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)

34. Clay vessels from Bronze Age households. Spoon and howl from the Sarkad area; one-handled jug from Megyaszó; strainer and ember cover of unknown provenance. First half of the 2nd millennium B.C. burnt condition, were used for keeping food warm (Fig. 34). The foods consumed by Bronze Age peoples and their diet can be reconstructed from the grain finds lying near grinding stones and on house floors, and from the food remains themselves. Cultivated crops included wheat, rye and barley, from which they made porridges, while pea and lentils were used for cooking vegetable dishes. The diet was supplemented with wild fruits, such as apple, cornelian cherry, blackberry and elderberry. The animal bones reveal which animal species were eaten. The most popular domesticated species were sheep, goat and cattle, while pig was eaten less frequently. Hunted animals were dominated by roe deer, deer, boar and waterfowl (the eggs of the latter were also eaten). It seems quite certain that various craft activities were pursued inside the houses. These included spinning, weaving and sewing, tasks customarily performed by women. In addition to the wool shorn from sheep and goat, flax was also woven. Clothing was sewn from textiles and leather using simple bone needles. The miniature clay objects exhibited in one of the cases were probably toys. Most of them are copies of the household vessels used for cooking and eating. Tools and implements needed for subsistence activities (agriculture, stockbreeding, hunting and fishing) are usually recovered in high numbers from settlement sites. Crop cultivation was practiced even by communities which were primarily engaged in stockbreeding as a means of ensuring a part of the fodder for the animals. In the case of agrarian populations, we may assume several hectares large ploughlands near or around their settlements.