Draft:Bread loaf idol

Bread loaf idol from Mangolding district of Regensburg

A bread loaf idol is the name given to archaeological finds from the Bronze Age, usually made of lightly fired or air-dried clay and shaped like a loaf of bread. They are usually only a few centimeters long and decorated with geometric ornaments. Their purpose is unknown, but the term "idol" derives from their presumed ritual use. Recently, their use as a pintadera—a type of stamp—has also been considered.

Appearance

Bread loaf idols from the Early to Middle Bronze Age are also known as "patterned clay objects" or "clay stamp-like objects", in Italian as oggetti enigmatici or tavolette enigmatiche (enigmatic objects or enigmatic tablets). Their shape varies. They are elongated, round, oval, almost rectangular, stamp-shaped, flat, or domed objects of small size made of stone or fired clay, with decoration on one or both sides. The patterns consist of single or multiple motifs in the form of geometric figures or natural patterns, such as shells. They are created by indentation, piercing, and scoring at different depths and occur in various combinations. The majority of bread loaf idols have parallel longitudinal or transverse lines. Additional patterns are usually incorporated into the course of the lines. These are created either before, after, or at the same time as the line is drawn. However, the decorations can also be isolated and arranged more or less regularly on the object. Incrustation can be observed on some finds, such as those from Lepenski Vir. A specimen from Banatska Palanka shows traces of red paint on the pattern side. Bread loaf idols with longitudinal holes also occur.

Italy

The highest density of finds and the greatest variety of motifs are found in the Lake Garda region of northern Italy. Objects decorated on both sides, as well as stone objects (12.5% ​​of the total finds in northern Italy), are more common here than in other regions. Typical features of the Padanian oggetti enigmatici include circular and double-spiral patterns, as well as pearl-like and cross-shaped patterns.

Southwest Germany, inner-alpine finds

A smaller group of finds comes from southwest Germany in the Lake Constance-Hegau region. These bread loaf idols are characterized by rectangular patterns, although they are also found in northern Italy. A few other clay stamp-like objects, also found in the inner Alps (Matrei am Brenner, Albanbühel), in conjunction with ceramic finds of northern Italian design (Matrei am Brenner, Singen am Hohentwiel) or cast crucibles (Bodman-Schachen I) similar to those from Lake Ledro and Bor di Pacengo, suggest north-south connections through the Alps. On the one hand, the Brenner Pass is a possible trade route; on the other hand, one can also reach southwest Germany from northern Italy via the Reschen Pass.

Southern Bavaria

In 1975, the first bread loaf idol in southern Bavaria was discovered on the Domberg in Freising. By the beginning of 2025, new discoveries had increased the number to eight bread loaf idols from southern Bavaria.

iddle and lower Danube area

Further concentrations of finds can be found in the middle and lower Danube region. Typical features of these bread loaf idols are radially decorated indentations (some also in northern Italy). A connection between these cultures on the Danube and southwest Germany via southern Bavaria (an area without finds) is not evident. Italic motifs are more prevalent in the western groups of the middle Danube region. Presumably, the southern Bavarian groups, as well as those south and west of the Alpine Rhine Valley-Lake Constance-High Rhine line, were less involved in these relationships. The trade routes probably led from the middle Danube region through the Alps to southwest Germany or south of there to Italy (Wieselburg cups from the Early Bronze Age in northern Italy).

Tisza region

East of the Central Danubian groups, there is a further concentration of clay stamp-like objects in the Tisza region and northwestern Romania to the east. The decorations consist mainly of linear or randomly engraved patterns and differ from those in the Danube region.

Dating and Cultures

The dating of the bread loaf idols to the Bronze Age stages A2 and B1 is generally accepted.

Italy

In relative chronology, the more frequent occurrence of oggetti enigmatici in the Upper Italian distribution area is placed in the younger section of the Southern Alpine Early Bronze Age (Polada culture). According to local chronology (Renato Perini), this concerns the Bronzo Antico II and III phases (Polada B context). Sites related to this period include Polada and Lago di Ledro. Bread loaf idols have also been documented for the Middle Bronze Age (Bronzo Medio) in Northern Italy (Terramare culture), among others, with finds from Bovolone-Saccavezza and Monte Sassine. The objects from Castellaro and Corte Vivaro possibly date to the Southern Alpine Late Bronze Age (Bronzo Recente). A fragment of a bread loaf idol from Rubiera dates, if correctly documented, to the Late Neolithic and has been found together with ceramic shards from the Upper Italian Bell Beaker group. Patterned clay objects in Italy can be dated, based on absolute dates obtained by dendrochronology, to a period from 2050 BC (Polada B, Lavagnone 2) to 1400/1300 BC (Lavagnone, Isolone di Mincio). According to Paul Reinecke's chronology system, this corresponds to stages A2 to C2.

