The chronological system established by Paul Reinecke played a significant role in developing a chronological classification of the Hungarian Bronze Age. However, the relative chronology which is currently being used for the Early and Middle Bronze Age by the majority of Hungarian scholars is based on István Bóna’s tempo ral sequence. Although Bóna’s relative chronology is still regarded as the ‘lingua franca’ in Hungary, several attempts have been made to synchronise Bóna’s relative chronological system of the Hungarian Bronze Age with the Reinecke scheme in the last two decades. The present paper compares the two relative chronological systems and highlights some common cornerstones, supported by the most recent AMS 14C dates from the Carpathian Basin.
In the context of the long discussion on the (non-)existence of permanent Corded Ware culture (CWC) settlements and the semi-nomadic way of life of their inhabitants, ongoing excavations of common settlements have newly gained immense significance, as in almost all other regions, also in Moravia (Olomouc-Slavonín, Horní lán; Vřesovice; Seloutky; Hulín-Pravčice 1; Prostějov, Za tržištěm). Earlier sporadic indications have been joined by a series of records of settlements with sunken features and typical local ceramics identical with burial grounds, together with which they formed complete settlement areas in a number of sites. Light wattle structures, wells(?), textile production, animal husbandry, etc., have been identified, as were some very unconventional inhumation burials in pits (Olomouc-Slavonín, two cases). The cord element clearly formed a part of the mixed horizon of Strachotín-Držovice with elements of Makó/Kosihy-Čaka culture, Globular Amphora culture and Moravian Group of CWC. Absolute dating indicated the 26th–23rd century cal. BC. Absence of foundations of (residential) structures could be explained by the lower level of recognisability of CWC settlements. In other aspects, it showed no particular difference from other prehistoric farmers and cattle breeders.
The latest specialist excavations of utensil ceramics from the early Middle Ages in south-west Wielkopolska and the south-east part of Ziemia Lubuska have revealed features characteristic of craft ceramics. The features include selecting the mineral leaning admixture with respect to the fraction and type, the application of slipware, as well as a potter’s wheel. The research has been based on the results of petrographic analyses of selected utensils from the sites in Bonikowo (Wielkopolska region) as well as Połupin and Stożne (Lubuskie region). The artefacts have been dated on the basis of a thermoluminescent analysis of pieces of receptacles (Stożne) and the results of radiocarbon dating (Bonikowo, Połupin, Stożne). As for the occurrence of craft ceramics, the former stages of the Early Middle Ages (approximately 6/7th-9th centuries) are strongly contrasted with the subsequent Medieval times (10th – mid-13th centuries) when this type of utensil was non-existent.
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