Pásztor Emília (szerk.): Sámánizmus és természethit régen és ma - Bajai dolgozatok 23. (Baja, 2019)

Pásztor Emília: A bronzkori hidelmek és a természet kapcsolata a Kárpát-medencében

The Relationship of Bronze Age Beliefs and Nature in the Carpathian Basin

Without written sources, studying a belief system is extremely difficult. Archaeological finds alone do not provide enough information, therefore historical and ethnographic analogies are also needed to reveal, or at least to outline, some small details about the beliefs of the prehistoric men, even if we can never fully understand it.

One of the most characteristic manifestations of the Bronze Age in Europe is that a significant number of bronze objects, even groups of objects, were hidden in nature - buried underground or in wetlands. Their sacrificial character can be assured, especially in case of depots found ritually arranged in rivers, lakes or near them. (Fig. 1)

The artifacts that make up these sacred depots are not simple objects, but symbols bearing special meaning. Thus, their placement always indicate that the place of the ritual was important as there was an opportunity to establish contact between human and non-human worlds.

Ethnographic sources argue the majority of ancient sacred places across the world are found in nature (Bradley 2000). Many indigenous peoples believe that human vitality and spiritual qualities can be attributed to natural elements, especially to unique natural formations. But these can be dangerous to a community if people do not strive for a balanced relationship with them (Birtalan 2004, Hoppál 1997). The most important places for communicating with the non-human words are the sacred places, which also have spiritual power. They are integral part of the community's cosmology (Karjalainen 1980, Pásztor 2009) (Fig. 2). Anthropological research argues that the deep respect for trees, stones, and natural sites is the most archaic element of European folk beliefs which were still around in the Middle Ages (Hutton 1996, 298; Krohn 1908, Oi§teanu 1999,114-159).

The Bronze Age deposition and ethnographic analogies are in harmony with each other. So in the Bronze Age, probably many geographic formations - forest, hunting ground, lake, swamp, river, mountain, rock, cave, etc. - had their own spirits and the well-being of the community depended on the grace of these local spirits. (Pásztor 2018, 2009) (3. kép).

The respect for the spiritual power of water was likely the strongest in Europe as most of the objects were hidden in water, wetlands or near them. The reason for this might have been its movement that „proves" it's a living being or it's indispensable to life. Therefore, water also has countless other symbolic qualities (fundamental element of the creation myths, symbol of ritual purification, etc.). It is difficult to prove with the depositary sites