The Oldest Representations of Wheeled Vehicles in Central and Southeastern EuropeAuthor(s): Stephen FoltinySource: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 1959), pp. 53-58Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/502108Accessed: 06/01/2010 07:12

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The Oldest Representations of Wheeled Vehicles

in Central and Southeastern Europe STEPHEN FOLTINY

Since I952, the Museum of Szentendre, Hungary, has been conducting excavations in Budakalasz, I5 km. north of Budapest, near the bank of the Danube. In the course of this successful field work,' the largest known cemetery of the Late Neolithic Baden-Pecel culture was discovered. The site yielded 332 graves of that culture up to the begin- ning of I956, and the excavations are not yet fin- ished. In September, I953, an important find was unearthed in the grave Nr. I77: a clay model of a

wagon with four solid wheels which represents the earliest explicit evidence for wheeled vehicles in Central and Southeastern Europe (pl. i9, fig. 6). The chariot was published in preliminary reports,2 and referred to' several times, but its significance concerning the economic and social life, as well as some religious rites, of the Baden-Pecel culture was not sufficiently emphasized. Therefore it is desirable to attempt a new analysis and a comprehensive re- view of the Budakalasz wagon and, at the same time, to deal with the problem of the earliest wheeled vehicles in Central and Southeastern Europe.

I

The grave Nr. 177 in which our wagon model was found was a symbolic grave,4 a so-called keno- taphion.6 It contained no skeleton and no ashes. The chariot, in the shape of a scoop with four wheels, was evidently buried under a wide-mouthed clay bowl (pl. 19, fig. i; diameter of mouth 28.3, height io.8 cm.). Close to the wagon, a pedestalled

S. Soproni, "Negyezer eves rezkori temet6 Budakaliszon" (Four thousand years old Copper Age cemetery at Budakalasz)

let is Tudomany (Budapest 1953) 1416-20. J. Banner, "Die P&eler Kultur," Archaeologia Hungarica 35 (1956) (quoted infra as Banner 1956) III-28. Cf. S. Soproni, A negyezereves agyagszeker (Budapest 1956).

2 "Prehistoric cart excavated in Hungary," Hungarian Bulle- tin, Budapest, Nov. 5, 1953. S. Soproni, "A budakalaszi kocsi" ("Un char cultuel de Budakalasz") Folia Archaeologica Buda- pest 6 (i954) 29-36 in Hungarian, I98-99 French summary (quoted infra as Soproni 1954).

3 Franz Hancar, "Das Pferd in prahistorischer und friiher historischer Zeit," Wiener Beitrige zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik II (1955) (quoted infra as Hancar 1955) 38, 41,

PLATE 19

clay bowl (which was likewise covered by the wide- mouthed bowl) lay on its side (pl. I9, fig. 2; diame- ter of mouth 9.2 and 94, height 8.3 cm.). A flake and a core of jasper were also found with the two vessels under the same bowl. Both the interior and the exterior of the wagon and the pedestalled bowl were painted red.

The wagon itself was standing on its wheels when it was discovered. It has four solid wheels, height 3.9, width 34 cm. They represent the clay model of wheels which were carved of a single piece of wood, with a central hub. On the Budakalasz wheels the hub is indicated by a round, flat pro- trusion (pl. 19, figs. 4, 6; diameter 0.65 cm.). There were no tires on these wheels, but their edges were simply rounded off. Judging from this construction, the wheels may have revolved on axles fixed to the bottom of the car. Each pair of wheels was joined by a single solid axle which is indicated by two parallel lines on the bottom of the model (pl. I9, fig. 3). Between the two axles, four pairs of parallel vertical lines represent the planks of the platform.

The handle of the wagon-shaped vessel served as a pole. Soproni6 assumed that the sides of the car body were woven of wicker. (The height of the whole clay model is 8.I, the width of mouth 8.9 and the length of mouth 9.2 cm.)

