copper yoked-ox statuette from the lisková cave (northern slovakia)

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An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave (northern Slovakia) Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová e Liskovská cave is situated in the Mních Mountain near Ružomberok, Liptov region (northern Slovakia). e site was discovered as early as 1871 by Béla Majláth, yet scientific research is still lacking. Evidence there of cult activity in the form of a copper statuttee and a secondary burial is ascribed to the Aeneolithic period. ere is no doubt that the Liskovská cave was an ancient cemetery; specific ritual ceremonies were practiced. Unique is the copper animal statuette that represents part of a group of twin- yoked oxen. is artefact is amonst the earliest evidence for animal traction in Europe. e cave’s occupation level associated with the copper figurine is dated to the end of the Lengyel culture, i.e. the first half of the 4th millennium BC. Keywords: Liskovská cave, Aeneolithic, copper objects, sacred place, cult figure, evidence of animal traction I n 1993 a small copper statuette of an ox was discovered during a speleological survey of the Liskovská cave (distr. Ružomberok, Liptov region). A preliminary report was written by J. Bárta (1995) who correctly dated the statuette to the Aeneolithic period; however, he assigned it to the Baden culture. Since other significant archaeological finds have been obtained from the Liskovská cave recent years it is possible to evaluate this unique find in the light of new facts. Site characterization and find circumstances e Liskovská cave lies at the foothill of the Choč Mountain in the western part of the Liptov basin (Fig. 1). It is situated on the eastern promontory of the Mních hill (695 m), north from the village of Lisková (okr. Ružomberok). Its underground space resulted from geological and tectonic processes in the so-called Guttenstein limestones in which the river Váh played a significant part. e cave system and passages covers an area of approximately 120 x 100 m, while the measured length extends for 4200 m. e cave in spite of its accessible location is not suitable for settlement because of high humidity and the steep gradient of most passages. e main entrance is exposed to the south and thus it is possible to observe an area of several kilometres. e site has been known from the literature thanks to the fact that in the year 1871 the first speleoloarchaeological research in Hungary was carried out in the cave (Majláth 1874). Its main result was the find of a human skull allegedly with archaic features, which was assumed to be the first anthropological Paleolithic find in Hungary for some time. Later excavations by the Hungarian geologist L. Lóczy revealed further significant facts about the exploitation of this important site (Lóczy 1877). However, thanks to the resultant publicity it has been surveyed illegally as well as by authorities of various scientific branches (Lalkovič 2007). According to our current state of knowledge, it is known that in spite of long-lasting debate concerning the possible Paleolithic settlement (Bárta 1955), the oldest exploitation of this site in fact dates only to the Early Aeneolithic period. e following chronological horizons are represented by remnants from the Early and Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age – Hallstatt, Late Iron Age – La Tène and Late Roman period up to the beginning of the Migration period. Sporadic finds come from the Later Middle Ages and the recent historic period. From the analysis of data obtained so far it can be assumed that the Liskovská cave was not an ordinary settlement, but an important sacral site where cult rites took place in the course of several historical periods (Struhár Soják 2009). For the present, the only scientific explored stratified find wose find circumstances can be assured, is the cult feature dated to the Aeneolithic and discovered in the central part of the cave in 1997. In a rocky niche separated from other space by a rocky partition 16 individuals of various age and sex were buried. Accompanying objects made it possible to date the find to the Early Aeneolithic, or to the so-called Epi-

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Struhár,V.-Soják,M-Kučerová,M: An Aeneolithic Copper Yoked-Ox statuette from the Lisková Cave (Northern Slovakia). In: P.Kalábková/ B.Kovár/P.Pavúk/ J.Šuteková (eds.): PANTA RHEI. Studies in Chronology and Cultural Development of the South-Eastern and Central Europe in Earlier Prehistory Presented to Juraj Pavúk on the Occasion of his 75. Birthday. Studia Archaeologica et Mediaevalia 9. Bratislava 2010, 449-467.

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Page 1: Copper Yoked-Ox statuette from the Lisková Cave (Northern Slovakia)

An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave (northern Slovakia)

Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

The Liskovská cave is situated in the Mních Mountain near Ružomberok, Liptov region (northern Slovakia). The site was discovered as early as 1871 by Béla Majláth, yet scientific research is still lacking. Evidence there of cult activity in the form of a copper statuttee and a secondary burial is ascribed to the Aeneolithic period. There is no doubt that the Liskovská cave was an ancient cemetery; specific ritual ceremonies were practiced. Unique is the copper animal statuette that represents part of a group of twin- yoked oxen. This artefact is amonst the earliest evidence for animal traction in Europe. The cave’s occupation level associated with the copper figurine is dated to the end of the Lengyel culture, i.e. the first half of the 4th millennium BC.

Keywords: Liskovská cave, Aeneolithic, copper objects, sacred place, cult figure, evidence of animal traction

In 1993 a small copper statuette of an ox was discovered during a speleological survey of the Liskovská cave (distr. Ružomberok, Liptov region). A preliminary report was written by J. Bárta (1995) who correctly

dated the statuette to the Aeneolithic period; however, he assigned it to the Baden culture. Since other significant archaeological finds have been obtained from the Liskovská cave recent years it is possible to evaluate this unique find in the light of new facts.

Site characterization and find circumstances

The Liskovská cave lies at the foothill of the Choč Mountain in the western part of the Liptov basin (Fig. 1). It is situated on the eastern promontory of the Mních hill (695 m), north from the village of Lisková (okr. Ružomberok). Its underground space resulted from geological and tectonic processes in the so-called Guttenstein limestones in which the river Váh played a significant part. The cave system and passages covers an area of approximately 120 x 100 m, while the measured length extends for 4200 m. The cave in spite of its accessible location is not suitable for settlement because of high humidity and the steep gradient of most passages. The main entrance is exposed to the south and thus it is possible to observe an area of several kilometres.

