engleski

A Middle Bronze Age Metallurgical Workshop in Vinkovci

The southwesternmost findspots of type B battle axes with a plaque are situated in Vinkovci and the surrounding area. In addition to the find of axes, the 1977 salvage excavations of a Middle Bronze Age settlement in Vinkovci yielded a fragment of a mould for casting battle axes with a plaque. The Vinkovci area has so far yielded 5 such axes, invariably chance finds. The finds of moulds for casting jewellery from the Vinkovci settlement make it clear that a metallurgical workshop was in operation in that Middle Bronze Age settlement of the Belegiš I culture, whose smiths communicated with the workshops in the Carpathians. These contacts took place through communications along the courses of the Danube and Tisza rivers. Taking into consideration the size of the Middle Bronze Age settlement in Vinkovci, and the continuity of habitation and the tradition of casting operations, we could perhaps be discussing a major manufacturing centre. Such a view is reinforced by the fact that the moulds were discovered at several different positions within the settlement. Considering that the number of presently known bronze objects of Middle Bronze Age date from northern Croatia is relatively small, this hampers the analysis of local distribution networks. The position of the Vukovar and Lovas hoards in the Danubian basin, and the object types from settlements and hoards, as well as chance finds, all point to strong connections with the area of eastern Hungary. The workshop in Vinkovci should therefore be considered as a metallurgical centre at the southwestern edge of the production centre of the eastern Carpathians.

Middle Bronze Age; Vinkovci; battle axes; mould; pendants; communications

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