Kovács Tibor (szerk.): Neuere Daten zur Siedlungsgeschichte und Chronologie der Kupferzeit des Karpatenbeckens (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 7; Budapest, 1995)
Pál Raczky: New data on the absolute chronology of the Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin
dendrochronological data. 70 Insofar as the Furchenstich-Bajc-Retz cultural connections of the Hlinsko hoard suggested by N. Kalicz are accepted, and if the copper disc from the Hornstaad-Hörnle I site is correlated with this horizon, 71 a date in the early 4th millennium for the period succeeding Balaton-Lasinja I, i.e. the close of the MCA, harmonizes with the calibrated C-14 data for Bodrogkeresztúr-Hunyadi-halom, i.e. 4000 to 3600/3500 B.C. The same line of reasoning has already been put forward by H. Parzinger - even if he did not view the internal chronological position of the disc pendants in the same context - and he too concluded that the long chronology can be better supported. 72 In their comparison of the Central European dendrochronological data with the calibrated C-14 dates V. Ruoff and E. Gross outlined a similar chronological framework 73 Irrespective of whether archaeological correlations for establishing the absolute chronology of the Copper Age of the Carpathian Basin are sought in the Aegean or in Central Europe, we find that the Hungarian Copper Age spans the period from the second half of the 5th millennium B.C, through the 4th millennium, to the first half of the 3rd millennium B.C., i.e. some 2000 years. In this respect, the dendrochronological 70 Dieckmann (1987). 71 Kalicz (1991) 361-375. 12 Parzinger(1992). and the calibrated C-14 dates harmonize well. There nonetheless remain a number of unresolved issues, such as the problems posed by the Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztúr burials of the Tiszapolgár-Basatanya cemetery that are claimed to be 'continuous', even though the calibrated C-14 dates suggest a life-span of 900 years for the cemetery containing 155 burials. 74 This clearly calls for a reconsideration and a review of archaeological interpretation in general, as well as of earlier views that have since long fossilized into archaeological commonplaces. In conclusion, the time has come to discard the 'historical' or short chronology that has since long dominated prehistoric research in Hungary and to start thinking within the framework offered by calibrated C14 dates. Unfortunately, a reconciliation between the two chronological systems seems, for the time being at least, doomed to failure. The dichotomy between historical and C-14 based chronologies lies not so much in actual questions of dates and datings, but rather in the ambiguities of comparing the bits and pieces of archaeological evidence from Europe, the Aegean and the Ancient Near East. 'Fault lines' of any kind in fact tend to represent the unfilled gaps in our archaeological knowledge. Ruotr-Gross ( 1991 ) 413-418. Bognár-Kutzián (1985) 294-296; Bognár-Kutzián-Csongor (1987) 134-138. References Bankoff, H.A.-Winter, FA. (1990), The Later Aeneolithic in Southeastern Europe. AJA 94, 175-191. Banner, J. (1956), Die Péceler Kultur. ArchHung 35. Budapest. Banner, J.-Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1960), Angaben zur kupferzeitlichen Chronologie des Karpatenbeckens. Swiatowit 23, 341-361. Banner, J.-Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1961), Beiträge zur Chronologie der Kupferzeit des Karpatenbeckens. ActaArch Hung 13, 1-32. Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1958), Über südliche Beziehungen der ungarischen Hochkupferzeit. ActaArchHung 9, 155-190. Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1961), Zur Problematik der ungarischen Neolitforschung. L'Europe à la fin de l'âge de la pierre. Actes du Symposium consacré aux problèmes du Néolithique européen. Edited by J. Böhm and S.J. De Laet. Praha, 221-232. Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1963), The Copper Age cemetery of Tiszapolgár-Basatanya. ArchHung 42. Budapest. Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1969), Probleme der mittleren Kupferzeit im Karpatenbecken. StZvesti 17, 31-60. Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1972), The Early Copper Age Tiszapolgár Culture in the Carpathian Basin. ArchHung 48. Budapest. Bognár-Kutzián, I. (1985), Contributions to the prehistoric chronology of Hungary. MittArchlnst 14, 293-298. Bognár-Kutzián, I.-Csongor, É. (1987), New results of radiocarbon dating of archaeological finds in Hungary. The Holocene Environment in Hungary. Edited by M. Pécsi and E. Csongor. Budapest, 131-140. Bona, I. (1987), Javarézkori aranyleletekről. Fejezetek a magyar ősrégészet múltszázadi-századeleji történetéből [Über Goldfunde aus der Hochkupferzeit]. VMMK 18, 21-81. Branigan, K. (1974), Aegean Metalwork of the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Oxford. Caskey, J.L.-Caskey, E.G. (1960), The Earliest Settlements at Eutresis. Supplementary excavations, 1958. Hespena 29: 2, 126-167. Childe, V.G. (1929), The Danube in Prehistory. Oxford. Childe, V.G. (1939), The Orient and Europe. AJA 44, 10-26. Christmann, E. (1993), Thessalien im dritten Jahrtausend. Thraco-Dacica 14, 41-46. Coleman, JE. (1987), The Late Neolithic Period: Questions of Terminology and Chronology. Paper delivered to the 6th International Colloquium on Aegean Prehistory: The Prehistoric Aegean and its Relations to Adjacent Areas. Athens, 1-9.
