Beschreibung:

DescriptionProperty from an Austrian Private CollectionA Gold DiskLate Neolithic/Eneolithic/Early Copper Age, Balaton-Lasinja-Culture (Period I), 4200-4000 B.C.
of Csáford-Stollhof type, repoussé with four bosses, pierced with two symmetrical sets of holes for attachment, and finely polished around the edge.Diameter 7.9 cm.Condition reportSlightly irregular surface with hammering marks overall. Each of the four bosses was punched from the back with a blunt instrument and is now dented in front. All four attachment holes were pierced from the front. The perimeter of the disc was cut and polished, in the process producing a very short thin ledge folded towards the back. Scattered areas of brownish deposits/discoloration on both sides.
Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.ProvenanceKranz Collection, Northern Germany, acquired in Berlin in 1966
Richter Gallery, Wiener Neustadt, Austria
acquired from the above by the present owner on August 30th, 1997Catalogue noteThe most distinctive gold objects produced by the Balaton–Lasinja culture were large gold discs ornamented with embossed knobs (gold discs of Csáford-Stollhof type). They are considered to be the second oldest gold objects in the world after those found in the Varna necropolis (4500–4300 B.C.). They were mostly discovered in hoards, as in Stollhof (W. Angeli, Der Depotfund von Stollhof, 1967, pp 491ff., now on display in the Natural History Museum, Vienna) and Zalaszentgrót (Csáford, Hungary). Beside their intrinsic value as precious metal, these gold objects were also vested with a symbolic meaning. They are thought to be stylized symbols of a goddess, perhaps worn as breast ornaments by important political or religious leaders. To this date thirteen disks of this type are know and published (I. Bóna, Javarézkori aranyleleteinkröl, Fejezetek a magyar ösrég'szet múltszázadi-szászadelji történe téböl, 1986, pp. 21-81, and P. Raczky, "Goldfunde aus der Kupferzeit. Die Anfänge der Metallurgie im Karpatenbecken," in Prähistorische Goldschätze aus dem ungarischen Nationalmuseum, exh. cat., 1999, pp.17-36). They are all decorated with three hammered knobs. The present example is the only one known with four ornaments. Towards the end of the Middle Copper Age (in the Baden period, 3600-2700 B.C.), gold objects disappeared completely.
The present gold disk was examined together with the two eponymous Stollhof disks by the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie gGmbH. A publication of the results is in preparation. Comparative metallurgical analyses showed a close relationship between this disk and the gold objects from Varna. It is important to note that gold disks of Csáford-Stollhof type were only found in Central Europe (for a distribution map on copper age gold disks: V. Heyd and K. Walker, "The First Metalwork and Expressions of Social Power," in: Ch. Fowler, J. Harding, and D. Hofmann, The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe, 2015, p. 682, fig. 35.2.). This disk is therefore another proof of intensive social, ritual and economic interaction in early Europe.