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New radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom site (Eastern Hungary)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2024

János Dani*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Szeged, Egyetem utca 2, 6722, Szeged, Hungary Déri Museum, Déri tér 1, 4026, Debrecen, Hungary
Anikó Horváth
Affiliation:
International Radiocarbon AMS Competence and Training Center (INTERACT), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Bemtér 18/c. 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Anett Gémes
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Anthropology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary Salisbury Zrt. Tartsay Vilmos utca 14. H-1126 Budapest, Hungary
Kristóf Fülöp
Affiliation:
HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Archaeology, Tóth Kálmán u. 4, 1097, Budapest, Hungary
Tamás Szeniczey
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Anthropology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
János Gábor Tarbay
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, National Institute of Archaeology, Hungarian National Museum, Hungarian National Museum Public Collection Centre, Múzeum krt. 14-16, 1088, Budapest, Hungary
Magdolna Vicze
Affiliation:
Department of Innovation and Experimental Archaeology, National Institute of Archaeology, Hungarian National Museum, Hungarian National Museum Public Collection Centre, Múzeum krt. 14-16, 1088, Budapest, Hungary
Ashley McCall
Affiliation:
Independent researcher, Dublin, Ireland
István Futó
Affiliation:
International Radiocarbon AMS Competence and Training Center (INTERACT), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Bemtér 18/c. 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Anna Szigeti
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Szeged, Egyetem utca 2, 6722, Szeged, Hungary International Radiocarbon AMS Competence and Training Center (INTERACT), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Bemtér 18/c. 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Mihály Molnár
Affiliation:
International Radiocarbon AMS Competence and Training Center (INTERACT), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Bemtér 18/c. 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Mario Novak
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Anthropology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary Laboratory for Evolutionary Anthropology and Bioarchaeology, Centre for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Ljudevita Gaja 32, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Klára P Fischl
Affiliation:
HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Archaeology, Tóth Kálmán u. 4, 1097, Budapest, Hungary
Gabriella Kulcsár
Affiliation:
HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Archaeology, Tóth Kálmán u. 4, 1097, Budapest, Hungary
Géza Szabó
Affiliation:
Wosinsky Mór Museum, Szent István tér 26, 7100, Szekszárd, Hungary
Edit Mester
Affiliation:
Kiss Pál Museum, Tariczky sétány 8, 5350, Tiszafüred, Hungary
László Palcsu
Affiliation:
International Radiocarbon AMS Competence and Training Center (INTERACT), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Bemtér 18/c. 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Viktória Kiss
Affiliation:
HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Archaeology, Tóth Kálmán u. 4, 1097, Budapest, Hungary
István Major*
Affiliation:
International Radiocarbon AMS Competence and Training Center (INTERACT), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research, Bemtér 18/c. 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Tamás Hajdu*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Anthropology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
*
Corresponding authors: János Dani; Email: drdanij@gmail.com, István Major: Email: imajor@atomki.hu and Tamás Hajdu; Email: tamas.hajdu@ttk.elte.hu
Corresponding authors: János Dani; Email: drdanij@gmail.com, István Major: Email: imajor@atomki.hu and Tamás Hajdu; Email: tamas.hajdu@ttk.elte.hu
Corresponding authors: János Dani; Email: drdanij@gmail.com, István Major: Email: imajor@atomki.hu and Tamás Hajdu; Email: tamas.hajdu@ttk.elte.hu
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Abstract

In this paper we present new AMS radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age cemetery of Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom excavated between 1961 and 1972. The cemetery provides crucial information on the cultural development and chronology of the Bronze Age Otomani-Füzesabony and the Tumulus cultures of Eastern Central Europe, in addition to the transition between the Middle and Late Bronze Age (approx. 1500 BC) in the Great Hungarian Plain.