The site has been known from the literature thanks to the fact that in the year 1871 the first speleoloarchaeological research in Hungary was carried out in the cave (Majláth 1874). Its main result was the find of a human skull allegedly with archaic features, which was assumed to be the first anthropological Paleolithic find in Hungary for some time. Later excavations by the Hungarian geologist L. Lóczy revealed further significant facts about the exploitation of this important site (Lóczy 1877). However, thanks to the resultant publicity it has been surveyed illegally as well as by authorities of various scientific branches (Lalkovič 2007).

According to our current state of knowledge, it is known that in spite of long-lasting debate concerning the possible Paleolithic settlement (Bárta 1955), the oldest exploitation of this site in fact dates only to the Early Aeneolithic period. The following chronological horizons are represented by remnants from the Early and Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age – Hallstatt, Late Iron Age – La Tène and Late Roman period up to the beginning of the Migration period. Sporadic finds come from the Later Middle Ages and the recent historic period. From the analysis of data obtained so far it can be assumed that the Liskovská cave was not an ordinary settlement, but an important sacral site where cult rites took place in the course of several historical periods (Struhár – Soják 2009).

For the present, the only scientific explored stratified find wose find circumstances can be assured, is the cult feature dated to the Aeneolithic and discovered in the central part of the cave in 1997. In a rocky niche separated from other space by a rocky partition 16 individuals of various age and sex were buried. Accompanying objects made it possible to date the find to the Early Aeneolithic, or to the so-called Epi-

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450 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

Fig. 1. The Liskovská cave, okr. Ružomberok – discovery site.

Fig. 2. The copper yoked ox statuette from Liskovská cave.

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451An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

Lengyel complex (Struhár 1998; 1999). At the present time the material from previous researches as well as from individual surveys is being examined scientifically while results are being published in stages in scientific literature.

The statuette in question (Fig. 2; 3) was found during the speleological research on the surface of sediments excavated by amateurs near the northern entrance into the so-called Jánošík hall situated in the central level of the cave system. In spite of a later thorough survey of the surrounding area with a metal detector no further accompanying finds were uncovered. However, the statuette was found at a distance of only about 1-2 meters from the place where the Late Stone Age cult object was revealed four years later.

Find description

The miniature statuette measures 48 mm from the tail to the horn tips. The animal has a slim conical neck, massive horns pointing ahead, while the tip of the left horn is slightly raised. The span of horns is 20 mm, their length is 13 mm. The musculature on the back and the rear flanks of the body is delicately stressed; short rod-shaped legs and a short tail protrude from the body. In the oval abdomen there is a transversal aperture with a diameter of 5 mm. The front part is demonstrated only by a conical lip without a hint of facial features. A cylindrical projection with a round cross-section terminated with straight cut edge sticks out from behind the animal head (length 15 mm, diameter 4 mm). The statuette has an even green patina.

It can be assumed that such a precisely modelled statuette was cast by the so called lost-wax process. There were no traces of veins observed on our statuette - they could have been placed for example at any projection (legs, horns, tail) so that it was not necessary to remove them. In the case of conjoined animals cast together, the inlets could have been placed right in the middle of the yoke.

In order to determine its chemical composition the object was analyzed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) using the ADX method (detection of characteristic X-ray radiation of elements) in the International Laser Centre in Bratislava. The resultant spectra (Fig. 4; 5) show that the object was made of pure copper without other (added metal) alloys. Analysis also points to the presence of oxygen. However, by using this method of analysis it was neither possible to estimate its percentage nor if it was present in a state of loose molecular O

2 or as Cu

2O. The presence of oxygen in the analyzed sample could explain the fragility

of the product and in fact during the preparation of the sample for analysis the object was dropped and broke in two. Oxygen even in small amounts reduces the malleability of copper and increases its fragility.

The function of the statuette

At first sight one observes the robust horns facing ahead. On the basis of the horn profile this individual can be zoologically determined as representing longhorn wild cattle (Bos sp. – primigenius or Bos primigenius Bojanus). Although its maker might have been inspired by the wild species it may have been intended to represent the domesticated Bos primigenius f. Taurus particularly I view of its role as a draft animal. This is confirmed by the manner of depiction of the scull of the animal. There is an elevated goitre between the horns in the area of protuberantia intercornualis. This would be less distinct in the case of wild cattle (Peške

Fig. 3. The copper yoked ox statue from Liskovská cave.

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452 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

Fig. 4. Broken area of ox statuette. Point of microanalysis (focus 80x).

Fig. 5. EDX chemistry spectrum of ox statue.

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453An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

1985, 435). A cylindrical projection (length 15 mm, diameter 4 mm) protruding from behind the head can by explained as a remnant of a horn-shaped yoke that formerly joined two animals into a team (Fig. 6). This type of yoke probably represents the original manner of cattle harnessing and it represents the optimum method of transfer of traction power by the harnessing of two individuals (Peške 1985, 436–437).

