THE BRONZE-AGE AXE-SHAPED SCEPTRE FROM PĂLATCA (TRANSYLVANIA) AND ITS EASTERN CONNECTIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.21.246900Abstract
In the Pălatca Commune (Cluj County) in Transylvania, a prehistoric (probably elk) antler axe was discovered accidentally and it later came into the possession of a collector. The item is extremely rare, which is why we subjected it to analysis in the present paper.
The axe has an arched, but very blunt, blade and a round edge. The shaft was made through an oval perforation, inside which there are numerous traces of a tool. The outer surface of the axe is polished, particularly the circular edge, with edges in the form of a border which was decorated with short, regular indentations. It can be seen that the item was used intensely, in a phase in which its function was probably that of a tool. Upon a closer look, two groups of markings were also identified: one above the blade, made of two “stirrups”, and another between the hole and the edge, consisting of oblique stirrups, a cross and several punctures.
The shape presents several antecedents until the Neolithic and the Eneolithic in the eastern part of Europe, both in items made of antler and those made of metal or stone. However, the best analogies found among the Bronze Age items from the current space of Ukraine and Russia. In the Ingul-catacomb culture, there were stone items that have similar edges, including some with notched decorations. However, we believe that the closest analogy is the famous sceptre-axe discovered in Dudarkov, which is particularly remarkable due to then numerous zoomorphic, phytoform and geometric motifs incised on its surface, attributed to the Mnogovalikovaja culture. In the same eastern area of Europe, the best analogies are given by stone axes from the Borodino hoard, or Suvorovskaja-type ones, dating from the first half of the 1st millennium BC. Based on these correspondences, our assessment is that the axe from Pălatca can be interpreted as a sceptre, similar to other antler items already discovered in the Mid- and Late Bronze Age in Transylvania or neighbouring regions.
Regarding the item’s dating and context, it is highly likely that it came from the site surveyed in Pălatca – “TogulluiMândruşcă”, where a settlement dated to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age was discovered and from which other eastern type items originated, such as a bronze needle with four protuberances and Noua culture ceramics.
Keywords: antler axe, sceptre, Bronze Age, Symbolism, Transylvania
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