Dissertation Research: The Social Organization of Early Copper Age Communities in the Koros Region of the Great Hungarian Plain

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Under the direction of Dr. John O'Shea, Mr. William Parkinson will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will survey the Koros River valley system in the Great Plain of Hungry to plot the distribution of Early Copper Age (ECA) sites and will also analyze material excavated from the settlement of Vesto-Magor which dates to the same period. Although substantial information is available for the preceding Late Neolithic period in this region, surprisingly little is known about ECA settlement patterns. Vesto-Magor is one of the few sites from this interval which has been carefully excavated and much of the material is slated for reburial in the near future. Mr.Parkinson will conduct a detailed analysis of the abundant ceramic remains. Because pottery style changes relatively rapidly over time, study of this chronological marker will allow sherds recovered from surface contexts to be dated through ceramic comparison. Vesto-Magor contains house remains and through examination of such data it will be possible to reconstruct family and site size as well as social organization. Mr. Parkinson will also systematically survey the region to locate other ECA sites and collect surface materials. He will note site size and plot location and with this information it should be possible to reconstruct settlement pattern. The transition from the Late Neolithic (ca. 5,000-4,500 BC) to ECA (ca. 4,500-4,000) on the Great Hungarian Plain is marked by dramatic changes in the archaeological record - changes in the spatial scale of cultural groups, house form, settlement type, settlement location, trade networks and mortuary practices. These changes in material culture suggest that the population underwent a radical social transformation about 4,500 BC. This transformation affected not only inter-group relationships, as indicated by changes in trade-networks and settlement organization, but also intra-group relationships, as indicated by changes in house form and mortuary customs. In neither the Late Neolithic nor ECA is there strong evidence for institutionalized social ranking, suggesting that the social groups in question were structured according to some sort of tribal or autonomous village organization. Therefore the social transformation must be understood in terms of the wide range of variability that occurs within tribal forms of social organization. This is a significant fact and it poses a challenge to traditional modes of anthropological thought. Most often archaeologists view the transition from Neolithic to Copper age in terms of the development of social complexity and the emergence of a hierarchical form of social organization. The Hungarian data indicates that change during this period can be more complex and not attributable to this single factor. An excellent case study is thus provided to search for other causes of change. This research is significant because it will allow the recording and analysis of important archaeological materials which will soon be lost to scientific study. It addresses an interesting theoretical question and will assist in training a promising young scientist.