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 5 - The Iron Age: The Scythians and the Hallstatt culture (800-450 B.C.) (Tibor Kemenczei)

of the Pontic, while others have more in common with early Scythian articles from the forested steppe in the Middle Dnieper-Dniester region. Tfie archaeological record suggests that groups from Scythia settled in the Tisza region during the 7th century B.C. The immigrants and the local communities created a flourishing economy, craft industry and culture. The names of the peoples inhabiting Scythia are known from Herodotus' writings, according to which Scythia was bordered by the land of the Agathyrsoi along the Istros (the Danube), while the area beyond the Istros was settled by the Sigynnae. This would imply that Transylvania was occupied by the Agathyrsoi - and in fact, many burials containing Scythian finds have been brought to light there. In Herodotus' description, the land settled by the Sigynnae lay adjacent to the territory of the Veneti. This area can be identified with the Great Hungarian Plain, which was separated from southern Transdanubia, then part of the Illyrian-Venetian culture province, by the Danube. In the last decades of the 5th century B.C., western Celtic tribes occupied the northwestern part of the Carpathian Basin, from where they advanced to the northern half of the Great Hungarian Plain after crossing the Danube. The expansion of the Celts during the next century brought an end to the Scythian rule, although local communities continued their life undisturbed under Celtic dominion. Settlements and subsistence Few settlements from the Scythian period have been investigated. The excavations conducted at Nyíregyháza-Mandabokor brought to light the remains of sunken huts with wattle-and-daub walls and a thatched roof resting on wooden posts. The animal bones from settlement excavations are dominated by cattle and horse, implying that transhumant pastoralism played an important role in the economy. The horsebreeding of the Scythian Age communities in the Great Hungarian Plain is indicated not only by the animal bones, but also by the iron bits and horse burials found in their cemeteries (Szentes-Vekerzug). The excavations have furnished little tangible evidence for crop cultivation. The grinding stones placed into burials, however, reflect the significance of agriculture in the life of these communities. The iron artefacts recovered from burials bear witness to the high level of ironworking. Iron was obtained from the Northern Mountain Range, where surface meadow-ore could be easily exploited. The communities of the Great Hungarian Plain were supplied with iron weapons and tools from the iron furnaces and workshops in the mountain region. There emerged an extensive trading network for iron products and horse. Trade routes from the Great Hungarian Plain led to the south through the Vardar-Morava valley to Greece and to the southeast along the Lower Danube to Histria, Olbia and the other Greek colonies dotting the Pontic littoral. Contact with the Eastern Alpine and Central Danubian Hallstatt culture to the west and southwest has also been documented. Horse harness, weapons, jewellery, quiver ornaments decorated with animal figures, rattles, clay stamps seals and wheel turned pottery vessels made by craftsmen working in the Great Hungarian Plain reached distant regions in the south and in the west along these trade routes. 2. A SCYTHIAN PRINCENLY BURIAL One of the most dazzling Scythian Age burials was uncovered at Artánd. The grave of the Scythian nobleman yielded a rich assortment of magnificent articles: a bronze hydria made in Sparta around 570-560 B.C., a bronze cauldron made in one of the Eastern Alpine workshops of the Hallstatt culture, a bronze scale armour, a shield ornament, an iron spearhead, an iron battle-axe, a diadem, costume ornaments and beads of sheet gold.