Around the middle of the Early Bronze Age the Foltesti III-Zabala groups were ousted by newcomers to southeast Transylvania (and Wallachia): the Glina III-Schneckenberg population. The new arrivals founded their vil
lages on hilltops and elevations. Their livestock was dominated by sheep, and their antler hoes and shares suggest a primitive plough cultivation.
The clay wagon model from KucsuMta perhaps reflects experimentation with animal traction. The abundance of curved stone knives and polished stone axes contrasts sharply with the scarcity of copper implements, mostly awls and chisels, with the occasional adze, axe or dagger. Household pot
tery is invariably tempered with sand and crushed shells. The one and two- handled mugs as well as the small handled cups are carefully polished.
Their dead were laid to rest in a contracted position within a stone cist and were only rarely accompanied by their worldly possessions.
W hilst the Olt region was settled by the Glina III-Schneckenberg popu
lation, the rest of Transylvania was still controlled by Cofofeni groups. In this later phase of their existence the former lentil-shaped ornaments are gradually replaced by deeply incised and stroked decoration in short mul
tiple designs. The excavations at the site of Kelnek uncovered bipartite houses with walls erected around a framework of wooden posts interconnected with wattling and subsequently daubed with clay. Hearths and ovens were found inside the houses. These features are probably the result of changes in style of life. It would appear that a direct link can be traced between their sedentary way of life and the fact that the settlements of the Cilnic popula
tion are concentrated in the Erchegys6g region. So-called eastern copper axes, whose antecedents go back to the Cemavoda III period, abound in this area. The manufacture of this weapon type, widely distributed through
out eastern and central Europe, was obviously not restricted to the Clinic territory. Nevertheless, it cannot be mere coincidence that an imposing hoard of over forty axes, dating to a somewhat earlier period, came to light in this area at Banyabiikk.
The turn of the Early and Middle Bronze Age saw the arrival of Moldavian groups in the H&romszek Basin in eastern Transylvania: population groups of the Ciomortan culture who were related to Monteoru and Costisa groups.
The settlement at Csikcsomortany-Vcirdomb was fortified with a ditch. A few of their two-handled jugs, globular bowls and cups were deposited beside their dead who were also buried in a contracted position.
They did not enjoy life for long in their few fortified settlements. They were unable to check the advance of newer groups of the Monteoru culture and were forced to migrate to more westerly parts of Transylvania. The characteristic ornamental motif of their pottery, triangles of parallel lines filled w ith punctates later reappears on the w idem outhed cups of the W ietenberg culture.
The earliest W ietenberg finds were brought to light in the north (outside Transylvania). The early assemblages and finds from this area share nu
merous similarities with the Early Bronze Age Ottom^ny culture of the Tisza region, with influences from the Ciomortan and Tei cultures only discern
ible at a later date. In contrast to its neighbours in and beyond the Carpathian Basin who practised inhumation, the Ottom^ny population cremated its dead similarly to the other Middle Bronze Age groups of Transylvania. It would appear that at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, population groups from the trans-Tisza area migrated into Transylvania (finds associ
ated with this population have been uncovered at Des, and B&gyon beside the Aranyos), where they mingled with the Ciomortan population and, in the south, with Tei groups.
The W ietenberg population occupied the whole of Transylvania with the exception of the territory beyond the Hargita, whilst the Harom szek Basin came under the control of the Monteoru culture.
W ietenberg settlements have been identified on low river terraces, high plateaus and well-defendable elevations. Most houses were log-built, but sem i-su bterran ean dw ellings have also been uncovered. Su rprisin gly enough, few traces of agricultural activities have survived in the archaeo
logical record, with hunting and animal husbandry appearing to have played a prominent role in their economy. Since they enjoyed exclusive access to the Transylvanian ore resources, the Wietenberg population probably traded gold and bronze for grain with their neighbours.
The entire range of bronze artifacts and gold ornaments then current in east-central Europe has come to light on the Wietenberg territory. At the same time, few hoards are known in spite of the fact that hoard finds prac
tically encircle their settlement area. This phenomenon and the demonstra
ble presence of " acropoleis" suggest a strong military aristocracy. In addi
tion to eastern type and disc-butted bronze axes their weapons also include the sort of daggers wielded by the Mycenaean Archaeans. W arfare with long daggers was unusual in east-central Europe at that time; and, in con
trast to neighbouring areas, there is hardly any evidence for horse riding in Transylvania.
Since the W ietenberg culture shares a number of other links with the M ycenaean civilization, it is not entirely impossible that the local Transyl
vanian population was ruled by a group of warriors from the south during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries B.C. This military aristocracy in
creased its wealth through the intensive exploitation of ores and the trade of metal artifacts manufactured from these ores. The products of this m etal
lurgy are, as a general rule, distributed outside the W ietenberg territory and it would appear that their traders could easily fall victim to strangers bent on seizing their riches. The hoard of gold axes, discs and other orna
m ents discovered at Cofalva in the Monteoru territory, the hoard of gold swords and daggers found at Persinari in Muntenia, which at the time was occupied by the Tei population, as well as several other hoards on the fringes of the W ietenberg territory were probably concealed for such reasons.
