Persistent, multi-sourced lead contamination in Central Europe since the Bronze Age recorded in the Füramoos peat bog, Germany

При раскопках стоянки Береговая II на Горбуновском торфянике в Зауралье в слое позднего мезолита был найден перфорированный диск-навершие из тальк-хлоритовой горной породы. На лицевой стороне диска грубой шлифовкой моделирован выступающий нос, гравировкой показаны брови, усы и борода личины. Отверстие для рукоятки в центре расположено на месте рта. Всего в Зауралье известно 4 крупных перфорированных диска, которые исследователи относили к эпохе бронзы и интерпретировали как диски-календари. Отличительные черты нашего диска позволяют считать его скорее навершием ритуального оружия типа булавы. Находка подобного артефакта в четких стратиграфических условиях – в культурном слое позднего мезолита стоянки Береговой II – и сходство отдельных деталей антропоморфной личины на диске с деталями лица Большого Шигирского идола доказывают гораздо более раннее их бытование в Среднем Зауралье. The excavations at the Beregovaya II site in the Gorbunovo peat-bog in the Transurals yielded a perforated end-piece disc made from talc chlorite rock. The face side of the disc features a protruding nose made by rough grinding, whereas the brows, the moustache and the beard of the human-like mask are rendered by engraving. There is a shaft-hole in the center where there should be the mouth. Totally four large perforated discs referred by researchers to the Bronze Age and interpreted as calendar discs that are known in the Transurals region. The distinguishing features of this finial-disc suggest that, most likely, it was a part of a ceremonial weapon such as a macehead. The find of this artifact in the clear stratigraphic context of the Late Mesolithic occupation layer at Beregovaya II and similarity between some parts of the anthropomorphic human-like mask on the disk and the face of the Big Shigir idol is an evidence that such discs were used in the Middle Transurals much earlier.

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THE NATURE OF THE HALLSTATTIAN CULTURAL CHANGE IN NORTHERN CENTRAL EUROPE IN LIGHT OF RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE STRONGHOLD AT ŁUBOWICE NEAR RACIBÓRZ (SOUTHWEST POLAND)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/rdc.2020.86 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Jan Chochorowski ◽

Marek Krąpiec

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Iron Age ◽

Cultural Change ◽

Timber Structures ◽

Social Functions ◽

Historical Processes ◽

Sw Poland ◽

The Moment ◽

The Bronze Age

ABSTRACT At the close of the Bronze Age, a tendency developed in Central Europe towards the concentration of settlement and fortification of sites which served special economic and social functions. One of the largest centers of this kind in the northern part of Central Europe is the Łubowice stronghold (SW Poland). Archaeological excavations allowed the stratigraphy of the fortification remnants to be comprehensively investigated. In their final stage, these fortifications comprised of a monumental earthen rampart with timber structures, which were later destroyed in a violent fire. Originally, the destruction of the Łubowice stronghold was linked with the raids by nomadic Scythians and dated to the first half of the 6th century BC. However, radiocarbon analyses of charcoal from the burned rampart relics have shown that the destruction of the fortifications took place in the 9th century BC. The new dating of the moment when the Łubowice fortifications was burned down, i.e. “shortly after 845–802 cal BC” places this event within historical processes which reshaped the cultural picture in much of Central Europe at the dawn of the Iron Age. The spreading of a new, Hallstatt cultural model was associated with deep changes in social structures.

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The Region of Caucasus and Central European-Carpathian Territory in the Final Eneolithic and the Bronze Age (a Contribution to the Transfer of Technologies and Knowledge)

Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University History ◽

10.21638/11701/spbu02.2021.213 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 66 (2) ◽

pp. 531-548

Author(s):

Jozef Bátora ◽

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Historical Development ◽

North Caucasus ◽

The North ◽

Eurasian Steppe ◽

Steppe Region ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Danube Region ◽

