47 Introduction Cross-cultural movements of commodities in Central Europe took place on both a regional and interregional level during Early Bronze Age (Reinecke Bronzezeit A2; between 2000 and 1600 BC). This period correlates with the Hungarian chronology’s Middle Bronze Age. Visible commodities like finished bronze products (e.g. swords and axes) from the eastern Carpathian Basin appear in western and northern Central Europe, whereas special types of dag- gers and Aunjetitz Culture halberds are found in the eastern and western regions of the Carpathian Basin. Slovakian and Alpine copper ores and Baltic amber were imported into Central Europe through a system of down-the-line exchan- ge rather than direct long-distance trade. The movement of invisible commodities, such as various minerals (e.g. salt), organic raw materials and finished goods (hides, tex- tiles) as well as ideas (which manifested for instance in the construction and deposition of hoards or in similar systems of symbols represented on ceramics) can only be inferred from related material assemblages and is much more diffi- cult to trace. Our paper focuses on exchange networks in the northeastern (Füzesabony) and the western (Transda- nubian Encrusted Pottery) regions of the Carpathian Basin. Exchange networks in the northeastern Carpathian Basin The Füzesabony/Otomani cultural complex played a key role in northeast Hungary, the Upper Tisza region, eastern Slovakia and Little Poland during the Middle Bronze Age (Figure 1). Here we consider this culture as a separate cultural complex, distinguished and separate it from the so-called Gyulavarsánd/Otomani culture. Recent studies suggest the existence of trade routes running along the Hernád River linked this area with the northern European exchange routes. The Füzesabony culture established its settlements on the lowlands and occupied the same spots for centuries. Said process formed tells consisting of thick layers of domes- tic deposits (Bóna 1992a). The emergence and flourishing of tell-cultures could have been a result of social, cultural and/or environmental factors, such as the warmer clima- te which characterized the middle Subboreal period from 2000 BC (Gyulai 1993, 17; Kordos 1977), the abundance of exploitable resources, the increased surplus of agricultural products, new metallurgical technologies, the spread of tin bronze and the formation of new long distance networks (Fischl and Reményi 2013). The combination of these fa- ctors prompted a significant increase in population size, the emergence of social groups which specialised in par- ticular activities (e.g. craftsmen) and the formation of the elite. This process reached its peak by the end of the Br A2 and the beginning of B1 phase, the last phase of the Middle Bronze Age (the so-called Koszider Period), according to the Hungarian terminology. The classical tells’ thick sequ- ences of occupation layers are located within a well-defined ecological zone: the Pannonian forest steppe region (Fischl et al. 2013a; Sümegi and Bodor 2000). Nonetheless, recent studies show that the Füzesabony Culture established non- tell settlements beyond the core region of its tell economic system (Fischl 2012). These single-layer sites were pos- sibly used to control resources in regions of southeastern Slovakia and were situated close to exchange routes which were oriented towards Northern European networks. exChange neTworks In The MIddle bronze age CarPaThIan basIn: The MoveMenT of vIsIble and InvIsIble CoMModITIes Klára Fischl and Viktória Kiss Abstract: Given its geographical characteristics (i.e. open to the south), the Carpathian Basin formed an integral unit with the northern Balkan regions. Previous prehistoric research highlighted the southern and southeastern connections of these Carpathian/northern Balkans areas due to their primary focus upon Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean territories and because of their chronological connections and the role played in the process of Neolitisation. In fact, the Carpathian Basin became an active innovation centre of Central European interaction during the Early and Mid- dle Bronze Age with relatively loose connections towards the Aegean. Social complexes east and west of the Danube produced different cultural and metallurgical characeristics as well as indications of different regulations of settlement structure. However, the overall picture of the Carpathian Basin suggests the presence of the same developmental rhythm between the 18th and 16th centuries BC. Intensive network connections are indicated by the presence of raw materials, inished products and their replicas principally along the major rivers and tributaries which join the Danube (which itself acted as the main northwest-southeast artery in the broader Central European region). The present paper has briely discusses the region’s cross-cultural networks both on a regional and interregional scale. Keywords: Carpathian Basin, commodities, exchange networks, trade routes Chapter published in BAR S2772 Forging Identities. The Mobility of Culture in Bronze Age Europe: Volume 2, Edited by Paulina Suchowska-Ducke, Samantha Scott Reiter, Helle Vandkilde. British Archaeological Reports Ltd; 9781407314402; £43; 2015. Order Online: www.barpublishing.com