Marta, Liviu: The Late Bronze Age Settlements of Petea-Csengersima (Satu Mare, 2009)
III. Habitation of te Suciu de Sus Archaeological Culture
(the Wietenberg culture) 285, it can be assumed that they spread throughout several cultural environments. One of the spoons (PI. 6/3) has marks of hard secondary firing which alongside spouts on some examples indicate that they were used in metallurgy. Clay models of wagon wheels are considered to be the discs with widened area around the central orifice (PI. 30/10). Clay wheel models are well illustrated among the Suciu de Sus finds286. A representation of a bird is likely a clay object with broken head (PI. 26/3). Grinders made from sandstone are the most common stone tools in the settlements at Petea-Csengersima. Fragments of grinders were found in a great number of pits together with other archaeological materials. Only one of the pieces was found intact, round-shaped, with one flat side and one arched side (PI. 51/14). Pounder or pesdes used for pulverizing have been uncovered in great quantity, all in fragmentary state. Most of their part was globular (PI. 57/9). One elongated stone pounder/pestle was discovered and its very small dimensions suggest that this was used to prepare substances that were used in small quantities (PI. 38/1). Polished stone axes are represented by two examples discovered in the settlement (PI. 59/10). A small axe has been discovered in the Bronze Age cultural stratum of the settlement at Lazuri287. Stone axes with similar form and dimensions were discovered also in Seini288. III. 6. Activities in the Settlement Although carbonized cereals were not found, their cultivation is indicated by the chaff imprints in the walls of the dwellings from Petea-Csengersima. The numerous storage pits and the great number of grinding stones attest the important role cereals had in the diet of the community. Animal husbandry in the Suciu de Sus settlement at Petea-Csengersima is well attested. The analysis of the archaeozoological materials indicated that swine, bovidae, sheep and goats were used for meat. It was also established that sheep and goats were bred for secondary products. There is no information to show how the horses were used in the settlement, but the bones of two individuals found in two pits suggest that their role has been more important than it was attested by the small number of individuals that were found (4 individuals). The metallurgical activity in the settlement is suggested by the two clay spoons discovered here, the first of these showing secondary fired marks. The craft of metallurgy is well attested within the Suciu de Sus settlements289. Commercial activity or trade may be taken into account from the perspective of the use of certain materials that cannot be found in plain areas. These include also the sandstone of which several grinders found in the settlement had been made. Activities with religious/ritual aspect in the settlement are expressed by the ritual deposits and by some pieces that can be attributed religious or worship qualities. The vertical arrangement of the pieces and the bent tips of the four needles that form the bronze deposit (PI. 1, Fig. 14) are arguments that favour the ritual character of the bronze deposit discovered in the eastern edge of the Suciu settlement at Petea-Csengersima. It was observed that the 285 Mărghitan 1971, pi. 7. 286 Bader 1978, XLIX/28,29, LVI1/4; Kacsó 2004, abb. 7/5, 10-12. 287 Németi 1997, fig. 2/3. 288 Kacsó 2003, pl. XXXVI/7,8. “89 Bader 1996, p. 266 (Culciu Mare); Kacsó 2004, abb 7/13 (Oarţa de Jos). 46
