Garam Éva szerk.: Between East and West - History of the peoples living in hungarian lands (Guide to the Archaeological Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum; Budapest, 2005)

HALL 2 - The Neolithic and the Copper Age (6000-2800 B.C.) (Nándor Kalicz, Pál Raczky)

27. Clay wagon model from Szigetszentmárton. Copper Age, 3500-3000 B.C. braid ornaments were recovered from burials and hoards in the Great Hungarian Plain. Discs with three bosses, such as the ones from Csáford (Zalaszentgrót; Fig. 25) can be regarded as an another variant of these large gold discs. While a few ornaments were made also from silver, the latter 's role remained subordinate compared to copper and gold. Even though the cultural development of Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plain proceeded along differing cultural trajectories, the use of large gold pendants indicates that there were certain similarities in the social fabric. 6. THE BEGINNING OF METALLURGY: COPPER AND GOLD Heavy copper implements, such as axes and adze-axes (Fig. 26) appeared suddenly and in great numbers during the Copper Age of the Carpathian Basin in 5th-4th millennia B.C. These artefacts were for a long time believed to have been used in everyday life; however, this functionalist interpretation was later discarded and these objects are now regarded as symbols of rank and power and as a means of accumulating wealth. This interpretation is supported by the fact that most of these copper implements were found in hoards. The flourishing copper and gold metallurgy of the Carpathian Basin was based on the easily accessible surface deposits of native copper and gold recovered with placer mining from alluvial deposits in Transylvania and eastern Slovakia. It seems likely that the rapid exhaustion of the surface ore deposits is the reason that the initial dynamic upswing was followed by a decline at the close of the Copper Age in the mid-4th millennium B.C. The mining techniques used during this period did not enable the exploitation of lower lying ore veins. The advances in metallurgy can be associated with various innovations, such as the discovery of smelting and casting. Metalworking activity is indicated by finds of clay crucibles both in Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plain (e.g. at Tiszalúc). A similarly dynamic development can be noted in Bulgaria, as shown by the magnificent copper and gold articles deposited in the burials of the Varna cemetery. In addition to the many technical innovations, this flourishing metallurgy was no doubt based also on a highly developed economy producing a surplus which could be exchanged for metal. In the Great Hungarian Plain, this surplus was most probably livestock and agricultural produce. The extent of cultivated areas and of exchange networks was enlarged with the invention and use of four-wheeled, cattle-drawn wagons, which first appeared in the Late Copper Age. The form and structure of these wagons can be reconstructed from the clay wagon models found in the burial grounds at Budakalász and Szigetszentmárton (Fig. 27). The deposition of these clay models into burials would suggest that wagons were also an expression of power and symbols of social status. A similar symbolism can be assumed for the paired cattle burials observed in a few Copper Age cemeteries (e.g. at Alsónémedi and Budakalász). The accumulation of metal artefacts and the concentration of power can be regarded as expressions of a ranked society. The large copper and gold hoards (Szeged-Szillér, Tiszaszőlős, Hencida) and the lavishly furnished