Arrabona - Múzeumi közlemények 7. (Győr, 1965)

Foltinyi I.: Prehistoric bronzes from Győr-Sopron County in the American Museum of Natural History in New York and their relationships

PREHISTORIC BRONZES FROM GYŐR-SOPRON COUNTY IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW YORK AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS It is generally known that since the last quarter of the nineteenth century — and even before — Hungarian archeological objects were acquired by the museums of many European cities. Vienna, Berlin, Mainz, Belgrade, Venice, Rome, London, Cambridge, Oxford and other cultural centers posses smaller of bigger collections of prehistoric, Roman or protohistoric findings uncovered in Hungary. A considerable part of this archeological material has been published, or at least referred to, in Hungarian or foreign periodicals. Unfortunately, almost no information is available about those archeological objects which were purchased by the North American collections. Like Denmark, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and other countries of Europe, Hungary is represented by hundreds of archeological finds in the museums of the Western Hemisphere. The purpose of this article is to present those prehistoric objects from Győr-Sopron County which found their way to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. There are all together six archeological items from the former counties of Sopron, Moson and Győr in the Hungarian Collection

1 of this museum. The detailed attention given to these findings may seem disproportionate, if we consider that much material of equal importance remains unpublished in the storerooms of the Northwest Hungarian museums and, perhaps, in the Hungarian National Museum itself. It is to be hoped, however, that the present note will contribute to some extent to the understanding of the cultural relations of Northwest Hungary, Southwest Slovakia and East Austria during the Urnfield Period. On the other hand, the research area of the Győr-Sopron County Museum, above all the city of Győr, played an important part in the birth of Hungarian archeological research. A century ago here lived and worked the „Father of Hungarian Archeology" and discoverer of the Paleolithic in Central Europe,

2 an excellent teacher and brave Catholic priest, Flóris Romer.

3 The publication of these object in the Yearbook of the museum founded by this pioneer of Hungarian archeological research will be a fitting tribute to the memory of the great furtherer of our discipline who first organized the international relations of Hungarian archeology. The findings in question

4 are: Koroncó, formerly Győr County Trapeziform stone axe with flat edges small and gray. Inventory number 75.0/5517. Former number (at the Hungarian National Museum) 871. III. 285. 64. Length 5, width 4 cm (Plate 1, fig. 4). Pin of bronze, with domed head and incised ornamentation under the head. Inventory number 75.0/5586. Length 13,2 cm (Plate 1. fig. 3). 1 The author is preparing a monograph of this collection. 285 objects from the Carpathian Basin were purchased from Mrs. Delila de Kovach in 1923 and from the Hungarian National Museum in 1925. Further details will be given in one of the forthcoming volumes of the Uralic and Altaic Series published by Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. See also my article in Burgenländische Heimatblätter, 26. Jg., 1964 (quoted below as Foltiny 1964) 18—25. 2 Skutil, J., Die Feststellung des mitteleuropäischen Paläolithikums die Tat der magyarischen Wissenschaft. AAA 9 (1958) 49—52. 3 For the role of Romer F., see RD—

DA 1 (1958) 1—78. 4 The author is much obliged to the Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History in New York — chiefly to Ford, J., former Curator of North American Archaeology and to Ekholm, G., Curator of Mexican Archaeology — for permission to publish these specimens and for information. The National Science Foundation in Washington, D. C, has supported my work with a research grant. The assistance of the American Philosophical Society and the American Souncil of Learned Societies enabled me to make these notes more complete. 106