Volume dedicated to PhD Carol Kacsó, on the

occasion of his 80th birthday, for the contributions made

to Bronze Age research and for the wonderful
collaboration with the Neamț National Museum Complex

BIBLIOTHECA MEMORIAE ANTIQUITATIS

XLVII

coordinator
Ciprian-Dorin Nicola
 Neamț National Museum Complex
History and Ethnography Museum of Târgu Neamț
History and Archaeology Museum of Piatra-Neamț

THE BRONZE AGE IN EASTERN EUROPE

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES

Edited by
Vasile Diaconu
Alexandru Gafincu

"Istros" Publishing House "Constantin Matasă"

of the Museum of Brăila "Carol I" Publishing House

BRĂILA – PIATRA-NEAMŢ
2023
 Financial support
Neamț National Museum Complex

Scientific referents
Prof. Elke Kaiser, PhD (Berlin)
S.R. I Radu Băjenaru, PhD (Bucharest)

Page layout
Alexandru Gafincu

Cover
Cătălina-Anca Pavel

Cover 1: Brînzenii Noi, grave M. 1

Cover 4: Middle Bronze Age sword from Piatra Șoimului

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naționale a României

The Bronze Age in Eastern Europe : multidisciplinary approaches / ed.:
Vasile Diaconu, Alexandru Gafincu. - Brăila : Editura Istros a Muzeului
Brăilei "Carol I" ; Piatra-Neamţ : Editura Constantin Matasă, 2023
ISBN 978-606-654-516-7
ISBN 978-973-7777-74-4

I. Diaconu, Vasile (ed.)

II. Gafincu, Alexandru (ed.)

902

© Neamț National Museum Complex

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ISBN: 978-606-654-516-7 ISBN: 978-973-7777-74-4
 CONTENT

Forward ............................................................................................................................... 7

Bianca Preda-Bălănică, Marius Cristian Bâsceanu, Bogdan Olariu,

Leonard Ionescu, Miruna Mihaela Căminescu, Marinela Boicea,
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Early Bronze Age Burials Mounds in Oltenia ...................... 9

Casandra Brașoveanu, Andrei Asăndulesei,

Radu Gabriel Pîrnău, Radu Alexandru Brunchi,
From One to Many: LiDAR-based Targeted Detection and Spatial Distribution
of the Burial Mounds from Bahluieț River Catchment (NE Romania) .................................. 61

Alin Frînculeasa,
"Movila Mare" of Smeeni, Representative Research
of Romanian Archaeology History (New Information on the Middle Bronze Age) ........... 87

Vasile Diaconu, Eugen Mistreanu, Angela Simalcsik,

Gabriela Florescu, Markéta Petrová,
Bronze Age Burials in a Tumulus from Brînzenii Noi (Republic of Moldova).
Bio-Archeological Data ................................................................................................... 107

Sergiu Popovici,
Interdisciplinary Research on a Grave of the Belozerka Culture
in Cimișlia (Republic of Moldova) .................................................................................. 135

Alexandra Comșa,
Infections in the Romanian Bronze Age.
Some Anthropological Considerations ............................................................................ 145

Ioan Bejinariu,
Recent Discoveries belonging to the Noua Culture in Transylvania .............................. 159

Gabriela Dzhurkowska,
Characteristic Features of the Bronze Age Pottery from Site no. 1
near the Village of Panayot Volovо, Municipality of Shumen,
North-East Bulgaria ........................................................................................................ 183
6 Content

Gábor Ilon,
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary.
Data on the use of Horses in the Late Urnfield Period .................................................... 215

Bogdan Petru Niculică, Ilie Cojocariu,

A Copper Axe of "Randleistenbeil" Type
recently discovered in Suceava Plateau ........................................................................... 239

Mykola Ilkiv, Mykola Bodnariuk,

New Finds of Bronze Age Metal Artefacts
from the Northern part of Bukovina ................................................................................. 263

Oliver Dietrich,
Selective Deposition of Socketed Axes.
A Critical Appraisal of the Significance of "Pure" Hoards
along the Lower Danube and in the Eastern Carpathian Basin ...................................... 275

Anastasiia Korokhina, Ihor Butskyi,

Approaching the Ceramic Technology of the Late Bronze Age Settlement
of Hlyboke Ozero-2 in Eastern Ukraine: Preliminary Results ........................................ 291

Monica Mărgărit, Anca-Diana Popescu,

Bone and Tooth Artefacts from the Monteoru Settlement
of Răcăciuni (Bacău County) ........................................................................................... 321

