Culture, Period or Style? Reconsideration of Early and Middle Copper Age Chronology of the Great Hungarian Plain

Bibliographic Data

ID9243162
AuthorsZsuzsanna Siklósi (0000-0002-6451-5578), Márton Szilágyi (0000-0001-7556-8918)
Year2021
Volume63
Issue2
Pages585-646
Publication date2021-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/rdc.2020.115
OpenAlexW3121212949
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited26

The main goal of our research project was to date the Early and Middle Copper Age (4500/4450–3800 cal BC) of the Great Hungarian Plain more precisely. In our project, we took samples for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating from both settlement features and burials, and the data were analyzed using Bayesian modeling. We examined the Early and Middle Copper Age finds of the Great Hungarian Plain on several levels (site, microregional, and regional levels) using a bottom-up approach. The AMS measurements were supplemented by statistics-based pottery analysis in order to make our understanding of the relationship between the Tiszapolgár and Bodrogkeresztúr cultures more detailed. As a result, we can see a significant, 130 (68.2%) 230 years overlap between the two types of find assemblages, which contradicts to the earlier accepted chronological sequences created by the traditional culture-historical approach. According to the stylistic analyzes, the two ceramic styles are not clearly distinguishable

Accelerator mass spectrometry · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Bronze Age · Chalcolithic · Chronology · Geography · Pottery · Radiocarbon dating · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology