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Scythian Age settlement near Nagytarcsa
Abstract
This paper deals with the archaeological material of a Scythian Age settlement excavated near Nagytarcsa in 2007. Located on the higher terrace of a stream, the site represents a characteristic lowland, hamlet-like settlement of the Vekerzug culture, where animal husbandry played an important role in subsistence. Based on diagnostic ceramic finds and radiocarbon dating the settlement can be assigned to the Ha D2 period. The archaeological description, as well as the evaluation of settlement features and finds, is supplemented with a detailed petrographic analysis with an emphasis on wheel-thrown and Hallstatt type ceramics. The petrographic and geochemical analysis of the sherds and sediments collected on the site aim to confirm archaeological interpretations in order to determine the provenance of the ceramics and to assess whether their technological characteristics suggest specialization in production.
... Since 1950, archaeologists have widely investigated the Vekerzug culture and its possible affiliation to the Scythians, namely the Iron Age nomadic populations from the Eurasian steppe (e.g [43][44][45][46]). Archaeologists and anthropologists have widely supported that the local Iron Age Vekerzug communities of the central part of the Carpathian Basin, represented in this work by the necropolis of Tápiószele, can be referred to as Scythians-related populations [47][48][49][50]. ...
... Archaeologists argue in favour that the historical Scythians appeared in the Iron Age and their core origin area was settled in the Eurasian Steppe [135], as recently explored from a genetic point of view [136,137]. Although being aware that during the Iron Age an inflow of Steppean cultural and genetic impact came to the Carpathian Basin [49], it is nevertheless important to remember that Scythians-related populations in the Carpathian Basin have a very strong local Late Bronze Age background [48]. ...
The Iron Age is characterized by an extended interweaving of movements by Celts in Europe. Several waves of Celts from Western and Central Europe migrated southeast and west from the core area of the La Téne culture (between Bourgogne and Bohemia). Through the analysis of non-metric dental traits, this work aims to understand the biological relationship among Celtic groups arrived in Italy and the Carpathian Basin, as well as between local populations and Celtic newcomers. A total of 10 non-metric dental traits were analyzed to evaluate biological affinities among Celts (Sopron-Krautacker and Pilismarót-Basaharc) and Scythians-related populations from Hungary (Tápiószele), Celts from continental Europe (Switzerland and Austria), two Iron Age Etruscan-Celtic sites from northern Italy (Monterenzio Vecchio and Monte Bibele), 13 Iron Age central-southern Italic necropolises, and the northern Italian Bronze Age necropolis of Scalvinetto. Strontium isotopes were measured on individuals from the necropolis of Monte Bibele to infer their local or non-local origin. Results highlight the existence of statistically significant differences between Celts and autochthonous Italian groups. Celtic groups from Hungary and Italy (i.e., non-local individuals of Monterenzio Vecchio and Monte Bibele) share a similar biological background, supporting the historical records mentioning a common origin for Celts migrated to the eastern and southern borders of today’s Europe. The presence of a supposed Steppean ancestry both in Celts from Hungary and Celts from northern Italy corroborates the hypothesis of the existence of a westward migration of individuals and genes from the Steppe towards northern Italy during the Bronze and Iron Age, which contributed to the biological variability of pre-Celtic and later Celtic populations, respectively. Conversely, individuals from central-southern Italy show an autochthonous pre-Iron Age background. Lastly, this work supports the existence of Celtic migratory routes in northern Italy, as shown by biological and cultural admixture between Celts and Italics living together.
... Despite scarce evidence for Early Iron Age sites in the GHP, which corroborates nomadic pastoralism, recent archaeobotanical 88 , pollen 55 , and now stable isotope findings, challenge the perception of Scythian societies as defined by pastoral nomadism. They instead depict a more complex scenario in which certain groups were nomadic herders, while others engaged in mixed farming or agro-pastoralism, potentially also occupying more settled communities 53,56 . For example, macrofossils of six-row barley and millet were recovered at Rákoskeresztúr-Újmajor in the Alföld 88 , while pollen records dating to the Hungarian Early Iron Age allude to both the intensification of pastoralism and the continued importance of a mixed farming regime, alongside highly developed iron metallurgy and ceramic manufacture 53,55,56 . ...