Daniela Alexandra Popescu, Liviu Gheorghe Popescu,

Sorin Ignătescu, Dumitru Boghian,
Petrological Study of some Stone Axes
belonging to the Bronze Age from North-East Romania .................................................. 333
 EASTERN INNOVATIONS
AND WESTERN TRANSDANUBIA, HUNGARY.
DATA ON THE USE OF HORSES
IN THE LATE URNFIELD PERIOD

Gábor Ilon *

Carol Kacsó was sixty years old when he edited the honorary volume on
the occasion of the 70th birthday of Alexandru Vulpe, where I published the
metal workshop from Gór-Kápolnadomb (Vas County, Hungary). Now I
am presenting him for his 80th birthday with this paper that deals with the
record of the very same site. Also, I would like to draw the attention of
researchers to the antler shank bits from Lăpuș/Oláhlápos and
Bicaz/Békás, Romania, which he published (Kacsó 2011; Kacsó 2017).

Keywords: horse, antler shank bit, Mörigen-type bit, AMS dating.

Abstract
This paper is the repeated publication of a Mörigen-type shank bit from
Gór-Kápolnadomb, complete with a new AMS radiocarbon result, based on which the
previous dating of the find was modified to the turn of the Ha A1 and A2 periods. It also
presents a survey of Late Bronze Age horse remains from four counties in western
Hungary, which led the author to conclude that horses were exceptionally rare in this area
even in the Late Urnfield Period.

Introduction
Gór–Kápolnadomb is located on a terrace of the Répce, a tributary of the
Danube, in western Transdanubia (Fig. 1). I conducted excavations there preceding the
building of a water reservoir and a funeral home, respectively, in 1988-1993 and 2002,
unearthing an area of 7300 m2 of the multi-period site. The identified historical periods
include the Neolithic, the Bronze Age, the Hallstatt (Ilon 2008), the Celtic (Ilon 2021)
and the Roman periods, the Árpádian Age, and the Middle Ages. We could identify only
a single residential building with a foundation ditch that could perhaps be dated to the
Bronze Age; besides, we unearthed an Urnfield Period metal workshop (Ilon 2003) and a

*
Independent researcher, [email protected].
216 G. Ilon

few storage pits. Several Urnfield Period pits contained human remains (Fig. 3;
Zoffmann 2006, tab. 1), animal bones (including several complete skeletons), botanical
remains that provided information on the one-time natural environment and agricultural
production (Gyulai, Torma 1999), moulds for bronze items and waste products of bronze
processing (Ilon 1996; Czajlik 1996, 171, Abb. 16), and items related to textile
production (Marton 2001). Besides, we uncovered a pit comprising the remains of Celtic
people (Ilon 2001, 246-247, Abb. 4 1) and a deer (Vörös 2019), timber and earth banks
(Ilon 1998b), and a vessel depot (unpublished).

Exceptional phenomena in the Late Urnfield Period settlement at

Gór–Kápolnadomb
Several so-called "irregular" pit burials were discovered on the site (Gramsch
2013). Only one of them, Pit "a" in Trench L-8, contained a complete skeleton, of a 3-5
year old boy (Fig. 3/2; Zoffmann 2005, 148), while the others only contained incomplete
skeletal remains.
One of the latter, Pit "c" in Trench F-4-5, contained loom weights (one with an
incised human figurine), a bronze pin, a mug (Marton 2001, 301-302, pl. IV-VI) 2, and the
incomplete skull of a 40-59 year old man (Fig. 3/1; Zoffmann 2006, tab. 1, 3). A sample
taken from the left temporal bone was AMS measured in 2021, yielding a result of 978-831
cal BC 3, which corresponds to the Ha B2 period. The skull was separated from the body
and interred in a waste pit. The phenomenon may suggest the persistence of the skull cult
that appeared first in the Near East in the Mesolithic and was also practised in the
Carpathian Basin in the Neolithic and the Copper Age. This cult may involve homicide and
cannibalism (Jelínek 2018, 39, 42, fig. 2-4, 6-7 4; Zalai-Gaál 2009).
Another interesting find assemblage was discovered in Pit "c" in Trench I-6,
providing further evidence of textile production on the settlement: conical loom weights
lay in rows on the bottom of the pit. The previous dating of this feature (Marton 2001,
300-301, figs. 1-4, pl. I-III) also needs correcting. Based on the finds – for example,
spindle whorls and other weights – recovered from closed contexts with other, similar
loom weights on the site, I believe the feature can be assigned to the Late Urnfield Period.
The thorough processing of the textile production-related finds and features in the region
and the whole Carpathian Basin remains a task for the future.
Another feature with partial human remains, Pit "a" in Trench K-6, contained
some skeletal remains of three adult men, three moulds (one for a unit-of-value item),
more than 4000 botanical remains (Gyulai, Torma 1999, tab. 1/5), and more.
Anthropologist Ildikó Pap and pathologist László Józsa identified burn marks on the
bones, which may indicate ritual cannibalism (Ilon 1992a, 243, note 8; however,
Zsuzsanna Zoffmann (2001; 2006) did not mention such marks). An earlier radiocarbon
measurement of a human bone sample dated the pit to the turn of the Ha B1 and B2

