Circular burial features of the Tumulus culture in the northern Carpathian Basin

The paper is focused on reviewing the current state of research on the circular features around graves at burial grounds associated with Carpathian Tumulus culture and its related groups in the northern Carpathian Basin. During the Middle Bronze Age (16th to 14th centuries BC), features of this type appeared in southern Slovakia and Hungary in two basic forms, either as circular ditches or stone rings/wreaths. These are in most cases considered to be indirect evidence of mounds, now mostly non-existent, built of earth and even stone, which they encircled on the outside, however, this interpretative model is not always applicable. In the last two decades, the number of sites where their occurrence has been documented almost doubled. At present, there are known from at least 16 sites situated in the area between the Lower Váh valley, across the bend of the River Danube to the Middle Tisza Basin, which was the territory of the Carpathian facies of the Tumulus culture. Terrain features of this type are directly related to the long-debated terminology discussion of whether it is at all legitimate to attribute the adjective ‘tumulus’ to this archaeological cultural entity. This question arises when compared with the characteristics of the burial tradition practised in the western Tumulus culture zone, which extended from Moravia and eastern Austria further to Czechia, Germany, and eastern France. In the presented study, the geographical distribution of the circular burial features, their main characteristics, as well as some specific features are discussed. The way of the central graves are furnished and their chronological position is also briefly evaluated in the analysis, as this distinctive element of the burial rite had a wider temporal span. Finally, some comments are made on the graves surrounded by circular ditches and the interpretation of these structures as remnants of possible earthen tumuli, in light of some of the more recent and precisely documented discoveries. These support the opinion that during the Middle Bronze Age (Bz B–C stages), in some lowland areas of the vast Carpathian Basin, actual mounds could occasionally be built over the graves of socially prominent individuals.