... They instead depict a more complex scenario in which certain groups were nomadic herders, while others engaged in mixed farming or agro-pastoralism, potentially also occupying more settled communities 53,56 . For example, macrofossils of six-row barley and millet were recovered at Rákoskeresztúr-Újmajor in the Alföld 88 , while pollen records dating to the Hungarian Early Iron Age allude to both the intensification of pastoralism and the continued importance of a mixed farming regime, alongside highly developed iron metallurgy and ceramic manufacture 53,55,56 . ...
The Great Hungarian Plain (GHP) served as a geographic funnel for population mobility throughout prehistory. Genomic and isotopic research demonstrates non-linear genetic turnover and technological shifts between the Copper and Iron Ages of the GHP, which influenced the dietary strategies of numerous cultures that intermixed and overlapped through time. Given the complexities of these prehistoric cultural and demographic processes, this study aims to identify and elucidate diachronic and culture-specific dietary signatures. We report on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from 74 individuals from nineteen sites in the GHP dating to a ~ 3000-year time span between the Early Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The samples broadly indicate a terrestrial C3 diet with nuanced differences amongst populations and through time, suggesting exogenous influences that manifested in subsistence strategies. Slightly elevated δ15N values for Bronze Age samples imply higher reliance on protein than in the Iron Age. Interestingly, the Füzesabony have carbon values typical of C4 vegetation indicating millet consumption, or that of a grain with comparable δ13C ratios, which corroborates evidence from outside the GHP for its early cultivation during the Middle Bronze Age. Finally, our results also suggest locally diverse subsistence economies for GHP Scythians.
... The Scythian (Vekerzug in the GHP) culture subsequently emerged and continued into the Middle Iron Age. Excavations of Vekerzug settlements indicate that agriculture and animal husbandry were practised along with highly developed iron metallurgy and ceramic manufacture 54,57 . Various other Middle Iron Age cultures occupied this region until the end of the 5th century BCE, when the Celts began their conquests and interrupted development of local cultures, not just in the Tisza region, but throughout the Carpathian Basin 54,58 . ...
The Great Hungarian Plain (GHP) served as a geographic funnel for population mobility throughout prehistory. Genomic and isotopic research demonstrates non-linear genetic turnover and technological shifts between the Copper and Iron Ages of the GHP, which influenced the dietary strategies of numerous cultures that intermixed and overlapped through time. Given the complexities of these prehistoric cultural and demographic processes, this study aims to improve our understanding of diachronic and culture-specific dietary signatures. Here we report on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values from 75 individuals from twenty sites in the GHP dating to a ~ 3000-year time span between the Early Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The samples broadly indicate a terrestrial C 3 diet with nuanced differences amongst cultures, suggesting exogenous influences that manifested in subsistence strategies. Compared to the Iron Age, the Bronze Age samples have slightly elevated δ ¹⁵ N values implying higher reliance on protein. Interestingly, carbon values typical of C 4 vegetation indicate the consumption of millet, or a grain with comparable δ ¹³ C values during the Middle Bronze Age. Overall, our results suggest a gradual transition in dietary patterns from the Early Bronze to Early Iron Age, demonstrating a relationship between subsistence and time periods, congruent with the archaeological record.
... Nagytarcsa is situated in the north-central part of Hungary, some 20 kilometres from Budapest, on a slightly elevated area along the Szilas Stream (Fig. 1). During a rescue excavation (prior to a motorway construction) 19 Iron Age settlement features were discovered at Nagytarcsa in 2007 (Czifra et al. 2017). ...
... al IV-lea BC ( Kemenczei 2009, 111-114). Recent au fost publicate cinci probe 14 C din aşezarea de perioadă scitică de la Nagytarcsa lângă Budapesta, pe malul estic al Dună-rii ( Czifra et al. 2017, fig. 19). ...
The main point of this article is to walk through the most recent Late Bronze Age discoveries from the eastern
Carpathian Basin based on the aforementioned chronological scheme. In order to avoid repeating the information
excellently brought together by M. Przybyła, I will limit this review to those sites for which new absolute data is
available, thus allowing the precise chronological anchoring of the cultural realities of this period.
The necropolis from Ferigile (consisting of 149 small barrows containing cremation graves) was completely excavated by Alexandru Vulpe between 1956 and 1962. With the monographic publication of 1967, this necropolis would become the defining site for the late period of the Early Iron Age south of the Carpathians. The succession of the cemetery’s phases, the relative and absolute chronology of the graves have given rise to debates and refinements over time. Six decades after the completion of the excavations at Ferigile, in the period 2020–2023 a set of five samples of organic material (burnt wood, usually improperly referred to as „charcoal”) from the graves considered defining for the site (barrows 41, 69, 72, 91 and 106) were dated by the radiocarbon method. In the selection of the samples, it was ensured that all horizons of the necropolis were represented. Even if the absolute data obtained as a result of the calibration are influenced by the “Hallstatt plateau”, they remain of interest not only from the perspective of reporting to the internal chronology of the necropolis, but especially from the perspective of an integrative approach, connecting to a wider radiocarbon column, increasingly furnished in recent years with more and more data revealed by various sites and discoveries belonging to both Fergile group and the neighboring cultural entities.
A Herman Ottó Múzeum 2007 óta folytat régészeti feltárásokat a bükkábrányi bánya területén. A több hektárnyi területet lefedő lelőhelyeken teljes felületű kutatásokra nyílik lehetőség, azonban sokszor szűkös határidőkkel. A 2017–2020-as ásatási szezonokban, a VIII. számú lelőhelyen alkalmunk volt egy több korszakos területet feltárni, amely a középső neolitikumtól a római császárkorig terjed. A két legjelentősebb időszak a rézkor és a vaskor volt, melyekhez kapcsolódóan telepobjektumokat és temetőket is feltártunk. Az itt közölt eredmények egyelőre előzetes jellegűek, a lelőhely egészének feltárása, illetve a feldolgozás még folyamatban van.
This study deals with graves of Vekerzug culture, which contained weapons and horse harness. These graves reflect an evident social differentiation of Vekerzug society. Special attention in the study was paid to the most accurate geographic and cultural determination of the origin of individual weapon types and horse harness components in the context of new knowledge about Vekerzug culture and answering the question to what extent these finds reflect its interregional contacts. Important is also definition of possible armament schemes of Vekerzug culture and their comparison with armament schemes in the neighbouring cultural regions, especially with the forest-steppe Western Podolian group, Ciumbrud culture and Ferigile culture. Cultural and spatial analyses of individual types of weapons and horse harness as well as of the armament schemes of Vekerzug culture show that the problem of interregional contacts of this culture, mainly the eastern ones, must be considered more differentially than it has been previously presented in scientific literature. At the same time, they confirm the recent knowledge that the effect of eastern influences on Vekerzug culture is in scientific literature without a reason constantly overestimated. Keywords: Eastern Hungary, Southern Slovakia, Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods, Vekerzug culture, weapons, horse harness, graves, armament schemes, interregional contacts, innovations.
In the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, so-called graphite-coated vessels were ubiquitous in the Carpathian Basin. Studies on graphite-coated vessels are usually carried out from a typological point of view, describing the shape and decoration of such wares and assessing the effects that co-existing cultural groups may have had on each other. Even though the practice of graphite coating had been present in East-Central Europe for several centuries, the way graphite coating was produced has never been investigated. Technological study of graphite coating can, however, highlight interesting details about this practice and the high skill and knowledge of potters that was necessary for this type of ceramic production. In this study, a methodology of making graphite coated vessels, and in turn achieving a metallic luster, is presented through a range of experiments. The results are compared with graphite coating found on archaeological ceramics from a Late Bronze Age site. The experiments point out that graphite coating can be achieved in several different ways; however, only a limited number of technological choices would result in highly metallic luster. During the experiments different graphite coating techniques were tried which elucidate the possible ways prehistoric potters utilized graphite, surface treatments and firing conditions.
