Liviu, Marta - Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Catalogul colecţtiei de archeologie (Satu Mare, 2007)
Neoliticul şi eneoliticul
the fetal position, therefore, the whole rite represents the rebirth to the after-life. The period between the years 4500 and 3500 B.C., called Eneolithic or Copper Age, is a rather troubled and complex stage in history, due to the new economic and social phenomena, generated by the discovering of copper metallurgy. In addition, new ethno-cultural influences spread from south and east. As a consequence, instead of the large, steady farming communities, specific to the late Neolithic, a number of culturally and regionally fragmented societies emerged, covering large territories. This phenomenon, in fact, marks the beginning of Indo- Europeanization. It is an era when beside the stone tools, the use of copper is started. On the territory of the county, this period is marked by the cultures of Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztúr (cat. no. 50-60), as parts of the great civilizations of the Copper Age in the Upper Tisa Basin. The first Eneolithic materials are present in the Kovács collection, and, basing on the information provided by this collection, series of research were started in Ciumeşti-Berea region during the 1960’s. In addition, Tiberiu Bader carried out a number of excavations in the area of Homoroade finding an important settlement of Tiszapolgár culture, in 1968. Furthermore, Neţa Iercoşan made archaeological research in Cărei- Cozard, Dumbrava - La Cosma, Vezendiu - Drumul Tireamului in the 1990’s. During this period, the body was buried in a crouching position, laid on the left or right side, along the eastvest axe, the head facing east or west. 40 of such graves were discovered in Urziceni- Vamă, being the greatest Bodrogkeresztúr necropolis of Romania at this time. Nine further Eneolithic burials were discovered in Cămin-Podul Crasnei (cat. no. 53-58). It seems that the side in which the body is laid is determined by the sex, women were laid on the left side, while men on the right side. Furthermore, the differences between the sexes can be remarked in the inventory of the graves. Women had 6-7 vessels put around the body, and often on the hips area strings of shell beads 40 were laid, probably used for decorating the clothes. Men graves contain only 1 or 2 vessels, put near the legs, and the inventory was completed with stone or copper tools, like arrow points, knives, rasper and borers. The number and the correlation of the graves inside the necropolis are significant for the social status and for the place of the individual within society. The cemeteries usually have medium sizes, about 50 graves. The graveyards were, in low swampy places or on small heights, protected from floods. The body was buried about 50 cm in depth. The graves are arranged in rows without overlapping or meeting, which show that the burials were made in a short period of time, and the graves were marked by signs for the contemporaries. During this period, the copper metallurgy knew a great flourishing. Because it was a rare metal, the copper was used mostly to manufacture decorative or prestigious objects, and less for tools. Axes are the most frequently discovered. They are of various types: chisel-axes, knives. These kinds of finds are present in the cemeteries from Urziceni -Vamă, Cămin-Podul Crasnei, Ciumeşti, Hotoan, as the inventory of the graves. The burials contain also needles, borers, ornaments, and beads made of copper. The use of gold at this time is represented by objects found on the territory of Romania in two women graves. The first object is a richly decorated hair-ornament, found in M6 from Cămin-Podul Crasnei (cat. no. 60). The second piece is a conical-shaped hair-ornament also found in M29 from Urziceni- Vamă (cat. no. 59). Both objects are made by the pounding the thin, golden plate. Bibliografie - Irodalom - References Eugen Comşa, Neoliticul pe teritoriul României, Bucureşti, 1987. Nándor Kalicz, Clay Gods. The neolithic Period and Copper Age in Hungary, Budapesta, 1970.
