Archaeological research is currently redefining how large-scale changes occurred in prehistoric times. In addition to the long-standing theoretical dichotomy between ‘cultural transmission’ and ‘demic diffusion’, many alternative models borrowed from sociology can be used to explain the spread of innovations. The emergence of urnfields in Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe is certainly one of these large-scale phenomena; its wide distribution has been traditionally emphasized by the use of the general term Urnenfelderkultur/zeit (starting around 1300 BC). Thanks to new evidence, we are now able to draw a more comprehensive picture, which shows a variety of regional responses to the introduction of the new funerary custom. The earliest ‘urnfields’ can be identified in central Hungary, among the tell communities of the late Nagyrév/Vatya Culture, around 2000 BC. From the nineteenth century BC onwards, the urnfield model is documented among communities in northeastern Serbia, south of the Iron Gates. During the subsequent collapse of the tell system, around 1500 BC, the urnfield model spread into some of the neighbouring regions. The adoption, however, appears more radical in the southern Po plain, as well as in the Sava/Drava/Lower Tisza plains, while in Lower Austria, Transdanubia and in the northern Po plain it seems more gradual and appears to have been subject to processes of syncretism/hybridization with traditional rites. Other areas seem to reject the novelty, at least until the latest phases of the Bronze Age. We argue that a possible explanation for these varied responses relates to the degree of interconnectedness and homophily among communities in the previous phases.

考古研究目前正在重新定义史前时代发生大规模变化的方式。除了“文化传播”和“流行扩散”之间长期存在的理论二分法之外，从社会学中借用的许多替代模型也可以用来解释创新的传播。青铜时代中期和晚期欧洲出现的瓮场无疑是这些大规模现象之一。传统上，它的广泛分布是通过使用通用术语Urnenfelderkultur/zeit（大约从公元前 1300 年开始）来强调的。多亏了新的证据，我们现在能够描绘出一幅更全面的图景，它显示了不同地区对引入新的丧葬习俗的反应。最早的“瓮场”可以在匈牙利中部发现，在公元前 2000 年左右的晚期 Nagyrév/Vatya 文化的社区中。从公元前 19 世纪开始，在塞尔维亚东北部、铁门以南的社区中记录了瓮场模型。大约在公元前 1500 年，在随后的告示系统崩溃期间，瓮场模型传播到了一些邻近地区。然而，在南波平原以及萨瓦/德拉瓦/下蒂萨平原，这种采用似乎更加激进，而在下奥地利，外多瑙河和波普平原北部似乎更加渐进，并且似乎经历了与传统仪式融合/混合的过程。其他领域似乎拒绝这种新奇事物，至少在青铜时代的最新阶段之前是这样。我们认为，对这些不同反应的可能解释与前阶段社区之间的相互联系和同质性程度有关。