Type
Date List
Creative Commons
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

Introduction

The Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom site (Eastern Hungary) was excavated between 1961 and 1972 as a part of a rescue project related to the construction of the Tisza II power station (Csalog Reference Csalog1962, Reference Csalog1965a; Hajdu Reference Hajdu2012; Korek Reference Korek1973; Kovács Reference Kovács1965, Reference Kovács1966, Reference Kovács1967, Reference Kovács1968, Reference Kovács1969, Reference Kovács1970, Reference Kovács1971, Reference Kovács1972, Reference Kovács1973a, Reference Kovács1973b, Reference Kovács1975). During this campaign a total of 1006 Bronze Age burials were discovered: 2 cremation burials of the Hatvan culture, 622 inhumation burials of the Otomani–Füzesabony culture, and 382 inhumation and cremation burials of the Tumulus culture. T. Kovács has published the archaeological results of the Tumulus culture cemetery (Kovács Reference Kovács1975) and material of some graves from the Otomani–Füzesabony cemetery in several papers from Majoroshalom (Kovács Reference Kovács1973c, Reference Kovács1977, Reference Kovács1979, Reference Kovács1982a, Reference Kovács and Aspes1982b, Reference Kovács1982c, Reference Kovács and Tasić1984, Reference Kovács, Kovács and Stanczik1988, Reference Kovács1990, Reference Kovács and Meier-Arendt1992), and from other sites in proximity, such as Fertőihalom (Akasztódomb) and Kenderföldek (Csalog Reference Csalog1965b; Kovács Reference Kovács1975). However, the complete Middle Bronze Age cemetery of Majoroshalom has yet to be published. The stable isotope results are being published in a separate paper (Cavazzuti et al. Reference Cavazzuti, Horváth, Gémes, Fülöp, Szeniczey, Tarbay, McCall, Gamarra Rubio, Vicze, Bárány, Pető, Magyari, Darabos, Futó, Molnár, Lisztes-Szabó, Molnár, Gál, Fischl, Kulcsár, Szeverényi, Szabó, Mester, Dani, Palcsu, Kiss, Major and Hajduin preparation).

The Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom cemetery is linked to the Bronze Age tell-settlement of Tiszafüred-Ásotthalom (Figure 1). This cemetery is located about 600–700 m south of the tell-settlement, which has been researched by Hungarian archaeologists for about 150 years from 1879 (Milesz Reference Milesz1903, Reference Milesz1904). The Ásotthalom tell is situated on the southern edge of the marshy floodplain bounded by the former meander of the river Tisza (this river bend was probably cut off and slowly filled in prehistoric times). The use of the Bronze Age site complex was started at the end of the Early Bronze Age (around 2100/2000 BE; Hatvan culture), formed by Majoroshalom, Ásotthalom, and other nearby smaller cemeteries (Fertőihalom/Akasztódomb and Kenderföldek), and continued during the Middle (Otomani-Füzesabony culture) and Late Bronze Age (Tumulus culture), until 1300 BC.

Figure 1. Localization of Bronze Age site Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom (Hungary).

50 years after the excavations of the Majoroshalom site, we are now able to publish 44 AMS radiocarbon dates originating from 44 inhumation burials. Out of these 44 dates, 31 represent the Otomani-Füzesabony culture while 13 represent the Tumulus culture. The aim of our study is to provide a strong chronological base for future archaeological studies with an updated and ever-expanding dataset.

Material and methods

All samples were taken from human bone material curated by the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest, Hungary). A fundamental criterion for the selection was that the chosen grave should be intact and clearly identifiable based on both the archaeological and the bioanthropological documentation. Another important criterion was that we tried to select based on the archaeological data (grave goods and burial rite), whereby the sample set was relatively proportionally representative of the whole population.

In addition, since the burials of the two cultures are not superimposed (with only some exceptions), a typology-based relative chronology was used to ensure that the selected graves cover the whole length of the use of the Middle Bronze Age cemetery of the Otomani-Füzesabony culture. Furthermore, we chose samples from graves of the earliest possible phase of the LBA Tumulus culture in order to clarify the chronology of the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition.

