Marta, Livius et al.: The Late Bronze Age Settlement of Nyíregyháza-Oros „Úr Csere” (Satu Mare, 2010)
VII. Ioan Bejinariu - Liviu Marta: Activities int he Settlement
or in the filling of the ditch researched on the west side of the settlement. The distribution of these clues of metallurgical activity in the researched area of the settlement shows a significant grouping in the complexes 31-34, from which fragments of a mould and the remains of a crucible, respectively pieces of bronze slag and the mandrel mentioned above origin. The Late Bronze Age settlement of Oros-„Úr-Cseré” is located in an area without the necessary resources to obtain the prehistoric bronze. The sandstone itself, used to manufacture the moulds in which the metal parts were cast, is missing. Their absence could be replaced by the geographic location of this settlement, within the Upper Tisa region. The location near the sources of copper of Maramureş and Slovakia or the settlement location in the center of a communication network were other possible advantages287. So far, in the absence of further data, such as the analysis of the composition of the bronze pieces in the settlement, such assertions remain in a hypothetical stage. We cannot know where the metal came from and how it got in this settlement. The number of the moulds and of the items related to metal processing discovered suggest that we are dealing with a stable workshop. The findings from the settlement of Oros„Úr-Csere ’ seem to confirm the earlier observations of G. Ilon who appreciated that the metal processing and the manufacturing of the finished products were not performed in the areas of ore extraction288, but in the area of the settlements, mainly in the ones more favorable for human inhabitation, located in lower areas, as there was a greater need for such metal items. As already mentioned, the bronze pieces discovered in the settlement of Oros„Úr-Cseré” are similar to those from other settlements of Hajdfibagos-Cehăluţ Group. They can be equally found in discoveries of the neighboring cultural areas, being both items with a certain functionality (needles, for example) as well as objects considered as ornaments, but which in reality may have had versatile functions related to the joint ideology and mentality of some populations undergoing the same stage of development. As demonstrated in the case of other settlements of the Bronze Age (as Százhalom-287 The maps indicating the discovery of bronze and gold pieces (arms and ornaments) can be brought into discussion here, as the discovery points form a route which, crossing the northern of the Tisa Plain (The Great Hungarian Plain), connects the south of Transylvania to the north-western shore of the Baltic Sea (Marta 2009, p. 85-86, and the bibliography). 288 lion 2006, p. 276. 58