The Bronze Age

This article shows that the cultures in the Middle Danube/Carpathian territory were not just peripheral cultures of the developed Aegean-West Asian cultures, but also the western periphery of the Eurasian steppe region. From this aspect, the cultural-historical development in this area was influenced and associated with the cultural-historical development in the Caucasian and Northern Pontic regions as well. This is confirmed by several artifacts of the Caucasian character in the territory of Central Europe. First of all, we can mention single-edged copper axes, whose oldest exemplars in Europe come from the North Caucasus (the Maykop and Novosvobodnaya cultures). With the arrival of the Yamnaya culture, technology of their production emerged in the Northern Balkans and Central Europe along the Danube, through the Northern Pontic region. Their oldest exemplars in this territory are the Baniabic type axes. There are also weapons or tools; and jewellery which is represented by earrings of the so-called of Transylvania type associated mainly with the Únětice, Košťany and Otomani cultures in the Carpathian-middle Danube region. Their prototypes can be found in the North Pontic region — Yamnaya culture. The remaining cultural contacts between Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Bronze Age are confirmed by the dagger of the Srubnaya type from Sklabiňa in Central Slovakia. The existence of contacts between the Caucasian region and the territory of Central Europe as late as the final Bronze Age is proved by the finds of Cimmerian character. As a pars pro toto example, a dagger of the Kabardino-Pyatigorsk type from Malý Cetín in southwest Slovakia can be mentioned.

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The Coming of Agriculture People, Landscapes, and Change c.4000 –1500 bc

The Peopling of Britain ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198297598.003.0009 ◽

2002 ◽

Author(s):

Alasdair Whittle ◽

Colin Renfrew

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

General Tendency ◽

Neolithic Period ◽

Way Of Life ◽

The People ◽

New Evidence ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

Growing Population

This chapter reviews the development of agriculture in Britain and Ireland from the Neolithic period to the middle of the Bronze Age (approximately 4000 to 1500 bc in calendar years), and the associated questions of the identity of the people involved, the density of populations, and their effect on the landscape. This brief account is set in the context of the wider development of an agricultural way of life on the adjacent continental mainland, going as far back as 6000 bc in central Europe. I hope to raise questions as much as to answer them, and to concentrate wherever possible on new evidence and approaches. I should like to frame my discussion by setting out four hypotheses: 1. Overall, change was slow, but punctuated by spurts or accelerations (notably around 5500 bc, 4000 bc, and 1500 bc), whose nature is still poorly understood. This hypothesis stands in opposition to a general tendency to envisage a steadily intensifying evolution of subsistence methods, population levels, and landscapes. 2. There was much continuity of population both in continental Europe and in Britain and Ireland, but the role of colonization still needs seriously to be considered. This hypothesis seeks to re-examine both the assumption in continental research of major colonization with the onset of the Neolithic and the recent British consensus that the beginnings of the Neolithic were essentially to do with the acculturation of an indigenous population. 3. Although some landscapes had been cleared of substantial tracts of woodland by about 2500–2000 bc, population levels in most parts of Britain and Ireland remained relatively low at least until the middle of the Bronze Age, and the lifestyle can be characterized by continuing mobility and/or short-term sedentism. This hypothesis restates recent opposition to the notion that the introduction of agriculture entailed sedentary existence, rapidly growing population, and intensifying production right from the start. The coming of agriculture in a more familiar guise, although preceded in Britain and Ireland by herding and piecemeal cultivation from about 4000 bc, was not seen till as late as about 1500 bc onwards.

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The Beaker Phenomenon and the Genomic Transformation of Northwest Europe

10.1101/135962 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Iñigo Olalde ◽

Selina Brace ◽

Morten E. Allentoft ◽

Ian Armit ◽

Kristian Kristiansen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Human Migration ◽

Cultural Diffusion ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Northwest Europe ◽

Significant Mechanism ◽

Using Data ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

Lower Rhine

Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200–1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 100 Beaker-associated individuals. In contrast to the Corded Ware Complex, which has previously been identified as arriving in central Europe following migration from the east, we observe limited genetic affinity between Iberian and central European Beaker Complex-associated individuals, and thus exclude migration as a significant mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, human migration did have an important role in the further dissemination of the Beaker Complex, which we document most clearly in Britain using data from 80 newly reported individuals dating to 3900–1200 BCE. British Neolithic farmers were genetically similar to contemporary populations in continental Europe and in particular to Neolithic Iberians, suggesting that a portion of the farmer ancestry in Britain came from the Mediterranean rather than the Danubian route of farming expansion. Beginning with the Beaker period, and continuing through the Bronze Age, all British individuals harboured high proportions of Steppe ancestry and were genetically closely related to Beaker-associated individuals from the Lower Rhine area. We use these observations to show that the spread of the Beaker Complex to Britain was mediated by migration from the continent that replaced >90% of Britain’s Neolithic gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the process that brought Steppe ancestry into central and northern Europe 400 years earlier.