As far as grave Nr. 177 is concerned, it can be taken for granted that it belonged to the Baden- Pecel culture. As the excavator7 convincingly pointed out, all three ceramic types found in it are

412, 441, 553. V. G. Childe, "The Diffusion of Wheeled Vehi- cles," Ethnographisch-Archdologische Forschungen, Berlin 2 (1954) I4. F. Fiilep, in Vestnik Drevnei Istorii (Moscow I955) I, I55-56. M. Gimbutas, "The Prehistory of Eastern Europe," Part I, BASPR 20 (Cambridge I956) (quoted infra as Gimbutas 1956) 123. Banner 1956, 126-28. F. Hancar, "Kulturelement Pferd. Wertung und Einbau," Saeculum 7 (Freiburg-Miinchen I956) 445.

4Soproni 1954, 29-30. Banner I956, I28, 209. 5 M. Ebert, Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte 6 (I926) 326. Cf.

RE 9, pt. i (1921) 17I-72. 6 Soproni I954, 32. T ibidem 30.

STEPHEN FOLTINY

characteristic of that culture. The red-painted scoop discovered in grave I58 of the same cemetery (pl. 19,

fig. 5) offers the best analogy to our model. Instead of wheels, it has four knob-like feet.

It is interesting to note that, independently of Soproni, E. Beninger8 also stressed the relationship between the shaping of our wagon and the Ossarn pottery,9 and thus the native character of this wagon-shaped vessel within the Baden-Pecel culture.

As to the chronology of this Late Neolithic cul- ture, opinions vary. Sopronil? and Banner"l placed its beginning in the 24th or 23rd century B.C., and they assigned a span of at least 250-300 years to its duration. According to Pittionil2 and Grbic,18 it started around 2200 B.C. Menghinl4 dated Early Baden-Pecel in the area of the Sudeten lands to 2Io0.

Milojcic15 and Hancar16 are of the same opinion, but they prefer a dating closer to 2000 B.C. Childe"7 dated the cultural stage to which the chariot of Budakalasz can be assigned between 2200 and I8oo. Ehrich18 did not discuss the problems of absolute

chronology but, on his chronological table, he seems to advocate an early date for the beginning of the Baden-Pecel culture (before 2000 B.C.), because this

group runs partly parallel with Early Helladic III. Gimbutas19 claims the contemporaneity of the Early Baden, First Northern20 and Jordansmiihl cultures.

According to her, these cultural groups appeared at about the beginning of the second millennium B.C., but she emphasizes the relationship of the Late

8 HanZar I955, 38 n. 102 a. 9 The Ossarn type is a sub-group of the Baden-P&cel culture

in Austria. Cf. R. Pittioni, Urgeschichte des 6sterreichischen Raumes (Wien 1954) (quoted infra as Pittioni I954) 202-08.

L?Soproni I954, 30. 11Banner 1956, 242-47. 12 Pittioni 1954, 274. 13 M. Grbic, "Preclassical Pottery in the Central Balkans,"

AIA 6I (1957) I38. 14 Oswald Menghin, "Europa und einige angrenzende Gebiete

ausser dem igiischen und italischen Kulturkreis," Handbuch der Archdologie, II Textbd. (Miinchen 1954) (quoted infra as Menghin 1954) 158.

15 Vladimir Milojci6, Chronologic der juingeren Steinzeit Mittel- und Suidosteuropas (Berlin I949) 94.

x Hancar 1955, 38, 412. 17Childe 1954, 10, 14. 18 R. W. Ehrich, "The Relative Chronology of Southeastern

and Central Europe in the Neolithic Period," in Relative Chron- ologies in Old World Archaeology, edited by R. W. Ehrich (Chicago I954) o08-29, chronological table 126. However, Ehrich places the Baden site of Homolka in Bohemia to a period which is only "slightly earlier" than 800o B.C. ("Homolka: A Fortified Village in Bohemia," Archaeology 9 [X956] 240). 19 Gimbutas 1956, 122-23. The dating of the Baden-P&el complex on p. 211, fig. 126, seems to be somewhat late. This may be valid for the very late Baden assemblage or for its

Baden assemblage with the Middle Helladic and with the Catacomb grave culture2' north of the Black Sea. In considering all this evidence, I be- lieve that we may place the Budakalasz wagon at the beginning of the 20th century B.C.

