Bronze Age Balkans

Until the 1970s, it was widely believed that real lions did not exist in Greece in the Bronze Age. However, archaeozoologists have found the remains of Panthera leo at thirty-eight
sites in Greece and Southeastern Europe, establishing that the large-maned lion roamed freely during
the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages and even into the Archaic period in Greece and the Balkan
peninsula. This osteological evidence has not yet been integrated into Mycenaean studies. My
paper explores specific ways in which real lion bones do, and do not, overturn our previous
understandings of the relationship of people and predators, and of nature and convention, in
Mycenaean art.
Lion bones not only illustrate instances of people/predator interaction, they also offer
new options for explaining what the bones themselves mean. For example, at Durankulak in
Bulgaria, excavators found a Neolithic family of three lions—a youth and two adults—one of
whom, according to the publisher, was “plus grand, mâle probablement.” The crania and
claws of all three of these animals were missing, suggesting that the lions were probably killed,
skinned, and butchered at the hunting site and that their heads and claws were taken back to
the village as trophies. This find demonstrates that, contrary to past opinion, teeth and claws
could indicate the presence of local, wild lions, rather than simply being the residue of
imported pelts or amulets, as was said about the first lion bone found at LH Tiryns. As
archaeologists continue to turn their attention to hunting sites as well as to habitations and
graves, more evidence will accrue on the relationships of people and predators.
Real lion bones also force us to reassess the impact of nature on convention in
Mycenaean art. For the first time we can now ask: how many of the scenarios and encounters
depicted in Mycenaean art could actually have been experienced by a lion? Apparently
Mycenaeans could have trussed a lion, butchered it, and carved a seal depicting the ritual.
Were wild lion cubs captured and tamed to serve a priestess and then depicted in an orientalizing,
heraldic format? Did real lions battle Mycenaean elites as the men tested—and illustrated—
their mettle? As a corrective to overly optimistic answers, we must also remember that griffins
were depicted in many of these same scenarios, as were leopards, though as yet no leopard (or
griffin) bones have been found in Bronze Age Greece. Furthermore, Mycenaean art presents
many unreal images of lions, such as male lions with teats nursing their young. What should
we conclude when wild nature was available but not used?
A lion’s eye view of Bronze Age Greece provides a lens for recognizing the ways in
which wild nature could have impacted Mycenaean social and religious experience as
expressed in Mycenaean art. The art itself demonstrates that, with rare exception, convention,
not wild nature, triumphed in Mycenaean imagery. This paper investigates the implications of
these contrasting outcomes. Lion bones give us real vignettes of the interactions of people and
predators in Mycenaean Greece. Bones and imagery together affirm, and contradict, our
earlier explanations of the imprint of natural lions on conventional lion art. A catalogue of lion bones found in Greece and Southeastern Europe accompanies this article.

Very little, practically nothing has been written about the Submycenaean period in Western Achaea, a fact reflecting the belief that this stage was not particularly developed or that it had nothing significant to offer. 1 Moreover, in the few reports the word "Submycenaean" defines objects that do not fall stylistically into the Mycenaean period and, at the same time, cannot be classified as EPG, without taking into consideration their cultural environment, as usually happens elsewhere. 2 The simple definition "probably Submycenaean" is the most common in these cases and it refers exclusively to objects, so that the phase is merely being insinuated, without the slightest effort to place these objects in a general cultural frame, if there should be one. It seems that the existence of this hypothesis does not leave room for further analysis and for thorough examination so that the subject is finally overlooked and not discussed. This situation is due to objective difficulties related to the region, but also to the numerous and often different and contradictive views which are still pertinent to the use of the term Submycenaean. 3 This fact gives the impression that there are only few and isolated objects, mostly pottery, in Achaea that probably belong to the Submycenaean Style, which is either rare or confused with the local LH III C Late/Mature Achaean pottery Style. 4 As a result this particular phase, stage, period or whatever it is, is practically considered to be non-existent. However, this perspective is not exclusively related to pottery but it partly includes bronze items as well. If the classification of bronze or other objects in the Submycenaean period is correct, and given that the Submycenaean is not exclusively associated with a certain pottery style only, then the presence of other features, which so far have been overlooked or regarded as insignificant, must be expected. Below we are going to propose that in Achaea there is not only a particular or local Submycenaean style but features which define a Submycenaean Period. These features are beyond changes in the settlement but also beyond fashion in dressing, like the appearance of new bronze accessories, as we shall see below.

The present paper is focused on the spiral hair ornaments deriving from Early Bronze Age barrow graves in Upper Thrace. A closer examination of their specific contexts, coupled with an overview of how metal spiral hair ornaments were adopted and integrated into the local jewellery fashion indicates that they may have been among the most popular ornaments in Upper Thrace. In addition to detailing the Early Bronze Age metal spiral hair ornaments in terms of forms, material and possible cultural
connections the present research uses the ornaments to explore their symbolism and to reconstruct how the ornaments were worn, by proposing hypothetical reconstructions of various hairstyles.

