The study presents a burial, and its assemblage discovered at Bükkábrány-Kálvária
(Borsod-Abaúj-ZemplénCounty, NE-Hungary) dating to the 9th–early 8th century BC, along
with additional pieces of bronze artefactscollected nearby from a systematic metal
detector survey. The grave held the remains of an adult female and aninfant. Scientific
examinations were carried out to analyse the burial assemblage. In addition to the
anthropological and archaeozoological analysis of the human and animal remains, the
chemical composition of therecovered gold beads was analysed by ED-XRF spectrometry.
The measurement results revealed that the beadswere likely to have been made using
the same or very similar base material, relatively high silver-containing(14–16 wt%)
native gold. The residue adhering to the surface of the antler plate likely contains
the remains of aplain weave textile. Cobalt blue, dark green, pink, and natural colour
threads forming the finely woven fabricwere documented by digital microscope images.
CT scans were used to visualise the decoration of the plate inorder to preserve the
corroded textile remains. Among the stray finds of horse equipment, the cheekpiece
wasanalysed by ED-XRF spectrometry; based on the results, the bit was made of tin
bronze with around 9–10 wt%tin content in the original alloy. The archaeological evaluation
of the Pre-Scythian finds from Bükkábrányrevealed complex cultural interactions between
East, North, and West.