Concerning the construction of our chariot, Hancar22 pointed to the wagons of the Royal Ceme- tery at Ur. In what is called the "King's grave"23 two four-wheeled chariots came to light and another similar car was found in grave PG I232.24 All the wheels were of solid wood, and those in the "King's grave" had tires; there were no tires on the wheels in grave PG I232, but the edges were simply rounded off as in Budakalasz. However, in Ur the wheels were made of three pieces of wood clamped together by transverse struts. The body of the car was fixed directly to the axle-tree itself. From the front of each wagon projected a pole. The axle-holes were circular, but the central part of the axle-tree was in all probability square (implying that the wheels must have revolved freely on the axle). No evidence was available about the arrangements for turning. The diameter of the wheels varied between 60 and o00 cm., the length of the axles between 70 and oo00 cm.

As to the dimensions, they seem to correspond to those of other early wagons in the Near East.25

Soproni26 compared the wagon of Budakalasz with the cart of Storezevaja Mogila27 in the lower Dnieper area and with the wooden wheel of Beck- continuation during the Early Bronze Age. Cf. Banner 1956, 236-37.

20 In German this culture is called "Funnel-necked-beaker culture." Cf. V. G. Childe, "The Origin of Neolithic Culture in Northern Europe," Antiquity 23 (1949) 129-35, and Gimbutas I956, 124 sqq.

21 This hypothesis has recently been criticized by Banner 1956, 142-43, but according to Hancar 1955, 97, the beginning of the Catacomb grave culture is around 2I00 B.c.

22 Hancar I955, 38 (note 102 a) and 420 sq. 23 C. L. Woolley, Ur Excavations, Vol. II: The Royal Ceme-

tery, Publications of the Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania to Meso- potamia (1934) 64. Cf. V. Christian, Altertumskunde des Zweist- romlandes (Leipzig 1940) 227-28.

24Woolley, op.cit. (supra n. 23) o08-09. 25 Cf. L.Ch.Watelin-S. Langdon, Excavations at Kish, Oxford

University-Field Museum Joint Expedition to Mesopotamia, vol. IV, 1925-1930 (Paris 1934) 30-34, plate 23:I-2. For details see V. G. Childe, "The First Waggons and Carts-from the Tigris to the Severn," ProcPS for I951 (quoted infra as Childe 1951) I77-94. Childe 1954, and Hancar 1955, 420 sq.

2 Soproni 1954, 31. 27 Childe 1954, 10 (dated between 2400-2000 B.C.). Hancar

I955, II8, 412 (assigned to 2200 - 100 B.c.). Gimbutas I956, 78, 92.

54 [AJA 63

OLDEST REPRESENTATIONS OF WHEELED VEHICLES

dorf;28 each of them are made of a single solid piece of wood. The diameter of the wheels of Storezevaja Mogila is about 50 cm., that of the Beckdorf wheel 65.5 and 67 cm. The latter's edges were rounded off, and the wheel had a round hub.

According to Childe29 and Hancar,30 representa- tions of chariots from the following sites can be considered as approximately contemporary with the Budakalasz model: Palaikastro,31 Ziischen82 and Kiiltepe.33 On the early polychrome car from Palai- kastro there is no trace of a pole. The axles were fixed to the bottom of the clay model. Childe

(I954, 6) treated the Long Stone Cist with porthole slab at Ziischen as parallel to the similar Stone Cists in Southern Sweden and so as contemporary with the late Bell-Beaker culture of Central Europe but, he conceded, it may be somewhat earlier. The cart figures on the Ziischen cist walls are a little am- biguous. Though the oxen yoked in a pair to a pole are carved clearly, the wheels are represented only by cup-marks, and not by circles. However, the Budakalasz wagon seems to guarantee the oxcarts at Ziischen.

The first vehicles represented on seals of the style used by the Assyrian merchant colony at Kiiltepe (Kanes) were still of the heavy Sumerian type, but

they were drawn by horses.34 Traces of wheel im- 28 A. Cassau, "Ein friihbronzezeitlicher oder endsteinzeitlicher

Wagenradfund in Beckdorf, Kr. Stade," Nachrichten aus Nieders- achsens Urgeschichte 12 (Hannover 1938) 63-71. S. Schneider, "Die pollenanalythische Altersbestimmung des Wagenrades von Beckdorf, Kr. Stade," ibidem 72-77. J. G. D. Clark, Prehistoric Europe, The Economic Basis (New York 1952) (quoted infra as Clark 1952) 308. This wheel was dated to an early stage of the Northern Bronze Age on the strength of pollen analysis. It is, however, not certain when it was deposited in the bog.