1
Last year, a radiocarbon date confirmed the one-time field dating of the feature.
2
The younger Ha C2/D1 dating assigned to the feature in Marton’s publication is incorrect.
3
Sample ID: PSUAMS 10140, 2760±20 BP.
4
Only discussing skulls interred in vessels.
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 217

periods (1032-928 cal BC 5; see also Fig. 4/1; Ilon 1992, 258; Ilon 1996, 184) 6.
This is roughly coeval with House 24 in the nearby settlement at Ragoza, eastern
Slovenia (1134-1004 BC), the pottery assemblage of which comprises several
decorated types with close analogies from the pit in Gór-Kápolnadomb (Črešnar 2010,
81, pl. 9/3; Ilon 1992, 246, fig. 10/5).
Cremation being a widespread way to treat the dead in the period adds to the
information value of the rare, although not unique, partial human remains discovered in the
settlement at Gór. The anthropological record of the site was evaluated by Zsuzsanna K.
Zoffmann two decades ago, who observed a gracile and a Cro-Magnon-type component
and assigned them to two populations: local Urnfield culture people and Kimmers or
Prescythians of eastern origin.
Several "irregular" pit burials are known from the region. Two pits in
Ménfőcsanak–Széles-földek contained the remains of a newborn each (unpublished),
while a partial viscerocranium of a 19-21 year old adult, perhaps a man, was found in
Várvölgy-Nagyláz-hegy (Tóth 2009, 430), the mandible of an 8-10 year old child is
known from Zalaszentiván–Kisfaludi-hegy (Tóth 2009, 428), and recently, a cranial
fragment of a Cro-Magnon-type adult man, 30-35 years of age, was discovered in a
settlement near Sármellék 7. We have no other evidence of body manipulation at Gór.
However, such practices could have been on, as attested by the trephined skulls of two
women of the seven people interred in the pit burial on a settlement at Stillfried
(Szilvássy, Kritscher 1990, 139-140).
Based on available information, including (1) the lack of residential buildings,
(2) the abundance of relics of metalworking (a workshop, moulds, casting ladles,
ingots, and slag), (3) the relics of textile production in more than twenty features
(spindle whorls and loom weights), and (4) human remains in at least six pits, I have
concluded that Gór-Kápolnadomb could have been a regional centre in the Répce
Valley for two centuries or less during the Urnfield Period (Gramsch 2013, 514; Weihs
2004, 120; Jalínek 2018, 42, fig. 6-7; Bondár, Szécsényi-Nagy 2020, 92-96), where
everyday activities were being carried out in a ritual context together with human
sacrifices (Müller 2002, 217, Abb. 152). In other words, it was the sacred land of the
microregion, one where the transforming activity of metalsmiths (Molloy, Mödlinger
2020, 183) was practised as a kind of "shaman magic" (Anthony 2007, 334-336).
Only particular members of the related communities, specialists, had a right to be in
this sacred area, and only on a temporary basis. Perhaps the actual settlement stretched
on the southern, unexcavated part of Kápolnadomb, where the water tower, the
medieval church, and the Celtic earthworks stand today, while the northern,
investigated part included "only" the economic and sacred zones (Fig. 2; Petres, Bándi
1969, 174-175). However, considering how the unexcavated part of the site is built up
and used today (with a historic building and an active cemetery), perhaps there will
never be an opportunity to confirm this hypothesis.

5
Sample ID: Deb-1506, 2830±40 BP.
6
For a burial from Moravia, see Parma et alii 2018, fig. 4. Its data match Pit a at Gór.
7
I thank István Eke for the possibility to analyse and publish these findings from 2012. I am also indebted to
human biologist Gábor Tóth for the assessment of the remains.
218 G. Ilon

The closest coeval venue where traces of similar ritual acts have been identified
is a site of the Velatice culture at Blučina-Cezavy near Brno in Moravia (Salaš 2015).
Upon evaluating the unordinary phenomena of the site – four pits contained both
human, animal, and plant remains and a record related to metalworking – Salaš reached
conclusions similar to the ones explicated above, interpreting the site as a venue for
ritual events and economic activity. We also know of two other places that can be
connected with Gór. An isolated pit was found at Ivanovice na Hané Site 3/2, also near
Brno; it was positioned about 40 m away from the Early Urnfield Period (Ha A1) site. It
contained the remains of a 40-50 year old woman buried there – probably in the area of
a former tumulus – in the late 11th / early 10th century BC (Ha B1 period). Her jewellery
was made unserviceable prior to internment (Parma et alii 2018, 328-331, figs. 4-5).
Similar phenomena (the joint occurrence of human, animal, and crop remains) were
observed in several 9th century BC pits in Stillfried (Griebl 2021, 299-306). In a
previous study, I surveyed and discussed the occurrence and characteristics of pits
containing the remains of human "sacrifices" and a record related to crop grinding in
more than one historical period (Ilon 2020).