All the skeletal remains were selected and prepared at the INTERACT laboratory of the HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research (ATOMKI) in Debrecen, Hungary (Molnár et al. Reference Molnár, Janovics, Major, Orsovszki, Gönczi, Veres, Leonard, Castle, Lange, Wacker, Hajdas and Jull2013a, Reference Molnár, Rinyu, Veres, Seiler, Wacker and Synal2013b), following a modified version of the Longin method (Longin Reference Longin1971), which can be found in detail elsewhere (Brown et al. Reference Brown, Nelson, Vogel and Southon1988; Pearson Reference Pearson2013; Pearson et al. Reference Pearson, Buitenhuis, Hedges, Martin, Russell and Twiss2007). Briefly, bone samples were demineralised in 0.5 M HCl until pliable. The samples were then gelatinised with a HCl solution at 75°C for between 24 and 48 hours. The remaining sample material was filtered using Ezee filters and freeze-dried. After sealed tube combustion of ∼5 mg freeze-dried gelatin with MnO2 reagent, the liberated CO2 was purified and graphitized using sealed tube graphitization method and pressed into aluminium targets (Janovics et al. Reference Janovics, Futó and Molnár2018; Rinyu et al. Reference Rinyu, Molnár, Major, Nagy, Veres, Kimák, Wacker and Synal2013). The AMS measurement of the samples was normalized to the NIST oxalic acid (oxalic acid standard, SRM-4990C), while the background of the measurements was determined using graphitized fossil CO2. The average blank value was subtracted from each 14C date. In parallel with the actual samples, laboratory background and standard bone samples were prepared and measured, and all unknown age results were corrected for these as well (Major et al. Reference Major, Futó, Dani, Cserpák-Laczi, Gasparik, Jull and Molnár2019; Molnár et al. Reference Molnár, Rinyu, Janovics, Major and Veres2012). The final radiocarbon age results were calibrated using the IntCal20 calibration curve and the online program OxCal (Bronk Ramsey Reference Bronk Ramsey2009; Reimer et al. Reference Reimer, Austin, Bard, Bayliss, Blackwell, Bronk Ramsey, Butzin, Cheng, Edwards, Friedrich, Grootes, Guilderson, Hajdas, Heaton, Hogg, Hughen, Kromer, Manning, Muscheler, Palmer, Pearson, van der Plicht, Reimer, Richards, Scott, Southon, Turney, Wacker, Adolphi, Büntgen, Capano, Fahrni, Fogtmann-Schulz, Friedrich, Köhler, Kudsk, Miyake, Olsen, Reinig, Sakamoto, Sookdeo and Talamo2020).

Results

In this study, we present the results for radiocarbon dating of archaeological samples from Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom site (Table 1) and the short archaeological description of the graves from which the samples were taken (see below).

Table 1. 14C dating of samples from Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom Bronze Age site. *Hajdu (Reference Hajdu2012)

The numbering of the finds in the case of published burials does not always follow the publication data. We used the original excavation numbering, where possible, of the grave goods.

Abbreviations in descriptions below: bd: bottom diameter; d: depth; dm: diameter; db: diameter of the belly; dp: diameter of the pedestal; fh: fragmented height: fl: fragmented length; h: height; hd: diameter of the head; l: length; m: measurements; n/a: no data; pd: diameter of the pedestal: rd: rim diameter: rh: reconstructed height: rrd: reconstructed rim diameter; t: thickness; w: width

Grave descriptions

Grave B12

Inhumation burial of an adult male (30–39 years old). The S-N (192°) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. In front of the legs were placed a bowl (1), a jug (2) and a mug (3). Grave pit: n/a.

Grave B54 (Kovács Reference Kovács and Hänsel1995, Abb. 1/A, 2-3)

Inhumation burial of an adult male (20−29). The S-N (168°) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A bowl (8) and a mug within it (7) were placed behind the legs. One jug (6) was laid in front of the legs with another in front of the pelvis (5). An axe with its shaft covered with bronze plate (1) was laid in the area between the arms and legs in front of the pelvis, with its head to the north and its edge to the east. One pin (2) was on the elbow, and the fragments of other pins (3−4) were around the pelvis. One of these pins was previously defined as an awl. Grave pit: n/a

Grave B69

Inhumation burial of a male (35−44). The SE-NW (152°) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A mug was placed (1) in front of the skull. A bowl (2) with a mug (3) within it were found in front of the pelvis. Grave pit: d. – 112 cm.

