An outstanding Pre-Scythian burial from Bükkábrány-Kálvária

The study presents a burial, and its assemblage discovered at Bükkábrány-Kálvária (Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, NE-Hungary) dating to the 9th–early 8th century BC, along with additional pieces of bronze artefacts collected nearby from a systematic metal detector survey. The grave held the remains of an adult female and an infant. Scientific examinations were carried out to analyse the burial assemblage. In addition to the anthropological and archaeozoological analysis of the human and animal remains, the chemical composition of the recovered gold beads was analysed by ED-XRF spectrometry. The measurement results revealed that the beads were likely to have been made using the same or very similar base material, relatively high silver-containing (14–16 wt%) native gold. The residue adhering to the surface of the antler plate likely contains the remains of a plain weave textile. Cobalt blue, dark green, pink, and natural colour threads forming the finely woven fabric were documented by digital microscope images. CT scans were used to visualise the decoration of the plate in order to preserve the corroded textile remains. Among the stray finds of horse equipment, the cheekpiece was analysed by ED-XRF spectrometry; based on the results, the bit was made of tin bronze with around 9–10 wt% tin content in the original alloy. The archaeological evaluation of the Pre-Scythian finds from Bükkábrány revealed complex cultural interactions between East, North, and West.