Alleged ?Aegean migrations? have long been seen as underlying major transformations in lifeways and identity in the Balkans in the 12th-11th centuries BC. Revisiting the material culture and settlement changes in the north-south ?routeway? of the Velika Morava-Juzna Morava-Vardar/Axios river valleys, this paper evaluates developments within local communities. It is argued that mobility played an important role in social change, including an element of inward migration from the north. We argue that rather than an Aegean end point, these river valleys themselves were the destination of migrants. The prosperity this stimulated within those communities led to increased networks of personal mobility that incorporated elements from communities from the wider Carpathians and the north of Greece over the course of two centuries.

Macedonians have emerged from the substratum of prehistoric tribes belonging to the huge family of Pelasgians, Aeols/Boreans  and Hyperboreans (Anti, Brygii, Danuni, Kiti, Hittiti, Lapiti, Macedoni, Minyi, Misiani, Mosiniki, Pelasgi, Pelagoni, Paioni, Tiroi, Tyrseni, etc.) that lived and contributed the creation of archetypical cultures of the second millennium BCE in the central regions of Macedonian Peninsula and Asia Minor.  During their migrations these ancestral Aryan-Macedonic tribes brought with them their culture and contributed to the creation of the civilization centers in antiquity,  especially in the region of lower Danube and further toward Ukraine/Russia (as 'Aryans') and in Central Europe (as 'Veneti' and/or 'Gaul'). 
As a result of the progressive expansion of the early Macedonians during the archaic period all the other regional tribes fused together into a larger union of Macedonians. At the beginning the Orestians (modern Mkd. Gorani; Eng. 'highlanders', mountainers)  from Argo (today Kostur region, Aegean Macedonia) in western Lower Macedonia, together with other neighboring Macedonic tribes living in Eordaia, Elimeia (Kožani and Grevena), northern Timfaia (Hasia), Lynkestia, Desaretia (Lerin-Prespa-Ohrid region), Elimiotia, Pelagonia and Paionia (in Upper Macedonia) began to form the Macedonian state, the first entity of that kind and extent on the European soil.

Chronology, distribution and interpretation of Urnfield metal-hilted swords

Subject, regions and period of time covered (chapter 1)

This study was basically concerned with the supra-regional investigation of a sufficiently differentiated group of bronze objects, which will allow for a taxonomic, chronological, chorological and interpretative analysis. In consideration of their advanced state of research, treatment and publication, the metal-hilted swords (‘Vollgriffschwerter’) of the Urnfield period appeared to be an excellent field for further research. First of all, it was an important prerequisite for my study to synchronize the regional chronological systems which have been established for the Urnfield period; the result of this effort is shown in Fig. 1. In order to avoid confusion between the innumerable regional nomenclatures of the relevant archaeological phases, terms such as Reinecke’s ‘Bz D’ or ‘Ha B1’ are used supra-regionally.

Classification systems of swords and their theoretical-methodical background (chapter 2)                                                             

The analysis of the various classification systems used for metal-hilted swords must be preceded by a reconsideration of basic methodical principles of classification.
Every classification – an intrinsically arbitrary construct in itself – can prove its justification by nothing but its heuristic value. In addition to the type-bound study of given combinations of attributes, it appears equally useful and helpful to proceed to a systematic consideration of individual attributes in their localized and chronological perspectives as well.
Within the taxonomic hierarchy which I used for the classification of metal-hilted swords, the highest tier is represented by the so-called ‘basic form’ (‘Grundform’) which is determined by the configuration of the pommel. The next subordinate tier is the ‘species’ (‘Art’) level, which is characterized by the outline of the hilt. This level can again be subdivided into different types, which is done by considering the combination of at least two formal and/or ornamental attributes of the hilt. By additionally taking at least one other formal, ornamental or production-related attribute into consideration, it is possible to break the type level down into different variants of a type, although it is to be noted that the different classes of variants need not contain all representative embodiments of a particular type.

History and state of research of the classification of Urnfield metal-hilted swords (chapter 3)

A critical comparison of the more important classification systems used for metal-hilted swords and an evaluation of their respective methodical validity resulted in the adoption and use of those types and variants of swords that proved to be coherent. On the other hand it was found necessary to also define new taxonomic units. The understanding of representative embodiments of variants to be closely affiliated but not to belong to the class of the corresponding type turned out to be particularly problematic. It was, therefore, a methodological necessity to revise the classification of this kind of ‘variants’.
The result of my analyses is shown in Figs. 5-11, where the diagnostic attributes of all individual taxonomic units are specified in detail. As a consequence, it is to be found that only a sword which possesses all of these attributes can validly be assigned to the respective class of the corresponding taxonomic unit. 