Grave B112 (Kovács Reference Kovács1982a, Abb. 4/1−5)

Partly disturbed inhumation burial of a child (2−4). The S-N (170°) oriented skeleton was placed in a moderately flexed position on its right side. A mug was (1) at the feet. Another mug was excavated (2) in the S-E corner of the burial pit. In the middle of the grave there was a pin (3) found. Near the east wall of the burial pit, there were bronze spiral beads and two faience beads (4). Two gold hair rings (5−6) were laid around the temples. Grave pit: d. – 103 cm.

Grave B114

Inhumation burial of a male (30−35). The S-N (175º) oriented skeleton was placed in a moderately flexed position on its right side. A jug (1) was placed in front of the pelvis. A pot (2–3), a jug (4), and a bowl (5) were found at the legs. A bronze pin was put near the bowl and the legs (6). Grave pit: d. – 152 cm, l. − 186 cm, w. − 88 cm

Grave B115 (Kovács Reference Kovács and Hänsel1995, Abb. 1/B, 4−6)

Inhumation burial of a male (30−39). The S-N (172°) oriented, incomplete skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its right side. The bones were in anatomical order. A bowl (18) was at the feet, jugs were placed in front of the legs (16−17), a mug was over the head (13), and a pot (14−15) was laid in front of the pelvis. A fluted axe (1) was found in front of the skull. Two shaft-hole axes (2–3) were superimposed on each other at the presumed height of the arms with the edge facing east. Fragments of a bronze plate covering the shaft of the Tiszafüred type axe were found in front of the pelvis (6). A bronze pin (4), a triangular dagger (5), and a whetstone (12) were found at the place of the ribs. Fragments of bronze spiral tubes (7) and a gold “Lockenring” (19) were laid around the pelvis. Pieces of two pins (8–9) and a chisel (10) were put on the legs. Another chisel (11) was found in the bowl (18) at the feet. One mug (13) was next to the skull, and two jugs (16, 17) were in front of the legs. Grave pit: d. − 165 cm.

Grave B136

Inhumation burial of a male (40−44). The S-N (170º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its right side. A jug (1) and a pot (2) were placed in front of the legs. A bowl was found (4) at the feet with a mug (3) within it. Grave pit: d. − 128 cm, l. − 180 cm, w. − 140 cm.

Grave B146 (Kovács Reference Kovács1982a, Abb. 5)

Inhumation burial of a child (3–4). The N-S (343º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its left side. A pin was found on the skull, while a bowl (1) and a mug (2) were in front of it. A second mug (3) was placed in front of the pelvis to the east. Between the two mugs on the photo there were pebbles (12). Several bronze objects (4−11) and a few faience beads (6) were laid between the face and the two mugs. Grave pit: n/a.

Grave B159

Inhumation burial of a juvenile (16-18). The N-S (320º) oriented, slightly flexed skeleton was laid on its left side. A bronze hair ring (1) was on the right temple, two pins (2−3) were on the left shoulder, and pierced animal teeth (4) near the left hand. A jug (5) was laid on the neck, and a bowl (6) with a mug (7) within it at the pelvis. Grave pit: d. − 150 cm, l. − 180 cm, w. − 80 cm.

Grave D19

Inhumation burial of a child (9−10). The N-S oriented (180º) skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its left side. Hands pulled tightly under the face, while the legs are barely bent. A jug was in front of the pelvis (1). Next to it, a miniature vessel (2) was found. Grave pit: d. – 70 cm.

Grave D34

Inhumation burial of a female (25−29). The N-S (352º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its left side. Left hand raised in front of the face, right upper arm on the ribs, the forearm bent on the left elbow. A small mug was placed (1) close to the left elbow. Two pins (2) were laid near each other in front of the face. Grave pit: d. – 90 cm.

Grave D37

Inhumation burial of a male (25−35). S-N (185º) oriented skeleton. Upper body was laid rather supine, but with the face right to the east. The hands were raised on the upper body, the feet were also raised to the east. East of the pelvis, there were two mugs (2−3) and one jug (1) close to each other. Grave pit: d. – 122 cm.