29 Childe 1954, o0 and 14. 80Hancar 1955, 412. 81 Sir Arthur Evans, The Palace of Minos at Knossos, Vol. IV,

Part II (London 1935) 807-09, fig. 787. This clay model has been referred to MM I a.

82 Jorg Lechler, "Neues iiber Pferd und Wagen in der Stein- zeit und Bronzezeit," Mannus 25 (1933) 123-36; see 131-32 and fig. 20, 22-24. Lechler claimed some carvings on a slab in the cist of Ziischen near Fritzlar, Hessen, as representations of oxcarts. According to him, the solid wheels revolved on a fixed axle, in a hub. Childe first (ProcPS 1951) rejected this assump- tion, but later (x954) he accepted it. Menghin 1954, 39. Herbert Kuhn, Die Felsbilder Europas (Stuttgart 1952) 153-54 and 287, assigned the oxcarts at Ziischen to a period between 1800-1400. While this date is somewhat late, the representations on the Ziischen cist walls are in all probability later than the Budakalasz model.

8 Thanks are due to Miss Hetty Goldman, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J., who called my attention to the presidential address delivered before the American Oriental Society by Dr. Julius Lewy, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio. As Dr. Lewy kindly stated in a letter sent to the author, Old Assyrian merchants transported goods sometimes on wagons.

prints were discovered in the soft andesite stone of the main street at Kiiltepe35 and at Fraktin.36

II

As to the purpose of the chariots, Childe37 sup- posed that the first economic use of wheeled vehicles was for transporting bulky foodstuffs from fields to settlements. In the case of the Budakalasz wagon, Hancar38 stressed that it was undoubtedly used for heavy transport. In this connection he mentioned that bulky stone pieces were found in the graves of the Baden-Pecel cemetery at Budakalasz. As Banner reported, smaller or greater stone slabs or stone pieces were unearthed in 53 of the first 115 graves published so far.39 In many cases, a layer of stones (0.25-0.50 cubic meter) lay over the skele- tons. In grave Nr. 32, the skeleton was surrounded by 10 flat stone slabs (the height of the slabs varied between 20 and 35 cm.).

On the other hand, it should be remembered that the earliest vehicles were often hearses or ceremonial cars. Around 3000 B.C. the burial of wheeled vehicles was firmly associated with royal funerals in Mesopo- tamia40 and, later, in other areas of the Old World. In the Sumerian language, we find separate words41 for the transport wagon, for the throne wagon42 and for the chariot of the king, the latter being He also mentioned that certain seal impressions found on Old Assyrian tablets of the 20th and i9th centuries seem to illustrate that wagons were used by Assyrians in the pre-Hittite period of Asia Minor. A drawing of one of the pertinent seal impressions is found in Eduard Meyer's book Reich und Kultur der Chettiter (Berlin 1914) 54 (cf. Hancar 1955, pl. 23 a-b). It is interesting that, as Dr. Lewy writes, certain texts speak of "two wagons (full of) straw" which seems to indicate that the designation "wagon of straw" was used in much the same sense as in our times: the expression "a wagon full of straw" indicating the dimensions of a load of straw in much the same way as one speaks of "so and so many sacks of wheat."

84Childe 1954, II. 85 Hancar 1955, 486. Cf. T. Ozgiic, "Vorliufiger Bericht iiber

die Grabungen von 1950 in Kiiltepe, ausgefiihrt im Auftrage des Turk Tarih Kurumu," Belleten 17 (I953) 109-18. See p. III.

36 K. Bittel, "Beobachtungen in Kappadokien," AA (Berlin 1939) 548-68. See p. 566. The age of the road made of andesite stones near Fraktin is not certain. It is probably of a later date than the site of Kiiltepe.

37 Childe 1951, 177. 8 Hancar 1955, 38.

39 Banner 1956, I9I-92. The data on the other 217 graves are not yet published.

40 Childe 1951, 194. V. G. Childe, "Rotary motion," in Singer, Holmyard and Hall, A History of Technology, Vol. I (Oxford 1954) (quoted infra as Childe 1954 b) 187-215. Cf. 209.