Iron Age settlement features contained both Vekerzug and Celtic type ceramics. Thus, Endrőd 19 should be dated to the La Tène Pperiod, rather than to the Early Iron Age. 57 szaBó
Menna 2006, T. I.0455. It must be mentioned that the site
of Endrőd 19 is generally referred to as a Scythian Period settlement (e.g.
caTTani 1994; guiDi 1994; geniTo 2008, 354). Nevertheless, according
to A. Menna's dissertation (2006), Iron Age settlement features contained both Vekerzug and Celtic type ceramics. Thus, Endrőd 19 should
be dated to the La Tène Pperiod, rather than to the Early Iron Age.
57 szaBó 2007a, Pl. II.5,7.
58 gál-Molnár 2004, Taf. 23.5, Taf. 30.12, Taf. 31.9,11.
59 PárDucz 1955, T. VII:1; chochorowsKi 1985, Abb. 3.4.
60 cseh 2006, Fig. 10.1,7, Fig. 11.3, Fig. 12.5,9,11.
61 Dinnyés 2002, Fig. 3.8, Fig. 5.12.
70 ganina 1984, 71. 71 ganina 1965, Fig. 1.1,3, Fig. 3.2-8; ganina 1984, Fig. 1.6-8. 72 yaKovenKo 1968, Fig. 4; Bessonova-roManyuK
- Kalicz-Koós
Kalicz-Koós 1998, Abb. 4.9,12,14, Abb. 5.7-10,12,15,
Abb. 7.2,7, Abb. 10.16.
66 cziFra 2016, Fig. 3.5-6, Fig. 5.2.
67 veres 2003, 83, 86, Fig. 4.1,2, Fig. 8.1.
68 JereM 1981, 114, 122; Kovačević 2008, 56; schwellnus
2009, 249.
69 PoPović 1981, 28; vasić 1987, 540-541.
70 ganina 1984, 71.
71 ganina 1965, Fig. 1.1,3, Fig. 3.2-8; ganina 1984, Fig.
1.6-8.
72 yaKovenKo 1968, Fig. 4; Bessonova-roManyuK 2004,
Fig. 3.4, Fig. 6.1-5, Fig. 7.2,5,7-8.
73 gál-Molnár 2004, Taf. 22.1,13, Taf. 23.8; Menna
2006, T. VIII.0183, T. XI.0252, T. XII.0219, szaBó 2007a, Pl. II.2.
74 veres 2003, 83, Fig. 3.4.
75 KeMenczei 1977, Abb. 5.5.
76 szaBó 2007a, Pl. V.8-9, Pl. VII.11.
77 JurečKo 1983, Fig. 7.6.
78 ĎurKovič 2007, III. T. 1.
79 Miroššayová 1987, T. XIII.8, T. IV.26, T. XI.7.
80 veres 2008, T. I.4,6.
81 Miroššayová 1987, T. I.1.
82 PoPovich 2006, Fig. 5.10.
0392; szaBó 2007, Pl. LI.8. 92 cseh 2006, Fig. 6.5; cseh 2008, Fig. 10.12; Kalicz-Koós
Miroššayová 1994, 48.
91 guiDi 1994, Fig. 3.2; Menna 2006, T. XXXVI.0392;
szaBó 2007, Pl. LI.8.
92 cseh 2006, Fig. 6.5; cseh 2008, Fig. 10.12; Kalicz-Koós 1998, Abb. 10.7; cziFra 2016, Fig. 7.1.
93 gál-Molnár 2004, Taf. 6.2; Taf. 12.6; gróh 1984,
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94 Menna 2006, T. XVI. 380, T. XXII.0908.
103 chochorowsKi 1985, 32; D. MaTuz 2000, 141;
at Nové Zámky/Érsekújvár (SK), at Pomáz (HU) and at Szob (HU) (DušeK 1976; sTegMann-raJTár
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203 KeMenczei 1977, 67.
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