Dating and distribution of Urnfield metal-hilted swords (chapter 4)

The clear distinction of those types of metal-hilted swords which are dated per definitionem and those which yet need to be dated is of great importance. The present study accepts and adopts the type form character of the Riegsee and Ragály types for Bz D, of the Dreiwulstschwert (‘sword with three bulges’) species for Ha A, of the basic form Schalenknaufschwert (‘sword with disc pommel’) for Ha B1 and of the Mörigen, Auvernier and Tachlovice types for Ha B3. On the other hand, H. Müller-Karpe’s (1959, 156f. 172; 197; 1961, 24; 29; 31; 47) distinction between older and later types of Dreiwulstschwerter, which he considered as being type forms of his Ha A1 and A2 phase definitions and which was based on an assumed formal development, had to be questioned. So had the early dating of some antennae swords into Ha B2 and Ha B1, respectively.
According to the formal attributes seen as chronologically relevant for the Dreiwulstschwerter (shape of the pommel knob, outline of the blade), a conical pommel knob can be regarded as an older, and a willow-leaf-shaped blade as a later attribute for southern Germany and neighbouring regions – although this will go with certain reservations only. Representative embodiments of the Schwaig and Erding types, maybe also of the Gundelsheim type, can be accepted as belonging to the older, those of the Aldrans type as belonging to the later Dreiwulstschwerter in this area. In eastern central Europe such a distinction is, however, not possible, since a great number of swords found in this particular area show a combination of both of those attributes which are considered as being chronologically indicative in western central Europe. Moreover, the definition of the eastern central European hoard phases (‘Depotfundstufen’) corresponding to Ha A1 and Ha A2 respectively, as well as their parallelization with southern Germany, was mainly done in line with Müller-Karpe’s classification of the Dreiwulstschwerter. Mutual confirmations of western and eastern central European sword datings are, therefore, of a circular character.
The heterogeneous dating of the antennae swords was already noticed by E. Sprockhoff (1934, 34; 71) and further extended by Müller-Karpe (1961, 53-55; 57f. 65; 88) with the object of confirming his tripartition of Ha B. The seven antennae swords which are either definitely or with all probability to be dated into Ha B1 do not show any attributes which they have in common, which means to say that no such type can be regarded as characteristic for Ha B1. Those final Urnfield metal-hilted swords not deposited until Ha C cannot be typographically differentiated from those swords which are dated into the Ha B3 phase, either. Dating of the antennae swords into Ha B1 or Ha C, respectively, can therefore only be done as a result of a thorough study of the context of any one find. These dating problems show quite clear that it is out of question to segregate type forms for the one or the other phase of the basic form antennae sword.
The clarification of taxonomic and chronological questions is succeeded by the regionally oriented criticism of sources and the epistemological evaluation of the distribution maps to determine their historical validity. Following H.J. Eggers (1950, 55; 1986, esp. 258), I differentiate between the levels of the ‘living’, the ‘dead’ and the ‘re-discovered’ culture. In order to draw conclusions from the ‘re-discovered culture’ about the ‘dead culture’, it was necessary to analyse the state of research, treatment and publication as well as that of the conditions in which the finds were made. These factors proved to be comparable in the setting of this study. By carrying out a large number of cross-checks, it is possible to get an idea of both the dimension and the distribution of sources, in which metal-hilted swords could have passed on at least theoretically. An aspect which was of particular importance was the question to what extent metal-hilted swords and swords with an organic hilt were considered to be functionally equivalent at least in the context of their deposition and in how far they were thus considered as being of a ‘substitutive character’. This study also shows to what extent the currently known area of distribution of certain classes of swords allows for insights concerning their prehistoric spread.

Interpretation of the distribution of Urnfield metal-hilted swords (chapter 5)

To allow for an interpretation of the Urnfield metal-hilted swords’ distribution, it was necessary to define a number of what are called ‘custom circles’ (‘Sittenkreise’), which enable us to validly grasp the behaviour of prehistoric man.
The so-called ‘workshop circle’ covers the sum of stationary workshops inclusive of possible migrant craftsmen in a certain region at a certain period of time. This is complemented by the ‘demand circle’, i.e. the area in which there was a demand for the products of a certain workshop circle, and also by the ‘costume circle’, i.e. the territory within which the respective swords were part of the costume of the particular ‘community of traditions’ (‘Traditionsgemeinschaft’). The question of the localisation of workshop circles was prevailing in my study.
Factors which are indicative of the production of a certain class of swords within a certain region are (1) a comparatively high relative frequency of finds in the specific area and at the same time a comparatively low relative frequency in the neighbouring regions – although it must be understood that neither high nor low frequency may be derived from the state of available sources –, (2) the deposition of these swords in compliance with the usual customs of this area, (3) the existence of forerunners and successors in the region concerned, (4) a possible connecting link between the swords in terms of their production, (5) a stylistic, especially an ornamental relationship to other material groups of the area, in particular bronzes, and possibly also pottery.
In order to get an impression of the geographic distribution of numerous formal and ornamental attributes, which can be another indicator for workshop circles, if a great number of individual attributes was found to be concentrated in a given region, the distribution area of the Bz D and Ha B1 metal-hilted swords was subdivided into a western and an eastern sector, whereas the spread of the ‘...

Auf Grundlage der stetigen Weiterentwicklung der Befestigungsanlagen zwischen ca. 5000 und 2000 v. Chr. in Südosteuropa und Kleinasien soll in diesem Buch exemplarisch ein Beitrag zum Verständnis der Hintergründe und Mechanismen kriegerischer Auseinandersetzungen sowie deren Auswirkungen
auf die hieran beteiligten Gesellschaften geleistet werden. Im
Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung stehen Befestigungsanlagen, die jedoch nicht aus architekturgeschichtlicher oder bauhistorischer Sicht bewertet werden sollen, sondern als Dokumente, die den Zusammenhang zwischen Siedlungswesen, Gesellschaft und kriegerischer Konfliktaustragung erhellen können.

