Ciubotă, Viorel (szerk.): Mala Kopanya. Micromonografie (Satu Mare, 2009)

3. Pidszumki vivcsennja pamjatki

destruction of the Laténe civilization and to the decline of the economy. As the Dacians culture was spreading, a gradual development started within the communities in the Upper Tisa region. The contribution to the development of the culture belonged to the local multi-ethnic tribes as much as to a large number of Dacians who have settled here. The main occupation of the population of the upper Tisa remained agriculture and animal husbandry. Grains were grinded with manual, rotary mills of the Celtic type. In the fortress of Mala Kopanya, hundreds of grinders were found both in completed condition and half-finished. Animal husbandry is attested by the widespread of the tools for processing skin (ironers, knives, scrapers) and osteological material. Osteological analysis has established the following picture for the animal species in Mala Kopanya: pig - 49.6%, cattle - 22.4%, small animals - 12.8%, horses - 6.4%.

The largest Dacians artisan s center in the Upper Tisa region was in Mala Kopanya. At the same time, the metallurgical activity started by the Celts was renewed in the basin of the Batar river (Dyakovo), 10 km from the fortress. We assume that the raw material was provided from here and

then transported to Mala Kopanya. The blacksmiths from Mala Kopanya used the complex technology of production. The structural analysis, of the objects (sickles, sewers, axes, knives, swords, lance points, chisels, bracelets) have established a high-quality metal and a low content of iron dross. The objects, which according to their functionality, demanded a high quality and increased resistance, were hardened, welded with steel strips and subjected to heat treatment. There were some complex operations that some tools needed (scythe, ax, the hammer for carving stone, knife, chisel). The analysis of metals and their processing cannot omit the presence of the Celtic tradition, that is found in the technology of production.

It is difficult to estimate the importance that salt had for the people of the Upper Tisa region. There are some indications that it has been exploited since old times, as it was one of the goods exported from the region. The well developed economic production, opened to a broad market, assumed among the inhabitants of the fortress the existence of a significant stratum of merchants. This is demonstrated by the coins found at Mala Kopanya and in many other places in the region.

The Upper Tisa region has one of the longest

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