5
5
5
For citation: Bátora J. The Region of Caucasus and Central European-Carpathian Territory in the
Final Eneolithic and the Bronze Age (a Contribution to the Transfer of Technologies and Knowledge).
Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2021, vol. 66, issue 2, рp. 531–548.
https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2021.213
This article shows that the cultures in the Middle Danube/Carpathian territory were not just
peripheral cultures of the developed Aegean-West Asian cultures, but also the western periph-
ery of the Eurasian steppe region. From this aspect, the cultural-historical development in this
area was influenced and associated with the cultural-historical development in the Caucasian
and Northern Pontic regions as well. This is confirmed by several artifacts of the Caucasian
character in the territory of Central Europe. First of all, we can mention single-edged copper
axes, whose oldest exemplars in Europe come from the North Caucasus (the Maykop and
Novosvobodnaya cultures). With the arrival of the Yamnaya culture, technology of their pro-
duction emerged in the Northern Balkans and Central Europe along the Danube, through the
Northern Pontic region. Their oldest exemplars in this territory are the Baniabic type axes.
There are also weapons or tools; and jewellery which is represented by earrings of the so-called
of Transylvania type associated mainly with the Únětice, Košťany and Otomani cultures in
the Carpathian-middle Danube region. Their prototypes can be found in the North Pontic
region — Yamnaya culture. The remaining cultural contacts between Central and Eastern
Europe in the Middle Bronze Age are confirmed by the dagger of the Srubnaya type from
Sklabiňa in Central Slovakia. The existence of contacts between the Caucasian region and the
territory of Central Europe as late as the final Bronze Age is proved by the finds of Cimmerian
character. As a pars pro toto example, a dagger of the Kabardino-Pyatigorsk type from Malý
Cetín in southwest Slovakia can be mentioned.
Keywords: Middle Danube, Carpathians, Northern Pontic region, North Caucasus, Eurasiа,
Final Eneolithic and Bronze Age, cultural contacts, new technologies.
Jozef Bátora — Dr. Sci. (Philosophy), Dr. Sci. (History), Professor, Archaeological Institute of the Slo-
vak Academy of Sciences, 2, Akademická, Nitra, SK-949 21, Slovakia; nraubato@savba.sk
Йозеф Батора — д-р философии, д-р ист. наук, проф., Археологический институт Академии
наук Словакии, Словакия, SK-949 21, Нитра, Академическая ул., 2; nraubato@savba.sk
This article was prepared with the support of the Foundation VEGA as the projeсt no. 1/0100/19.
I would like to express my gratitude to Viera Teibusova for participating in the translation of the article.
Эта статья была подготовлена при поддержке Фонда VEGA как проект № 1/0100/19.
Автор благодарит Виеру Тейбусову за участие в подготовке перевода текста статьи.
© St. Petersburg State University, 2021
https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2021.213 531
Регион Кавказа и центральноевропейско-карпатская территория
в позднем энеолите и бронзовом веке (вклад в передачу технологий и знаний)
Й. Батора
Для цитирования: Bátora J. The Region of Caucasus and Central European-Carpathian Territory in
the Final Eneolithic and the Bronze Age (a Contribution to the Transfer of Technologies and Knowl-
edge) // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. История. 2021. Т. 66. Вып. 2. С. 531–548.
https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2021.213
The current research shows that the cultures in the Middle Danube/Carpathian ter-
ritory were not only peripheral cultures of the developed Aegean-West Asian cultures,
but also the western periphery of the Eurasian steppe territory. From this aspect, the
cultural-historical development in this area was influenced and associated with the cul-
tural-historical development in the Caucasian and Northern Pontic territory. Investiga-
tions in the recent years have confirmed that there were intercultural and interregional
contacts between two geographical areas located at a considerable distance from each
other, which were often surprisingly similar in their cultural expression, as will be de-
mostrated in the article. The bearers of separate cultures and cultural groups from both re-
gions communicated with each other throughout the whole prehistory as well as the early
history. As a result of this communication, material and spiritual cultures influenced each
Middle Danube and North Carpathians // Tyragetia International I. Chisinau, 2016. P. 104.
