Radiocarbon Dating Bronze Age Graves from the Burial Ground at Florești–Polus Center (Cluj County), Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 7, 2025, p. 7–14.
The brief report presents a new Late Bronze Age metal-hilted sword with a cup-shaped pommel, discovered in a concrete crusher at the former site of Kis & Társa Ltd in Budafok (Budapest, HU) in 2008. The damaged artefact likely originated from the Danube River, as indicated by riverine sediment and gravel adhering to its surface. Use-wear analysis revealed that it had been deposited in an originally intact state, while the notches along its cutting edge are of modern origin. The style of the motifs on the cup-shaped pommel and the formal characteristics of the weapon’s hilt and blade suggest that it was produced during the Ha B1 phase.
Radiocarbon Dating Bronze Age Graves from the Burial Ground at Florești–Polus Center (Cluj County), Marisia. Archaeologia-Historia-Patrimonium 7, 2025, p. 15–25.
Six cremation burials were selected for radiocarbon dating from the burial ground located in sector K6 at the site of Florești–Polus Center (Szászfenes, Cluj County, RO). This data provides valuable, preliminary insights into the chronological framing of a major archaeological field research in Transylvania, which has been pending publication for the past two decades. More importantly, the association of certain types of vessels with metal finds offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap of relative chronology between the two types of archaeological find-groups.
The paper revisits an old hoard from Szentes-Nagyhegy (Csongrád-Csanád County, Hungary). As one of the ‘workshop hoards’ dated to the Ha B1 period, this assemblage provides a case study to elaborate on different casting defect types and the technological classification of hoarded objects associated with metallurgy. Our results suggest that the hoard consists of different types of unusable or unfinished ingots and as-casts, as well as various finished products without observable use-wear traces, and with micro-wear traces or repair marks that suggest heavy wear. Almost all the finds were deposited in an intentionally fragmented state.