Rezime. Krajem neolita počinje intenzivnije korištenje bakra, a nakon njega i kalaja za proizvodnju alata i oružja. Na teritoriji sjeverne Bosne poznato je nekoliko oblasti bogatih rudama od kojih se može dobiti bakar ili kalaj. U ovom radu su analizirani raspoloživi podaci o ležištima bakra i kalaja u BiH a ti podaci su unešeni na digitalnu kartu.

Above: elegant vine krater in bronze and silver from Macedonia. From the Shelby White and Leon Levy private collection in NewYork, handed over to Grease on 1 August 2008. This krater is one of the best examples of Macedonian craftsmanship type. It has a thin oblique disc-shaped cover and an ornate stand (hypokraterion). The body of the central vase is gilded with tendrils and vine leaves made of fine silver sheets. The relief heads on the handle attachments are probably to be associated with the god Dionis and his milieu. A similar krater in the Solun Archaeological Museum was found at Sevaste, in Pieria, a region in south-west Macedonia. These two kraters, together with another discovered at Aigai, the first capital of the Macedonians, and two volute kraters found at Derveni, the one from Koreshnica and two others from Trebenishte in Republic of Macedonia, are all attributed to the superb Macedonic metallurgy workshop. These monumental kraters were vessels for mixing wine with water and were used by the nobility as urns to hold ashes. About 340 BCE. Accession number: 26769. "National" Archaeological Museum of Athens, Grease.

Fine wheel-made (or handmade) burnished grey wares keep occurring in and around the Aegean area throughout the second millennium, but also in the preceding third and in the following first millennium B.C. What may (or may not) be just a coincidence, has often been interpreted as evidence for something: movement of people, development of culture, chronological cross-links. Whereas in some cases it is clear that grey and grey is not always the same, there are other instances, which have kept archaeological discourse busy for well over a century now. This contribution intends to present a kind of entrée into the study of Aegean and Anatolian grey wares, on the background of the history of research, with an open eye also to the neighbouring regions, such as Bulgaria, Georgia and the Levant. Grey wares have received only a few monothematic studies and were mostly dealt with site by site, along with other types of pottery.

The present study hopes to contribute to Middle Bronze Age studies in two specific areas: first, by publishing a new series of radiocarbon dates for a period from which there are few absolute dates, and second, by describing a less known area in the Vatya culture distribution based on the investigations at Kakucs.The Kakucs area was increasingly intensively settled during the course of the Bronze Age. In this context, the area along the left Danube bank down to the Kakucs area, lying in close proximity to the eponymous site at Újhartyán–Vatya, is very instructive. Following a scanty occupation marked by a few smaller sites at the onset of the Early Bronze Age, the number of sites and associated cemeteries grew dynamically from the late Nagyrév/early Vatya period onward. Despite the uncertainties in the relative chronology of the known Middle Bronze Age sites, the increase in the number of sites is in itself a reflection of a population growth and an in-creasing landscape exploitation. The left bank of the Danube became one of the period’s most intensively settled regions during the Middle Bronze Age 1–3.

""»Hammerbeile« – zu einer speziellen Variante der Schäftung von bronzezeitlichen Tüllenbeilen
Im nordwestlichen Karpatenbecken ist eine Reihe von Tüllenbeilen mit eingesetzten, gelochten bronzenen Stangen bekannt, sog. »Hammerbeile«. Diese kehren das Tüllenschäftungsprinzip zu dem einer Axt um. Anhand europaweiter Analogien wird festgestellt, dass es sich bei diesen Objekten um bronzene Umsetzungen hölzerner Zwischenfutter handelt, die eine geläufige Form der Schäftung von Tüllenbeilen gewesen sein dürften. Theorien, die Tüllenbeile mit bronzenen Zwischenfuttern eine typologische und funktionale Mittlerrolle zwischen späten Nackenscheiben- sowie Schaftlochäxten und den frühesten Tüllenbeilen zusprechen, sind abzulehnen. Dies bestätigen auch die typologisch und in ihrer räumlichen Verteilung von den »Hammerbeilen« abweichenden Funde früher Tüllenbeile Südosteuropas, die zudem zeitlich vor den Hammerbeilen liegen.

»Hammer axes« – a special method of shafting Bronze Age socketed axes
In the northwestern part of the Carpathian Basin there is a distinctive group of socketed axes with inserted, perforated bronze bars, dating from Bz D to Ha B1. These so-called »hammer axes« invert the principle of shafting a socketed axe into one used with regular axes. Based on analogies throughout Europe, it is argued that the perforated bars are indeed conversions into bronze of wooden sleeves used regularly for shafting socketed axes. As a consequence, theories promoting »hammer axes« as a typological and functional link between late forms of Carpathian axe types and the earliest socketed axes are rejected. This is further underlined by the forms and the distributional pattern of early southeastern European socketed axes which moreover appear much earlier than the »hammer axes«.

»Haches marteaux« – à propos d’une variante spéciale d’emmanchement de haches à douille de l’âge du Bronze
Une série de haches à douille dont le manche est composé de barres de bronze provient du Nord-Ouest du bassin des Carpathes, elles sont connues sous le nom de »haches marteaux«. Ces dernières inversent le principe d’emmanchement entre douille et œil. Sur la base de comparaisons européennes, on peut constater que ces manches en bronze composent une évolution de manches en bois intermédiaires. Les théories mettant en rapport les haches à douille avec des emmanchements intermédiaires en bronze pour leur attribuer un rôle d’intermédiaire typologique et fonctionnel entre les dernières haches à douille, une forme tardive de hache des Carpathes et les premières haches à œil sont à rejeter. Ceci est également confirmé par la typologie et la répartition des »haches marteaux« qui apparaissent plus tardivement que les haches à douille du Sud-Est de l’Europe. L. B.""

Велики број регистрованих налазишта и обимна археолошка грађа која је прикупљена на територији града Панчева, условили су и начин на који ће она бити презентована, стога ова монографија представља прву књигу у низу, која се тиче археолошке грађе са овог простора. Mонографија у потпуности задржава успостављену концепцију, која је формирана у претходне две публиковане монографије, за општине Нови Кнежевац и Чока, као и у трећој, за северозападни део града Кикинде.

During the entire Mycenaean period Achaea maintains relations - direct or indirect ones - with the rest of the known world. Not only with the regions of the large mainland centers, but with the Aegean islands too, such as Rhodes and Crete and even further as far as Cyprus.Imported artifacts have come from Syro-Palestine and Egypt to the east, Italy and central Europe to the west. Achaea in turn would export its products to the coast and the inland areas around the Corinthian Gulf, to the Argolid, to the northern neighbors in Aitolia (Thermos) and Acarnania (Loutraki), Elis, the Ionian Islands, even reaching the Italian peninsula and Adriatic Sea. During the 12th and 11th centuries B.C., Achaea seems to have been taking part in the regional commerce, taking advantage of a road network that had been created and maintained, with the axis towards Elis being probably the most important; this network also facilitated indirect contact with other regions and ports outside its immediate control, thus providing access to goods traded away from the Achaean coasts. Achaea was also actively involved in sea-trade, particularly in the safe waters of the Corinthian Gulf, indirectly benefiting from the roads that reached the northern coast of the gulf from Epirus and central Greece. It is not known whether Achaean merchants organized voyages to the Adriatic and Italy, where Achaean LH III C pottery has been found. Contact with these regions, proved to be beneficiary in the shaping of local Achaean culture. At the same time, this culture haw also influenced its neighbors.
    The study of the data regarding Mycenaean Achaea is expected to yield valuable new elements that will help reconstruct all aspects of this unique culture. The Society for the Study of Mycenaean Achaea aims at helping this effort and coordinating the endeavors of all those who are interested in the region's prehistory. At the same time, the society will also work for the promotion of Achaean culture in a way that will help put Achaea in its rightly deserved place in Greek prehistory.
    The book is sent free of charge to the members of the Society.

The present paper is focusing attention on the Early Bronze Age rings of type Leukas and aims to study their origin, spatial and chronological distribution. The period under discussion is the Early Bronze Age – time of intensive circulation of goods, ideas and fashion all over the Aegean and the Eastern Medditerranean. Special attention is given to the distribution, the context and the function of the ornaments, type Leukas. Indeed, new find spots from the Balkans and the Carpathian Basin are added to the distribution map of Leukas-type rings. The relevant archaeological materials give us a new opportunity to examine the fashion and the directions of influences in Early Bronze Age jewellery production. The research demonstrates the idea for a Balkan origin for the Leukas-type rings and reflects some new accents of the relations between the Aegean, the Balkans and the Carpathian Basin.

This thesis is based solely on the study of ceramic material retrieved during the 1988-2008 excavations at Troy. Material from earlier excavations has been used only for analogies.

Blegen’s basic division of Troy VIIb into two phases – VIIb1 and VIIb2 – has been confirmed. Blegen underestimated the importance of painted Protogeometric sherds found at Troy, but he was right when stressing the fact that they never occur in stratified deposits of the Troy VIIb2 settlement.

The pottery typology of Blegen is as yet unsurpassed, and only “cosmetic” changes and additions were necessary. Blegen’s classification of wares is also, in most cases, still helpful and valid. Changes were necessary only in relation to the handmade wares, which are defined as two basic ware groups in this report – the Handmade Coarse Ware (Blegen’s ‘Coarse Ware’ was not specific enough) and Handmade Lustrous Ware (Blegen’s ‘Knobbed Ware’, in fact only rarely decorated with knobs).

The most substantial part of this report is devoted to the pottery in its context. The core of the analysis has been an independent review of the entire transitional Late Bronze Age and Early Iron stratigraphy. As a result, the attribution of contexts to phases is based on the combination of stratigraphic and ceramic evidence.

