Garam Éva szerk.: Between East and West - History of the peoples living in hungarian lands (Guide to the Archaeological Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum; Budapest, 2005)

HALL 3-4 - The Bronze Age (2800-800 B.C.) (Ildikó Szathmári)

Many centuries elapsed before elegant bronze jewellery, tools and weapons began to be mass produced towards the close of the 2nd millennium B.C. The surviving tools of bronzesmiths - crucibles, tuyères, clay ladles and moulds (Fig. 32) - still elicit our admiration. The former were used for smelting metal ores, the latter for casting metal articles. We know very little about the metalsmiths themselves, their workshops and the actual work processes. It is quite certain, however, that the craftsmen who had mastered the art of metal work ing were highly respected members of their community since they represented an industry calling for specialised knowledge - and, also, an industry capable both of catering to local needs and of producing a surplus with a commercial value. Most metalsmiths of the Bronze Age practiced their craft in the workshops of central settlements - only a few made a living as itinerant craftsmen. There is little direct evidence in the archaeological record for bronze workshops. It seems likely that the earliest Bronze Age workshops which practiced bronze casting were active by the later 3rd millennium B.C., at least judging from the moulds, crucibles and metal finds brought to light on settlements, and from the assemblages containing the tools of these early bronzesmiths, such as the one brought to light on the settlement at ZókVárhegy in Transdanubia, occupied by an Early Bronze Age community (Zók-Vucedol culture). The early shaft-hole axes, used both as a weapon and a tool, were made in two-part moulds, such as the one found at Hidegség. The relics of metalworking show a sudden increase from the middle third of the 2nd millennium B.C. The first profesionally excavated bronze workshop at Lovasberény-Mihályvár, a hillfort occupied by a Transdanubian community (Vatya culture) can be dated to this period (17th—16th centuries B.C.). There is no direct evidence for the different phases of bronze casting and for how bronzesmiths actually used their tools. These can at the most be reconstructed from Egyptian depictions. The first step in bronzeworking was the creation of the mould for the artefact to be cast. Moulds of the negative were at first prepared from clay; later, they were carved from stone, usually sandstone. Simple objects, such as chisels and sickles, were made using twopart moulds, while more complicated pieces with hollow sections, such as shaft-hole and socketed axes, were cast using three- and multi-part moulds. The axe mould fragment from Tószeg and the one for conical headed pins found on the Füzesabony tell settlement date from the first half of the 2nd millennium. The large assemblage of moulds from Soltvadkert in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve is slightly later (Tumulus culture, 14th century B.C.). The next step was smelting the bronze in crucibles placed in a smelting furnace (or a simple hearth). Even though we do not know what type of furnaces were used by the Bronze Age smiths since none have yet been found in Hungary, the clay tuyères (nozzles) found on several sites suggest that bellows made from leather or some other organic material were used for ensuring the necessary temperature. The most critical step in the manufacture of metal artefacts was pouring the molten metal into the mould. Long-handled clay ladles were used for this purpose. The moulds were held together with metal locking joints and were probably set into clay to ensure their stability near the furnace or the hearth. The molten metal was poured into the mould through a hole, and once it had cooled, the artefact could be removed. Next came the removal of the casting seams and flashes by polishing. Tools and weapons were hammered to increase their hardness and forged in fire to sharpen cutting edges. Decorative designs were added with punching, chasing and engraving. Artefacts which became damaged during casting or during their use were melted down and re-used as raw material. The other technique of bronzeworking was cold hammering, used mainly for making smaller articles from sheet bronze. This