Grave D41

Inhumation burial of a male (35−49). The N-S (3º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its left side. A pin (1) was found at the right shoulder. A bowl was placed (2) at the right elbow and a small pot (3) was south of it. Fragments of a mug (5) and another mug (4, 6) were put to the feet. Grave pit: d. – 122 cm.

Grave D48

Inhumation burial of a male juvenile (15−18). The S-N (178º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its right side. A bowl (3) was laid in front of the pelvis under the elbows, a jug (1) was placed in front of the face and a mug (2) was on the lower arms. In the photo, a fragmented mug (4) is also visible at the feet. Grave pit: d. – 140 cm.

Grave D49

Inhumation burial of a child (12.5−13.5). The N-S (360º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its left side. A bowl (1) was placed in the bend of the knee and a mug (2) was put next to the bowl. Grave pit: d. – 130 cm.

Grave D56

Inhumation burial of a man (45−54). The S-N (170º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its right side. There was a bowl (1) in front of the legs. A mug (2) was placed at the knees. Grave pit: d. – 110 cm.

Grave D76

Inhumation burial of a man (50–59). The S-N (176º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A decorated bowl (2) and a handled mug (3) were placed behind the legs, while the small mug (1) was located at the left wrist. Grave pit: d. – 116 cm.

Grave D77

Inhumation burial of a woman (20−24). The N-S (0º) oriented skeleton was laid in a flexed position on its left side. The arms are raised in front of the face. Two mugs (1−2) were placed at the feet. Grave pit: d. – 116 cm.

Grave D104

Inhumation burial of a man (30−39). The S-N (150º) oriented skeleton was placed in a slightly flexed position on its right side. A broken jug (1) was put behind the skull. In front of the face, a bowl (2) was placed upside down with a pot (3) on top of it. A dagger (4) was laid on the right upper arm with a whetstone (9) under it. A mug (5) tilted over was in front of the belly. One pin was found on the left knee (6) and one above the feet (7) and two fragments of a further pin (10) was placed above the right collarbone. A fragmented stone blade (8) was discovered above the feet. Grave pit: d. − 90 cm.

Grave D106

Inhumation burial of a child (8−10). The S-N (110º) oriented skeleton was placed in a moderate flexed position on its right side. A mug (1) was placed at the feet. Grave pit: d. − 82 cm.

Grave D113

Inhumation burial of a female (50−59). The N-S (360º) oriented skeleton was placed in a strongly flexed position on its left side. A mug (1) was behind the skull. Grave pit: d. − 145 cm.

Grave D117

Inhumation burial of a male (20−39). The S-N (190º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. The vessels were in front of the legs. The jug (1) was closest to the knee, followed by the bowl (2) with the mugs (3–4) within it. Grave pit: d. – 85 cm.

Grave D123

Inhumation burial of a female (35−39). The S-N (174º) oriented skeleton. The upper body was laid on the back, the head was turned to the left, the legs also raised to the left, and the arms crossed on the chest. A bowl (2) was in front of the face with a mug (1) within it. Another mug was at the pelvis (3). Grave pit: d. − 100 cm.

Grave D136

Inhumation burial of a male (40−59). The S-N (180º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. The right arm was raised in front of the face and a bowl (1) was laid upside down on top of it. The left arm was bent over the pelvis. Grave pit: d. − 45 cm.

Grave D155

Inhumation burial of a juvenile (14−16). The N-S (334º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its left side. At the back of the skull, a jug (1) was found, and a bowl (2) was also placed above it. Grave pit: d. − 66 cm.

Grave D240 (Kustár et. al Reference Kustár, Hajdu, Fülöp and Kiss2020)

Inhumation burial of a male (25−29). The S-N (175º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A small mug was placed at the right elbow. Grave pit: d. – 125 cm.

Grave D267

Inhumation burial of a child (3−4). The S-N (165º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. Based on the excavation diary, the ceramics were placed around the abdomen. The documentation shows the fragments of a mug (1) below the elbows. The bowl (2), however, does not appear in the photo and the drawing only indicates its number. Grave pit: d. – 190 cm.

Grave D284

Inhumation burial of a man (35−49). The S-N (170º) oriented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. Grave goods were placed at the feet. Based on the objects and tags found in the storage room, a bowl (1) with a small mug (3) inside and another mug (2) make up the burial ensemble. Grave pit: d. – 110 cm.