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Nordic and Celtic: religion in southern Scandinavia during the late bronze age and early iron age

Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis ◽

10.30674/scripta.67183 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 329-343

Author(s):

Marianne Görman

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Iron Age ◽

Time Span ◽

Roman Period ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Sources Of Knowledge ◽

Southern Scandinavia ◽

The Bronze Age

By means of modern archeological research it is today possible to gain much information even from non-written material, This paper covers the late bronze age and early iron age, ca. 1000 B.C. —O. It is based on material from Denmark, the Southwest of Sweden, and the Southeast of Norway. This region formed a cultural unity since the sea bound the area together. Our main sources of knowledge of Nordic religion during this time span are votive offerings and rock-carvings. During the bronze age and early iron age the Nordic peasant population had intensive contacts with the Southeastern and Centralparts of Europe. A great quantity of imported objects bear evidence of widespread connections. The inhabitants of the Nordic area not only brought home objects, but also ideas and religious conceptions. This is clearly reflected in the iconography. The cultures with which connections were upheld and from which ideas were introduced were those of Hallstatt and La Tène. They were both Celtic iron age cultures prospering in Central Europe at the same time as the late bronze age and early iron age in the Nordic area. This means that the new symbols in the Nordic area come from a Celtic environment. Consequently, Celtic religion such as it may be found in the pre-Roman period, can clarify the meaning of the conceptions, linked with these symbols.

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Monumental ditched enclosures in southern Iberia (fourth–third millennia BC)

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x0004905x ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 87 (336) ◽

pp. 447-460 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

José E. Márquez-Romero ◽

Víctor Jiménez-Jáimez

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Human Activity ◽

Southern Iberia ◽

The Bronze Age

Large curvilinear enclosures are now established as a principal instrument of human activity in Central Europe from the Neolithic into the Bronze Age(Antiquity, passim). Here the authors introduce us to examples from southern Iberia and make the case that they should be regarded as part of the same continent-wide phenomenon.

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The Bronze Age in Central Europe and the Formation of the Indo-European Peoples

The Age of the Gods ◽

10.2307/j.ctt31nkpg.19 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 230-252

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

The Bronze Age

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The Lausitz Culture

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00001307 ◽

1928 ◽

Vol 2 (5) ◽

pp. 37-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

V. Gordon Childe

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

The Bronze Age

On the continent as in Britain the later phases of the Bronze Age are marked by the spread of large cremation cemeteries generally termed urnfields. One of the several groups of urnfield cultures in Central Europe occupies such a pre-eminent position that it may even claim to be the parent of all the rest. It is known as the Lausitz or Lusatian culture after the area where it is most richly and typically represented—a strip in eastern Saxony and western Silesia.Here the bodies were cremated in ustrina close to the cemetery, and the ashes, carefully purified from cinders, were enclosed in clay ossuaries or cinerary urns. The ossuary was closed with an inverted dish, but in all early burials a hole was carefully bored in its walls. It is supposed that this aperture was intended to allow the ghost to escape, and hence it has been called a ghost-hole (Seelenloch). The urn, with its cover, was buried in the ground with many accessory vases, presumably containing provisions for the journey into the next world. A barrow might be raised over the tomb, but in all cases the graves form regular cemeteries.

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Radiocarbon dates and absolute chronology of the central European Early Bronze Age

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00045336 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 67 (255) ◽

pp. 218-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Stašo Forenbaher

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

European Continent ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Central European ◽

Age Sequence ◽

Radiocarbon Chronology ◽

The Bronze Age

It is more than forty years now since the first radiocarbon dates began the reconciliation of conventional and absolute chronologies for later prehistory. This pioneering radiocarbon chronology for the Bronze Age sequence in Central Europe brings that process nearer to a close, by filling the last major gap in the radiocarcbon chronology of the European continent.

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