Kartal

Abstract

In 2019, a new Late Bronze Age (LBA) assemblage from Völgy-dűlő at Kartal (Pest County) was added to the number of bronze hoards excavated in the framework of community archaeological programmes in Hungary. This unique assemblage was deposited beneath two fragments of a pot, originally arranged regularly. The Carpathian Basin-style objects in the Kartal hoard date to several periods from Br D to Ha B1; based on their typo-chronological analysis, their deposition may have taken place in the latter. The chronological characteristics of the Kartal find, a deposition comprising old-style jewellery, suggest the assemblage is a multi-period hoard. The signs of use, essentially abrasions and microwear traces, also indicate that some objects had been used even for a relatively long time before deposition. The breaking of the deposited ingots and bronze objects was deliberate and probably did not occur simultaneously, and most of these finds were still usable preceding their breaking. The Kartal hoard may have been deliberately assembled by a small community. The hoarded objects may represent different aspects of a Bronze Age community, who, according to our current knowledge of the topography of the era, deposited their votive assemblage far from any LBA settlements.

Keywords

• hoards
• Late Bronze Age
• Carpathian Basin
• context
• use-wear analysis