Az újkőkori ember és a Duna folyam. A környezetrekonstrukció lehetőségei városi körülmények között. Esettanulmány (Budapest III. Nánási út 75–77.)

This paper aims to present the connection during the Neolithic between the people living in the region of Budapest and the environment, the natural landscape, with special regard for the role of the river Danube. For the reconstruction of the environment and land use in the period of the Linear Pottery Culture (LPC), it reviews the region’s hydrographic and topographic models and also examines the relationships between the natural geography and archaeological topography for the individual phases of the LPC. The paper provides additional data for the general picture through a case study: the detailed analysis of a settlement section uncovered at 75–77 Nánási Road in the District III of Budapest. The excavated part of the settlement on Nánási Road was inhabited from the early Notenkopf (musicnote) phase of the LPC until the late Zselíz phase. Its distinct structure, marked by the superposition of features and buildings, shows a strong bond with the settlement site. This may have been on account of the favourable river-crossing point which ensured communications and perhaps due to the nearby karstic springs at present-day Rómaifürdő (‘Roman Lido’). The settlement is one of the villages that survived into the latest Zselíz phase which also reflect the changes in the significance and role of the region of Budapest by the late Neolithic. These developments were likely also connected with the transformation of the natural environment in what is now the Hungarian capital which had taken place by the late Zselíz phase. This likely led to the decline of the prosperous settlement and agricultural system of the LPC and the drastic decrease in the number of settlements from the late Zselíz phase and during the late Neolithic. It appears that in the area – by then presumably less suited to agriculture – what became more important was likely the maintenance of previously established contacts and mediation. For this the participation of possibly just a few settlements was enough.