Archaeologia Baltica

In Eastern Hungary, we find many cemeteries from the Copper Age over an extensive area. One of them, Basatanya, represents the Tiszapolgár culture (Early Copper Age) in its period I, and in period II the Bodrogkeresztúr culture (Middle Copper Age). The directions of the graves fill the angle span of the solar arc, thus the graves point towards where the Sun can rise or set. Westerly orientation (the skull points West) is almost universal in Period I. In Period II, easterly orientation also appears. The cemetery contains 156 graves and may have been used for two centuries.