Metal objects unearthed near volcano reveal secrets of 3,400-year-old European people

A hoard of metal objects unearthed near a volcanic hilltop in Hungary has helped unravel the mysteries of an ancient European population that lived 3,400 years ago.

Excavations at western Hungary’s Somló volcanic hill have led to the discovery of hundreds of artefacts, including jewellery, weapons and decorations dating to the Late Bronze Age, 1450 BC to 800 BC, and the Early Iron Age, 800 BC to 450 BC.

The digs have also unearthed other ancient materials, including leather remains and amber beads, as well as tusks of boars and domestic pigs.

Some of the oldest of these artefacts date to between 1400 BC and 1300 BC, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity.

The findings point to a significant presence of humans in western Hungary between the 13th and 6th centuries BC.

While research into early urbanism in many parts of Europe has increased in recent years, study of hilltop settlements has been scant.

A previous excavation near the Hungarian hill, about 431m high and untouched by quarrying, found Early Iron Age grave goods in monumental burial mounds, indicating that landmarks like the Somló were the seats of power of an elite warrior leader class.

In the new study, researchers conducted airborne laser scanning and metal-detector surveys to find an area that was likely densely populated by humans during the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age.

They concluded that the people who lived here between the 13th and 6th centuries BC were tribal or clan-based societies led by elite warriors.

The latest dig found some 900 metal objects in the southeastern part of the hill, one of them the first example of a ceramic pot found in western Hungary from the end of the Late Bronze Age.

“Deposition inside ceramic pots was suggested from this period but never documented,” the researchers said, adding that they found in some of the pots deposits of lentils and fragmented small-seeded cereals, known to be Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age subsistence foods.

“The unearthed hoards testify to an intentional and complex hoarding tradition on Somló Hill,” they wrote in the study. “Large quantities of bronze lumps, droplets, casting jets, and fragmented plano-convex ingots suggest the presence of bronzeworking workshops on the plateau.”

The findings also provide insights about how the region transitioned from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.

“Occupation on the hilltop seems to have been uninterrupted during the transition into the Early Iron Age,” the study noted.