The analysis of contexts suggests that the settlement pattern changed dramatically at the beginning of the Troy VIIb1 period. The settlement area seems to be significantly reduced in scale, and limited exclusively to the citadel. The Troy VIIb1 pottery gives evidence for both continuity and change. The traditionally most popular wares, the Anatolian Grey Ware and the Tan Ware, are still in use, yet the preferences between them change completely. A new class of coarse pottery, Handmade Coarse Ware, is introduced to the site. Perhaps the changes should be explained with a migration from Thrace, but this theory cannot be verified on the basis of pottery alone. The settlement pattern changes again at the beginning of the Troy VIIb2 period. The site becomes densely populated. Another new class of handmade pottery, Handmade Lustrous Ware, appears. This new ware can be defined as a fine table ware. This pottery clearly represents a different tradition from the Trojan wheelmade wares, but, on the other hand, it is related with the Handmade Coarse Ware. Both Handmade Lustrous Ware and the Handmade Coarse Ware are part of the same pottery tradition. They are complementary to each other in terms of shapes and together they form a complete typological assemblage. The obvious parallels to the Knobbed Ware found in the Balkans and the fair quantities of this pottery class at Troy leave no doubt about the presence of a population group from the north during the Troy VIIb2 phase. As far as can be judged from the distribution pattern of various classes of pottery at Troy, the two population groups were not segregated. It seems that acculturation processes between both groups took place.

It is not clear how the Troy VIIb2 settlement came to its end. Some houses were destroyed by fire with their original contents, while other houses were probably simply abandoned. At the time when painted Early Protogeometric amphoras begin to be imported to the site, the Troy VIIb2 houses were already in ruins. The surviving remains of the new phase are so meager that the population density must have dropped dramatically. Whether or not the new settlement can be connected with the ‘Aeolian colonization’ cannot be currently decided unequivocally. In any case, a certain continuity in pottery terms is documented.

ÖZET İçerisinde sıvı, merhem, koku gibi özel üretimler taşımaya yarayan 'Şişe' biçimli kap formu, Tunç Çağları için Anadolu'ya yabancı bir kap tipidir. Bu formun Kuzey Suriye ve Orta Fırat Havzası arasında üretildiği düşünüldüğünden arkeoloji literatüründe yaygın adı 'Suriye Şişesi' olarak kabul görmektedir. Genellikle gri renkli metalik tarzda üretilmiş bu şişeler yapım tekniğinin oldukça özenli olmasıyla dikkat çekmiştir. Erken Tunç Çağı ile Orta Tunç Çağı arasında 1000 yıla yakın bir süre boyunca üretildiği bilinen bu formların Anadolu üzerinden geçen bir rota ile Mezopotamya'dan Balkanlara uzanan bölgeler arası sistemli ticaretin önemli arkeolojik kanıtlardan birisi olduğu kabul edilmektedir. İstanbul Selimpaşa Höyük'de ele geçen bir Suriye Şişesi'nin İstanbul'un Avrupa yakasının da bu uluslararası ticaret sistemi rotası üzerinde ve içerisinde yer aldığını göstermiştir.

Wooden doors on Mycenaean chamber tombs.
Following a burial in a Mycenaean chamber tomb, the stomion was sealed as a rule by means of a dry stone wall and more rarely by a stone door. Generations of archaeologists have grown up with this assertion so that when excavating a chamber tomb we are certain in advance what awaits us at the doorway. Every time the dry stone wall or stone door is esposed, the conviction finds further substantiation. But can we be sure of this, or is there perhaps something we are overlooking? In the following article a new proposal is put forward: when an excavation reaches the dry stone wall or the stomion of a tomb, we must ask ourselves whether originally a wooden door stood in front of it. Characteristic examples of the existence of wooden doors in Mycenaean tombs are considered and, among other things, the various support mechanisms of wooden doors are discussed. The presence of wooden doors is linked on the one hand to Mycenaean eschatological concepts and on the other to the good state of preservation of the dry stone walls.

Ξύλινες θύρες θαλαμωτών τάφων.
Το σφράγισμα του στομίου των θαλαμωτών τάφων μετά από μία μυκηναϊκή κηδεία γινόταν ως επί το πλείστον με το χτίσιμο της ξερολιθιάς και σπανιότερα με τη χρήση μίας λίθινης θύρας. Η παραπάνω φράση μεγάλωσε γενιές αρχαιολόγων, ώστε όταν σκάβουμε έναν θαλαμωτό τάφο να είμαστε σίγουροι εκ των προτέρων για το τί περίπου θα συναντήσουμε στην είσοδο. Και όταν αποκαλύπτεται η ξερολιθιά, ή η λίθινη θύρα, η παραπάνω πρόταση επιβεβαιώνεται για μία ακόμα φορά. Πρέπει, όμως, να είμαστε σίγουροι, ή μήπως υπάρχει και κάτι άλλο που παραβλέπουμε; Στο κείμενο που ακολουθεί παρουσιάζεται μία νέα πρόταση: Όταν κατά την ανασκαφή συναντούμε την ξερολιθιά ή το στόμιο ενός τάφου, πρέπει οπωσδήποτε να αναρωτηθούμε εάν μπροστά από αυτά υπήρχε κάποτε μία ξύλινη θύρα. Εξετάζονται χαρακτηριστικές περιπτώσεις ύπαρξης ξύλινων θυρών σε μυκηναϊκούς τάφους και προσεγγίζονται οι διάφοροι τρόποι στήριξης της ξύλινης θύρας. Η παρουσία των ξύλινων θυρών συσχετίζεται με μυκηναϊκές εσχατολογικές αντιλήψεις και συνδέεται με την καλή διατήρηση των ξερολιθιών έως τις μέρες μας.