A technological evaluation of the ‘Liskovská ox’ is very similar to that of two oxen from the site of Bytyń, pow. Poznań in Poland (Pieczyński 1985). Both animals were originally joined with a yoke at the nape (‘Nackenjoch’). This piece was supposedly broken during excavations at the site. Another common feature connecting both finds is a circular aperture in the abdomen, in the case of our find it is relatively larger. Therefore it can be assumed that the aperture served for fastening the main shaft as it is usual right down to the present day. Remnants of the yoke and the aperture demonstrate that the statuette is a part of a team of two oxen drawing some object. Even if it is not clear what the second figure was – presumably one of the draft team - in order to reconstruct the original composition numerous analogies from archaeological finds of contemporary as well as later cultures can be cited. Copper models with a yoke are known from the area of Anatolia where pairs of oxen pull four-wheeled vehicles (Fig. 7). Technological hints can be offered by models from the area of the Alaca Hüyük culture (Nagel 1982; Littauer - Crouwell 1979, fig. 14, 15; 2002) and by another example coming probably from the site of Marash in eastern Anatolia (Piggott 1968, plate XX) which is similar in appearance as the paired yoke oxen from the Liskovská cave. As well as direct analogies for metal statuettes presenting cattle harnessed by a yoke we have also numerous two-dimensional representations (Fig. 8). For example, there are the rock engravings from the Wartburg megalithic tomb in Germany which depict highly stylized pairs of longhorn cattle joined by a yoke and which are dated back to the late Neolithic (Günther 1990, Abb. 6). Engraved motifs of a cattle team with a wagon come from another tomb discovered at Züschen in Hessen (Günther 1990, Abb. 7). From more distant lands are the iconographic presentations on the stone slabs of the Kamennaja Mogila in Russia which show not only a team with a wagon but also a second one, probably with a sledge (Günther 1990, Abb. 9). Ligurian rock engravings apparently showing a person driving a longhorn team pulling a plough are a little bit younger (Gandert 1966, Abb. 6; Anati 1994). From the Polish area of the Bell Beaker culture comes a stylized picture of a team with a four-wheeled vehicle incised on a sherd of a pottery vessel from Brononice. In addition to a picture of a wagon with a yoke there are square fields and a zig-zag pattern probably presenting the course of a river (Milisauskas – Kruk 1982).

From the above mentioned examples it is possible to conclude that the composition of a cattle team could have pulled a sledge, a plough, or a wagon (a four-wheeled vehicle is most likely for this period).

Fig. 6. Various ways of cattle harnessing joined with a yoke in the nape area (after: Gandert 1966; Peške 1985).

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454 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

Fig. 7. Similar copper and bronze models with paired oxen and a cart (after: Littauer – Crouwell 1979; 2002; Nagel 1982; Piggot 1968).

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455An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

When we consider analogies in copper or bronze statuettes all known finds with a yoke are linked to a four-wheeled vehicle. Evidence for similar collections of metal objects representing a team of two bullocks with a plough or with a sledge are missing from the general area discussed above. Therefore, we must suppose that the statuette of an ox from the Liskovská cave - and probably that from the Bytyń find - was originally a part of a group pulling a four-wheeled vehicle.

Chronology and cultural classification of the find

Taking into account that the Liskovská piece is an unstratified find none of the routine dating methods, such as radiocarbon analysis cannot be used for dating the artefact. The only way is to compare and classify it in connection with other finds coming from this site. Research of the cult feature itself has provided important information about the local Aeneolithic horizon. As to the ceramic material from the site the most significant shape was a slightly S-profiled vessel with a narrowed conical lower part. On the body there is decoration in the shape of a group of four flat projections (Struhár 1999, tab. 1: 2; 4). Analogies for this type of vessel can be found first of all in the Ludanice stage of the Lengyel culture. This and some other fragments of pottery coming from several passages n the cave system confirm that it was used by the Early Aeneolithic population of the late Lengyel culture. More precise dating within this final phase is not possible because of the small amount of representative material. Additional to distinctive late Lengyel material, foreign ceramic forms occurred at the site as represented by forms of the Ludanice group and other Epi-Lengyel groups. The find in question is a pot vessel with a funnel-shaped neck and a plastic finger impressed ledge in the upper third of its height and a vessel of the same tape with finger impressed rim and a chainlet-shaped ledge below the rim (Struhár 1999, Tab.1: 1, 6, 9). Similar forms can be found in several contemporary Early Aeneolithic cultures but it is not possible to identify them clearly.

Thus the most important chronological data were provided by the assemblage of copper objects. A small copper spiral adornment with pendant was found inside the cult feature, in the hearth layer below the skeletal remnants was (Struhár 1999, tab. 1: 7). The small spiral with a diameter of 11 mm was made of a 1,5 mm copper wire. The range of copper artefacts from the cult feature was complemented by finds of other metal artefacts in the course of further excavations in the later years. In 1999 two fragments identical with the spiral earring (‘Lockenring’/‘Hakenspirale’) but without pendants were found (Fig. 9: 1, 2). An exceptional specimen is represented by a large spiral ornament with five coils, large pendant with a loop (Fig. 9: 6). An identical specimen with an open spiral (Fig. 9: 7). A copper wire with one end rolled into a loop found in the surroundings of a stone ring forming part of the cult feature is obviously part of the same type of artefact (Fig. 9: 8). Finally, amongst the metal artefacts there is also a hook and a copper spiral tube (Fig. 9: 4, 5).

All the above-mentioned objects come from the same chronological horizon. On the basis of the known parallels the ‘Hakenspirale’ types of spiral adornments are termed as earrings (‘Lockenringe’) of the ‘Hlinsko’ type, named after to the site of Hlinsko in Morava (Pavelčík 1979), This site comprised a hoard of copper ornaments in a pot including two spiral earrings (‘Lockenringe’) with a high looped hook and spectacle-like clasp consisting of two connected spiral rosettes. The first three artefacts from the Liskovská cave with three coils (Fig. 9: 1-3) belong to smaller variants and forms of the short pendants are similar to the earrings (‘Lockenringe’) known from the cemetery of Vukovar. The only difference is the double coil number (Kalicz 1982, Fig.5). The size of two adornments is unusual – the one with five coils and a beak–shaped end of a loop in the inside of the spiral rosette and the second one obviously identical with unwound rosette (Fig. 9: 6, 7).

