Ottomány culture
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Geographical range | Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Poland |
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Period | Bronze Age |
Dates | 2100-1400 BC |
Preceded by | Nyírség culture, Hatvan culture, Coțofeni culture |
Followed by | Tumulus culture, Urnfield culture |
The Ottomány culture, also known as Otomani culture in Romania or Otomani-Füzesabony culture in Hungary, was an early Bronze Age culture (c. 2100–1400 BC) in Central Europe named after the eponymous site near the village of Ottomány (Romanian: Otomani), today part of Sălacea, located in modern-day Bihor County, Romania. The Middle Bronze Age period of the Ottomány culture in eastern Hungary and western Romania (c. 1750 BC to 1400 BC) is also known as the Gyulavarsánd culture.[1]
Territorial extent
The Ottomány culture was located in eastern
Habitat, settlements, housing and material culture
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Gora_Zyndrama_1.jpg/220px-Gora_Zyndrama_1.jpg)
People belonging to this vast culture settled along river banks and in valleys but also on strategic places like mountain passes and hills used for mighty fortified settlements. Some places like caves and natural springs were used for cult activities. This culture was contemporary with
The high cultural level is illustrated most by fortified settlements with highly advanced defensive architecture including ditches, stone walls, ramparts, towers and complicated gates protected by bastions, as well as by urbanistically organized houses (1, 2 or three rooms),
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Hajd%C3%BAs%C3%A1mson_type_sword.jpg/137px-Hajd%C3%BAs%C3%A1mson_type_sword.jpg)
According to Anthony (2007), chariotry spread westwards to the Ottomány culture from the Multi-cordoned ware culture.[5]
Mortuary rite
Burials were typically inhumations with the body in a flexed position in large flat cemeteries in direct vicinity of settlements, with different sides for men and women, at the final stages shifting towards bi-ritual rites, with more cremations, using
Collapse and legacy
The end of the Ottomány culture is connected with turbulent events at the end of Old Bronze Age in Central Europe, where there was a collapse of the whole "Old Bronze Age world" with its highly advanced culture of mighty hill-forts, rich burials, and trade over vast distances. The gradual decline in the number of fortified settlements, change of burial rites, and the decision of people to desert fortified settlements could have had several reasons, including the collapse of trade and exchange networks, the attacks of enemies, the internal
Gallery
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Reconstructed bronze dagger, axe and pendant
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Bronze battle-axe, Hungary, c. 1500 BC
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Bronze axe, Poland, c. 1650 BC
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Gold discs from Sacueni, Romania.[6]
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Gold hair ring, Slovakia, 1450 BC
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Pottery
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Pottery from Barca, Slovakia[7]
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Ceramic amphora, c. 1600 BC
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Bronze Age horse bridles[8]
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Horse bridle cheekpiece made from antler
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Chariot model, Arkaim museum
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Otomani fortified settlement, Romania
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Zyndram's Hill, Poland, with wall reconstruction
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Reconstructed houses, Trzcinica, Poland
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Reconstructed houses, Trzcinica, Poland
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Burial reconstruction
See also
- Bronze Age Europe
- Bronze Age in Romania
- Prehistory of Transylvania
- Bronze Age in Poland
- History of Slovakia - Bronze Age
- Wietenberg culture
- Vatya culture
- Monteoru culture
- Unetice culture
- Bronze Age Britain
- Argaric culture
- Sintashta culture
- Catacomb culture
- Aegean civilization
- History of Hungary - Bronze Age
References
- ^ Szeverényi, Vajk; Fischl, Klara (January 2013). "Transformations in the Carpathian Basin around 1600 BC". In Meller, Harald; Bertemes, Francois (eds.). 1600 – Cultural change in the shadow of the Thera-Eruption?. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt. pp. 355–371.
- ISBN 9638629185.
- ^ "Hajdúsámson hoard". Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. 2022.
- ^ "Hajdúsámson sword, Hungary, 1700-1600 BC".
- ISBN 9780691148182.
Chariotry spread west through the Ukrainian steppe MVK [Mnogovalikovaya] culture into southeastern Europe's Monteoru (phase Icl-Ib), Vatin, and Otomani cultures
- ISBN 978-3-939414-28-5.
Etwa in die gleiche Zeit gehören auch der ur-sprünglich acht gewölbte Goldscheiben umfassende Gold-fund aus der Siedlung von Sacueni (Zickelhid/Székelyhid) sowie eine gleichartige Goldscheibe aus der Tellsiedlung von Varsand-Laposhalom, die beide der Gyulavarsánd-Otomani-Kultur zuzuordnen sind. English translation: "The gold find from the settlement of Sacueni, originally comprising eight domed gold discs, and a similar gold disc from the tell settlement of Varsand-Laposhalom, both belong to the Gyulavarsánd-Otomani culture.
- ^ Gimbutas, M. (1965). Bronze Age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. pp. Plate 29.
- ^ "Tell cultures of the Early and Middle Bronze Age, p. 143" (PDF). HUNGARIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM (2003).
- N. Boroffka, Die Wietenberg-Kultur. Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung der Bronzezeit in Südosteuropa. Universitätsforschungen zur Prähistorischen Archäologie 19. Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH (Bonn 1994).
- http://arheologie.ulbsibiu.ro/publicatii/bibliotheca/cauce2/8%20w.htm This link is by pure laymen giving no scientific sources at all.
Bronze Age culture in Transylvania, Central Romania
- Die prähistorische Ansiedlung auf dem "Wietenberg" bei Sighisoara-Schässburg [Gebundene Ausgabe]
- European Societies in the Bronze Age. A. F. Harding. Cambridge 2000. ISBN 0521367298
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Bronze Age Hungary - Images and text
- The Bronze Age - Hungarian National Museum
- Hungarian archaeology at the turn of the Millennium
- Transformations in the Carpathian Basin around 1600 BC (Fischl et al. 2013)
- The stone fortifications of the settlement at Spišský Štvrtok. A contribution to the discussion on the long-distance contacts of the Otomani-Füzesabony culture
- The Early Bronze Age Stone Fortifications of the Maszkowice Hillfort (Polish Carpathians)
- Prehistoric wagon models in the Carpathian Basin (3500-1500 BC) (Bondar 2012)
- Wagon model, Hungary, 2100-1900 BCE, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World