The antler shank bit

Pit "d/2", at the border of Trenches H-6 and I-6, was excavated in 1989-1990.
Originally, the feature was a storage pit which was turned into a waste pit later; it was
published in detail more than two decades ago (Ilon 2001, 246, Abb. 3, Taf. III-V). The
pit contained the mandible and a rib of a robust adult man, lying on a clay plaster layer
covering a layer of charred crops on the bottom (Gyulai, Torma 1999). A bronze awl, a
pin fragment, a spiral bead, cattle, sheep, pig, roe deer, and wild boar bones, snail shells,
and about 15 kg of pottery sherds – with two ceramic rings and a disc-shaped weight
related to textile production, one of the economic activities carried out in a ritual context
in the era amongst them – have been recovered from the pit’s infill. However, the most
interesting find of the pit and the focus of this paper is an arched shank bit made from
red deer antler (Fig. 5/2). The length of the arch is 132 mm, and the piece is 24 mm thick
at the end. The tip-end square hole is 7 x 6 mm, and the one near the other end is 6.5 x
6.5 mm; both terminal holes align with the axis of the arch. The third, central, square
hole is at a right angle to the two terminal ones; it is of 16 x 11 mm. The holes were
made by drilling through the piece of antler first and carving the round holes with a
knife, shaping them square later. Neither of the holes contained organic remains or
featured use wear marks; the observed burn marks are secondary. The object is part of
the collection of the Savaria Museum, Szombathely; Inv. no. G. 92.3.1.
Previously, two radiocarbon dates (Fig. 4) dated the pit to 892-872 8 and 1138-992
cal BC 9, respectively (Ilon 1996, 184). Based on these and the analogies of the find
material, the feature was assigned to the Ha B2 period of the Late Urnfield culture.
However, the human remains have been involved in an aDNA research project recently,
and a new radiocarbon data was measured from the first lower left premolar (P1), yielding

8
Deb-1512, 1690±40 BP.
9
Deb-1683, 2880±40 BP.
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 219

a 1056-924 cal BC interval 10 (Fig. 5/1). Based on the above, it seems more likely that the
feature was created in the mid-tenth century, at the turn of the Ha B1/2 periods.
Strap dividers and shank bits are key parts of a harness and have an important
role in controlling the horse. However, no such find is known from western Transdanubia
from the previous Tumulus culture period. Could they use a nose ring (Oates 2003, 120,
fig. 9/6b, 7; Anthony 2007, 403, fig. 15/15b-c) instead? Horses started to spread in the
area only during the second half of the Urnfield Period, mainly in the Late Urnfield
culture. The first shank bits were found at Velem–St. Vid in Vas County; Kálmán Miske,
who published them in the early 20th century, could not identify their function at the time
(Miske 1908, 3, Taf. VI/19, 21, 24). A couple of decades later, the stray finds of the type
from Celldömölk-Ság-hegy were published already as shank bits. While the shank bits
are stray finds in both cases, they probably belong to the younger Urnfield Period
(Mozsolics 1953, 86-89; Bökönyi 1953).
The piece from Gór was made available for research two decades ago. It can
be classified into the Boroffka Id variant of the Mörigen-type group (Ha B1; Hüttel
1981, 120, Taf. 14-15, 16/1; Boroffka 1998, 99-100, 104-105, Abb. 10). The holes on
the specimens of this type variant are positioned symmetrically on opposite planes of
the artefact, while the central hole is always bigger and runs from inside the arch to the
outside. Based on structure, several possible predecessors can be mentioned from the
closer (Lovasberény, Mende, Vel’ká Mana in Slovakia) and wider region (Grave 512 in
Tápé and an Early Urnfield Period shank bit in a bronze hoard from Borjas/Borđos in
Serbia; Hüttel 1981, 78, 86-91, 94, Taf. 7/61-62, 9/91, 29/21). As Hans-Georg Hüttel
suggested earlier (Hüttel 1981, 172), these indicate an autochthonous evolution of the
type within the Carpathian Basin. The earliest pieces with a similar arrangement of
holes are known from Beyçesultan (14-13th century BC), while the youngest are from
Tumulus no. 77 in Mingecjaur, Azerbaidjan, dated to the 8-7th century BC. The closest
analogies to the specimen found in Gór have been published from the nearby Ság-hegy
and Mörigen, Switzerland (Mozsolics 1953, 86-89; Hüttel 1981, 118, Taf. 14/142,
15/163, 27/B, 46). The length of the shank bits from Mörigen is identical to the one
found in Gór, while the piece from Ság-hegy, which shows the closest similarity with
our find, is about 7 mm shorter, probably because the tip of the antler is truncated.
Möringen-type shank bits appear between Transdanubia (Pécs-Makárhegy,
Celldömölk–Ság-hegy, Gór–Kápolnadomb) and eastern France, mostly along the
Danube, while a few specimens as prestige items got to England, Denmark, and
Turkey. The piece from Gór is especially important for the research of the type, as it
comes from a closed find context the chronological position of which is specified now
by three radiocarbon dates, and also because the aDNA analysis of the human remains
from the same context is currently underway. Besides, the topographic position and
structure of the related feature can be linked with Middle Bronze Age and – based on
the finds from Tápé and Spiš (Hüttel 1981, 94, 118-121) – Tumulus culture
antecedents. Thus, it contributes to improving our understanding of the origin and
chronological position of the type, questions raised first by Amália Mozsolics and
Hans-Georg Hüttel, and extended towards the east with the finds from Coslogeni in