41Hancar 1955, 429. 42 Cf. A. Alfoldi, "Die Geschichte des Throntabernakels,"

La Nouvelle Clio (Bruxelles-Mainz 1950) 537-66. The author is indebted to Prof. Alfoldi for this reference and other suggestions.

1959] 55

STEPHEN FOLTINY

used also for war chariots. The wagons of the Baden-Pecel culture may have been used for normal economic purposes and for religious rites.

At this point the question arises: what animals were employed for drawing the wheeled vehicles of the Baden-Pecel culture? There is no doubt that the earliest draft animals were oxen.43 The oldest vehicles were attached to the draft animals by pole and yoke. The animals were arranged on either side of the central pole.

Domesticated oxen as sacrificial animals were often found in the graves of the Baden-Pecel culture in Hungary and elsewhere. Such sites are known from Bogojeva,44 Als6nemedi,45 H6dmez6vasarhely- Bodzaspart,46 Ull6,47 Budakalasz48 and Zlota.49

However, there seems to be fairly definite evi- dence for the domestication of the horse in the same culture. Though horses were not numerous among the animals of the Baden-Pecel culture, they very probably were controlled with a bridle-bit termi- nating in cheek-pieces of antler.50 The domestication of the horse is demonstrated also by the ceremonial burial of this animal in Zlota51 and in F6llik.52 Remains of various domestic animals (horse among others) were discovered in graves on both sites. While there is a slight chronological difference be- tween the Baden-Pecel culture and that of Zlota (respectively that of the Corded-ware) these groups are closely related.53

But it is worth noting that, even if the horse was a domestic animal, it was not used for drawing heavy four-wheeled wagons. Horses as draft ani- mals appear regularly in company with spoked wheels.54 Thus the wagons of the Baden-Pecel cul- ture definitely were drawn by oxen.

43Childe I954, 2. V. G. Childe, "Wheeled Vehicles," in A History of Technology (cf. supra n. 40) vol. I, I954 (quoted infra as Childe I954 c) 716-29. See p. 7I9. Hancar I955, 38, 44I. Soproni 1954, 34-35. G. Clark, "Horses and Battle-axes," Antiquity I5 (I941) 50-70. Cf. p. 63.

44ArchErt I8 (I898) 256-57; 19 (I899) 62-64. The site now belongs to Yugoslavia.

45 J. Korek, "Ein Griberfeld der Badener Kultur bei Als6ne- medi," ActaA Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricac I (1951) (quoted infra as Korek 195I) 35-5I.

46Banner 1956, 76-86, 206. Hancar I955, 37. 47Banner I956, 67-68. 48 ibidem 11-28, 206. 49 J. Zurowski, "Neue Ergebnisse der neolithischen Forschung

im siidwestpolnischen Lossgebiet," PZ 21 (1930) (quoted infra as Zurowski) 3-20. V. G. Childe, Prehistoric Migrations in Europe (Oslo I950) (quoted infra as Childe 1950) I42. Hancar 1955, 37-

50 J. Banner, "Angaben zur Frage des Domestizierens der Pferde in der Urzeit," Dolgozatok I5 (Szeged 1939) I65-66.

In this connection, it must be mentioned that in at least three graves of that culture a pair of oxen were buried together with human corpses. In grave Nr. 3 at Als6nemedi, a male and a female skeleton were found near the skeletons of two oxen.55 In grave Nr. 28 of the same cemetery, a male skeleton was lying close to the skeletons of two oxen.58 In grave 3 of the Budakalasz cemetery,57 a human double burial was associated with a pair of oxen. On the basis of this evidence, Banner58 supposed that the oxen were buried together with a wooden wagon. Unfortunately, no traces of such wagons could be observed.

III

Archaeologists generally agree that the first wheeled vehicles were invented in Mesopotamia and diffused from there. But how did the first wagons reach the Carpathian basin? In dealing with our clay model, Soproni59 offered two different possible interpretations. He first considered the possibility that the earliest chariots came from the Balkan peninsula, because the Baden-Pecel culture has close connections with that area. But the wheeled vehicles appear there later than in Hungary.