Grave D 285

Inhumation burial of a juvenile (18−19). The N-S (360º) oriented strongly fragmented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its left side. The bones were in anatomical order. A small mug (1) was put in front of the face. The bronze pins (2−3) were on both side of the mug. A button was found south of those artefacts. Grave pit: d. – 65 cm.

Grave D 304 (Kovács Reference Kovács1979, 68, footnote 41−42)

Disturbed inhumation burial of a juvenile (15−19). The N-S (340º) oriented fragmented skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its left side. The bones were in anatomical order. A mug (3) wit a bowl (2) within it was near the legs. A gold plate fragment (1) was put into the mug. A bronze awl (4) and a stone blade (8) were found at the knees. Bronze pins (6−7) and spiral tubes (5) were located around the chest and shoulders. Grave pit: d. – 125 cm.

Grave D 305

Inhumation burial of a child (8−9). The N-S (338º) oriented skeleton was placed in a strongly flexed position on its left side. A bowl (7) and a mug (6) were found around the knees. One armring was on each forearm (4–5). Two pins and spiral tubes (1−3) were also found at the left hand. A shell bead (8) with an unknown position was also found. Grave pit: d. – 125 cm.

Grave C107 (Grave 102 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 16, Pl. 10/102)

Disturbed inhumation burial of a female (25–29). The NE-SW-oriented (45°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its left side. An amphora (1) and a bowl (2) were placed around the legs. Their exact position is unknown due to the disturbance of a Migration Period grave. A mug (3) was placed near the head. Two bronze pins (4–5) laid on the shoulders and one pin (6) partly under the skull. Two bronze bracelets were on each wrist (7–10) and four rings (11–18) were put on each hand. A bronze button (19), several spiral tubes (20–25), beads (26-29), and a tooth pendant (30) were found on the chest. Grave pit: d. – 150 cm.

Grave C154 (Grave 141 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 20, Pl. 12/141)

Disturbed inhumation burial of a male (25–35). Only the pelvis and some leg bones were in situ. The position of the NE-SW-oriented (n/a) skeleton cannot be reconstructed. An amphora (1) was placed at the feet and a mug (2) was put inside it. Grave pit: d. – 65 cm.

Grave C165 (Grave 152 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 21, Pl. 13/152)

Inhumation burial of a male (30–39). The W-E-oriented (252°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. One mug (1) was placed behind the head. Grave pit: d. – 95 cm.

Grave C173 (Grave 160 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 23, Pl. 15/160)

Inhumation burial of a female (18–19). The NE-SW-oriented (28°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its left side. One mug (1) was placed at the feet. A bronze button (2) was found next to the neck, partly under the skull. Five pendants were laid on and under the right shoulder (3–7). Two bronze bracelets were on each lower arm (8–9). Altogether 12 pieces of rings decorated the fingers and at least one spiral ring decorated the toes (10–22). Two bronze rings (23–24) were found next to each other under the skull. Grave pit: d. – 115 cm.

Grave C174 (Grave 161 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 23, Pl. 15/161)

Inhumation burial of a presumably female individual (25–29). The NE-SW-oriented (28°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. One mug (1) was placed at the feet. Two bronze rings (2–3) were put on the right hand’s fingers. Bronze spiral tubes (4–15) and shell beads (16–19) were scattered on the chest. One bronze ring (20) was found under the skull and one among the feet (22). Grave pit: d. – 115 cm.

Grave C191 (Grave 174 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 24, Pl. 17/174)

Inhumation burial of a male (40–44). The SW-NE-oriented (240°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. One mug (1) was placed at the feet. A bronze axe (2) was found behind the skull. A decorated bronze pin (3) was laid on the right shoulder and a bronze awl (4) was on the left humerus. A bronze dagger (5) was uncovered on the right side of the pelvis and the point of another dagger (6) together with a flint tool (7) on the left side of it. The position of a small bronze ring (8) is unknown. Grave pit: l. – 228 cm, w. – 100 cm, d. – 200 cm.