10
PSUAMS-10139, 2845±20 BP.
220 G. Ilon

Romania by Nicolaus Boroffka later. One of the shank bits from Coslogeni is 4 mm
shorter than the one from Gór, but its tip is also truncated. Also, the terminal holes are
smaller, while the bigger central one was created by joining two smaller drilled holes
(Boroffka 1998, 107, 118-119, Abb. 5/1-2, 12). This type variant was in use in Anatolia
in the 14th century BC (Alaca Hüyük, Beyçesultan, Troy; one of the recent finds from
Troy came from the late phase of Layer VI). I believe the horse nomads residing in the
western Pontic region and/or eastern Europe influenced both Anatolia and the
Carpathian Basin but at different times, first at the end of the Middle Bronze Age, next
in the 14th century BC, and last in the 11th century BC (Hüttel 1981, Taf. 46-47;
Korfmann, Zidarov 2006, 678, 683, Abb. 1/1, 2); some waves of influence only reached
one region, while others both. This hypothesis makes necessary the evaluation of the
shank bit fragment from Grave 1 in Tumulus 5 in the cemetery of Hoderevka, Ukraine.
The grave was dated to the Rei B D – Ha A1 period, and the shank bit fragment was –
mistakenly – classified as Mörigen type (Berezanskaya, Klotsko 1998, 19, 33-34, Taf.
7/1). The find, however, cannot be a Mörigen-type shank bit because the direction of
the central square hole does not match the type. Bronze shank bits with square holes
arranged similarly to those on Mörigen-type bits are known from China; these pieces
were determined as ones of Andronovo origin (Kuzmina 2007, 257, fig. 111/24-25).
In the case of Mörigen-type shank bits, the leather loops connecting the shank
bit to the noseband and the throat lash were probably threaded through the terminal
holes, while the mouthpiece or its ring was connected to the central square hole (Dietz
2003, fig. 13.7). The way it was applied is depicted on a horseback archer representation
in a 7th century BC relief of Ahsurbanipal (Oates 2003, 123, fig. 9/10b); we also know of
a similar but less detailed representation on a seal cylinder from Knossos (Korfmann,
Zidarov 2006, Abb. 1/6). While the arrangement of the holes (two on one facet and a
third on another at a right angle) is identical on all pieces mentioned above, it is
important to note that their relative sizes are opposite on the shank bits from Gór (Fig.
5/2), Beyçesultan, and Tumulus no. 77 in Mingechaur, Azerbaijan to the ones from
Moldavia east of the Carpathians (Diaconu et alii 2014, fig. 1), Hordaevka in Ukraine, or
the well-known piece from Troy (Korfmann, Zidarov 2006, Abb. 1).