On the other hand, there are earlier and con- temporary wagons and carts in Southern Russia, but Soproni has not yet found sufficient evidence for close contacts between the two territories.

In the author's opinion, Soproni's first alternative should be abandoned completely. The oldest chari- ots of the Greek mainland are known from the i6th century B.C.60 and these are war chariots with spoked wheels. A. Mozsolics, "Traditions des steppes a l'age du bronze en Hongrie," ArchErt (1946-48) 63-74, notes II and I2. Hancar I955, 40. Gimbutas I956, 123. For the domestication of animals see the following articles: R. H. Dyson, "Archaeology and the Domestication of Animals in the Old World," American Anthro- pologist 55 (1953) 66i-73. F. E. Zeuner, "Domestication of Animals," in A History of Technology (supra n. 40) 327-52, and E. F. Zeuner, "The Domestication of Animals," Scientia 9I (Milano I956) 23-28.

61 Zurowski, I5-17. 52 Pittioni 1954, 246-47, fig. 172. 53 Banner I956, 208. 54 Childe I954, 2. Childe 1954 c, 72I. 65 Korek 1951, 38 and pl. ix fig. i. 56 ibidem 39 and pl. xi fig. I-2. 67 Banner 1956, 113. 68ibidem 206. 59 Soproni I954, 32-34. 60 Childe I95I, 193 and Childe 1954, I2. F. Schachermeyr,

Poseidon und die Entstehung des griechischen Gotterglaubens

56 [AJA 63

OLDEST REPRESENTATIONS OF WHEELED VEHICLES

Thus it seems clear at the present time that the first wagons were brought to Central Europe from the steppe area of Southern Russia. A study of the

early sites of the Pontic-North European Plain and their dates leads to this conclusion. Until recently little attention has been paid to the problem of cultural correlations between the Carpathian basin and the area east and southeast of the Carpathians during the Neolithic period. Therefore most of the evidence that would warrant final decision is still

lacking. There are, however, several cultural ele- ments which indicate close relationship between the two areas in Neolithic times. Marija Gimbutas

gave a detailed discussion of these elements in her much-needed book. As far as the area outside the

Carpathians is concerned, we will refer to her results.

As Childe and others have shown,6l there was

already an active trade between Hungary and the

territory east of the Carpathians in the period pre- ceding the Baden-Pecel culture. For implements, obsidian was distributed all over the Central Dan- ube basin and northward to Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia. It was concentrated in Poland in the Upper Vistula area.

Recent research has demonstrated other connec- tions between Eastern Hungary and the territory east of the Carpathians.62 Apart from these contacts, close relationship is seen between the Baden-Pecel

complex and the contemporary cultures of the area

northeast, east and southeast of the Carpathians. Some of the common traits are:

(Bern I950) 50-64. G. E. Mylonas, "The Figured Mycenean Stelai," AIA 55 (I95I) I34-47.

61Childe I950, 96. Clark 1952, 243. Hancar I955, 74. Gimbutas 1956, x 6.

62 I. Kutzian, "Die Ausgrabungen in Tiszapolgar-Basatanya," Discours des chercheurs hongrois a la Conference Archeologique de l'Academie Hongroise des Sciences, Budapest, 3-6 octobre 1955 (Budapest I955) 69-87. See pp. 81-82. The contacts be- tween the Hungarian Early Copper Age and the Cucuteni, resp. Tripolye, cultures are stressed here. J. Korek and P. Patay, "A Herpalyi-halom k6korvegi es rezkori telepiilese" ("The Settle- ment at Herpaly-halom from the Late Neolithic and the Early Copper Ages"), Folia Archaeologica 8 (1956) 23-39 in Hun- garian, 40-42 English summary. Some intrusive cultural elements from southeast of the Carpathians are claimed by the two authors.

63 Korek 1951, 36-41. 64 K. Willvonseder, "Zwei Grabfunde der Badener Kultur

mit Metallbeigaben aus Nieder6sterreich," WPZ 24 (1937) 15-28.