Unlike most of known artefacts of this type these last two mentioned pieces are incomparably larger than the norm. The pendant of the complete earring runs around almost the whole circumference of the opposite side of the winding whereas other published earrings with preserved pendants have the termination of the pendant reaching no further than to the level of external winding. Specific is also the loop preserved in the curve of the pendant, which is probably a remnant of some other ornament or pendant. Such adornments turned out only at two sites in Slovakia. The first find of a deformed spiral with a pendant comes from a ritual pit with a pot with deeply incised ‘stab and drag’ decoration from the settlement of Bajč-Vlkanovo (Točík 1964, 32, Tab. 20: 9). The second piece, unfortunately without known find circumstances was found

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456 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

Fig. 8. Development pattern of yoked oxen based on engravings from Neolithic and Aeneolithic sites (after: Gandert 1966; Günther 1990).

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457An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

also in the cave of Dzeravá skala near Plavecký Mikuláš (okr. Malacky). The key settlement of this site coincides with the end of Ludanice stage (Lengyel IVb) of the Late Lengyel culture and possibly represents a long-term period of occupation (Farkaš 2005, 71).

On the basis of the most recent discussion of the material, it can be stated that the occurrence of spiral earrings of Hlinsko type is not connected with any one culture area. The geographical area of their occurrence is confined by Slavonia on the southeast, it crosses north Moravia towards Switzerland to the north-east and it is concentrated mainly in the eastern Alpine region and the surrounding area (Matuschik 1996, 9, Abb. 10); it in fact coincides with the occurrence of pendants of Stollhof type (Pavelčík 1979, 330). According to Pavelčík (1979, 329) these spiral ornaments appear for the first time in the late phase of the Early Aeneolithic in the Balaton II/III - Lasinja II - Bajč-Retz-Křepice - Jevišovice C2 - Lengyel IV/V horizon - in other words, in the period preceding the very beginning of the Middle Aeneolithic as represented already in the Middle Danubian region by the Boleráz stage of the Baden culture. Even if the beginning of production and use of these adornments can be dated to the end of the Danubian Epi-Lengyel complex it seems that in most of other cases these adornments are connected with several cultural groups in which ‘Furchenstich-Keramik’ occurs as represented by the Bajč-Retz-Gajary, Mondsee, ‘TRB’ culture

Fig. 9. Metal artefacts from the Copper age horizont in Liskovská cave.

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458 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

and contemporary cultures in the eastern Alpine region. Here rich ore deposits are also situated containing trace elements which correspond with the composition of copper in the artefacts dioscussed here (Matuschik 1996, 10). It is interesting that in several cases ‘Hakenspirale’ turn out in features with a mixed inventory (‘gemischte Gruppe’) as E. Ruttkay claims (Ruttkay 2004) on the grounds of the presence of a spiral earring (‘Lockenring’) from one pit at the settlement at Purbach near the Neusidler See.

The ceramic material was of heterogeneous character. It comprised components of the Lengyel culture as well as pottery decorated with deeply incised ‘stab and drag’ ornament. Absolute 14C dating made it possible to date the rise of the feature with its ‘Hakenspirale’ around 3800 BC. According to Ruttkay typical spiral adornments of the Hlinsko type occur in the Moravian and the Lower Danubian TRB cultures in horizon IA/Božice-Olgersdorf around the year 4000 BC virtually contemporary with the oldest occurrence of the mixed ‘Furchenstich’ group. The basis of this mixed group is clearly formed by the Epi-Lengyel horizon (Ruttkay 2004, 151–152). The youngest artefacts appear with the start of the Boleráz group of the Middle Aeneolithic as confirmed by the find of a spiral fragment of an earring in Grave 4 at Náměšte na Hané (okr. Olomouc). Pottery from this grave is characteristic of stage IIa of the TRB culture which is contemporary with phase stage Ia of the Baden culture in the Carpathian Basin (Šmíd 1998). In the total area of their distribution the correlation of archaeological sources with 14C dating and dendrochronological dating points to approximately 400-500 years for the use of spiral earrings (‘Lockenringe’) (Ruttkay 2004, 151). These facts correspond with the data obtained from the settlement of the East Alpine Pfyn culture where the existence of local settlement in the years 3659-3584 BC has been proved also by dendrochronological dating (Waterbolk – Van Zeist 1991, 27 ff.). We are therefore dealing with a relatively precisely well-defined time period between the end of the Epi-Lengyel group and the rise of the Baden culture in a wider European zone occupied by various cultural groups also marked by a number of metallurgical groups (Zápotocký 2000 – see also further literature cited here). But the final horizon of production of ‘Hakenspirale’ does not extend beyond the Boleráz phase of the Baden culture at the beginning of the Middle Aeneolithic. The assemblage from the Liskovská cave so far contains in total five to six spiral earrings but together with another example

Fig. 10. EDX chemistry spectrum of spiral earing.

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459An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

currently missing piece - probably the same artefact found during Lóczy’s excavations (Lóczy 1878, 47) - at least eight artefacts come from this site. Regarding the total distribution of the type this is the biggest collection of spiral earrings so far found at a single site.