Southwestern Germany

In southwest Germany, a specimen from Bodman-Schachen I, Layer C, is precisely stratified. It belongs to the Arbon culture and can be placed in a younger period of the southwest German Early Bronze Age. The clay disc from Singen probably dates from an earlier period. The pottery found there is similar to that from Bodman-Schachen I, Layer A. The bread loaf idol would therefore belong to the Singen culture. The object from Layer C is dendrochronologically dated to 1612 BC; for the Singen find, an absolute chronology approach (dated via Bodman-Schachen I 14C dating) in the 19th century BC should be considered.

Inneralpine objects

The inner-Alpine finds are dated to the later Early Bronze Age. "The North Tyrolean find from Gschleirsbühel near Matrei [...] comes from a 50 cm thick cultural layer, whose pottery is considered to be dating to a late part of the Reinecke A2 phase."

Middle Danube region

In the Central Danube region, the bread loaf idols are dated from the end of the Reinecke A 2 stage to the beginning of C 1, based on the settlement contexts of Nitriansky Hrádok, Veselé, Süttö and Ostrovul Mare, among others. In Nitriansky Hrádok they can be found throughout the entire period of occupation by the Mad’arovce culture. This group is dated absolutely chronologically from 1700 BC to 1430 BC (“Here too, the upper limit around 1700 BC is not conclusive in view of the 14C data from Hoste […], which is why a dating approach for the Aunjetiz-Mad’arovce horizon there around 1900 BC seems possible.”) Further connections arise from the data of the Věteřov culture with its Böheimkirchner group and their relationships. According to J. Görsdorf, the data sets outline a period from 1700 BC. to 1500 BC (“A somewhat more generous interpretation of the dating probability within the standard deviation used in Görsdorf, taking individual dates into account, also makes a dating of early Větěrov from the 19th century BC seem possible.”) Finds of patterned clay objects have also been found from the Late Classical, Early Větěrov period horizon of the Aunjetitz culture in Lower Austria (Windpassing). The Schiltern site, another settlement of the Aunjetitz group in this area, shows both South Danubian influences of the Unterwölbing culture, whose absolute dates range from 2000 BC to 1750 BC, as well as clear Větěrov influences. The find of the bread loaf idol in the Franzhausen burial ground (Unterwölbing group) is classified as somewhat older and suggests a chronology in the 18th century BC.

Lower Danube

The situation on the lower Danube is difficult to assess. The finds associated with incrusted pottery can be dated to the Middle Bronze Age. They belong to the incrusted pottery culture group with its various groups.

Tisza region

The absolute chronological and relative chronological classification as well as the cultural affiliation of the patterned clay objects in the Tisza region must currently remain open.

Romania

Two bread loaf idols in the eastern Romanian town of Derşida belong to the Wietenberg culture, which dates back to the Middle Bronze Age (Reinecke B-C).

Istria

Half a dozen bread loaf idols were discovered in the fortified mountain settlement of Monkodonja on the west coast of Istria near Rovinj, Croatia. The majority of the finds come from the area of ​​the Acropolis.

Meaning

The occurrence of the patterned clay objects spans a long period of time. It can be assumed that the bread loaf idols originated in Northern Italy, primarily due to the dating, but also due to the distribution of finds and patterns. The motifs on the objects appear to be group-specific and suggest regional and supra-regional relationships. Paint residues and incrustations, as well as the shape of some objects, indicate a function as stamps. The marking of certain products should be considered.

"The idea of ​​such a structured trade relationship, as has been handed down to us from the Near East in the form of seals and associated impressions, may be tempting here, but is so far completely unproven."

Within the find areas, bread loaf idols are found almost exclusively in settlements. This suggests a secular purpose, but cultic acts involving these objects are also possible. Finds from graves are known from Franzhausen and Ostrovul Mare-Bivolarii, although Franzhausen appears to be the only documented grave find to date. Bread loaf idols from burials may provide insight into the importance of these objects. Finally, evidence of their use is still lacking.

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• Stones
• Bronze Age
• Archaeological discoveries in Germany
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