Wietenberg ohne Mykene? Gedanken zu Herkunft und Bedeutung der Keramikverzierung der Wietenberg-Kultur.

The fine wares of the Wietenberg Culture in Transylvania during the Middle Bronze Age are characterised by compositions of uniform, repetitive ''spiraloid'' or ''meandroid'' motifs. These patterns -- referred to collectively as ''spiral ornamentation'' -- were often associated with the Mycenaean region. A detailed examination of the ceramic decoration of the Wietenberg Culture reveals that it is not actually spiral ornamentation, but rather rows of hook patterns, which may be abstract zoomorphic motifs. A comparison with the genuine spiral ornamentation of the Mycenaean Culture further supports the thesis of there being a fundamental difference in the type of ornamentation. The pottery ornamentation of the Wietenberg Culture is thus independent of southern prototypes. However, this does not mean that there was no contact between the Wietenberg Culture and Mycenaean Greece. But this contact remained at the level of prestige objects such as ''Mycenaean'' swords, bone objects with wave motifs and the bronzes decorated in Hajdúúsáámson-Apa style, which were limited to a small social elite and were furthermore distributed far beyond the Wietenberg Culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]