The Aeneolithic horizon in the Liskovská cave contains also two other copper objects that deserve attention. These are a spiral tube rolled up of a wire with circular cross-section (Fig. 9: 4) and an artefact reminding one of a fish-hook (Fig. 9: 5). Spiral tubes, supposedly strung on a string are relatively frequent in cultures of the Late Neolithic and the Aeneolithic and apart from other cultures they are present also in the Ludanice group (Pavúk – Bátora 1995, Abb. 44: 2) but cannot be more accurately dated. The copper object with a bent and pointed end which initially was interpreted as a fishing-hook, is broken at just that point where a suspension loop was supposed to have existed. On the basis of similar finds from the Alpine Mondsee culture - where also spiral earrings occur - we can with confidence state that the object from the Liskovská cave indeed served as a fish-hook (Obereder – Pernicka – Ruttkay 1993, Abb. 2).

Thus, material from Liskovská cave that falls into the Late Stone Age comes from a single horizon even if the site was repeatedly settled over a long period. It can be clearly stated that this horizon occupied a time span between the end of the Lengyel culture complex (Epi-Lengyel) and the beginning of the Boleráz phase of the Baden culture. In other words, this is the period in which pottery decorated with deeply incised ‘stab and drag’ ornament occurs and characteristic copper ornaments are produced, for example spiral earrings of the Hlinsko type, circular flat pendants (Stollhof, Tibava, Varna, and other types), spectacle clasps, tube-formed diadems, and also typical forms of tools such as hammer-axes, flat axes and knives. (Pavelčík 1979, 334; obr. 9). The flat copper axes of the Altheim type, as well as narrow chisels are certainly characteristic of this horizon as is evidenced by the common occurrence of this form of tool together with spiral adornments, probably of the Hlinsko type found in a disturbed cemetery in Przysiecz, pow. Opole (Kurtz 1928; Łęczycki 2004, ryc. 4).

To summarise, the copper statuette of an ox from the Liskovská cave can also be ascribed to the Aeneolithic horizon. In spite of the absence of find circumstances we can support this statement with the following arguments:

1) Fully evaluated material from closed contexts in the Liskovská cave has produced evidence of Aeneolithic settlement exclusively from one time horizon a horizon to which all the above-mentioned finds belong. Even if there are several settlements of the late Baden culture in the vicinity of the Liskovská cave (the Ózd-Piliny group) and there are also cave sites in the Liptov region (Struhár 2001a), no archaeological remnants from this time span of the Late Stone Age have been yet evidenced from our site.

2) The situation where the copper statuette was found is almost identical with that of a later find from the cult feature. Both locations were placed at a distance of 2m and were situated in remote chambers difficult of access some 70 m from the entrance where we must presume were the most suitable conditions for practicing funeral and other cult ceremonies.

3) The metallographic analysis also supports the contemporary dating of the animal statuette and of other finds. Comparison with the spectrum of the spiral earring (Fig. 10) has proved that it is composed exclusively of copper - the presence of trace elements could not be determined. In contrast, the statuette of an ox reveals no presence of oxygen. This fact could also explain its pliable characteristics resulting in its not being broken due to bending and separation of an analyzed specimen from the spiral adornment. It can be stated that in both cases (statuette and the earring) the artefacts were produced of pure copper without additives and impurities and their intentional or accidental alloying in a form of any type of bronze is excluded. Dissimilar mechanical behaviour and the difference in presence or absence of oxygen in the specimen of the statuette hints at the possibility that the other products could have been produced by a different technological method (casting or drawing, forging).

4) From the point of view of culture-historical coherence the Liskovská statuette, which demonstrates cattle harnessed to a yoke, corresponds to comparable finds of the same type from several sites in Europe and Asia. These symbolic as well as naturalistic representations date the oldest horizon contemporary with the spread of knowledge of the yoke into the earliest agricultural cultures.

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460 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

The animal statuette from the Liskovská cave in the context of the oldest evidence for harness in the European prehistory

The question of the invention of the wheel, a vehicle and harness has been frequent in the literature in recent years. New evidence about the usage of this technological innovation by European Neolithic and Aeneolithic cultures still occurs. The first application of the traction power of animals and variety of its usage was undoubtedly an advanced phenomenon with regard to the historical development of prehistoric society. As to its relative importance, it was comparable to the transition from the way of life of hunters to that of sedentary peasants. As for the complex transformations in the transition from the New to the Late Stone Age the late Andrew Sherratt developed a thesis of ‘The Secondary Products Revolution’ (Sherratt 1981). While in the preceding Neolithic period animals provided only primary products (meat, leather, bones, horn) which required their physical destruction, with the Aeneolithic there developed a secondary utilization by way of renewable resources provided by living animals– milk and the processing of milk products, the processing of sheep wool and the utilization of the traction power of large animals. Exploitation of living animals - cattle above all - for traction was an important innovation in several ways. Due to the using of arable implements and harness agricultural production was intensified and a storable surplus of food was produced which in the end resulted in the rise of a socially differentiated patriarchal society. On the other hand, harness in connection with a four-wheeled vehicle increased mobility of Aeneolithic people. This also had a significant impact on agricultural production – for example, faster harvesting of field crops, more effective transport to basic settlements (see: further here Bogucki 1993). In addition, a cattle-drawn wheeled cart obviously contributed to acceleration of the process of ‘Indoeuropesation’ as well as stimulatomg long-distance trade and the development of copper and bronze metallurgy.

Opinions on the origin and the spread of harness in its various modifications - for the plough, wagon, and sledge - vary (Fansa – Burmeister 2004; Görmer 2008; Häusler 1994). One group of scholars inclines to the principle of diffusion, expansion from the point of primary origin in Mesopotamia and the subsequent penetration as far as to Central and Western Europe (Childe 1954; Maran 1998, 520–521), other scholars assume a simultaneous autochthonous development in several centres (Bakker et al. 1999). There is no doubt that the invention of harness extended very quickly in the course of the fourth millennium B.C. (more precisely in the first half of the 4th millennium) in a wide region spreading from Mesopotamia through the Balkans, Caucasus, the Carpathian Basin and as far as the Alps and to the north virtually as far as to the Baltic Sea. In the context of European cultures knowledge of harness and of wheeled vehicles occurs for the first time already in the time of the Late Neolithic. Surprisingly however this not occur inside the cultural zone that would have had closest contact with the centres of civilization in Anatolia and Mesopotamia - in the Balkans and in the south of the Carpathian basin and in a border settlement area where the TRB culture developed together with other contemporary communities. Among most significant evidence are the traces of a wheeled vehicle (most likely pulled by a pair of oxen) in the megalithic tomb in Flintbek in Northern Germany (Zich 2007), as well as traces of probably ritual ploughing uncovered under the tomb in Březno near Louny in Bohemia (Pleinerová 1981). Remnants of furrows presumably produced by a drought coupling have been observed in several sites in Denmark, England, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, and Poland in many cases in connection with the TRB culture (Vosteen 1996, 34–38). Most of the evidence of harness dates back to the fourth millennium B.C. (Vosteen 1996, Tab. 9). As for the existence of the four-wheeled vehicle we have enough evidence in the form of direct finds of wooden wheels and shafts (Vosteen 1996, 21–31) as well as in the form of engravings in megalithic tombs (Günther 1990) or pottery models (Milisauskas – Kruk 1982; Uzarowiczova 1975). Most distinctive source of explanation for the spread of knowledge of the use of harness and the wagon to the Carpathian basin and Central Europe are represented by finds of clay models of wagons and wheels, the number of which has increased especially in recent years. They are known especially from the region of the Central European Baden culture. In addition to the well-known models of wagons from the classic phase of the Baden culture from Budakalász and Szigetszentmárton, new finds have turned up in Austria and Hungary. Associated finds and depositional circumstances convincingly prove that the invention of wagon and harness in this region can be dated to at least the beginning of the Baden culture in its Boleráz stage (Bondár 2004; Kovács 2006; Němejcová-Pavúková – Bárta 1977).

On the grounds of the latest results of 14C estimations in correlation with dendrochronological data the depiction of harness on the vessel from Bronocice is considered to be the oldest proof of the existence of

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461An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

draft animals (Milisauskas – Kruk 1982; Bakker et al. 1999). The calibration curve for the dates obtained from the feature containing the incised pot points at a date of 3637-3373 BC. The artefact comes from the Bronocice III horizon in which Boleráz elements occur. Absolute dates for the Boleráz group now fall into the range between 3600-3400 BC; this is confirmed also by synchronization with dendrochronological data from contemporary cultures in the Alpine region (Stadler et al. 2001, Tab. 17). In view of these re4sults, it can be not be definitely excluded that the pot from Bronocice does not belong to the same period at the beginning of the Boleráz stage of the Baden culture as the contemporary finds of pottery wagon models in the Carpathian Basin and the Middle Danube (Bondár 2004) as well as numerous cases of ploughing traces or wheeled harness and wheel in the TRB culture in the West and Northern Europe (Vosteen 1996). Considering the form of the ox from the Liskovská cave and its find circumstances, closest is the find of paired oxen from Bytyń associated with a hoard of copper flat axes (Kopacz – Tunia 1978; Pieczyński 1985). In the past, this last were not dated unambiguously even if the whole hoard has usually been connected with the TRB culture. According to the newest analysis of the types and the comparison with analogous hoards with the same form of axes of the ‘Altheim’ and ‘Bytyń’ form from other Polish sites it is possible to date the whole assembly with the Luboň phase of the TRB culture and the Boleráz phase of the Baden culture (Łęczycki 2004).

The often discussed finds from Bronocice and Bytyń, as well as other evidence of harness in the territory of the Funnelbeaker (TRB) culture, the Boleráz and the classical phase of the Baden culture and other contemporary cultures represent the period when the invention of harness was wholly established in early agricultural society; in various forms harness penetrated the economy, art as well as cult practices. However, it is notable that this technological invention spread in a very short period of time – in fact in the course of several centuries – in such a broad territory while finds proving its utilization are concentrated in the above-mentioned border area of the Northern and the Central Europe. In this connection the question arises if this cultural milieu was not itself together with other regions - the Near East and Mesopotamia - one of the centres where the four-wheeled vehicle with a harness was originally invented (Bakker et al. 1999). Considering the generally accepted delay of penetration of cultural changes in prehistoric times from the south to the north one may take into account another possibility – that some preceding cultures in the Carpathian Basin could have already been familiar with harness and eventually the wagon and that from this it was taken over by succeeding cultures – first of all, the Baden culture and then the TRB culture. In this period and in this region it is now considered that the Lengyel culture formed the base on which later cultures and cultural groups connected with the Middle Aeneolithic developed. This thesis is supported by some new finds from the territory under discussion.

The possibility of the use of traction power using animals in the Aeneolithic phase of the Lengyel culture has been put forward by J. Dombay (1960, 103) on the ground of demographic analysis of the cemetery of Zengővárkony. According to him it was only possible to supply such an extensive settlement complex with food through the use of a harness and arable economy. Even if direct proof from the territory of the Lengyel culture is missing, certainly the possibility of utilization of cattle as draft animal as early as this culture is suggested by the early finds from the end of the fifth and the beginning of the fourth millennium. One example is the find of a wooden yoke from Egolzwil, in the territory of the Cortaillod culture; there is also for example indirect proof of castration of male cattle individuals (Vosteen 1996, 79 nn). More important are the two newest finds of wheels which document the knowledge of the wagon and thus also harness already in the time of the Lengyel culture. First is the find of a wheel fragment at the Hungarian settlement of Szombathely dating to a very late stage of the Lengyel culture (Ilon 2001, 475). The second find comes from a pile dwelling in marshes situated near Hočevarica in Slovenia. In a waterlogged environment of the Aeneolithic settlement was found the well-preserved part of a wooden wheel with a square socket and a wooden axel with pivots. Accompanying pottery shows parallels with that of the Retz-Gajary type decorated with deeply incised ‘stab and drag’ ornament as well as with the pottery of the Boleráz stage of the Baden culture. According to absolute dating the find can be ascribed to the second quarter of the fourth millennium BC (Velušček 2002).