65 R. R. Schmidt, Die Burg Vucedol (Zagreb I945) (quoted infra as R. R. Schmidt I945) 41.

66Banner 1956, 113-28, 220-21. At least 26 (out of 221)

a) frequent double or triple burials. In Als6ne- medi,63 Bogojeva,63 Lichtenworth,64 Leobersdorf,64 Vucedol,6 Budakalasz,66 and Palotabozsok,67 many double and several triple or multiple graves (man and woman; woman and child; 2 children; man and child; 2 men) came to light.68

b) burials of animals together with, or beside, the human graves.69

c) appearance of domesticated horse. Apart from the bridle-bit of H6dmez6vasarhely-Bodzaspart, we must mention a similar finding from the Usatovo- culture.70 In his excellent book on the history of the horse, Hancar pointed out the great significance of these cheek-pieces for the evolution of later bridle-bits.

d) a specific peculiarity of the burial rites in the Pontic area was the use of red ochre in graves. Similarly, ochre grains were found in grave Nr. 40 of the cemetery in Als6nemedi.71 The decoration of a vessel of grave Nr. 44 in Budakalasz consisted of ochre-filling, and the red-painted pottery is fre- quent in the Baden-Pecel culture.72 Although red painting was known in earlier Neolithic cultures in Hungary, it is interesting to note that this kind of painting generally appears in those cemeteries of the Baden-Pecel culture where we find animal burials.

e) copper beads in cylindrical form point to the Pontic-North European Plain. They are known in Hungary from the cemeteries in Alsonemedi73 and in Budakalasz.74 Similar findings came to light in the Northern Caucasus75 (Lesken, Kabardino Park,

graves contained double or, occasionally, triple burials in this cemetery.

67 ibidem I28-34. 68 Cf. Gimbutas I956, I51, 154 and x68-69. 69See notes 55-58, and Gimbutas 1956, I68. Cf. O. F.

Gandert, "Neolithische Griber mit Rinderbeigaben und Rinder- bestattungen in Mitteleuropa," Actes de la Ille session Zurich I950 (Congres International des Sciences Prehistoriques et Proto- historiques, Zurich I953) 201.

70 Hancar I955, 72, 523, 529, 552 and 553. Gimbutas I956, i68.

71 Korek 1951, 41. Gimbutas 1956, 55-60, 71, 74-75, 80-82. 72 Banner 1956, I68-69. 73Korek I95I, 46-47: in graves Nr. 3-4, 20, 34, and 36

cylindrical copper beads were found. They are of native copper. Cf. K. Szepesi, "Chemische Untersuchung der Funde aus dem Graberfeld von Als6nemedi," ActaA Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae I (I95I) 8o.

74 Banner I956, I99. Copper beads were discovered in at least 13 graves of the first II5 already published. They have not yet been analyzed.

76 Gimbutas 1956, 57, 62-63, 67, 69.

1959] 57

STEPHEN FOLTINY

Konstantinovka and Kislovodsk), in the Catacomb

graves between the lower Dniester and lower

Volga,76 in the Jordansmiihl-Brzesc Kujawski group,77 in the Globular Amphora culture78 and in the Ziota group.79

A great number of other copper ornaments and tools are also characteristic of the Baden-Pecel cul- ture in Hungary,80 Austria,8" and in Yugoslavia.82

On the basis of the evidence presented above, it seems reasonable to suggest that wagons, invented in Mesopotamia during the fourth millennium B.C.,

spread-in the course of the third millennium-

through Armenia, the Caucasus, the Dnieper and the Danube to Central Europe,83 and that they reached this latter area at the beginning of the second millennium. The small eastern ethnic groups, which brought the knowledge of wheeled vehicles to Central Europe, did not make great changes in the material culture, but adapted themselves to the local environment. These steppe people probably were attracted by the fertile lands. One reason for their migration could be, among others, the desicca- tion of the steppe caused by the Sub-Boreal climate

period, which started in the fourth quarter of the third millennium B.c.84 The rich ores of the Car-

pathians may have lured them.

