ON THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE AT LOWER NITRA RIVER BASIN (Zum Beginn der mittleren Bronzezeit in unterem Nitra-Tal in der Slowakei)

Occurrence of several types of bronze artefacts that are typical for the Tumulus Grave culture in the Madarovce culture milieu is dealt with in the contribution. In the Madarovce layer upper half at Nitriansky Hradok a pin with moulded shank and central perforation on neck was found apart from a sickle-shaped pin. From this site a dagger with trapezoid butt and four rivets comes as well. A dagger of the same shape from a Veterov culture site at Waidendorf has been dated by absolute dating to the period of Kosziderian horizon settlements existence in Hungarian Danubian basin. Sickle-shaped disc-headed pins with perforation on neck that occurred in Grave 17 at Svaty Peter and in hoards at Hodejov and Vyskovce had been influenced by the Wetzleinsdorf-type pins. Grave goods from Grave 48 at Svaty Peter included a modified Madarovce culture jug and an Onstmettingen-type razor, which belongs to the most easterly finds of razors of this type at all. The occurrence of the bronze artefacts dated to the older Tumulus Grave culture at both settlement at Nitriansly Hradok and the burial ground at Svaty Peter supports the interpretation of the above-mentioned necropolis as the representative of the group more than of the Madarovce culture phase. Casting moulds for wheel-shaped pendants from Nitriansky Hradok and for Speyer-type pins from the Lower-Austrian Boheimkirchen prove the opinions of the Speyer-type pins origin in the central Danubian basin. The remarkable fact is, however, that also wheel-headed pins from the graves 1/55 and 9/62 at Nove Zamky are recently the oldest representatives of the Luneburg group E type and of double pins with convergent eyelet. The pin from Grave 1/55 occurred accompanied by fish-bladder decorated bracelets; the pin from Grave 9/62 accompanied by a Madarovce-culture mug.