Mention of finds of wheels from Hungary and Slovenia together with the statuette representing an ox with a yoke from the Liskovská cave justify the assumption that the principle of harnessing animal power with a draft mechanism for use predominantly by a four-wheeled vehicle was known and used already by populations of the Late Lengyel culture (the Epi-Lengyel horizon) as soon as the beginning of the fourth millennium BC or before the rise of the Cernavoda III – Boleráz cultural complex. From this milieu as well

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462 Víťazoslav Struhár - Marián Soják - Marta Kučerová

as from the culture further to the north the technological innovation could have been transmitted to the Baden culture, that in most of the territory which replaced the preceding complex. The absence of proof of the existence of harness from this early phase of its extension may reflect various facts that cannot yet be identified in archaeological sources, for example, that this remarkable invention only slowly disseminated in an agricultural society bound by habits and customs and that initially it had only religious significance (Maran 1998, 521). Its full use (probably also under the influence of new cultural impulses coming from the territory stretching to the south and east from the Carpathian-Middle Danubian region) began only in the period of the Middle Aeneolithic. Except the quick penetration of harness, wagon, and plough into several economic zones the progressive innovation found its reflection primarily in cult as well as art and social interactions.

Evaluation

Beginning with the fourth millennium BC the wagon with harness quickly extended over a wide region though direct proof about its existence is scarce before 3500 BC. Since the second half of the 4th millennium the evidence about its use in the form of three-dimensional clay models of wagons and wheels, wooden finds of real wheels and parts of wagons such as yokes, depictions of engravings in Megalithic tombs, stylized representations on pottery, impressions on horn projections of draft animals and finally also animal burials of cattle increases. Thanks to the discovery of the traction power of animals as a feature of the Secondary Products Revolution livestock became very important aspect of early society. To a degree we can speak about a ‘renaissance’ of the cult of livestock which spread in the preceding Early Aeneolithic period almost over the entire territory settled by the first agriculturalists. The original purely profane and practical utilization of the invention of paired draft very soon found its reflection in contemporary cult. This is most clearly demonstrated by animal burials in graves and settlement features which are specific especially for the Baden and contemporary cultures of the TRB, Globular Amphorae and the Walternienburg culture (Horváth 2007; Pollex 1999; Struhár 2001b; Szmyt 1996, 257–263; Zalai-Gaál 1998). Particularly noticeable are pairs of cattle arranged facing each other which used to be interpreted as a symbolic representation of paired draft (Gabalówna 1958; Döhle – Stahlhofen 1985; Döhle – Schlenker 1998; Neustupný 1967, 14–15).

In the light of its find circumstances the statuette of an ox from the Liskovská cave it can be assumed that this artefact was connected with Late Stone Age cult practices and burial ceremonies taking place in the cave (Struhár – Soják 2009). It was manifested also by the intentional destruction of sacrificed objects which is partly proved also by intentionally deformed spiral ornaments of copper wire. In the case of the animal statuette a clean cut end of the yoke projection would point to such a possibility. If it had been intended to break the original piece, this would have caused an irregular fissure. For this reason it can be supposed that the statuette was brought to the site either without the second part or the two conjoined animals was intentionally sawn up, thus corresponding with the ritual practice of pars pro toto. It is to be noted that especially the wagon which, at a profane level, represents a means of transportation and an agricultural aid would in a sacred sphere represent a cult or ceremonial vehicle. Three-dimensional metal models from Lisková and Bytyń thus evidently represented real examples of a pair of oxen (or of an ox and a cow) coupled with a yoke which in funeral ceremonies pulled a ceremonial wagon bearing the body of the deceased. Massive wooden wagons with metal parts, loaded with funeral accoutrements would in fact have been very heavy and therefore their first evolutionary series had to be pulled by a pair or even a team of four oxen to be replaced in later periods by onagers or horses. Numerous analogies are known from the rich princely graves of rulers from the early dynastic period in Mesopotamia and the Aegean but also in the Aeneolithic pit grave culture in the Northern Pontic region (Mansfeld 1984; Schauer 1987). What is special about these ceremonies is the fact that in the last stages of the funerary rites draft animals and frequently also the whole funeral procession were buried together with the deceased. In a symbolic meaning, this custom is practiced also in contemporary agricultural communities in Europe. Finds of animal and human skeletons occur in various types of archaeological features as in some graves of the Baden culture (Alsónemedi, Budakalász), and the TRB culture (Zdrojówka, Parchatka, Bienovo). Depending on the find circumstances (for example existence of empty space behind the animal skeleton in such a grave) it can be supposed that burial with a pair of oxen could have contained either real or only symbolical presence of a four-wheeled vehicle (Mansfeld 1984, 14–15).