Late Bronze Age horse remains in western Transdanubia

A recent research project investigating the domestication and spread of western
Eurasian DOM2-type horses included only two samples from the territory of today's
Hungary (Librado et alii 2021, 5, Extended Data fig. 1). Regrettably, such a small data set
is insufficient for drawing any conclusions, especially general ones, for the region under
study. At the same time, a recent X-ray, isotope, and radiocarbon analysis of some of the
latest horse skull finds (Tompa 1, Vatya III period; Tompa 3, Vatya-Koszider period or Rei
B B1, about a century later) has revealed that equidae in the Carpathian Basin were
harnessed with headgears comprising a rope or leather noseband and put to work from the
17th century BC on (Bozi, Szabó 2022, 9-13, fig. 21).
As for the focus area of this study, the earliest horse finds include a long bone
fragment from a pit on a settlement of the Böheimkirchen-Magyarád-Větěrov culture
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 221

complex at Vép-Vasút utcai lakópark (Vép-Vasút Street Residential Park), dated to the
turn of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (Rei B A2-3/B1; Ilon, Nagy 2013, 300, tab. 2).
Three horses have been identified in the zooarchaeological record of the
Tumulus culture settlement unearthed at Ménfőcsanak–Széles-földek, from the Rei B B1-
C/D periods (Ilon 2019, Abb. 2). From the Rei B D period, horse remains are known
from settlements at Börcs–Paphomlok-dűlő (33 pcs) and Mosonmagyaróvár–Német-dűlő
(9 pcs), also in Győr-Moson-Sopron County (Bartosiewicz 1996, tab. 1-2). Moreover, the
remains of four horses have been published from Szombathely-Kámom in Vas County.
One of them was a 10-12 year old stallion with a withers height of 134.53 cm; this means
it was relatively small (Vörös 1999). The size of the horses that lived in Tumulus culture
settlements in the area of today’s Budapest was roughly the same (Csippán 2019, 228).
The withers height of the horses, the remains of which have been reported from Late
Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Hallstatt Period sites in eastern Austria, ranged between 135
and 140 cm (Pucher 2013, 50).
As for the transition of the Late Tumulus and Early Urnfield cultures (Rei B
C2/D1-Ha A1, see Fig. 4/2), two pieces of horse bone have been identified in the record
from the early layers of the tell settlement at Németbánya–Felsőerdei-dűlő (Veszprém
County), and one more from the late phase (Ilon 2014, 129). Besides, I know of a single
bone skate from a coeval settlement at Boba–Metszés-dűlő in Vas County 11.
Horse remains are known from only three Urnfield Period settlements in the
region, all of them in Győr-Moson-Sopron County: Ménfőcsanak–Széles-földek,
Kajárpéc–Pokolfa-domb, and Sopron–Potzmann-dűlő (Table 1). Nonetheless, the alleged
horse bone reported earlier from Pit "c" in Trench F-6 in Gór–Kápolnadomb was only a
result of misidentification; however, the pit contained two red deer antler tools (Ilon 2001,
208, Taf. IX/2-3). The interpretation of these artefacts has been debated for a long time; the
hypotheses include cheekpiece and netting tools. Their identical analogies have been
recovered in the Eneolithic settlement of Dereivka in the Dniepr Valley (Anthony 2007,
242-244, fig. 11/7h; Dietz 2003, 195, fig. 13/5-6; O’Connell et alii 2003, 263, fig. 16/9c).
Currently, we have no radiocarbon data from Pit "c".
Based on the above, one may conclude that horse was almost certainly not part
of the diet in the focus region during the Late Bronze Age (Falkenstein 2009, 156). If
horses were consumed in this area at all, only on the occasion of community events and
feasts provided by the elite (Outram et alii 2012, 2424). Horses were probably not bred
in this period; the low counts of horse bone suggest that they were not widespread even
at the end of the era and were probably owned by few, perhaps serving as status symbols
for the top of the elite. The proportion of horse bones is also low (0.4%) in the Late
Bronze Age record of the salt mines of Hallstatt (Puchner 2013, 20, tab. 5), where they
could not be used as draught animals. Currently, we have no reliable zooarchaeological
evidence of the transportation of horses to northern Italy via the territory of today’s
Slovenia (Sherrat 1993, 26). However, they were undoubtedly part of the livestock of
farmsteads in Macedonia and Thessalia in the mid second millennium (Falkenstein 2009,
156). Currently, the body of data related to horses in the study area is minimal, perhaps

11
I thank Csilla Farkas for the possibility of publishing the record of her excavation. I am also grateful to Éva
Ágnes Nyerges for identifying the species of the bone the skate was made from.
222 G. Ilon

because of the low proportion of analysed animal bones in general. However, one cannot
state at this point that the horses in the period and area in question were ridden or utilised
as draught animals (Falkenstein 2009, 157). We lack representations, too – can that result
from a taboo? (Outram et alii 2011, 126). The monumental horse geoglyph discovered
near Szilvásvárad in north-eastern Hungary is exceptional (Szabó 2019, 222-224, fig.
190), just like the horse depictions known from the Bronze Age (Phases II-V, 1500-700
BC) of northern Europe, appearing, for example, on a razor in a tumulus burial of a
warrior with a sword in Todnes, or rock carvings in the same area (e.g., Flatøy and
Trovika; Kaul, Rønne 2013, 28, 30, 37-38, 41, fig. 4-5, 7, 16, 27).

Conclusions
The presence of eastern elements in western Transdanubia is not a surprise as
the area was exposed to waves of influence from that direction from the Gravettian
Period on. However, to prove the presence of eastern components in the population
inhabiting these lands in the Urnfield Period via physical anthropological analysis
(Zoffmann 2001) counts as a novelty. Some Late Bronze Age and Celtic human
remains were included lately in a recent research project focusing on Iron Age
mobility. The aDNA analyses yielded important but not conclusive information about
the origins of the populations (Patterson et alii 2021, Supplementary Information
109-111, tab. 3-4). Linking – and merging – genetic information, archaeological
cultures, language, "race", and ethnic identity raises serious problems and balances, at
best, on the verge of being unscholarly. I have to agree with Susanne Hakenbeck and
Joseph Maran that such a synthesis is too early to be attempted at this point, and any
such endeavour must be approached with healthy scepticism (Hakenbeck 2018, 13-14;
Maran 2022, 17-18).
The men who arrived here most certainly brought their horses along, just like
the know-how of how to keep and utilise them and the necessary equipment. However,
the current body of related data does not imply that they played a significant role as
food or draught animals or rider horses. Neither can we draw conclusions regarding the
presence and significance of horseback fighting or horse-driven wagons used for
transport or fight in the Late Bronze Age of the Carpathian Basin (although wagon
parts are known from the period; Hampel 1886, Pl. LVI-LVII, LIX; Tarbay, Havasi
2019) not only because of the scarcity of data explicated above but also a possible local
taboo of depicting humans. The unfolding picture is unlike that in the Bronze Age of
Scandinavia and the Aegean world (Metzner-Nebelsick 2021, 122). Only a
comprehensive processing and evaluation of the zooarchaeological record of the
Bronze Age settlements in the study area could substantially improve our
understanding of the role and significance of horses in the period. The publication of
the third radiocarbon data from the Mörigen-type shank bit from Gór (Fig. 5/2) and the
presented survey of Bronze Age horse remains in western Transdanubia (Table 1) is a
small contribution to the scholarly discussion of the topic. Setting an absolute
chronology based on radiocarbon dates of the antler shank bits of similar design
(meaning the number, shape, and relative positions of the holes) in the Carpathian
Basin could reveal essential details on the use patterns within the Carpathian Basin and
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 223

the eastern origins. The survey has confirmed that the antler shank bits used east of the
Carpathian Basin and in Anatolia at different times within a longer period
(18-8/7th centuries BC) can be classified into two basic type variants. These variants
differ mainly in the number and relative position of the holes: one variant has two
or three parallel holes on one facet of the artefact, while the other – a subtype
of which is the Mörigen-type – has a similar number of holes but on two facets
(Medvedskaya 2017, Pl. 7-8).
The find material of the tumuli in the outskirts of Bakonyszentkirály, disturbed
in 1870, was rediscovered and published only recently (Ilon 2014b). It marks the arrival
of the next wave of horsemen from the east, the one that concluded the Urnfield Period in
the study area. The fittings of the headgear’s cross bands (Fig. 6) provided a reliable base
for dating the features.

Acknowledgements
I am indebted to biologist Gábor Nagy for sharing his unpublished results of the
analysis of the zooarchaeological record of Ménfőcsanak with me. I am grateful to Géza
Szabó (Wosinsky Mór Museum, Szekszárd) and Vasile Diaconu (History and Ethnography
Museum of Târgu Neamț) for their invaluable observations and comments. I thank Katalin
Sebők for the translation of the manuscript, István Ughy for the drawing of the shank bit,
and Edit Ambrus and Gyula Isztin for compiling the plates.
224 G. Ilon

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12
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from the Urnfield-period), in Savaria, A Vas megyei múzeumok értesítője, 30, p. 145-158.
 230 G. Ilon

Table 1

primigenius
Caprinae

Roe deer
Relative
County

dating

Cattle

Sheep

Horse
Goat

Deer
type

Hen
Dog
Site

Site

Bos
Pig
Ménfőcsanak settlement, Győr-Moson-
Rei B D – Ha B2(3) 52 34 1 3 23 9 3 9 - 11 -
– Széles-földek ca. 48 pits Sopron

Kajárpéc Győr-Moson-
settlement Rei B D – Ha A2 278 129 25 2 135 30 - 12 20 17 4
– Pokolfa-domb Sopron

Galambok
settlement Zala Rei B D – Ha A - - - - - - - - - - -
– Hársas-erdő

Balatonmagyaród
settlement Zala Ha A1 - - - - - - - - - - -
– Hidvégpuszta

Nagyrécse
settlement Zala Ha A1 3 2 - - 1 - - - - - -
– Baráka-dűlő

Sopron Győr-Moson-
settlement Ha A-A2/B1 333 286 22 5 229 18 - 16 5 48 10
– Potzmann-dűlő Sopron
settlement,
Gór
Trench K6, Vas Ha B2 - - - - - - - - - 1 -
– Kápolnadomb
pit "a"
Gór H-I-6,
Vas Ha B1/2 x - x - x - - - - x x
– Kápolnadomb pit "d/2"
Gór Trench H-
Vas Ha B2 x - x - - - - - - x -
– Kápolnadomb 7, pit "a-1"
Gór Trench I-7,
Vas Ha B2 x - x - - - - - - x -
– Kápolnadomb pit "c"
Gór Trench L-
Vas Ha B2 x - - - x - - - - x -
– Kápolnadomb 8, pit "a"
Gór Trench F-
Vas Ha B2 x - x - - - - - - x x
– Kápolnadomb 6, pit "c"

Szombathely Grave
Vas Ha B2 - - - - 11 - - - - - -
– Zanat 9/18.
Szombathely Grave
Vas Ha B1-2(3) - - - - 1 - - - - - -
– Zanat 33/42.

The numbers represent individual animals in the case of Balatonmagyaród, Gór, and
Ménfőcsanak (in bold) and bone fragments in the case of the other sites.
 Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 231

Domesticated

References
Wild boar

European

European
Beaver
Capra

turtle

Notes
Total
pond

Wild
hare

Bird

Fish
Fox

unpublished,
the numbers
3 published: evaluated by G.
1 1 2 3 represent individual
(+ 1 egg) Ilon et alii 2016 Nagy;
animals
Tugya et alii 2022
Bartosiewicz 1996,
- 6 - - - - - - 658 611 47 -
1. táblázat
the archaeozoological
- - - - - - - 1 - - - Száraz 2008, 73 material has not been
evaluated yet

bream (2), the archaeozoological

- - - - - pike (1), - - - - - Gyulai 1991 material has not been
other(2) evaluated yet

evaluated by B.
- - - - - - - - - 6 - Tugya; Fullár 2008, -
84.

1 12 1 1 - - - 987 909 78 Nyerges 2019 -

evaluated by I.
- - - - 1 - - - - 11 - an antler axe socket
Vörös; Ilon 1992

evaluated by I.
- x - - - - - - - - - -
Vörös; Ilon 2001
evaluated by I.
- - - - x - - - - - - -
Vörös; Ilon 2001
evaluated by I.
- x - - - - - - - - - -
Vörös; Ilon 2001
evaluated by I.
- - - - x - - - - - - -
Vörös; Ilon 2001
evaluated by I.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Vörös; Ilon 2001

Nyerges 2011, 197,

- - - - - - - - 11 - - -
fig. 88

- - - - - - - - 1 - - Nyerges 2011, 198 -

x = the species is present in the feature

232 G. Ilon

Figure 1. Sites with horse bones in western Transdanubia (Hungary),

dated to the end of the Middle and Late Bronze Age (Tumulus and Urnfield cultures).
Gór (1); Vép (2); Ménfőcsanak (3); Szombathely (4); Börcs (5);
Mosonmagyaróvár (6); Németbánya (7); Kajárpéc (8); Sopron (9).
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 233

Figure 2. Gór–Kápolnadomb. Aerial images of the site: from before the excavation (1),
taken in the spring of 1988; with the excavation trenches (2).
An encircled X marks the find spot of the Mörigen-type shank bit
(Pit "d/2" in Trench H-I-6).
234 G. Ilon

Figure 3. A mature man’s skull in its find context in Pit c, Trench F-4-5 (1);
remains of a 3-5 year old child in Pit "a", Trench L-8 (photos by the author 1989, 1992) (2);
front and side views of a 23-29 year old man’s skull (ID: K-1)
from Pit "a", Trench K-6 (after K. Zoffmann 2006) (3).
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 235

Figure 4. Urnfield Period radiocarbon dates from the study area (1);
radiocarbon dates of the tell settlement at Németbánya (2).
236 G. Ilon

Figure 5. Radiocarbon data of the human bone sample

from Pit "d/2" in Trench H-I-6 in Gór–Kápolnadomb (1);
two views of the antler shank bit (2)
(drawing by I. Ughy, photo by the author).
Eastern Innovations and Western Transdanubia, Hungary 237

Figure 6. Bronze strap divider phaleras from the southern tumulus

at Bakonyszentkirály (after Ilon 2014b, fig. 2).