2 Ibid.
3 Rezepkin A. D. Novosvobodnenskaia kul‘tura (na osnove materialov mogiľnika “Klady”). St.
Fig. 5:1.
6 Kovaleva J. F.: 1) Vytianutye pogrebeniia Dnestrovskogo areala Volgo-dneprovskoi kuľturno-isto-
richeskoi obchshnosti epokhi eneolita // Kurgannye drevnosti stepnogo Podneprovia (III–I tys. do n. e.).
Dnepropetrovsk, 1979. Fig. 6; 2) Pogrebeniia s maikopskym inventarem v levoberezhe Dnepra (K vydeleniu
zhivotilovskogo kulturnogo tipa) // Problemy archeologii Podneprovia. Dnepropetrovsk, 1991. P. 28.
Aa according to I. Bóna7. Besides the depot from the site of Baniabic (Vilcele now) in
Romania8, most exemplars belong to unique finds, such as the axes from Radimov, Dolný
Pial and an unknown site in southwestern Slovakia (Fig. 2)9; Kisbér in Hungary10; Rudna
Mala in southeastern Poland11; Leskovac in Serbia12; and Vlčnov in eastern Moravia13.
The typological similarity between the axes of the Baniabic type and the 2nd group of the
Maykop axes — as distinguished by S. N. Korenevskii in 198114 — points to their old age.
Another archaic type of single-edged axes in central and southeastern Europe,
approximately contemporary or a little older, is the Fajsz type — type Ab according to
I. Bóna15, which can be — similarly to the Baniabic type axes — associated with the Late
Eneolithic. It is documented by the depot from the upland settlement of Staré Zámky in
Brno-Líšeň in Moravia, which consisted of a copper axe with a single edge of the Fajsz/
Corbasca type, a flat copper axe, a chisel and an awl (Fig. 3)16. The depot was discovered in
the youngest eneolithic cultural layer partly belonging to stage Jevišovice C1, but mostly
to stage Jevišovice B, with material of the Vučedol culture, which is well documented by
7 Bóna I. Bronzeguß und Metallbearbeitung bis zum Ende der mittleren Bronzezeit // Bronzezeit in
Ungarn. Forschungen in Tell-Siedlungen an Donau und Theiss. Frankfurt am Main, 1992. S. 48.
8 Vulpe A. Äxte und Beile in Rumänien I // Prähistorische Bronzefunde IX/2. München, 1970. Tab. 1–3.
9 Vladár J. K otázke chronologického postavenia sekeriek s jedným ostrím // Študijné Zvesti Archeo-
Rhein, Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. 1951–
1953. No. 34. S. 69.
13 Říhovský J. Die Äxte, Beile, Meißel und Hämmer in Mähren. Stuttgart, 1992. Tab. 5.
14 Korenevskii S. N. Vtulchatye topory — oruzhie blizhnego boia epocki srednei bronzy Severnogo
Kavkaza // Kavkaz i Sredniaia Aziia v drevnosti i srednevekove (istoriia i kultura). Moscow, 1981. P. 20.
15 Bóna I. Bronzeguß und Metallbearbeitung… S. 48.
16 Benešová A. Nález měděných předmětů na Starých Zámcích v Brně-Líšni // Památky Archeologické
tur in Brno-Starý Lískovec. Fontes Archaeologiae Moravicae 22. Brno, 1994. S. 82.
19 Benkö L., Horváth F., Horvatinčiš N., Obelič B. Radiocarbon and Thermoluminiscence Dating of
Prehistoric sites in Hungary and Yugoslavia // Radiocarbon 31. Cambridge, 1989. P. 999, Tab. 1.
20 Kalicz N. Die Frühbronzezeit in Nordost-Ungarn. Budapest, 1968. Tab. I: 16, 17, 19–21.
21 Hančar F. Urgeschichte Kaukasiens. Wien, 1937. Tab. XXXVI: 12, 13.
22 Rezepkin A. D. Das frühbronzezeitliche Gräberfeld von Klady und die Majkop-Kultur in Nordwest-
kaukasien. Tab. 53: 5, 7.
