Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 32/2. (2012)
Articles
PREHISTORIC WHEEL MODELS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE MURE§ COUNTY MUSEUM RITÁÉ. NÉMETH Mure§ County Museum, Tärgu Mure§, RO In the prehistoric literature the studies of the miniature wagon models had a special place, although the revolutionary discovery of the wheels made possible the use of the wagon. The goal of this paper is the presentation of the prehistoric wheel models from the collection of the Mures County Museum, in order to improve the registry of the miniature composite wheels from Romania. Unfortunately the find circumstances of many of the wheels is questionable, therefore the exact dating of the finds is uncertain. Keywords: Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, origin of wagon, route of distribution, composite wheel models In the prehistoric literature several papers discuss the different problems of the wheel models as an evidence for the appearance and usage of the wagons in the Carpathian Basin. One of the most important elements of a wagon, namely the wheel, always played a secondary role in the research, although Childe (1951; 1954) and Bóna (1960) believed that the presence of a wheel model proves the existence of the wagon as well. In their works they listed all the possible wheel models from the Bronze Age, not taking into consideration the ones from the Copper Age. In the followings we present 23 wheel models from the collection of the Mure§ County Museum, which can be dated to the Bronze and Early Iron Age. In spite of the fact that the find circumstances of several artefacts are unknown or unclear, based on their material and formal characteristics they can be listed within the mentioned time scale. I believe that although the wheel models are less spectacular than the wagons, through their testimony for the usage of the wheeled transportation they cannot be considered less relevant or important. It is very interesting that in the Carpathian Basin the number of the wagons and wagon fragments in comparison to the wheel models is very low (Bóna 1960, 107, fig. 7, the author mentions 73 find spots, but only 9 where exclusively wagons or wagon fragments came to light). The presence of the wheel models does not prove only the existence of the wagons, but they stand also as organic component parts for other wheeled mechanism such as truck, plough, etc. Although this paper wishes to present only the clay wheel models, several ideas needs to be outline about the clay wagons as well. The first systematic research of the wheel models belongs to Childe (1954). He believes that the first wagon and wheel models appeared in the Bronze Age (Bondár 2004, 6). The first catalogue of these artefacts from the Carpathian Basin was enlisted by Bóna (1960), who analyzed in details the development and appearance of the wagons and wheels in the Carpathian Basin, arguing for the first time about the importance of the wheel models (Bondár 1992, 114). MARISIA XXXII, p. 15-32
