 Most Neolithic settlements were situated on the banks of rivers and lakes in the proposed original homeland of the Uralic peoples , but no houses have been excavated there . The local inhabitants primarily used tools made of stone – especially jasper from the southern Urals – , bone and wood , but baked clay vessels decorated with broken or wavy lines were also found . Their economy was based on fishing , hunting , and gathering . The basic Hungarian words connected to these activities – háló ( net ) , íj ( bow ) , nyíl ( arrow ) , ideg ( bowstring ) , and mony ( egg ) – are inherited from the Proto @-@ Uralic period . Paleolithic drawings on rocks in the Urals depict scenes of hunting for reindeer and moose . The Hungarian words for house ( ház ) , dwelling ( lak ) , door ( ajtó ) , and bed ( ágy ) are of Proto @-@ Finno @-@ Ugric origin . Houses built in the presumed Finno @-@ Ugric homeland in the wider region of the Urals in the 3rd millennium BC show regional differences ; in the valley of the Sosva River , square pit @-@ houses were dug deep into the ground ; along the Kama River , rectangular semi @-@ pit houses were built . The local people were hunter @-@ gatherers . They used egg @-@ shaped , baked clay vessels that were decorated with rhombuses , triangles , and other geometrical forms . They buried their dead in shallow graves and showered the bodies with red ochre . They also placed objects including tools , jewels made of pierced boar tusks , and small pendants in the form of animal heads into the graves . Copper objects found in the graves , which were manufactured in the Caucasus Mountains , indicate that the inhabitants of the lands on both sides of the Ural Mountains had trading contacts with faraway territories around 2000 BC . Words from the Proto @-@ Ugric period – ló ( " horse " ) , nyereg ( " saddle " ) , fék ( " bridle " ) , and szekér ( " wagon " ) – show that those who spoke this language rode horses . Animal husbandry spread on both sides of the Urals from around 1500 BC . The bones of domestic animals – cattle , goats , sheep , pigs , and horses – comprised 90 % of all animal bones excavated in many settlements . Loan words from Proto @-@ Iranian suggest the Ugric @-@ speaking populations adopted animal husbandry from neighboring peoples . For instance , the Hungarian words for cow ( tehén ) and milk ( tej ) are of Proto @-@ Iranian origin . Archaeological finds – including seeds of millet , wheat , and barley , and tools including sickles , hoes , and spade handles – prove the local population also cultivated arable lands . 