23 Hančar F. Urgeschichte Kaukasiens. Wien, 1937. Tab. XVI.
24 Korenevskii S. N. Vtulchatye topory… Figs. 7, 11; Ryndina N. V. Metall v kulturach shnurovoi kera-
miki ukrainskogo Predkarpatia, Podolii i Volyni // Sovetskaia archeologiia. 1980. Iss. 3. P. 38, 39.
25 Antoniewicz W. Der Stublo in Wolhynien aufgefundene Bronzeschatz // Eurasia Septentrionalis
the period of the Catacomb culture in the northern Black Sea region. Thus, we can assume
that it was through this region that the above mentioned technological-decorative detail
on single-edged axes spread not only into the territory of northwestern Carpathian-Eas-
tern Poland, but also into the Lower Danube region. It is confirmed by e. g. the axe from
Cernateşti in Buzău, Romania28.
It is noteworthy to point out another site which is associated with the topic in ques-
tion — the remarkable content of the previously uncovered burial in Bleckendorf in Ger-
many, which, besides a beaker decorated with twig-shaped engraved bands and a copper
awl, contained a bone pin with a hammer-shaped head and a small copper dagger with an
unproportionally long handle. Originally, the grave was considered to have been primari-
ly a grave of the Bell Beaker culture with strong traditions of the Corded Ware culture29.
Based on the recently published calibrated radiocarbon data of 2850–2500 BC obtained
from human bones, we can presume that it was the period prior to the massive occurrence
of the Bell Beaker culture’s material30. The low probability of dating of the burial in the
Bell Beaker culture is also supported by the different construction of daggers compared to
the daggers of the given culture. Small copper daggers with unproportionally long handles
are, however, also known from graves and settlements in the the circum-Pontic territories
and in the Caucasus (e. g. Tulatovo, Timashevsk)31. The above mentioned bone pin with
a hammer-shaped head typical of the Yamnaya or Catacomb cultures can be associated
with this territory as well32.
28 Oancea A., Drambocianu V. Doua topoare descoperite in judetul Buzau // Studii si Cercetarii Istorie
S. 57–58.
31 Zimmermann T. Die ältesten kupferzeitlichen… Fig. 37: 2; Gei A. N. Novotitorovskaia kuľtura. Mo-
Fig. 35.
37 Ottaway B. S. Earliest Copper Artefacts of the Northalpine Region: Their Analysis and Evaluation
are usually in the form of open rings (Lockenringe) or spirals. They are spread from the
North Caucasus through the southern Russian, Ukrainian and Moldovan steppes, the
Lower Danube (Oltenia and northern Bulgaria) to as far as the Carpathian Basin. They are
found mainly in graves of the Yamnaya culture and its components — the Novotitorovka
culture in the northernwest Caucasus and the Budjak culture in the southwestern Black
Sea region43. In the Carpathian environment, they are known from several graves under
tumuli of the Yamnaya culture, e. g. from eastern Hungary (Sárrétudvar, Balzamújváros)44,
Burgenland (Neusiedle am See)45 and Banate (Uljma, Vojlovica, Vatin). It is of interest that
they are usually found in male graves in two exemplars deposited on both sides of skulls,
which corresponds with the rituals in male graves of the Yamnaya culture. It is obvious
that such earrings were the basis for the so-called earrings of the Transylvania type, which
was mainly typical of the cultures in the following period in Eastern Europe, e. g. the Ba-
43 Ivanova S. Connections between the Budzhak Culture and Central European Groups of the Corded
Ware Culture // The Ingul-Donets Early Bronze Civilization as Springboard for Transmission of Pontic
Cultural Patterns to the Baltic Drainage Basin 3200–1750 BC // Baltic-Pontic Studies. 2013. No. 1. Fig. 23: 6.
44 Nepper Ibolya M. Sárrétudvari és körnéke a XIII. századig // A Bihari Múzeum Évkönyve. 1991.
Teil II. — Kulturgeschichtliche Aspekte des Zentralgrabes // Morgenrot der Kulturen. Budapest, 2003. S. 447.
bino and Srubnaya cultures, in the territory of Eurasia in the Abashevo, Sintashta and An-
dronovo cultures, as well as in in the North Caucasus culture and in the culture of Ginchi
in Dagestan46. As far as Central Europe is concerned, these were the Únětice, Košťany and
Otomani-Füzesabony cultures47.
