The Path of a Late Bronze Age »Warrior« – The Selection of Weapons in Transdanubian Scrap Hoards: Rinyaszentkirály (Somogy County/H) and Keszőhidegkút (Tolna County/H)

Tarbay, János Gábor (2021) The Path of a Late Bronze Age »Warrior« – The Selection of Weapons in Transdanubian Scrap Hoards: Rinyaszentkirály (Somogy County/H) and Keszőhidegkút (Tolna County/H). In: Ancient Weapons. New Perspectives on Weapons and Warfare. Proceedings of the International Conference - Mainz, September 20th-21th 2019. Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum, Mainz, pp. 91-144.

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Abstract

The study discusses biographical possibilities of weapon selection in Late Bronze Age Transdanubia (Western Hungary) on the examples of two hoards. One was found in Rinyaszentkirály (Somogy County / H) and conventionally dated to the Ha A1 period, the other is originating from Keszőhidegkút (Tolna County / H) and it can be identified as a multiperiod assemblage. The main goal of the study was the characterization of weapon selection in these assemblages based on the evaluation of craft, use-wear and manipulation traces observed by macro-photographs and microscopecamera images, and the comparison of these observations with previous experimental, archaeometrical, and usewear data. This work allowed to gain »fragments of information« on the object’s »generalized« prehistoric and modern biography and identify weapons with potentially »specific« prehistoric life-paths. Based on our results, the Rinyaszentkirály hoard belongs to an exclusive category of Late Bronze Age weapon equipment. It was a personal set (greave, metal-hilted sword, spearhead) of an individual with high social status. All objects were used, and at least two of them could have had a specific biography. All weapons were intentionally destroyed and manipulated. The weapons in the Keszőhidegkút hoard could represent complex sets that belonged to multiple local individuals who were part- or full-time combatants. The use-wear analysis revealed that these weapons were indeed applied in combat, some were intensively used, repaired, and maintained for a long period of time. During the act of deposition, these weapons were broken into pieces, probably by plastic deformation. The selection of these large scrap hoards followed a pars pro toto concept, they are highly structured regarding the types, technological traits, treatment and symbolic meaning of the objects. They may have been ritual offerings by several individuals or even by an entire community during some crucial life-cycle events. The weapon sets and their associative elements reflected the »combatant« or »warrior« identities within these groups.

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