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463An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

It is not important whether our statuette of an ox from the Liskovská cave was a part of a pair of cattle with a vehicle or that it was originally a single figure. It does not reduce its exceptional importance; it is certain that its presence is connected with certain activities of a community belonging to the final phase of the Lengyel culture who penetrated into the Liptov region at the end of the Early Aeneolithic. The existence of local Late Lengyel settlements is probably connected with increasing copper metallurgy and the related growth of copper prospecting in the mountain region of central and northern Slovakia (Struhár 2001a). The settlement of higher sites and the population penetration into the mountain regions at a high altitude is a common tendency in the Aeneolithic phases of the Lengyel culture. (Točík 1991, 305). It is connected especially with the metallurgical boom in the end of the Early Aeneolithic which is related with new mining regions in the Carpathians focusing on monometalic ores. An accompanying phenomenon of the intensification of metallurgical activities was production of massive battleaxes, already-mentioned spiral adornments as well as the deposition of copper hoards. Various local metal lodes were exploited; copper artefacts of this horizon are made of pure copper, arsenic copper and as well ores of Alpine origin (Novotná 1996, 73–74). Archaeological sources prove that at the end of the development of the Lengyel culture (including the horizon of ‘Furchenstich-Keramik’) there were several production centres in Slovakia. These were connected with local sources in the vicinity of which either evidence if metal-working or finished copper tools and implements or hoards were found (Farkaš – Plachá 2002, 83; Novotná 1996, 74; Pavúk – Bátora 1995, 100). Recently, results of chemical, spectral and isotopic analyses of metal artefacts and ore bodies from the mountain region of northern Slovakia have proved that one must also assume the exploitation of local ore sources (Schreiner 2007). The most important argument for the existence of copper metallurgy in north Slovakian is the discovery of the remnants of copper ore and slag several dozen kilometres distant Slovenské Pravno (okr. Martin), which proves on-site copper working (Šalkovský 1977).

In theory, it would be possible using archaeometallurgic analyses to identify the provenance of the copper ore of which implements as well as the statuette from the Liskovská cave are produced. But it is very probable that these are local products. As far as a source of the raw material goes, one has to take into account the closeness of the region of the Low Tatras which forms the southern boundary of the Liptov basin. There are several areas with copper rich deposits in the Low Tatras (Biely – Bezák 1997, 181–185; Schreiner 2007, 11–20). Scanning Electron Analysis of metal implements from the Liskovská cave has proved that they were made of pure copper without alloys and trace elements (SAM material group E00). The raw material they were produced of was a pure copper or secondary malachite azurite mineral. In the case of one spiral adornment the presence of microscopic amounts of sulphur was detected in the specimen. Sulphur is present as a secondary chalkozine mineral – Cu

2S in naturally pure copper (Struhár 2001a). Its deposits can

be found in more significant amounts at the site of Špania Dolina, okr.. Banská Bystrica (Koděra et al.1992, 1251–1255) where there are hints of exploitation already since the later phases of the Lengyel culture. (Točík – Bublová 1985, 47). It is very probable that prehistoric prospectors were conversant with the topography of the wide surrounding area and in particular the geology of surface ore deposits and that they carried out systematic expeditions to the mountain regions in order to gather the ore bodies. Isolated finds of a stone knapping industry from the region of the High and the Low Tatras provide evidence that these mountains were an object of attention by local inhabitants since at least the Aeneolithic or the Early Bronze age (Soják 2002). The absence of trace elements in the spiral adornments so far analyzed, which distinguishes the finds from the implements from the East Alpine – Central European region, could be an argument for the local origin of the raw material. These contain trace amounts of several chemical elements and point at the fact that they were produced from the Alpine ores (Matuschik 1996, tab. 1).

Spectral analysis of the spiral adornment and the statuette from the Liskovská cave has so far provided evidence of the common origin of the raw material of which they were made. The range of implements discovered proves the contemporary knowledge of at least two specialized metallurgical techniques – forging or drawing in the case of wire spirals and casting in a lost mould in the case of the animal statuette. Especially the manner of production of the statuette with the use employing the cire perdue method demonstrates the high the skill and aesthetic abilities of its producers. In research associated with the analysis of known statuettes from Bytyń the knowledge of this technique has been rejected for the Central European Aeneolithic region and the find interpreted as an import (Kopacz – Tunia 1978, 176). But some later finds point at the fact that this metallurgical technique was known even in the territory of the TRB culture, where several production centres existed each with their own pattern of development. (Łęczycki

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2004, 53–54). If we admit that the Bytyń statuettes were worked very precisely with the details of necklaces and that they are local products of the TRB culture, it is more likely to suppose that the Liskovský ox was a product of the Epi-Lengyel metallurgists. In contrast to the better known and undoubtedly more widely known Bytyń oxen, the more rustic form of Liskovská is evident but in both cases their producers were inspired by similar even if not identical models and it can be supposed that they were closely connected in time as well as cultural context.

A more marked start of exploitation of the new raw material – both the ore and the invention of animal harness in its several forms - in the Early Aeneolithic was an important factor in the process of the gradual invention and exploitation of natural resources. It is highly probable that both technical developments fell into the same cultural core. In the end of the Lengyel cultural complex a striking boom of copper metallurgy can be observed with the production of heavy implements and their deposition in numerous hoards which also presumes their more frequent exchange and trade. And the use of traction power of animals either in a form of a sledge or a four-wheeled vehicle could have made particular phases of this process distinctively easier.

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Page 19: Copper Yoked-Ox statuette from the Lisková Cave (Northern Slovakia)

467An Aeneolithic copper yoked-ox statuette from the Lisková cave

Dr. Víťazoslav StruhárSmreková 3/33, 034 01 Ružomberok [email protected]

Dr. Marián SojákArcheologický ústav SAV Nitra, pracovisko Mlynská 6, 052 01 Spišská Nová [email protected]

Marta KučerováMúzeum v Kežmarku, Hradné námestie 42, 060 01 Kež[email protected]

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