Gyöngyöspata-Felső-Eresztvény, a Middle Palaeolithic open-air site complex (western Mátra Mountains, Northern Hungary) – preliminary results

Attila Péntek

Independent researcher. Email: attila.pentek@yahoo.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3471-897X

 

Cite as: Péntek, A. (2025) ‘Gyöngyöspata-Felső-Eresztvény, a Middle Palaeolithic open-air site complex (western Mátra Mountains, Northern Hungary) – preliminary results’, Litikum – Journal of the Lithic Research Roundtable, 13, pp. 19–42. https://doi.org/10.23898/litikuma0045

Abstract: The Felső-Eresztvény site complex was identified in January 2025 on a ridge north of Gyöngyöspata in the Western Mátra Mountains. Systematic field surveys documented a 13.9-hectare open-air Middle Palaeolithic locality with a predominantly limnosilicite assemblage. The lithics are technologically homogeneous and characterised mainly by Mousterian notched tools and side-scraper types with a non-significant sub-laminar component. Elements of the Upper Palaeolithic and Later Prehistoric periods are very scarce or absent. An exhausted recurrent centripetal core indicates the limited presence of the Levallois concept within a flake-based Mousterian industry. Variation in patination and rolling suggests multiple occupation episodes. These results position Felső-Eresztvény as one of the most extensive and informative Middle Palaeolithic surface assemblages in the Gyöngyöspata Basin.

Keywords: western Mátra Mountains, Gyöngyöspata Basin, Middle Palaeolithic, Mousterian industry, Levallois concept, limnosilicite

Acknowledgements. The author wishes to thank Krisztián Zandler (Ferenczy Museum Centre) for his active participation in the field surveys.

Data availability statement: The author confirms that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding statement: The author received no financial support for the research and the publication of this article.

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International Public License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and transform the material, under the following terms: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

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