This paper aims to offer an outline of the main elements of the Late
Bronze Age burial costume from northern Albania, focusing more specifically on the dress and body ornaments. The study is based on the funerary evidence from previous publications of the different necropoleis excavated in the area, which consist exclusively of tumuli. In the context of a rich and updated literature from the neighboring regions, we have tried to reexamine the dating of some of the costume components from this part of the Albania, which appears inconsistent in the Albanian literature. Furthermore, the direct observations of the ornaments
helped for a better understanding of their morphological features, and together with a closer analysis of the respective grave assemblages, they were all essential for a closer chronological framing. On one hand, these investigations revealed the presence of a modest, but still, an important corpus of Late Bronze Age ornaments, which allow tracking some of the main characteristics of the burial costume of this period. In a wider context, they offer important clues for the small- and largescale
inter-regional relations and how these are reflected in the burial costume of this period. However, on the other hand, we should stress from the beginning, that the available fragmentary data does not allow us to develop a full discussion on all the types of costumes present, or on the social identities expressed through them in the funerary ritual. Among the obstacles, it should be noted the total lack of anthropological data, some inconsistencies in the methods of documentation of the excavated tumuli, and particularly the fact that the tumuli of Çinamak, from the north-east corner of Albania, and to which belongs the most important part of the ornaments, remain still unpublished systematically.

Gold adornments from the Late Bronze Age from South Germany
and their Danube-Carpathian parallels. ---

In 1989 treasure-hunters dug out in Northern Bavaria treasure from the time of the Urnfield culture. Similar finds were bought later from the Archaeological museum of Munich. The golden falerae and the rest of the adornments have analogues in the area of Middle Danube. They confirm the fact that eastern parts of Southern Germany had contacts with the Danubian cultural systems.

In 1998 near Bernstorf, close to Munich, another exceptional gold find was found. It includes a diadem, various pendants, a pin with disc-head and pieces of amber. At the same hilltop enclosure in 2000 were found much cited amber objects with „Mycenean“ signs on them. It is presumed that there are adornments, ttached to the cult figure.

Similar complexes were found in the earlier periods of the bronze age too. From the Shaft-graves at Mycenae we know
of similar diadems with rosettes and knobs and similar pendants. They are reminiscent of Bernstorf adornments, without having a direct connection with them. Gold adornments of idols are known from the Varna culture, from the end of the 5 mill. BC, and from Middle Europe from 4 mill. BC.

Starting from two socketed axes of the Armorican type, which were so far mistakenly attributed as chisels of local production to the hoard from Şpălnaca, Romania, the author discusses finds of Armorican axes from eastern and southeastern Europe. A number of pieces published as authentic finds can be suspected to be modern imports. Armorican axes circulated widely as gifts between researchers or through the art market especially in the late 19th and early 20th century following the big discoveries in France. Until now, this fact has not been taken into consideration in several important publications of finds. Only for Poland and Bohemia there are finds which could be the result of Early Iron Age contacts. But even their authenticity remains doubtful to some degree, as there are no finds which were discovered after 1950.

Modern heteronormative views of sex and gender largely influenced examination and interpretation of sex/gender on the Early Bronze Age Mokrin necropolis in previous studies. The “normative“ burial treatment on Mokrin necropolis was defined on the basis of heteronormative views of biological sex and gender: male individuals were oriented north-south and females were oriented in the opposite direction, with appropriate grave goods. However, when the orientation was not the one expected for the osteological sex of the deceased, several explanations were given (wrong sex determination, gender not matching sex, not a community member, special status in the community etc.). It is clear that biological genital sex, read from the osteological sexing, was considered a primary category in engendering buried individuals, naturalizing a binary division of their bodies. This approach by default queers the body of an older osteologicaly male individual buried in grave no. 10, who was oriented south-north and buried with dress ornaments usually associated with adult osteological females: a pair of “Cypriote“ knot-headed pins, a neck-ring, four copper bracelets and two gold spiral hair-rings. Given the “reversed“ orientation and specific grave goods, some have even labelled this individual as “hyperfemale“. Why should we queer the body as non-normative if the osteological sex is different in comparison to other burials with the same body treatment? This paper provides a critical history of research of sex/gender on Mokrin necropolis based on queer theory. The number of sexes/genders cannot be assumed before the analyses are conducted; therefore this paper suggests multiple sexes/genders paradigm in approaching mortuary data in order to avoid a priori made conclusions about sex/gender system in Mokrin society. How materiality of the body and context of dress ornaments can be of great importance in approaching sex/gender on Mokrin necropolis is in this paper primarily discussed in the case of grave no. 10.

