Liviu, Marta - Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Catalogul colecţtiei de archeologie (Satu Mare, 2007)
Epoca Bronzului
Balkans have a meeting point in the Northwestern part of Romania. Although, the Baden and Coţofeni cultures have clear contacts and mutual influences, the spread of the settlements show that Ecedea and Ier Swamps played the role of a natural borderline between the two areas of the cultures. Unlike the former Eneolithic cultures, these cultures practiced the incineration, a frequent funeral rite during the Bronze Age. In the Satu Mare region, incineration graves of the Coţofeni culture were researched in Medieşu Aurit (cat. no. 89). From the early Bronze Age, the Makó culture and Sanislău group are the most known, though they are not well represented in the collection of the museum. The period of Sanislău group is marked by the intense habitation in Carei and Nir Plains. The collection holds few vessels from Berea, with beutifull decoration of scratched lines and incrusted lime gouges (cat. no. 91-93). Arealprogressregardingtheintensificationofinhabitance in the county marked the period of the middle Bronze Age. This process is reflected in the collection of the museum, too. This period is characterized by the flourishing of Otomani culture, depicting a period of stability, with a well structured society, as the tell-type (multi-stratified) settlements show. They emerged along the border line of the Ecedea and the Ier Swamps: Carei-Bobald, Tiream-Kendereshalom/Dealul Cânepii, Dindeşti-Cetate, Pir-Ceíafe, Andrid-Bika Domb/ Dealul Taurului and Berveni-Ho/moş. In these powerful centers, and in other less populated settlements, too, the practice of bronze metallurgy is well attested. An evidence for this is the pouring nozzle from Dindeşti (cat. no. 103), and the axe moulds from Berea (cat. no. 102). The bronze metallurgy in the Satu Mare region was stimulated by the presence of non-ferrous ore from the Oaş-Gutâi Mountains. The use of these resources was an important element that influenced the development of the human communities during this period. The Otomani type pottery was used for serving food, and it was finely decorated especially by incision and channeling, with predominant motifs like Aşezarea fortificată de la Boineşti-Be'/avâra A Bujánháza-Bélavára erődített település Fortified settlement from Boineşti-Bélavára spirals and decorative stripes that mix straight lines with angular ones (cat. no. 94, 95). Deliberate deposition/burial of objects, found in settlements of the middle Bronze Age, contain several metall objects, which prove the existence of the elite in these societies. The members of this elite show their social status by wearing golden ornaments (the buckle ring from Medieşu Aurit, cat. no. 100) or fine bronze weapons (the bronze sword from Livada, cat. no. 99). During the late Bronze Age, the number of bronze objects knew a spectacular increase. They were found in the settlements, and in the hoards containing weapons, ornaments, tools and harness pieces from Domăneşti (cat. no. 136), Căuaş (cat. no. 137), Petea (cat. no. 138). These objects belong to the Cehăluţ-Pişcolt (Hajdubagos) and Suciu de Sus cultures, divided by the Ecedea swamp, covering the southern respectively the northeastern area of Satu Mare county. The Cehăluţ-Pişcolt (Hajdubagos) cultural group has as specific feature the decorated pottery with channeling and incisions (cat. no. ), while the Suciu de Sus culture is characterized by the incised pottery in an early phase and, 48
