The Baden complex in Austria and Hungary

1. Content of research project My work will focus on a cultural complex appearing around 3600 BC that was distributed from the Black Forest to the Black Sea with regionally differing sequences ending at various dates (3000/2800/2400 BC), made up of independent archaeological cultures that lived in symbiosis with each other (Bolerz, Baden, Kostolc, Vucedol), and which pursued regionally differing settlement strategies (hillforts, open plainland settlements, cave dwellings, lakeside and riverside settlements) and subsistence patterns. My goal is to analyse the Austrian sites and compare them with the Hungarian ones. 2. Hypotheses The assessment of the currently known largest Baden settlement at Balatonoszöd, lasting for ten years, resulted in a radical transformation of our perception of Baden both chronologically and culturally, as well as on the social, economic and ritual level. The goal of the comparative analysis is to identify and assess the phenomena and finds uncovered on Austrian sites, known from publications, that bear a resemblance to the Hungarian ones (e.g. settlement chains following watercourses, human and animal sacrifices found on settlements, unusual vessel types and vessel hoards, wagon finds, possible luxury lithics imported through long-distance trade) to determine to what extent they are identical to, or diverge from, their Hungarian counterparts. 3. Methods Systematic overview and assessment of the literature, personal examination of the finds and continuous consultation with Austrian colleagues, followed by sampling and archaeometric analyses. The evaluation of the findings and the overall assessment of the Austrian material, and finally a comparison with Hungary. 4. An explanation indicating what is new and/or special about the project In a comprehensive study published in 2009, Martin Furholt distinguished regional levels in the Baden complex, including the cultures Hungarian and Austrian distribution, based on pottery styles. My starting point for other archaeological inquiries is the analysis of ceramic typology and ornamental techniques as presented in his work. The examination of other cultural traits and dimensions (such as pottery tempers, technology, lithic provenancing, dating) can provide a much finer resolution to our current picture and can be expanded in the future with other regions where Baden was distributed (e.g. Lesser Poland, Slovakia, Moravia, Switzerland) until the complexs entire distribution is covered. 1

In Hungarian prehistoric studies, the period between 3700 and 2800 BC is called the Late Copper Age unlike in other European countries where the same period is known as the Late Neolithic, the Jungneolithikum/Spätneolithikum. The Baden complex is one of the dominant cultures of this long period, spanning almost a thousand years. In fact, early scholars of this period already sensed something of the cultures complexity since, for example, Josef Bayer, who excavated one of the very first Baden sites at Ossarn, called it a Mischkultur. Baden eclipses the average prehistoric archaeological culture not merely owing to its vast distribution from the Black Forest to the Black Sea and its long temporal sequence. Some prehistorians traced this cultural irradiation as far as Troy in Anatolia in the light of the anthropomorphic vessels found at Troy and zd, and the wagon models brought to light at Budakalsz. It has been suggested that the Baden culture can be linked to immigrants from Troy conversely, other prehistorians tend to highlight the cultures local roots in its emergence. In fact, the cultures cradle and the circumstances of its emergence are still unknown. The main problems in the study of this period are the lack of new, modern excavations and their assessment, and the unpublished old excavation materials. This was the territory where I hoped to activate myself. In the following, I shall briefly discuss my preliminary findings regarding the Hungarian sites analysed as part of my Lise Meitner scholarship. I made every effort to cover the entire territory of Hungary; however, bearing in mind that I only had two years at my disposal, I had to make a few compromises. I did not find any evaluable material in southern Transdanubia or in the countrys central region, in the Danube-Tisza interfluve. As an alternative, I undertook the critical review of the monographs on Pilismart and Budakalsz, the two cemeteries lying in this region. I assessed three new sites in the Szombathely area, in north- western Hungary bordering on the Burgenland, one site in Tatabnya in north-western Transdanubia, one site on the outskirts of Hdmezovsrhely in the southern Hungarian Plain, one site on the outskirts of Vmosgyörk in the piedmont area in the northern Hungarian Plain, and I also undertook the critical re-assessment of several already published sites in the Salgtarjn and zd areas as well as the assessment of a new site at Szurdokpüspöki in the countrys north-eastern region. These Hungarian sites are either well-known iconic sites of the Baden complex, which largely determined our perception of the culture, or are the key sites of a regional Baden group as defined by Jnos Banner, and thus play a prominent role in the study of a regions site network or in the critical review of a Baden group. As a result of my work during the past two years, I managed to identify the first, unique late Kostolc site in Hungary; I disproved the existence of the latest Baden phase (Phase IV) and of any connection between the Baden complex and Troy, and I was able to identify some general settlement patterns and correlations between settlements and cemeteries. The Austrian part of my research involved the assessment of a site in Burgenland (Unterloisdorf). A grant application for the assessment of an old excavation at Mödling Jennyberg as a Stand Alone Project is under reconsideration. I personally examined several significant Austrian Baden assemblages in the collections of various museums. The principal goal of the Austrian part of the project was to identify groups or pottery styles, if any, within classical Baden as had been done by Jnos Banner for Hungary, and to describe and correlate them with the Hungarian groups/styles both chronologically and regionally. In the wake of my personal examination of the relevant material, I can confidently claim that there were regional groups or variants in Austrian Baden too, similarly as in Hungary. The greatest challenge is to clarify their characteristic traits and the boundaries of their distribution however, this is currently impossible because of the unpublished material. One of the most urgent tasks of future research is the full assessment and publication of the excavated sites, beginning with the older ones (such as MödlingJennyberg), followed by the larger sites investigated during modern excavations (e.g. Ratzersdorf, Sitzenberg, Wangheim, etc.). Without fresh data, we can but merely repeat what we already know since 1928, the date of Josef Bayers first basic publication, even if using different words.