On the right bank of the Theiss, a few miles from the railway-station
of Szolnok, and near the village of Tószeg, there is an artificial
mound called "Kuczorgó or Lapos-halom," to which, since the meeting
of the International Congress at Buda-Pesth, in 1876, much importance
is attached on account of the opinion expressed by Pigorini that
it is identical in structure with the terramara mounds of Northern
Italy. The mound, though now considerably undermined by the river
Theiss during the great floods of 1876, is still of considerable
extent, measuring some 360 mètres in length, and 100 in breadth, and
rising to a maximum height of 8 mètres over the surrounding plain.
It is only in times of flood that the waters reach the mound, its
usual bed being about 1½ mile distant. When the artificial nature of
this mound became known by the section exposed by the floods, some
extensive investigations were made to determine its archæological
character. The objects collected in these researches were exhibited
at the Congress as a special find, and among them were the following
(Catalogue, pp. 85-87):--
1. Perforated hammers of staghorn, various pointed implements of horn
and bone, perforated teeth of pigs, and a leg-bone perforated in two
places, probably a skate.
2. Polished stone celts and perforated hammers, four flint flakes, and
one of obsidian, corn-crushers, and various other worked stones.
3. Fragment of a bronze pin, a bronze knife, and a small ingot of
bronze.
4. Pottery, showing a variety of dishes, some with handles, etc.;
various objects of burnt clay, as a whistle, buttons, a spoon, 18
pyramidal clay weights (perforated), etc.
5. A considerable amount of food refuse, as bones, scales of fish,
shells, charred wheat, etc.
When the International Congress was held at Buda-Pesth, Pigorini,
Virchow, and Miss Mestorf visited this mound, and made some further
researches, which not only confirmed Pigorini in his suspicions about
the structure of the mound, but also led his distinguished fellow
investigators to accept the main portion of his theory. Upon their
return home they[30] published separate accounts of this excursion to
Tószeg and the results obtained, from which I must here be content to
notice that the following propositions are admitted facts:--
1. The existence of piles and wooden beams was satisfactorily proved,
and Pigorini asserts that these corresponded with three different
levels, precisely as they occur in the terramara mounds.
2. The materials containing the _débris_ of occupancy were distinctly
stratified, forming parallel or undulating layers, amounting to a
total thickness of 4 mètres.
3. The antiquities collected represented all ages, including stone
celts, bronze and iron implements, and a skate made of the leg-bone of
a horse.
Subsequently Dr. Romer gave an account of the excavations conducted
at Tószeg previous to the meeting of the International Congress, in
an article entitled "Les Terramares en Hongrie," along with which he
describes similar deposits at other places, as Nagy-Rév, Szelevény,
Keménytetö, and Ásott-halom. In regard to the latter station he
remarks that rotten piles were observed in its lowest stratum before
Pigorini called attention to their importance. Some of the objects
from Ásott-halom were exhibited at the Congress (see Cat., p. 44),
and included polished stone axes and hammers, flakes of obsidian,
perforated hammers of staghorn, etc. The author concludes his article
by stating that the terramara deposits are by no means confined to the
valley of the Tisza, as they have already been observed in various
other low-lying districts along the Danube, Garam, etc. (B. 316.)