The Beginnings of the Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin

In contrast to most prehistorians working in Central, Eastem and South-East Europe, Hungarian scholars generally link the onset of the Early Bronze Age to the cultural changes and the appearance of new cultures following the disintegration of the Baden-Pécel culture, the huge Late Copper Age complex of the Carpathian Basin. The middle third of the 3rd millennium BC saw the emergence of cultures which both preserved certain traits of the late Vucedol traditions and transformed then by blending them with elements drawn from other sources. The first among these new cultures was the Makó-Kosihy-Caka complex, followed by the Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture.
The archaeological record indicates that the onset of the Bronze Age, corresponding to the late Vucedol and the post-Vucedol period, was a time of constant change, in part shaped by the spread of metallurgy and metalworking. In addition to similar metal artefacts such as shafit-hole axes and chisels, certain pottery vessels such as interior decorated footed bowls, encountered in a roughly similar fonn in several contemporary cultures, are also imprints of an extensive cultural network spanning large regions.
The Eneolithic of Central Europe and the Early Bronze Age of Hungary currently represent one of the most intensively investigated periods of prehistory, especially regarding the comparison of chronological systems. Owing to its Central location, the Carpathian Basin plays a key role in the region’s prehistory. The publication of the growing corpus of archaeological finds, including earlier assemblages, is not merely an important task, but also a prerequisite to the better understanding of the cultural trajectories and interactions shaping the Bronze Age of the Carpathian Basin.