Throughout the week we have continued to excavate the earlier phases of the houses and activity areas that we have described in the previous diary notes from the site. While removing the walls and the stone filled base of the unique hearth, mentioned in last week’s entry, a previous phase of the feature was found. Directly beneath the base of this hearth, by the edge, an interesting deposition of animal finger bones was found. Most of them are horse, but bones from wild and domesticated cattle, pigs and sheep were also present.

The large pit in the southeast corner of the trench also appears to have had an earlier phase. This previous section is 110 centimetres deep and its walls and base were covered with clay-plastered planks of wood. At the base of the pit we found quite large amounts of pottery shards, both of fine and coarse ware, originating from storage vessels and small cups. (Pit I-III)

In the project labs Southampton University is working together with the Matrica Museum, recording many different aspects of the pottery from the tell settlement of Százhalombatta. This is an exceptionally rich and complex assemblage with a diverse range of vessel forms. In conjunction with traditional Hungarian approaches we are interested in the manufacture, technology and construction of pottery, pottery fabrics, use-wear, and the spatial distribution of pottery across the site. Our aim is to explore social relations within household contexts and over time through this particular form of material culture.

All pottery is weighed and counted enabling densities and fragmentation to be mapped across the site. In addition numbers of diagnostic sherds are recorded. Individual sherds are recorded using featured sherd record forms that cover period, context, vessel part, vessel form, vessel capacity, surface finish and decoration, firing, fabric and use-wear. All sherds are sketched allowing for the later development of a rim type series. Sherds are also visually recorded and added to a digital photographic database. All the information is stored in a database compatible with Intrasis enabling spatial manipulation of the data. In addition to this recording, there are a number of doctoral, masters and undergraduate research projects, either completed, or in progress working with ceramics from the site.

This is the first time that pottery from a Central European tell site has been recorded in such detail. It has already resulted in an exceptional dataset that will be expanded as the excavation continues. It will lend a unique insight into Bronze Age life through the ceramics.