76 ibidem 80. 77 ibidem I 8. 78 ibidem 145. 79 ibidem 156. 80 See notes 73 and 74. Korek and Banner report of neckband,

chisel, awl and diadem. 81 Pittioni 1954, 205. The chemical analysis of the axe of

Zwerndorf has shown, beside copper, 1.7% of arsenic. The ingot torques of Lichtenw6rth and Leobersdorf contained, beside copper, traces of silver, nickel and lead. Since arsenic is un- known in the ore-deposits of the Eastern Alps, the origin of the Zwerndorf axe cannot be decided. In this connection, H. Otto and W. Witter (Handbuch der iltesten vorgeschichtlichen Metal- lurgie in Mitteleuropa [Leipzig 1952] 48) suggested a Central- German origin. On the other hand, as Gimbutas (1956, 70) pointed out, there is no doubt about the existence of a North Caucasian metallurgy since the beginning of the second mil- lennium B.C. The influence of this center radiated to Southern and Central Russia. The ornaments of this early phase contained 95-97% copper and no tin or antimony. There was some quan- tity of arsenic, iron, and occasionally some of nickel. However, it will be wise to wait for decisive evidence from future research, as far as the origin of the Austrian ingot torques and axe is concerned.

82 ArchErt i8 (I898) 24. R. R. Schmidt 1945, 71. 83 Hancar 1955, 553. Gimbutas 1956, 78-79. 84Gimbutas 1956, 15I, I69.

IV

The earliest spoked wheels appeared in Central and Southeastern Europe by the end of the Early Bronze Age.85 Models of four-spoked wheels are known from the sites of the Mad'arovce (Mag- yarad) group in Slovakia,86 the Veterov-group in Moravia87 and from Western Hungary.88

These culture groups show a relationship with the Shaft Graves in Mycenae. Certain objects of antler or bone in the Moravian, Slovakian and Hungarian area can be connected with contempo- rary findings in Greece.89 These correlations are of great importance for the Bronze Age chronology of Central Europe. The Greek analogies belong to the I6th century and thus they demonstrate that spoked wheels were used in Central Europe before 1500 B.C.

It must be emphasized that the Baden-Pecel cul- ture played a significant role in the formation of the Mad'arovce group in Southern Slovakia, North- eastern Austria and Northwestern Hungary, where the characteristic antler objects and also the models of spoked wheels90 first appear.91

INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

85 K. Tihelka, "Nejstarsi hlinene napodobeniny ctyrramennych kol na fizemi 6 S R" (Die iltesten t6nernen Nachahmungen vierarmiger Rader auf dem Gebiete der CSR.), Pamdtky Archeo- logicke 45 (I954) 219-222 in Czech, 223-224 German summary. Cf. Childe 1954, I4.

86 Pittioni 1954, 323. P. Patay, "Friihbronzezeitliche Kulturen in Ungarn," DissPan Ser. II, No. I3, 77-81.

87 K. Tihelka, "Sidliste V&terovskeho Typu Na Morave" (Die Siedlungen des Veterov Typus in Mahren), Acta Musei Moraviac, Scientiac Sociales 37 (1952) 313-34 with German summary. K. Tihelka, "Nilezy Ze Sidliste Veterovskeho Typu Na Novfch Horach U Veterova" (Die Funde aus der Siedlung des VeteIov- Typus bei Veterov, Mahren), ibidem 38 (1953) 27-62 with German summary.

88 K. v. Miske, Die prahistorische Ansiedlung Velem St. Vid (Wien 1908) plate 56:13, I5-I6.

89 Pittioni 1954, 369. I. Hnizdova, "Die Frage der Formen vom Typus Veterov in der Aunjetitzer Kultur in B6hmen," Pamdtky Archeologicke 45 (1954) 216-18. Cf. J. Werner, "Mykene-Siebenbiirgen-Skandinavien," Atti del 1? Congresso Internazionale Di Preistoria E Protostoria Mediterranea g95o (Firenze I952) 293-308.

90 See note 86. 91 The author is grateful to the Wenner-Gren Foundation for

Anthropological Research in New York for financial assistance which made possible preparation of this paper.

58 [AJA 63

FOLTINY PLATE 19

Fig. I. Wide-mouthed bowl from grave Nr. I77, Budakalasz cemetery; ht. Io.8 cm

Fig. 2. Pedestalled bowl from same grave; ht. 8.3 cm

Fig. 4.

Fig. 3. Decoration of the Budakalasz wagon Fig. 5. Scoop from grave Nr. I58, same cemetery

Figs. 4 and 6. Wagon model from grave Nr. I77, Budakalasz cemetery; ht. 8.i cm