Bronze Age (Central Europe)

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Central European Bronze Age
late bronze age
Ha B2 / 3 0950–800 0BC Chr.
Ha B1 1050-950 0BC Chr.
Ha A2 1100-1050 BC Chr.
Ha A1 1200-1100 BC Chr.
Bz D 1300-1200 BC Chr.
middle bronze age
Bz C2 1400-1300 BC Chr.
Bz C1 1500-1400 BC Chr.
Bz B 1600-1500 BC Chr.
early bronze age
Bz A2 2000–1600 BC Chr.
Bz A1 2200-2000 BC Chr.

Periodization

The Central European Bronze Age is commonly divided into:

The researcher Paul Reinecke (1872–1958) divided the Bronze Age into the levels Bz A – D and (Hallstatt) Ha A – B. This basic framework is mainly used in southern Germany.

Early bronze age

One of the most important finds of the Early Bronze Age: Nebra Sky Disc

The Early Bronze Age begins at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. A and comes from the bell beaker culture and the later cord ceramics . In its older section Bz A1 (2200 BC to 2000 BC), end-Neolithic cultural conditions still prevail. Initially, the “bronze” weapons and equipment were often made of copper. Real bronze only asserts itself later with the level Bz A2 (2000 BC to 1650 BC). With the Middle Bronze Age stage Bz B (from 1650 BC), the societies of the Early Bronze Age are then replaced by completely differently structured cultural groups, which differ primarily in their burial method, but also with regard to the dumping of bronze objects ( hoards or hoards). Depot finds ) clearly differ from the early Bronze Age conditions.

The most important group of the Early Bronze Age is the Aunjetitz culture . It can be found in central Germany as well as in Bohemia, Moravia, Lower Austria (north of the Danube), southwest Slovakia and western Poland. Outstanding finds of the Aunjetitz culture are the burial mounds of Leubingen and Helmsdorf, known as princely graves, and the Bornhöck near Raßnitz .

Another cultural center is being built in southern England with the Wessex culture .

In addition to these cultures, supra-regional cultural groups are not tangible in the Early Bronze Age. In contrast, there are many groups of regional or local importance, for example:

Middle Bronze Age

Sacrificial platform from the Middle Bronze Age in Aicholding near Riedenburg
Burial mounds from the Middle Bronze Age

In some regions, a change from burial in simple shallow graves to burial under burial mounds began as early as the early Bronze Age. However, this burial custom was not generally accepted until the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age .

For this reason, the numerous regional groups of this time are also referred to as barrow cultures, which stretched from eastern France to Hungary.

In addition to the tumulus culture in the narrower sense, which is particularly widespread in the landscapes between the northern edge of the Alps and the southern parts of the low mountain range, the Lusatian culture is now emerging in the area of ​​the former Aunjetitz culture in eastern Germany and Poland . In northern Germany and southern Scandinavia the people of the so-called Nordic Bronze Age began to bury their dead under burial mounds with more or less rich gifts.

Late Bronze Age / Younger Bronze Age

The late Bronze Age shows a cultural standardization again. The burial custom of urn graves prevails, so that this period is also known as the urn field time. This period includes: Bz D (1300 BC to 1200 BC), Ha A (1200 BC to 1050/1020 BC), and Ha B1 (1050/1020 BC to 950 / 920 BC) and Ha B2 / 3 (950/920 BC to 800 BC)

The Lusatian culture in central and eastern Germany and Poland also bury their dead in urn fields. The group of the ensuing Early Iron Age is known as the Billendorfer culture .

Life in the Central European Bronze Age

The social differentiation that emerged with the Bronze Age can be seen in Central Europe in particular in the burial rituals (for example the prince's grave of Leubingen ). For the later phase of the Aunjetitz culture, a clear hierarchy of society can finally be established. It is currently assumed that in the Early Bronze Age a change from simple “chief” / elder structures to an inheritable leadership position took place. These eminent personalities controlled the resources, trade and communication networks.

nutrition

The Bronze Age cultures were mostly agricultural. Agriculture and animal husbandry were already rooted in the preceding Neolithic. As in the Neolithic Age, emmer and einkorn were grown . In addition, especially in northern Germany, barley. The cultivation of spelled was widespread in southern Germany . Oats are also documented. Millet was grown in the late Bronze Age . Millet is sensitive to the cold, but thrives on sandy soils. The cultivation of the broad bean is new . Their distribution is associated with a significant increase in population during the Younger Bronze Age. Far more people can be fed with plant-based products than with animal products. With the introduction of the bronze sickle, productivity increased, and you could work faster than with sickles made of flint. In modern experiments, the increase was 40%. Whilst wheat and barley are suitable for making bread, millet is a porridge grain. The production of cheese from cow's milk is documented for the late Bronze Age.

The horse was added as a pet at the beginning of the Bronze Age. In agricultural engineering (as in the late Neolithic) the plow pulled by a team of cattle is used. The modernization of equipment and the cultivation of new varieties are likely to have resulted in increasing yields, especially in the Late Bronze Age.

Familys

At the transition from the Copper Age to the Early Bronze Age, families were founded according to the patrilocal pattern combined with individual female mobility. The majority of the women came from abroad while the men mostly came from the region. The researchers suspect that individual mobility played an essential role in the exchange of cultural goods and ideas, which increased significantly during the Bronze Age, which in turn encouraged the development of new technologies. The studies were based on excavations in the Lech Valley , south of Augsburg .

