Habitat Models and Social Systems in Middle Bronze Age central north-western Transylvania. State of research

• Authors: Molnár Zsolt , Nagy József-Gábor
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The existence of fortifications is attached to the emergence of formalized territorial units of a quasi-political nature. The current paper examines Middle Bronze Age settlement sites, metal finds and natural resources of Central north-western Transylvania. Our aim is to investigate the differences, transformations and the dynamics of settlement systems in the study area during the Middle Bronze Age using cartographic documents and data relating to the landscape around the sites (using satellite images, aerial photographs and geophysical measurements) stored in a geographic information system (GIS). The research also draws on macro-regional palaeoenvironmental data on Central north-western Romania. Modelling the territories of Transylvanian prehistoric communities provides information about the division of space and possible land use strategies. A uniformly general model cannot be applied in case of the Transylvanian Middle Bronze Age settlement system. The settlement founding culture’s different characteristics, the special topographical and ecological conditions of the distribution areas determined the quality of the established settlement network. There is evidence that Middle Bronze Age chiefdoms form peer polities controlling territories of different size along one or a larger number of river valleys. Our approach reflects the current stage of research of the subject; the future field research is expected to bring in new, more conclusive evidence in this matter.

Keywords

EN

Transylvania; settlement pattern; cost distance; GIS; landscape archaeology

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Acta Archaeologica Carpathica
• Year: 2013
• Volume: XLVIII
• Pages: 5-86

Contributors

author

Molnár Zsolt

author

Nagy József-Gábor