A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve, 1982/83-1. (Szeged, 1985)

Régészet - Horváth Ferenc: Contributions to the Early and Middle Bronze Age of the Southern Alföld

A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve 1982—83/1 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGE OF SOUTHERN ALFÖLD* FERENC HORVÁTH (Szeged, Móra Ferenc Múzeum) The south-eastern part of Hungary which is devided into a Trans-Tisza Area and into one called Danube

—Tisza Mid Region makes a geographic unit with the region now in Yugoslavia called Bácska (Васка)

—Bánság (Vojvodina) as well as the Körös—Region now in Rumania. As regards to the geographical conditions the connections between south-east Hungary and Transylvania through the valley of river Maros and between S. Rumania and N. Bulgaria through the valley of Lower Danube were always potentially open. These conditions had a great part in defining the Bronze-Age development of this region in a similar way with the above mentioned areas. According to the available finds the Bronze-Age history of the area was summed up by István Bona in 1962, 1965 and in 1975.

1 Some minor excavations done in the meantime but mainly research work done in other regions of the country make it possible to raise new aspects in the research of the problems of the Early Bronze Age in this area. The transition of the Late Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age is not quite clear. At the very end of the Late Copper Age the finds of the Kostolac group appear to the line of the Körös rivers (Szentes—Nagyhegy, Szentes, Kiskörös, Kecskemét—Szikra, Hódmezővásárhely—Gorzsa—Köveshalom, Vajhát, Kiskunfélegyháza, Tápé—Lebő, Deszk-A, Ópusztaszer—Kiszner-tanya).

2 The pottery is black-burnished with impressed or incised motive — seldom incrusted. These show close relations to the Yugoslavian Banat and the Rumanian Maros-Valley artifacts of the Kostolac group.

3 The fish-boat and the devided bowl are dominant * The manuscript was closed in 1976 and was given as a lecture at the UISPP IX. congress n Nice, 1976. Unfortunatelly the lectures of the Congres has not been published up to now that is why we publish the original text now without any alteration. We maintain all the results of this paper even to-day with the exception of the explanation of the so called Early Bronze Age "Somogyvár—Vinkovici"-type of pottery. This problem has been published in a more detailed study in the near past (see F. Horváth 1980—81.). I would like to thank Prof. István Bona for his help and critical comments in the revision of this paper. 1 Bona, I. 1963. 11—24.; 1965. 17—64.; 1965/a 59—67. 2 Banner, J. 1956. Tápé—Lebő: LVIII. t. 5,10—11, 15—16,20—21, 25, 30, Deszk-A: XLVIII. t. 5—7, 10—13, 16—19, 21—24, 26—32, 35—41 43, 45—46, Hódmezővásárhely—Szőlőhalom: LV. t. 24, Gorzsa—Köveshalom: LV. t. 38—43. Ószentiván: Bálint, A.—Párducz, M. 1934. X. t. 11—16, 18, 19, 23. Kecskemét—Szikra: Banner, J. 1956. XXVIII—XXIX. t. 3 Nemejcova—Pavuková, 1968. 353—433; Roman, P. 1976. 52—53; Jovanovié, В. 1974. 160—169. 55