Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 32/2. (2012)
Articles
Prehistoric Wheel Models from the Collection of the Mures County Museum 21- maple, oak. Their dimension and the revolving axle are the best criteria for the existence of the heavy wagon (Bondar 2004, 15). The appearance of the horse-drawn wagons is related to the emergence of the spoked wheel (Childe 1954, 2, 194; Foltiny 1959, 56; Bichir 1964, 82; Ordentlich-Chidiosan 1975, 35). The dating is different in some cases, Ordentlich dates this moment to Reinecke BrB, while Bóna and Bichir to BrC or even BrD (Bóna 1960, 103; Bichir 1964, 83; Ordentlich- Chidiosan 1975, 35). It is for certain that in parallel with the wooden wagons and wheels, their clay models also existed, from the Late Copper Age till the Early Iron Age. The high number of the wheeled artefacts in the Bronze Age, in comparison with those from the Copper Age, can be explained through the fact that in the new chronological period the wheel did not represent an innovation. The discovery of the wheel is a primary condition for the production of the wagon, but today’s archaeological research has proven that not every wheel model can be linked to a wagon model. The two wheeled wagon used for transportation and pulled by animals, the two wheeled plough and four wheeled wagon has to be separated (Bondar 2012, 54, 94). Taking into consideration the ethnographical parallels one can see that many other vehicles can have wheels. Regarding their function, the wheel models are generally connected to the religious sphere, mostly associated with the solar symbolism, but in many cases they could have been simple toys for children as well. In spite of the fact that we do not know about wagon models which were made from organic material (wood, rod, etc.), but taking into consideration the sometimes very superficial manufacturing of the wheel models, it is not impossible to have wagon models made from organic material, but which today cannot be traced back to the Bronze Age1. If we accept this fact and take into consideration the unpretentious execution of the wheels, the children toy theory seems more plausible, and this can explain also why the number of the wheel models is much higher than the number of the clay wagons. We cannot exclude the fact that several models were made entirely from wood, even the wheels as well. The wheel models presented in this paper were for surely the imitations of the composite wooden wheels from the daily life, which were the accessories of the wagons used for heavy transportation, pulled most probably by cattle. The similar manufactured wheels turned simultaneously with the axle, to which they were fixed. This is why the movement of the wagon was quite slow and difficult, for turning and changing direction it needed a lot of space (Bondár 1992,115). In spite of the fact that the wheel models from the collection of the Mure§ County Museum do not consent to the genesis of the wagons, which is in fact the main question of this theme, it offers new archaeological discoveries for the general catalogue of the Romanian clay wheel models. * Based on a wagon model from Budakalász, which is a very early example of wagon representation from central and south-eastern Europe Soproni draw the attention to the fact that the discovered wagon model imitates a spuned wagon. Later Csalogh confirms this statement, arguing that the wagon had a wooden floor/ base and a spuned basket-like upper structure, with wooden wheels made from a tree trunk, and pooled by draught cattle (Soproni 1956, 12; Csalogh 1961, 16). The spuned copy of the wagon was published later (Fettich 1969, 49, pl. IX/2). The idea of the wooden wagons was emerged later by other researchers as well (Schuster 1996,121).