The previous research of the tumulus in Šurany48 as well as the inhumation burials in
the so-called frog position (e. g. Jelšovce)49 suggested — and the latest surface surveys have
confirmed it — that the nomadic tribes of the Yamnaya culture within the Carpathian
territory moved not only to the Upper Tisza region in today’s eastern Hungary, but also to
the northern juts of the Danubian lowland (Podunajská nížina) in southwestern Slovakia
(north of the Danube)50. In additon to potential pastures, they were probably attracted
mostly by sources of non-ferrous metals, i. e. copper, gold and silver, located in the volca-
nic mountain ranges of Central Slovakia51.
With regard ot the question of cultural relations of the Carpathian territory with dis-
tant areas, results of the systematic research in Vráble in southwestern Slovakia stand out.
There, detected geophysical measuring and the subsequent trenches confirmed radial ar-
rangement of dwellings in multiple rows along the circular fortification (Fig. 6: 1)52. Such
arrangement of buildings has analogies not only in the eastern Mediterranean, but also in
46 Magomedov G. R. Ginchinskaia kuľtura, gory Dagestana i Chechni v epokhu srednei bronzy. Ma-
chachkala, 1998. Fig. 129: 15–17, 63, 64.
47 Bátora J. Slovensko v staršej dobe bronzovej. Bratislava, 2018. S. 173.
48 Novotná M., Paulík J. Neskoroeneolitická mohyla v Šuranoch, okr. Nové Zámky // Archeologické
// Zwischen Tradition und Innovation. Studien zur Bronzezeit im Trans-Ural (Russische Föderation).
Frankfurt am Main; Bonn, 2014. Fig. 31, 37, 69, 73.
Fortified settlements with the so-called protourban arrangement of structures in the ter-
ritory of the Northern Carpathians were previously associated mainly with the cultures
of the Maďarovce-Věteřov-Bӧheimkirchen complexes expanded in the Central Danube
region and with the cultures of the Otomani-Füzesabony complex spreading in the Upper
Tisza region, which chronologically corresponds with the Mycenaean culture in the eas-
tern Mediterranean54. Observations of the fortified settlement in Vráble have transformed
our previous knowledge of the beginnings of protourban architecture, changes in the set-
tlement structure as well as in the associated process of creation of new social elites in the
territory of Central Europe.
The dagger of the Srubnaya type from Sklabiňa in Central Slovakia points to the
surviving cultural contacts between the territories of Central and Eastern Europe in the
Middle Bronze Age (Fig. 7: 1). It differs from the daggers of Eastern Europe with three
rivet holes on the handle which were probably made additionally in the Carpathian area55.
The nearest analogy with the dagger from Sklabiňa is known from grave 1, tumulus 1,
in Rusin Jar in eastern Ukraine (Fig. 7: 2)56.
As for other finds, we can mention the bronze dagger with a leaf-shaped blade and
rhomboid-shaped reinfroced tang of the handle from Kirchdorf in Tirol in Southern Aus-
tria57, which is completely foreign to this region (Fig. 8: 1). Its metallographic analysis did
not confirm that it had been made of local north Tirol copper either, so it can be definitely
considered an import, not a local imitation. With its shape and details of design, the dag-
ger is similar to the Pontic forms of daggers typical of the Srubnaya culture and the early
phase of the Sabatinovka culture (Fig. 8: 2)58. The oldest exemplars are found mostly in the
Volga region, in Ukraine, in the Don region and in the Southern Urals. Analogous daggers
are also represented in the North Caucasus. Nevertheless, they can also be identified in
Turkmenistan, Iran, as well as Turkey59.
To confirm existence of contacts between the Caucasus region and the territory of
Central Europe and the Carpathians as late as the end of the Bronze Age, finds of Cimme-
rian character can be pointed out As a pars pro toto example, we can mention the dagger of
57 Harb I., Steier H. Ein Bronzedolch östlicher Herkunft aus Kirchdorf in Tirol // Archäologie Östrer-
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