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 Celts (450 B.C.-turn of the millennium) (Miklós Szabó)

64. Gold hoard from Szárazd-Regöly. 2nd century B.C. Carpathian Basin can also be linked to the oppidum culture. The coarseness of the limestone head found by the Eraviscan oppidum at Százhalombatta illustrates the difficulties faced by the inexperienced sculptor during his work. 19. THE SETTLEMENTS IN THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN Two villages from the La Tène period, excavated at Polgár and Sajópetri in the Great Hungarian Plain, are presented as part of the exhibition. Both were established by the tributaries of the Tisza and the Sajó. The small, sunken houses measuring 2-3.5 m by 4—5.5 m had a saddle roof resting on posts. The finds include both Celtic wheel-turned pottery and weapons and jewellery in the La Tène style, and hand-thrown wares, bone carvings and iron tools made in the local Scythian tradition, reflecting the co-existence of the immigrant Celts and the earlier communities. Finds indicating the presence of an iron workshop were brought to light at Sajópetri, while at Polgár there is evidence for bronzeworking, suggesting that the proximity of the ore deposits in the Northern Mountain Range was an important consideration in the location of these settlement. The promising development leading to an incipient urbanisation at the end of the Celtic Age came to an abrupt end. In the mid1st century B.C., Burebista, the Dacian ruler shattered the Celtic hegemony in the Carpathian Basin. This was followed by the Romans' gradual expansion from the last decades of the 1st century B.C. and the eventual organisation of the Roman province of Pannónia.