EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGE CHRONOLOGY OF THE CARPATHIAN BASIN REVISITED: QUESTIONS ANSWERED OR PERSISTENT CHALLENGES?

Robert Staniuk

doi:10.1017/rdc.2021.83

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin is often viewed as a long period of transition from a dispersed form of land occupation to one of increasing aggregation, ultimately resulting in the formation of tell settlements and large cemeteries. This developmental trajectory remains a legacy of early 20th century archaeology, where the similarity of material culture recovered from cemeteries and settlements was used to develop a multi-linear scheme of progression of regional chronologies tied to specific archaeological cultures. While typologically conclusive, the recent increase in the availability of radiocarbon determinations suggests that these sequences represent a priori interpretation of social development rather than empirically verified observations. In order to do so, it is necessary to re-evaluate the existing dataset in order to determine whether the formation of tells was a chronologically contemporary development and whether the regional chronological sequences are supported by independent dating.

Highlights

The Carpathian Basin in the Bronze Age is generally characterized as a period of cyclical shifts of population aggregation and dispersion between approx. 2700/2500 and 900/750 BC (Visy 2003; Marková and Ilon 2013)
Based on the available dataset the emergence of Bronze Age contexts in the Carpathian Basin can be positioned ca. 2600 cal BC, with an increasing number of radiocarbon-dated contexts after ca. 2200 cal BC (Figure 5)
The curve developed for the entire Carpathian Basin indicates that the majority of Bronze Age contexts fall between 2200 and 1300 cal BC

Summary

Introduction

The Carpathian Basin in the Bronze Age is generally characterized as a period of cyclical shifts of population aggregation and dispersion between approx. 2700/2500 and 900/750 BC (Visy 2003; Marková and Ilon 2013). The theoretical basis for the archaeological sequence of the Carpathian Basin has been the assumption that changes in material culture correspond to the arrival of distinct ethnic groups (Kalicz 1968; Bona 1975; Kovács 1977). This axiom had two consequences for the interpretation of regional and site-specific trajectories. The study of material culture changes was conducted on the basis of implicitly defined types of vessels or metal objects with changes following the trajectory of increasing elaboration

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion