Winds of Change – Funerary practices at the dawn of Late Bronze Age in Southeast Hungary

Summary

The transition from Middle to Late Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin encompassed a broad range of changes in material culture, settlement, and societal organization. This transition is traditionally seen as a short, war-ridden horizon reflecting the arrival of the Tumulus culture population. Recent research, however, emphasizes the complexity of these transformations, and suggests a longer, less abrupt transition, in which existing Middle Bronze Age populations play a significant role in the formation of Late Bronze Age societies. The study of funerary practices from this period can provide important insight into these changes.

Excavations in the early 1960s at Tápé–Széntéglaégető unearthed over 600 Bronze Age burials, thought to be associated with the Tumulus culture. The location of the cemetery at the edge of the preceding Early – Middle Bronze Age Maros culture territory and similarities in funerary custom, however, raises questions about the possible relationship between the Tápé population and the Maros group. The analysis of funerary practices at Tápé highlights both continuities with Middle Bronze Age practices, and the distinctiveness of the new Late Bronze Age social formation. These results contribute to a more general understanding of the newly crystalizing Late Bronze Age societies within the Carpathian Basin.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17095