A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 37-38. - 1995-1996 (Nyíregyháza, 1997)

Régészet - Ivan Popovich: Periodization and chronology of Kushtanovica type sites in the Transcarpathian region

Ivan Popovich the middle of the 5th - beginning of the 4th centuries B.C. The value of the archaeological material from the partly demolished barrow, saved by the rescue excavation, is that the finds make it possible to determine the second stage (period) of the Kushtanovica group of sites, and therefor not only deal with the question of their chronological division, but also define the historical principles of this circle of finds. The analysis of the basic features of the burial rite and the grave goods convinces us that in the first stage of the second period e.g. the middle of the 5th first half of the 4th centuries B.C., there was no change in population. Most of the surface type houses belong to the first stage. Among the finds from these features are gray wheel-turned ceramics (Pi. XV.2,8). Their production in our region begins in the middle of the 5th century B.C. (DUSEK 1977.24., NÉMETI 1982.141., POPOVICH 1993.263). Finally, the last stage can be identified by mixed Kushtanovica - La Téne finds. The C-shaped psalion with two holes and knobs at die ends (Pl. 1.13) dates to the 4th century B.C. The same is true of the dating of the houses. Among the finds from these houses Dacián type ceramics were found (Derenkovec etc.) (POPOVICH 1993.256.ris.l27.1; 128.1.). From the 3rd century B.C., after the appearance of the Celts in the Balkans, their power also spread to the Carpathian Basin. The last stage of the second period dates to the second half of the 4th - first half of the 3rd centuries B.C. Archaeological finds from the final stage of the Kushtanovica material in the Transcarpathian region, are insignificant in number. Barrow 11 from the famous cemetery of Kushtanovica/

Kustánf alva dates to the second quarter of the 3rd century. An individual burial in urn was found here. The barrow is 0.55 m high with the diameter of the base is 8 m. On the level of the burial surface, near to the centre, there was an urn with the remains of cremation. The bones weighed 540 g (BÖHMJANKOVICH 1936.53.). The urn was a gray La Téne wheel-turned vessel with an everted rim. There is a plain band on the neck. The body is biconical, with a concave base (Pi. XIX. 1). Besides the remains of a cremation there were grave-goods in the urn, among them a bronze fibula with a spherical end (Pl. XIX.2), a fibula with a two-sided, spring-coil with 16 turns and coral on its end (only one has been preserved) (Pi. XIX.6), a bronze fibula with a spring-coil with 6 turns and a bronze chain from which 5 pieces have been preserved (Pi. XIX.7,7a), a small bronze ring (PI. XIX.3), a small iron ring (diameter: 3-4 cm) (Pl. XIX.5) and an iron buckle (Pl. XIX.4). There are different opinions concerning the dating of this interesting find. V.l. Bidzilia dates bronze fibulas with two-sided springs-coils to the end of the 1st century B.C. - the turn of the millennia (BIDZILIA 1971.83). This dating tends to make the find younger than it is, if we only take into consideration the age of the Dux type fibula with its spherical end (FILIP 1956.104-107.). M.B.Shchukin dated this find more concretely. He defined its age as being between 280240 B.C. (SHCHUKIN 1988.54-56.). In any case, this researcher together with other scholars recently defended a more narrow dating from barrow 11 of Kushtanovica suggesting it was used in the second third of the 3rd century B.C. (SCUKINEREMENKO 1991.131-132.). The presence of corals on the fibula with a two-sided spring-coil makes it possible to identify its age more concretely (SCUKIN-EREMENKO 1991.131.). Thus, archaeological material from the closed finds with convincing dates, makes it possible to determine the beginning and end of the existence of the Kushtanovica group within the time limits of the end of the 7th - beginning of the 6th - first half of the 3rd century B.C. The comprehensive analyses of archaeological information makes it possible not only to determine the date, but outline different chronological stages and on this basis to indicate basic periodization trends of this group of sites. Two periods can be distingvishecl. The first appears by the end of the 7th - beginning of the 6th century B.C. - first half of the 5th centuries B.C. and the second by the second half of the 5th century middle of the 3rd century B.C. (Pl. 1.1-16). In each of these periods two additional stages can be separated out. In the first stage (7th/6th - first half of the 6th century B.C.) we suggest that the process of the formation of Kushtanovica group gets underway. In the burial rite we see the process of transition from plain cemeteries to the barrow rite under the influence of the Hallstatt culture of the Transdanubian region (VADÁSZ 1986. 217-226.). The decline of classical Hallstatt traditions in the ceramic production can be observed mostly in the second stage (middle of the 6th - first half of the 5th centuries B.C.). Linder the influence of the Scythian culture in Central Europe, but sometimes in the Transcarpathian region as well, objects of Scythian type or imitations of them spread. The only finds displaying the Iranian art style are the electron plates from the cemetery of Kushtanovica. At the same stage, close connections with the Luzice Culture of Southwest Poland begin. From the end of the 6th century B.C. and during the 5th century B.C. there are contacts with Greek colonies in the North Pontic region (mount from a bow-quiver, a xythos, a lekanis, a kylix and a hydria). During the course of the second period of the second half of the 5th - first half of the 3rd centuries B.C., there are no significant changes in the material culture. However, changes in the political situation in Europe are followed by the new orientations in cultural connections and economic contacts. In the 4th century B.C., contacts with the Scythian world (that even before had not been significant) came to an end. At the same time, relations with the Thraco-Illyric population of the Carpathian-Danubian region became closer. After the appearance of the Dacians in the arena of history, the influence of their culture became strong, especially in ceramic forms. This influence may primarily be seen on the territory on the left bank of the Tisza river, which was a contact zone with the historic Dacians. From the end of the 4th century B.C., the population of the Carpathian Basin feels the influence of the 90 A Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 1997