Bronze Age 

Buried Treasures

Funerary traditions during the Neolithic Era and Copper Age often reflected the age and gender of the deceased, yet those rituals changed during the Bronze Age (ca. 5,000–3,000 years ago). New mortuary practices proliferated, including cremation and the use of urns, and rituals further emphasized the ranking of the dead within a social hierarchy. Status was represented by the types of objects included in a burial, and a number of artifacts from women’s graves offer a sense of that range: from a typical burial assemblage (urn, bowl, and jug) found in Békés (present-day Hungary) to more extravagant artifacts such as carnelian jewelry or ceramic figurines representing splendidly dressed women.

Not all objects were buried as part of funerary practice. Archaeologists have recovered many Bronze Age artifacts from so-called hoards, a collection of works deliberately buried by the ancients. Although the practice existed during the Copper Age, many Bronze Age finds have been located in hoards; some were deposited in the ground, while others were hidden in settlements, tucked away in caves, cast into rivers and lakes, or plunged into bogs. Although these hoards may simply have been hidden, the systematic manner of concealment, as well as the frequent pattern of objects grouped together, suggests a practice connected with specific events, deities, or people. The range of artifacts—often valuable works in bronze and gold—hint at the broad ritual function of hoards. Three gold daggers from Perșinari (present-day Romania), for example, were intended to function not as weapons, but as potent symbols of power within a concealed cache.

Burial assemblage with jug, urn, and bowl, 1450–1300 BCE, ceramic, Békés-Jégvermi kert, Grave 6, Hungary, Jug: H. 11.6 cm, Diam. 9.6 cm (rim), Diam. 6 cm (base); Urn: H. 28 cm, Diam. 16.7 cm (rim), Diam. 9.6 cm (base); Bowl: H. 6.5 cm, Diam. 20.5 cm (rim), Diam. 8.5 cm (base), Munkácsy Mihály Museum, Békéscsaba, Hungary: 2020.1.1–2020.1.3.

This suite from a cremation burial was found in one of the ninety graves excavated at a Bronze Age cemetery in Békés, Hungary. The grouping of artifacts is representative of typical funerary objects found across the site: the urn contained the ashes of an adult female; the bowl was on top of the urn; and the jug was next to the urn. The similarity of grave goods throughout the cemetery suggests that community members were treated equally upon death, and no grave is significantly more lavish than another.

Figurine, 1700–1400 BCE, ceramic, Dalj, Croatia, H. 23 cm, W. 14.5 cm (max.), Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia: P-11468. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

Sometimes called after the modern name of the village in which it originated, the “Dalj idol” is one of the best-known works of Bronze Age art from Croatia. Although its specific archaeological findspot is not definitively known, scholars believe it was recovered from a destroyed grave; similar figurines have been found in burial sites throughout the broader region. The head and arms of this figure are missing, yet the torso represents female dress with incised designs depicting decorative jewelry and adornments.

Hoard with pendants, string of beads, ring, necklace, and chain, 1300–1200 BCE, gold, Sarasău (Szarvaszó)-Vâlcelușe Hill, Romania, Spiral pendants (11): Diam. 5.6-8.4 cm; Crescent-shaped pendants (3): L. 3.2-3.5 cm, W. 3.6-3.8 cm; Rings (3): Diam. 2.3-2.8 cm; Necklace: W. 23.8 g; Chain of rings: L.134.8 cm, W. 3.2 cm, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Hungary: 16.1848.1–16.1848.4, 16.1848.6–16.1848.10, National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest, Romania: 358466–358476. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

After a heavy rain in 1847 washed away the surface of the ground, a shepherd grazing his cattle discovered this astonishing hoard. The original assemblage included almost ten pounds of gold objects, but part of the collection was looted and a significant portion of the remainder was confiscated for the treasury of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today the so-called Sarasău hoard is divided between the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest and the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. The suite is reunited here for the first time.

Three daggers, 1700–1600 BCE, gold, Perșinari, Romania, L. 19.2-22.5 cm, W. 9.6-11.6 cm (max.), National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest, Romania: 23240, 23242, 23243. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

These three daggers, or halberds, are part of a larger hoard of twelve gold weapons. Since gold is too soft for functional tools of war, these daggers had no practical purpose and instead served as symbols of power. Scholars believe that such high-status objects further emphasize the connection between the communities of southeastern Europe and the Mycenaean world of the Aegean during the Bronze Age.

Contact & Conflict

Copper tends to dull quickly because it is a soft metal, but the ancients discovered that when mixed with other elements such as tin, it could be turned into bronze—a harder, more durable material. Although copper is found throughout the Balkan Peninsula, tin is much rarer there. During the Bronze Age, it often was imported from faraway locations like Cornwall, England, to the west, and Afghanistan to the east; the metals involved in bronze metallurgy thus connected the communities of southeastern Europe to a wide, intercontinental trading network. Evidence for intercultural interaction beyond the desire to source raw materials is evident in a number of finds, including anthropomorphic “violin idols” from Albania that were almost certainly influenced by Early Cycladic art in the Aegean, where such figurines are almost always made of marble.

But not all cultural encounters were friendly. The development of fortifications around settlements and evidence of sieges reveal that conflicts and warfare were common during the Bronze Age. Unlike copper, which is soft, bronze’s hardness made it suitable for weapons, and a wide range of new battle tools, often used by specialized warriors, were invented by metalsmiths. Archaeological hoards reveal the development of military technologies, and a find from Apa (present-day Romania) that includes swords, axes, and wearable guards showcases the kinds of equipment used by a military elite.

Left: Fibula, 1100–900 BCE, bronze, Sečanj, Serbia, L. 27.8 cm, W. 10.8 cm (max.), National Museum of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia: 06_26184. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

Right: Fibula, 1300–1100 BCE, bronze, Sviloš, Serbia, L. 24.6 cm, W. 17.8 cm (max.), Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia: P-6734. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

Both of these bronze fibulae, or brooches, were part of separate, larger hoards. The substantial size of each artifact and the decorative features suggest that the fibulae were worn only on special occasions and served as symbols of power.

Excavated from the soil platform of a burial mound, these cult objects were likely used during a ritual performed for the deceased. Such stylized anthropomorphic figurines of “violin idols” are strikingly similar to Early Cycladic violin-shaped marble statuettes from the Aegean, and archaeologists believe that they indicate long-distance interaction between the cultures of southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

Hoard with sword, axes, and arm-guard spiral, 1700–1500 BCE, bronze, Apa, Romania, Sword: L. 62 cm; Axes (3): L. 20-26 cm; Arm-guard spiral: L. 22 cm, Diam. 13.5 cm, National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest, Romania: 15910, 15912, 15914–15915. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

This hoard, unearthed in 1939, has been key to understanding how armaments developed during the Middle Bronze Age. Weapons such as these, intended for professional military use, first appeared after 1700 BCE. The sword, axes, and guards thus provide a glimpse of the earliest weaponry used by military elite in the region.

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