The prosperity brought by gold left its imprints on every aspect of life.
The womenfolk, freed from the burdens of agricultural work, busied them
selves with homecrafts of which, sadly, only the lavishly ornamented earth
enware vessels have survived. The globular jars and one-handled cups were covered with incisions and channelling so arranged as to produce flam boy
ant spiralform and meander patterns. Askoi, vases with multiple mouths
and wagon models were manufactured for elaborate rites and rituals. Richly ornamented sacred hearths were placed inside cult buildings sim ilar to the one uncovered on the eponymous site of Wietenberg near Segesvar.
At the close of the fourteenth century B.C., central European pastoral tribes invaded the Carpathian Basin. The migrations triggered by this inva
sion shook the very foundations of the prosperous society built by these Transylvanian smiths, traders and warriors. The familiar roads on which they transported their goods were now roamed by hitherto unknown peo
ples. Groups of refugees poured into Transylvania and the locals had no choice but to conceal their valuables.
The "Tum ulus" groups advancing along the Maros Valley in the wake of these displaced and fleeing groups occupied southern Transylvania. Their heritage has also been uncovered in the Szeben area, in the Mez<5s6g and beyond the Hargita. Together with the former inhabitants of the Great H un
garian Plain, they penetrated southwest Transylvania as well. One part of the W ietenberg population fled to the mountains (their cave settlements date back to this period), but the majority withdrew northwards. Together with the Gyulavars&nd population they attempted a last stand in the Szamos Valley, the Maramaros and the sub-Carpathian region against the advance of the Tumulus culture and its allies (the Felsoszocs group) from the south and the west.
The lack of consolidated circumstances and broader regional unity made Transylvania the easy prey of yet newer waves of pastoralists from the east
ern steppes in the early phase of the Late Bronze Age. This new population movement is not reflected in hidden hoards since the local population had hardly anything left worth concealing. Their new overlords, the population of the Noua culture, who poured into Transylvania through the Carpathian passes, also extended their rule to the Middle Szamos region in the north and the Erchegyseg in the west.
Very few settlements of this cattle and sheep breeding people have yet been investigated. The few Moldavian sites that have been excavated fea
tured light wooden dwellings suggesting that their Transylvanian houses m ust have had similar constructions. They buried their dead in a contracted position with their feet drawn up although in some cases cremation ap
pears to have been the practice. Their tw o-handled cups and vessels ornamented with simple raised bands appear to have been adopted from the assimilated Monteoru groups. The three-edged bone arrowheads, the bone cheekpieces from horse harnesses, the knot-headed and roll-top pins, as well as the curved sickle-knives find parallels far to the east among the artifacts of the Sabatinovka population who lived between the Dniester and the Dnieper rivers. This proto-Europid population — which included Al
pine and M editerranean anthropological groups in Transylvania — prob
ably spoke an Old Iranian tongue and thus the arrival of the Noua popula
tion marks the first appearance of Iranians in the Carpathian Basin.
Som etim e at the beginning of the first millennium B.C. the inhabitants of Transylvania and the Szam os-Tisza region were again compelled to con
ceal their accumulated riches. The greater part of the Noua population fled eastward so as to escape the fate of being reduced from master to servant overnight.
The newcomers, population groups of the Gava culture, gradually occu
pied the Kuktill<3 and the Olt valleys, the Mez<5seg and the Szam os region.
Their settlements include fortified sites; their houses are mostly log-built oval or rectangular semi-subterranean huts with central plastered fireplaces.
They raised cattle but could also boast of considerable horse herds. In spite of the high number of bronze sickles, agriculture appears to have played a less prominent role in their economy and the better part of their m eat was procured through hunting.
Following their settlement, bronze metallurgy again began to flourish in the Erchegyseg region. Practically all known tools, implements, weapons and ornament types were manufactured from bronze. These axes, sickles, swords, spears, belts, pins and cauldrons were, to all appearances, buried in uncounted quantities as shown by the hoards discovered at Isp^nlak, Fels6marosujv&r, Nagysink and Marosfelfalu.
The GSva population — who cremated their dead and laid their ashes to rest in urns — and other allied groups gradually extended their sway over larger territories at the close of the Late Bronze Age. Their settlements and cemeteries have also been identified outside Transylvania, in the Banat and the trans-Tisza territory, as well as in Galicia and Bessarabia to the east of the Carpathians. Some groups even penetrated as far as the Dnieper re
gion.
The area south of the Carpathians, Wallachia and northern Bulgaria was also settled by a population which, judging from its material culture, may have spoken a tongue related to the one used by the G&va groups. This area roughly coincides with the territory later inhabited by the Dacians, the Getae and the Mysoi.
There is little evidence for major migrations that would have led to popu
lation changes in this extensive area during the period that elapsed between the close of the Late Bronze Age and the first mention of its peoples in classical sources. This favours an identification of the Gava culture and al
lied groups w ith the ancestors of the Dacians, the Getae and the Mysoi.
Their origins are clear. The emergence of a population sharing the same language or speaking related tongues at the close of the Late Bronze Age w as the result of the gradual mingling of remaining local Middle Bronze Age groups with the conquering Tumulus population.