Virag, Cristian (szerk.): Satu Mare. Studii şi comunicări. Seria arheologie 27/1. (2011)
Liviu Marta, János Németi: Descoperi de bronzuri din Sătmar
Liviu Marta, János Németi Vulpe 1981: A. Vulpe, Recente la Mircea Petrescu-Dâmboviţa, Die Sicheln in Rumänien mit Corpus der jung-und spätbron%e%eitlichen Horte Rumäniens, in PBF XVIII/1, Germania 59, p. 427-430. Wanzek 1989: B. Wanzek, Die Gußmodelßr Tüllenbeile im südöstlichen Europa, in UPA 2. Bonn. Bronze findings from Sătmar Abstract The region of Satu Mare is rich in discoveries of bronze artefacts, due to the development in the area of the phenomenon represented by deliberate depositions of metal pieces, especially in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (Reinecke BzD-Ha B). Here we present the findings we know about to have appeared after 1996, except a bronze hoard discovered at Pir (Ha Bl), whose recovery is still ongoing. I present a number of 17 pieces coming from 8 localities. 12 of these belong to the composition of three bronze hoards (Giorocuta-6 pieces, Tiream-3 pieces, Carei Spitz Farm-3 pieces), two pieces were found in setdements (Pir, Sanislău), other three are isolated findings (Ciumeşti, Santău?, Moftinu Mare). Compared to the earlier findings in the Satu Mare County when a large number of pieces have appeared on the surface during land work, in the last decade nearly half of the pieces (9) have been discovered with the metal detector, in fieldwork campaigns carried out in places where bronze hoards or individual pieces were found. The discoveries of bronze artefacts, either hoards or individual pieces, which have been found in the Satu Mare county in the last 15 years, offer new data about prehistoric metallurgy in north-western Romania, ways of depositing offerings and, consequendy, the history of the Bronze Age communities. The bronze hoards of Tiream and Carei include aspects that can be related with the typical depositions in the region where they originate from and the deposit of Giorocuta brings new information on how pieces were laid or the role that the Moigrad-Tăuteu type stands in the region. The hoard of Tiream had a single type of pieces, and similar deposits that comprise only one type of weapons or ornaments are often found in the deposits of northern Transylvania and Upper Tisza region. Within the hoards composed of unique kind of artefacts, the ones made of disc-butted axes are common in the Uriu-Opályi type deposits, enrolling in a well-defined area, located east of the Tisza Rivers, in northwestern Romania, Transcarpathian Ukraine and northeastern Hungary. Most “clean” deposits which consist of disc-butted axes are in the range of the Suciu de Sus culture, but some of them, including the hoard of Tiream, were found in the range of the Hajdúbagos-Cehăluţ cultural group. If we analyze the deposits formed by disc-butted axes in terms of number of pieces, we find that there are two major groups: a group of hoards containing only 2-3 axes and a group of deposits containing 10 to 30 axes. Based on the relevance of the number two in depositions, C. Kacsó found a large number of hoards of two axes (22 hoards), for which fact he considers that the presence of his figure (two) and its multiples in the hoards of axes is deliberately used by its depositors. In most hoards with a small number of axes (2-3 pieces), given their accidental discovery, it is hard to say if the number of discovered axes coincide with that of deposited axes. But clearer conditions of discovery of the deposits from Cehăluţ (II) and Tiream suggest the existence of deposits made of only three pieces. Deposits of disc-butted axes are interpreted as votive depositions. Along with their unique composition indicating the votive character of these depositions, comes the special way some pieces were made, namely the special treatment they had been submitted to before deposition (rimai distortion). The location of the Tiream hoard near the confluence of two valleys, may be an additional indication to consider that disc-butted axes hoards were votive offerings. In the case of the hoard from Carei-Spitz Farm can be outlined several aspects in terms of place of deposition and relation to some discoveries in the immediate vicinity. First, given the same level of chronological dating, there is a possibility to correlate the hoard with the setdement where it was found. The location of the settlement on an island in a marshy area helps drawing the limits of the habitation in order to establish that the deposit was buried on the outskirts of the settlement. The existence of bronze hoards on the outskirts of settlements, sometimes grouped in potential “areas of offerings”, occurred in some setdements in north-western Romania, north-eastern Hungary and Transcarpathian Ukraine. The hoard of Carei raises one more issue about a possible relationship with a tumulus in the vicinity given that within discoveries of the type Lăpuş II-Gáva I, the hoard-necropolises relation could be established clearly in Lăpuş and Bicaz. The hoard of Giorocuta, where the sickle appears with the working edge down, is special due to its arrangement during deposition. Besides this, the elements proving the existence of a deposition pit can indicate the possibility that the sickle and ax next to it could be the core of the deposit. Perhaps these were the pieces laid deepest in the soil, as they were not displaced by agricultural equipment. The way other parts were scattered confirms this simádon: the groups of pieces were laid central, but the three singular pieces 96
