BUTMIR

Outline of the settlement irregular oval, measuring 185m in length and is an 155m in its greatest breadth. Its superficial area is 19,170m2 (about 5 acres), and its average height 2m above the surrounding plain. Of this area 1356m2 have been excavated.
A section from above downwards shows the following separate beds :
(1.) A superficial humus. 30 to 40cm in depth, similar to the ordinary clayey soil on the surrounding cultivated fields.
(2.) A dark bed of charcoal, ashes, clay, mould, &c., containing pottery, stone implements, and other industrial remains, uniformly distributed throughout the entire mass (Die zahlreichen Thon- und Steinartcfacte sind in der Culturschichte ihrer ganzen Holie nach vertheilt). Its depth varies from 110 to 140cm , but at the margin it thins off.
(3.) Underneath this lies a deposit of reddish-brown clay of a fine adhesive quality, having a thickness of 90 to 110cm- There was no clear line of demarcation between it and the relic-bed, as bits of charcoal, and, according to Mr Radimsky, portions of burnt clay, were sometimes found embedded in its upper part (zuweilen auch einzelne StiicJcchen gebrannten Lehmes). Otherwise this clay is a homogeneous compact mass, which must have been deposited prior to the occupancy of the locality.
The excavations were conducted by a body of workmen who first removed the upper layer of soil, and then threw the contents of the relic-bed a few yards behind them, where they were subjected to further inspection.
The exact position of the more important finds was carefully noted on a plan. At an early stage of the excavations certain troughshaped hollows were encountered in the underlying clay which every one acknowledged to have been the work of man, and consequently attracted much attention, as they must have been made before the relic-bearing debris commenced to accumulate above them. The sides of these hollows sloped at an angle of 45, and the centres were lower than the margins.

The depth varied from 40 to 80cm.They were all filled with stuff similar to that in the relic-bed, and it had been frequently remarked that the relics were most numerous within their boundaries. During the progress of the excavations carried on in 1893, twelve such hollows were met with, all of which have been carefully measured and marked on the plan.A short description of a few of them will suffice to give an idea of the kind of evidence they supply.
No. 1 round, diameter 2.5m depth 40 cm
contained stone implements (six knives, one broken spear-point, one half-finished arrow-head, and seven scrapers), some fragments of pottery, and three portions of bone. At the east side and lying on the clay flooring was a roundish fireplace, 50 cm in diameter, consisting of a layer of ashes interspersed with pieces of charcoal.
No. 2 oval, diameters 4.5m and 3.2m ,depth 80cm contained fragments of pottery, flint flakes, and an arrow-head of jasper.
No. 4 irregularly shaped, sides 5.5m and depth 50 cm.
Projecting from the south side was an attached portion 150 by 70cm, and 26 cm in depth. In this hollow was found lying on the clay the figure of red terracotta. Among the other objects from this area are some flint implements,two sharpening stones, a hemispherical polisher, a round red-clay weight, some pottery, and the trunk portion of a second rude human figure.
No. 8 oval, diameters 1.8m and 2.6m
, depth 60 cm Had two roundish projections, depth 34cm , and contained a number of worked objects.
No. 10 irregularly shaped ; greatest diameter 8m, and depth 35cm.Contained a quantity of the usual relics, including five unfinished stone implements along with a chipping-stone lying together.
No. 11 roundish form, distinguished above all others for its size, being 9m in average diameter.The floor was uneven, being 60cm in depth at its east and only 35cm at its west side. It had two projection (Ausbuchtungen) on its northwest side (the two far-off hollows seen in the frontispiece).

The dark female figure , was found within this area, first the head lying on the clay, and subsequently, about one yard in horizontal distance, the body portion turned up in the stuff some 20 cm above the clay. Among other objects found here were a reddish clay figure , and the hand of a black male figure , both lying on the clay-bed ; also the body portion of another black figure, some 10 cm above the clay flooring .

Both above and below this burnt layer, as well as among the portions of the wallcastings ( WandbewurfstucTcchen}, were found the following worked objects in stone viz., 13 complete and 12 broken axes and chisels, 1 unfinished chisel, 3 broken but subsequently utilised axes, 1 knife fragment, and a number of nuclei and refuse flakes ; also fragments of pottery.

Besides these figurines were found a clay model of a perforated stone hammer, four mealing stones,some nuclei, and a quantity of other relics.Mr Radimsky describe various details in regard to the settlement, at various levels higher up in the relic-bed, remains of huts of a more recent date, consisting of horizontal beds of clay, sometimes burnt and sometimes unburnt, together with fragments of the clay plaster with which their wooden walls had been covered, and which, having been burnt in the course of a conflagration, retained the forms of the wood used in their construction. Such remains were observed particularly at three places marked g, k, and v on the plan. At the point g there was a layer of burnt clay 6 m long, 5m broad, and 25cm thick, along with a quantity of clay wall-castings. It lay on the top of the relicbed, the highest point being only 30 cm below the surface of the grass-field.

East of this, but somewhat deeper in the relic-bed, at the point marked k, there was another layer of burnt clay, together with an aggregation of similar wall - castings, measuring 4.2 m in length, 3.2 m in breadth, and 20 cm in thickness, which reached halfway down the relic -bed. Here also a quantity of relics was collected viz., 12 knives, an arrow-head, 3 scrapers, 2 unfinished chisels, 2 polishers, some nuclei and chips ; also fragments of pottery, 1 1 red - clay weights (one star-shaped), and 6 fragments of bone.
The third place where such remains were exposed was in the upper half of the relic-bed.
Part of this burnt flooring lay under a roadway, and so the whole of it could not be uncovered, but so far as this was done it measured 7.3m in length and 5m in breadth.

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