Grave C265 (Grave 240 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 28, Pl. 23/240)

Inhumation burial of a male (30–34). The S-N-oriented (180°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A bowl (1), a pot (2), and a jug (3) were put on and around the legs. Grave pit: d. – 134 cm.

Grave C281 (Grave 256 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 29, Pl. 24/256)

Inhumation burial of a juvenile (16–19). The SW-NE-oriented (256°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A bronze pin (1) was found on the chest. There were several jewels on both arms. A bronze bracelet (2) and four bronze rings (5–8) were put on the left arm, while on the right arm, two bronze bracelets (3–4) and two bronze rings (9–10) were uncovered. The position of one bronze ring (11) is unknown. Grave pit: d. – 128 cm.

Grave E10-11 (D55-56) (Grave 291 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 31, Pl. 27/291)

Inhumation burial of a male (40–55) and a child (2–3). The W-E-oriented (257°) male was placed in a flexed position on its right side. The child was laid close to the male in the same position and orientation. A small pot (1) was placed behind the pelvic bone of the child. Grave pit: d. – 60 cm.

Grave E16 (D53) (Grave 294 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 31-32, Pl. 28/294)

Inhumation burial of a male (45–49). The W-E-oriented (260°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its right side. A bowl (1) was placed upside down at the knees and a mug (2) was located close to the right elbow. Grave pit: d. – 120 cm.

Grave E24 (Grave 301 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 32, Pl. 28/301)

Inhumation burial of a male (30–34). The NE-SW-oriented (56°) skeleton was placed in a flexed position on its left side. The grave pit was partially dug on top of a Füzesabony culture burial (D95). There were no finds in the grave. Grave pit: d. – 100 cm.

Grave E31(Grave 308 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 33, Pl. 29/308)

Disturbed inhumation burial of a child (5–6). The bones are scattered in one half of the grave without anatomical order. Due to this relocation of the bones, the original position and orientation of the body is unknown. Similar to the bones, the grave goods also were in a secondary position. A mug (1) and one pendant (3) were found in the refill of the grave pit. Next to the human remains, an amphora (2) was laid on its side. Two more bronze pendants (4–5), one bronze ring (6), and the fragment of a bronze spiral tube (7) were scattered among the bones. Grave pit: l. – 140 cm, w. – 68 cm, d. – 132 cm.

Grave E62 (Grave 335 – Kovács Reference Kovács1975, 34, Pl. 31/335)

Disturbed inhumation burial of a male (25–29). The W-E-oriented (260°) skeleton was placed most likely in a flexed position on its right side. Only the upper body is preserved. Bronze tweezers (3) were found behind the skull. A mug (1) was put at the right elbow. A bowl (2) was also uncovered in the uppermost layer of the grave refill. Grave pit: l. – 150 cm, w. – 80 cm, d. – 110 cm.

Authors’ statement

Every author contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and investigation were performed by János Dani, Anikó Horváth, Anett Gémes, Kristóf Fülöp, Tamás Szeniczey, János Gábor Tarbay, Magdolna Vicze, Ashley McCall, István Futó, Anna Szigeti, Mihály Molnár, Mario Novak, Klára P. Fischl, Gabriella Kulcsár, Géza Szabó, Edit Mester, László Palcsu, Viktória Kiss, István Major and Tamás Hajdu. The manuscript was written by János Dani, Kristóf Fülöp, Ashley McCall, Anna Szigeti, Klára P. Fischl, Viktória Kiss, István Major and Tamás Hajdu and every author commented on previous versions of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

The study was supported by the grants of the Hungarian Research, Development and Innovation Office [project number: FK128013; K146290], the Bolyai Scholarship and the Distinguished Guest Scientist Fellowship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and by the New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (ÚNKP-23-5-ELTE). Project No. KDP-2023-C2321722 and KDP-2023-C2284509 have been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the 2023-2.1.2-KDP-2023-00002 funding scheme.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Footnotes

*

These authors jointly supervised this work: Tamás Hajdu and István Major.

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Figure 0

Figure 1. Localization of Bronze Age site Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom (Hungary).

Figure 1

Table 1. 14C dating of samples from Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom Bronze Age site. *Hajdu (2012)