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)

huge culture province extending over the Central and Upper Danube region. The communities in northern Hungary and southeast Slovakia (Kyjatice culture) differed from this population both as regards their cultural contacts and their origins. The third major complex (Gáva culture) of the 12th century B.C. lay in the Tisza region and its influence extended far to the east of the Carpathians, up to the Middle Dniester region. This cultural diversity can be noted in bronze metallurgy too. While the Transdanubian workshops on the fringes of the eastern Alpine culture province played a secondary role, catering to local needs only, the cauldrons, cup hilted swords and other products of the bronze industry in the Tisza region and in Transylvania were prized commodities traded throughout Europe. Three major metalworking centres can be distinguished, corresponding to the three major cultural complexes outlined above. The workshops in western Transdanubia were supplied by the copper mines in the Eastern Alps; the northern Hungarian bronzesmiths used raw material from the Gömör-Szepes Ore Mountains and the Mátra Mountains, while the metallurgical centres in the Tisza region were based on the ores mined in Transylvania. The hoards are eloquent testimony to the rich and colourful bronze industry in the Carpathian Basin during this period. The large-scale production continued in northern Hungary, the Upper Tisza region and Transylvania during the 11th century B.C. Battle-axes (Opályi), the principal weapons wielded by the elite, were supplanted by different types of bronze swords. The archaeological evidence suggests that the largest sword manufacturing centres lay in northern Hungary; these workshops produced a whole range of solid hilted swords (Recsk, Krasznokvajda) and, later, of cup hilted swords decorated with engraved patterns (Hajdúböszörmény). The bronze helmets made by the bronzesmiths of the Tisza region were part of the protective armour (Keresztéte, Hajdúböszörmény). The most gorgeous articles created by the craftsmen working in eastern Hungary during the later 10th century B.C. were bronze vessels, especially bronze buckets and cauldrons. The elegant buckets were tastefully decorated with repoussé designs and bird motifs (Mezőkövesd, Hajdúböszörmény). The richest bronze hoard from this period, the assemblage found at Hajdúböszörmény in 1858, is displayed in a separate case. The hoard contained twenty-nine bronze swords, two bronze helmets and six bronze vessels (Fig. 40). Two important metal workshops have been identified at Velem-Szentvid and Celldömölk-Sághegy in Transdanubia. The main products of both workshops were tools, such as socketed axes decorated with chevron shaped ribs, saw-blades and sickles with a ribbed hilt. The depot from Szentgáloskér yielded a rich assortment of these artefacts. Few hoards contained weapons, and most of these were broken. The finds from Sághegy date mainly from the 9th century B.C., from the florescence of these workshops. The figure of the Bronze Age warrior is outfitted with the offensive and defensive arms used in the Late Bronze Age; the practically intact bronze cuirass recovered from the Danube and the pair of greaves decorated with bird and wheel motifs found at Rinyaszentkirály are the most noteworthy pieces of his equipment. 23. GOLD HOARDS Goldworking too flourished in the major metalworking centres during the Bronze Age. The first significant gold workshops emerged in Transylvania and the Tisza region, soon followed by similar workshops in Transdanubia. The exploitation of the gold deposits in Transylvania during the Bronze Age most certainly contributed to this thriving gold industry. The most popular products of the goldsmiths working in the Danube-Tisza region during the earlier 2nd millennium B.C. were