""The Dupljaja Cart and Bodies that Matter

One of the most frequently quoted Bronze Age artifacts in reconstructing cult and religion in European Bronze Age is certainly the Dupljaja Cart found in southern Banat, western Serbia. Previous interpretations of the figurine in the cart, and the whole cart group itself, are based on uncritical engendering of the figurine with de facto male genitals under a dress. Sex and gender of the figurine were never explicitly studied and as a consequence several interpretations emerged, some considering the figurine as male in female dress, some neglecting male genitals under the dress of the figurine and still considering it female. This work is based on the comparative contemporary Bronze Age figurine finds and dress ornaments and intends to more critically study sex/gender of the figurine in the cart using multiple sex/gender paradigm. It is discussed how different views of sex/gender of the figurine formed completely different, but in some ways similar narratives of the past. This work calls for a radical cross-dressing of this artifact and more explicitly formed theories of its embodied identity and queerness.

Key words: The Dupljaja cart, Bronze Age, hybridism, queer theory, multiple sex/gender paradigm""

Bei der Bewertung des räumlichen Verhältnisses von Gussformen zu Fertigprodukten im Karpatenbecken müssen Überlieferungsfilter stärker als bisher in Betracht gezogen werden. Zunächst stammen Tüllenbeilgussformen, anders als die Fertigprodukte, ganz überwiegend aus Siedlungen und wurden bei Ausgrabungen entdeckt. Der Stand der Siedlungsarchäologie bestimmt damit die Verbreitung von Gussformen in hohem Maße mit.
Der zweite Überlieferungsfilter betrifft die bronzezeitliche Gusstechnik. Es ist kaum anzunehmen, dass allein steinerne Gussformen verwendet worden sind. Neben einigen Funden fragiler und daher selten überlieferter zweischaliger Tongussformen liegen Belege verschiedener Arten von Modeln zur Herstellung von Ton- oder Formsandgussformen vor. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass vermutlich auch archäologisch schwer sichtbare Gussverfahren einen Anteil am Gesamteindruck der Verbreitung von Tüllenbeilgussformen in Rumänien haben. Die Steingussformen können gut zur Herstellung dieser Model gedient haben, ohne dass hier ihre einzige Funktion gelegen haben muss.

This is not the first time that questions relating
to defensive settlement are raised in
our series. Its 5th volume entitled "Defensive
Structures: from Central Europe to the Aegean in
the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC" was devoted to
similar issues. This should come as no surprise
because the question of defensive settlements,
especially those from the 2nd millennium
BC in Europe, attracts an entire
package of key issues determining cultural
development on our continent. By no means
do they concern only progress in the construction
of fortifications. For defensive settlements
carry considerable information on
settlement organization. What is more, they
reflect the process of social structure complexity
and enable studies of mechanisms
governing long-distance exchange and manufacture
of the most spectacular objects.
The authors of individual chapters in
this volume come from several countries:
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
Slovakia and Sweden. They are seasoned
scholars with many publications to their
credit who actively participate in the most
important discussions on the significance
of the Bronze Age in Europe’s prehistory.
This panel of authors ensures—we are
deeply convinced — that this volume will
be yet another valuable voice in the important
discussion on the significance of defensive
settlements in Europe in the 2nd
millennium BC. Moreover, this research
makes us aware howmuch the inhabitants
of our continent had in common at that
time, regardless of where they lived: on
the Baltic, in the Carpathian Basin or in
the Aegean.

Schutzwaffen aus Metall, wie etwa Helme, werden aufgrund ihrer relativen Seltenheit im Vergleich zu anderen Bronzeobjekten als etwas Besonderes betrachtet. Im Rahmen der archäologischen Interpretation können ihnen ganz unterschiedliche Bedeutungen zugewiesen werden, manchmal steht ihre „Prestigefunktion“ im Vordergrund, manchmal dominieren die funktionalen Aspekte. Die grundlegende Aufgabe eines Helms ist es, die schneidende Wirkung einer Angriffswaffe zu neutralisieren sowie die dabei auftretende Energie eines Schlages oder Hiebes abzufedern. Zum einen absorbiert das Metall durch Deformation einen Teil der Schlagenergie, zum anderen muss die restliche Energie und eine dadurch hervorgerufene Verformung durch ein darunter liegendes elastisches Material (Leder, Textil, etc.) aufgenommen werden. Die metallische Oberfläche eines Helms wie auch seine Form bieten reichlich Möglichkeit, ihn mit Verzierungselementen zu versehen, die weit über die eigentliche Schutzfunktion hinausgehen. Dies ermöglicht es dem Besitzer eines solchen Helms, durch eine besondere Gestaltung verschiedenste Bedeutungsinhalte zu transportieren und für sein Umfeld sichtbar zu machen. Dieser Symbolgehalt der Objekte, sei es die Verzierung, die Form oder auch der Kontext, in dem sie benutzt und genutzt werden, hat einen nicht unwesentlichen Einfluss auf ihr Erscheinungsbild und damit auf ihre Konstruktion, wie die folgenden Untersuchungen zeigen. Der Neufund eines bronzenen Helmfragments des Kammhelmtyps Pass Lueg im Anlauftal/Bundesland Salzburg ermöglichte es nun, im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes diese Helme archäologisch und archäometallurgisch zu untersuchen.