Settlement

Gold hat from Ezelsdorf-Buch

Open settlements of different sizes are typical of the Bronze Age, ranging from single farmsteads to real villages with up to 30 houses. As a rule, the settlements were inhabited by around 50–80 people. Since the extended family was the rule, one can assume an average of around 10 people per family - so the number of people corresponds to around 5–8 families. Fortified settlements also appear for the first time. These “castles” mostly form a settlement network with the open settlements. It can be assumed that these were the seats of the privileged leaders. Another special development are the " pile dwellings ", which were mainly used in the 16th and 11th – 9th centuries. Century BC BC were created on the lakes of the Alpine foothills.

Pure stone houses are unknown in Central Europe, but some houses have already been built on stone foundations. The residential building is accompanied by pit houses . At the end of the Bronze Age, a new type of settlement can be observed in southern Bavaria: the fortified single farmstead, which is seen as the forerunner of the Iron Age manor houses .

Metal processing

The bronze production led to a significant increase in copper production, which is mainly due to improved smelting techniques. This resulted in a more effective use of the deposits. In the 2nd millennium BC A flourishing copper industry developed in the Eastern Alps, which reached its peak in the Middle and Late Bronze Age. For example, the annual production of the Mittenberg copper mine (Salzburg) was around 10 tons in the Middle Bronze Age. For their melt, about 300 to 500 cubic meters of charcoal, i.e. H. about 2 hectares of forest are needed.

The origin of the dwarf myth can possibly be explained in connection with mining from the early period of bronze processing .

At the end of the 3rd millennium BC Year after year in the summer months, elites resident in the Elbe Valley dug through tin barley on the Rote Weißeritz near Schellerhau . The workers lived in simple leaf huts during the season, the tin was brought to the permanent settlements in the Elbe valley, which prospered and gained wealth and reputation. At that time the Ore Mountains developed into a central supplier for all of Europe. Tin was essential in bronze manufacture . The traces of mining discovered in Schellerhau by the Archeo Montan research project are currently the oldest in Europe.

Car construction and trade

Carriages with disc wheels were a Neolithic invention. The Bronze Age wagon builders in Central Europe developed technical innovations such as steerability, interchangeable wheel sockets and spoked wheels, which allowed better use. Long-distance trade continued to develop, shipbuilding and seafaring had to be carried out in order to transport the ores from their extraction sites ( Cyprus (copper) and Britain (tin)).

Bronze / copper bars in certain weight units served both as a valuable commodity and as a means of payment in this still moneyless time.

Clothes and weapons

Numerous items of clothing are known from Northern Europe, where the dead were buried in tree coffins . The daggers still made of flint in the Neolithic are now increasingly made of bronze, which also opened up the possibility of making larger swords .

Arts and Culture

The gold hats represent a special feature of the Bronze Age cultural development . Only the thinly expelled gold sheets, which were probably applied to organic and past material, remained . Only four surviving specimens ( Berlin Gold Hat , Golden Hat from Schifferstadt , sheet gold cones from Ezelsdorf-Buch and sheet gold cones from Avanton ) have been found in Europe. The gold hats are interpreted as insignia of a sun cult , probably also with a calendar function. The surviving specimens date from around 1,400–1,300 BC. And around 1,000–800 BC Chr.

See also

The so-called statue menhirs are also often dated to the early Bronze Age.

literature

  • Anthony F. Harding: European Societies in the Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2000, ISBN 0-521-36729-8 .
  • Bernhard Hänsel : Gifts to the gods - treasures of the bronze age of Europe. An introduction. In: Alix Hansel , Bernhard Hansel: Gifts to the gods. Treasures of the Bronze Age in Europe (= Museum of Prehistory and Early History. Inventory catalog. 4). Exhibition of the Free University of Berlin in connection with the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz et al., Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-88609-201-1 , pp. 11-23.
  • Albrecht Jockenhövel , Wolf Kubach (ed.): Bronze Age in Germany (= Archeology in Germany . Special issue). Special edition. Nikol, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-933203-38-4 .
  • Harald Meller (ed.): The forged sky. The wide world in the heart of Europe 3600 years ago. Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1907-9 (volume accompanying the exhibition).
  • Hermann Müller-Karpe : Handbook of Prehistory. Volume 4: Bronze Age. Beck, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07941-5 .
  • Jonathan N. Tubb: Canaanites. British Museum Press, London 2002, ISBN 0-7141-2766-3 .
  • Günter Wegner (Ed.): Life - Belief - Dying 3000 years ago. Bronze Age in Lower Saxony (= booklets accompanying exhibitions in the Prehistory Department of the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover. 7). Isensee, Oldenburg 1996, ISBN 3-89598-404-3 (catalog for the exhibition).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Excavations show influx of women - LMU Munich. In: uni-muenchen.de. March 17, 2016, accessed April 9, 2018 .
  2. Corina Knipper, Alissa Mittnik, Ken Massy, ​​Catharina Kociumaka, Isil Kucukkalipci, Michael Maus, Fabian Wittenborn, Stephanie E. Metz, Anja Staskiewicz, Johannes Krause, Philipp W. Stockhammer: Female exogamy and gene pool diversification at the transition from the final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in central Europe. In: PNAS September 19, 2017, 114 (38), pp. 10083-10088.
  3. Saxony's history began much earlier than expected. In the Ore Mountains, researchers find mining that is thousands of years old. The history of Saxony must be rewritten. In: Sächsische Zeitung of November 2, 2018 (accessed November 2, 2018).