Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 Places, Pots, and Kurgans: Late Copper Age Patterns of Settlement and Material Culture on the Great Hungarian Plain Timothy A. Parsons Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES PLACES, POTS, AND KURGANS: LATE COPPER AGE PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENT AND MATERIAL CULTURE ON THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN By TIMOTHY A. PARSONS A dissertation submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2011 The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Timothy A. Parsons defended on November 17, 2010. _______________________________________ William A. Parkinson Professor Directing Dissertation _______________________________________ Lynne Schepartz Co-Chair/Committee Member _______________________________________ Daniel Pullen University Representative _______________________________________ Joseph Hellweg Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________ Glen Doran, Chair, Department of Anthropology _____________________________________ Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii © 2011 Timothy A. Parsons iii Dedicated to my family and friends. Life is grand, love is real, and beauty is everywhere. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My interest in issues of migration and material culture started in 2004 on the Körös Regional Archaeological Project, when, while driving along a two-lane road on a lazy Sunday morning with Bill Parkinson, he pointed out the numerous small burial mounds along the road to Gyula in Békés County, and he said, “Timmy, you should do kurgans!” This led me into the works of Andrew Sherratt and David Anthony, whose perspectives on social, economic, and migratory change greatly influenced my thinking and research trajectory in planning an archaeological study of the Late Copper Age on the Hungarian Plain. Though kurgans aren’t the only focus of this work, they were the beginning. And, I hope that this dissertation makes a modest contribution to understanding them. Faculty, friends, and family members have helped me complete this dissertation. It is an impossible and unthinkable task to fit so many acknowledgements onto this regrettably short space, and I apologize in advance for forgetting anyone who has contributed to this project along the way. That said, at the very least I can do my best to highlight the individuals whose encouragement and support have helped me so much over the years. The faculty of this department has my utmost respect. In the most challenging of times, they have steadfastly remained dedicated to the remaining graduate students. For this, we all owe a debt of gratitude. Thank you to my committee members, Lynne Schepartz, Joseph Hellweg, and Daniel Pullen. They have all been supportive and helpful during the production of my dissertation. Mike Galaty in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Millsaps College became my undergraduate advisor in the spring of 1999 and gave me my first opportunities at archaeological field experience, in addition to challenging me in numerous classroom settings during my four years in Jackson, Mississippi. He taught me how to use a trowel, dig a shovel test, draw profile and plan maps, use GPS and total station equipment, and introduced me in both theory and practice to petrographic ceramic analysis. Most importantly, Mike taught me not to limit myself to one dogmatic way of approaching solutions to archaeological problems, and to be a “jack-of-all-trades” when it comes to theoretical and methodological considerations. He is a great teacher, and I hope he keeps educating and encouraging young anthropologists and archaeologists for years to come. The discipline will be better for it. v Bill Parkinson has been a strong and supportive advisor and mentor to me throughout my graduate career. He provided me with both the firm guidance and great freedom to pursue the work presented here. In addition to his unbounded archaeological knowledge, Bill successfully saw me through the administrative, cultural, linguistic, and economic challenges of conducting research in a foreign country. It is his faith in my ability to “just get it done” that gave me the confidence to dive into the world of Hungarian archaeology. Billy was once described to me as a “real archaeologist.” His students and colleagues all know that this is true – and we don’t need the Indiana Jones ringtone to be sure of it. I can’t thank Attila Gyucha, formerly of the Kulturális Örökségvédelmi Szakszolgálat and now with the Hungarian National Museum, enough. I stayed at his home, ate his food, drank his vodka, and took much more of his time than I deserved. He introduced me to important people, prepared and submitted permit applications, and supplied every bit of his support that he could without once complaining (at least to me), all while working day and night to finish his own dissertation. He is a dedicated colleague, a talented researcher, and above all, he is a good friend. Paul Duffy let me tag along with him around Békés County as a wet-behind-the-ears graduate student. He taught me how to use GIS, and how to quickly and effectively collect sites. Paul was ceaselessly supportive of this research, and is a great (but tough) example to follow. He also taught me how to get cars out of the mud equipped only with a tractor, the assistance of two farmers, and pink twine. Gábor “Baxi” Bácsmegi made sure that my project was never without the supplies and knowledge necessary to succeed. Baxi provided the positive attitude and optimism that I sometimes lacked, and encouraged me to stop and smell the roses. His mother and stepfather welcomed me warmly into their home, and I will always cherish the time spent around fires in the backyard cooking sausages and drinking beer. My time in Hungary would not have been the same without Baxi, and it certainly would not have been as fun. Over the years, many participants in Billy and Attila’s Körös Regional Archaeological Project served as sounding boards and sources of advice and information. In no particular order they are Meg Morris, Rod Salisbury, Hanneke Hoekman-Sites, Daniel Sosna, Rick Yerkes, Sam Duwe, Nisha Patel, Julia Giblin, Smiti Nathan, Walt Warner, Abby Smith, Amy Nicodemus, Michelle Markovics, and of course Billy, Attila, Paul and Baxi. Meg provided invaluable GIS vi help, and Rod helped me hash out site collection methodology as we visited sites in the Skoda in the summer of 2009. The many people who made my time in Hungary brilliant and made the country one of my favorite places are too many to mention, and I regret that I’ve forgotten or never knew the names many people who helped me. Again in no particular order, I thank Dori Kékegyi, Gergő Bóka, Ottó Fogas, Ferenc Horváth, Pál Megyesi, Veronika Csik, the Csóti family, and the women who run the Arany Oroszlán Panzió in Békéscsaba and provided me with many morning cappuchinos and many evening Sopronis. I also thank all the farmers who allowed a foreigner speaking poor Hungarian to tromp through their fields. Archaeology is everywhere in Békés County, and farmers are used to archaeologists walking along with their faces toward the ground. An archaeologist in a baseball cap with a funny accent tethered with twine to a pin flag walking in circles is a somewhat less common sight. Nonetheless, I was consistently met with inquiring minds and friendly (if bemused) faces. I give special thanks to Attila Krieter and his colleagues at the Kulturális Örökségvédelmi Szakszolgálat in Budapest. Attila taught me how to thin section ceramics and allowed me access to his lab and equipment despite his busy schedule. Director Imre Szátmári, Anita Vári, Adrienn Szanda, and the staff of the Munkácsy Mihály Múzeum in Békéscsaba were helpful and friendly in the summer of 2009, and welcomed me into their museum to analyze and photograph ceramics. Virginia Carr, Alex Parsons, Annalee Shum, and Nicole DeFrancisco flew long distances to photograph ceramics, collect sites, wash and label artifacts, sort lots, and endure more than a few rainy, cold, and occasionally snowy days. Rumor has it that they also ate a lot of good food, met great people, and had a pretty good time – and enjoyed a great number of British soaps on cable. I thank them very much. Adam Kereki deserves thanks for his support and encouragement. I thank the Eisele Foundation and the National Science Foundation for their financial support (Dissertation Improvement Grant Award Number BCS-0910071), especially program administrator John Yellen and the anonymous reviewers that provided thoughtful and constructive criticisms of my research plans. My colleagues at the National Park Service Southeast Archeological Center deserve thanks both for their continuous support of, and dedicated, good-natured belligerence toward my vii specialization in European prehistory and dissertation research in Hungary. A great deal of this dissertation was written while on Section 106 and 110 compliance projects and ARPA investigations in hotel rooms in Lake City and Jacksonville, Florida, Natchez, Mississippi, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Murray, Kentucky, as well as in hotel locations all along the Gulf Coast (Mobile, Alabama, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula,