Ceramic Depositions, Ritual Features, and Irregular Burials of the Tumulus Culture in Hungary

Abstract

This study provides an overview of vessel depositions and non-normative burials of the Tumulus Culture in Hungary, dated between the phases of Br B1 and Br D across the culture’s distribution area. In contrast to other periods of the Bronze Age, the Tumulus period has received relatively little scholarly attention, despite the substantial amount of data and published material. Statistical analyses of the depositions, based on defined criteria, allow the identification of several categories reflecting both the number of vessels and the estimated size of the associated communities, as well as the character of the ritual sequences/operational chains involved. Beyond the well-documented remains of communal feasting, a noteworthy aspect of recent research is the recognition of sacrificial rituals marked by complex sequences of actions. Find assemblages involved in these rituals are sometimes linked to animal or even human sacrifices. These phenomena are confined to the earliest phase of the Tumulus period, the so-called Koszider horizon.