aged woman associated with the
Bodrogkeresztr ceramic style was a specialist who once
played a role whose significance lay far beyond the daily
economic and social concerns of her community.
Correspondingly, the fact that she was buried in a special
place, thereby adding emphasis to her special personality,
points beyond the dimensions of everyday life. The image of
her personality may have been ceremonially constructed by
her community. In light of these observations it would be all
too easy to call the woman recovered from the
Pusztataskony burial a shaman. Unfortunately, however,
the archaeological meaning of this term cannot be clearly
defined within the universal approach once advocated by
Mircea Eliade (Sidky 2010). The more prudent wording,
Bodrogkeresztr social-sacral specialist, would be a more
appropriate description.
The emergence of Copper Age personalities of special
social standing in the Upper Tisza region (second half of the
5th millennium cal BC) must have had its antecedents during
the Late Neolithic of the region. In relation to this problem
the author has already analyzed the 220cm deep shaft burial
recovered at iarovce, eastern Slovakia, and its artefactual
assemblage (Feature A/76), which contained the remains of
at least seven people deposited in four distinct layers,
accompanied by rather peculiar grave goods (Vzdal 1980,
144146; Makkay 1982, 1314; Lichardus and Lichardus-
Itten 1997, 144149). In relation to these burials the
interpretation of such members of communities as shamans
was raised. It must be emphasized, however, that the
repeated burial of several people in close physical proximity
at iarovce may be indicative of the special social role
these personalities played and their related location in the
mental map of the Neolithic community that inhabited the
settlement.
Notes
1. In administrative terms the modern settlement of Pusztataskony
belongs to the village of Tiszabura. However, it is presented as
a distinct physical unit in cartographic systems including
Google Earth.
2. See details by Lszl Bartosiewicz, Zsfia Eszter Kovcs and
Balzs Farkas in this volume.
3. In this article calibrated age ranges are quoted with 1
confidence intervals.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Katalin Sebk for generously allowing the
publication of the find assemblage from Pusztataskony-
Ledence and to Zsuzsanna Zoffmann for the anthropological
analysis of the human remains from the grave. We are
indebted to Katalin Nagy, Katalin Sebk and Gbor Vczi
for the preparation of the illustrations.
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* * * * *
Authors address:
Institute of Archaeological Sciences
Etvs Lornd University
H-1088 Budapest, Mzeum krt 4/B
E-mail: raczky.pal@btk.elte.hu
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