Staff dagger

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Staff dagger
Staff dagger.jpg
Information
Designations: Staff dagger
Use: unknown
Creation time: 3500 and 2300 BC Chr.
Working time: 2300-1500 BC Chr.
Region of origin /
author:
Europe , TRB culture
Distribution: Europe , Asia , Africa
Overall length: approx. 1.5 m
Weight: 1.5 kg
Handle: Wood, flint / copper / bronze
Particularities: rounded tip, protruding rivets
Lists on the subject

A stick dagger or dagger ax is a dagger-like cutting edge made of copper or bronze , which becomes a kind of halberd due to its right-angled attachment to a long wooden shaft . Sometimes a metal handle is cast on. The northeast German type is usually around 20–24 cm long and 5–8 cm high at its widest point. At its narrowest point it is 1–3 cm high and strongly rounded. The width of the cutting edge, which some people consider a blade, is about 1 cm. The associated rod is about 1.5 m long, as far as known. However, finds with bars are the exception. In other regions, more pointed and smaller shapes are also known. There are 3 protruding rivets on the shaft. Ornaments are sometimes attached to the shaft and head. That, too, can vary from region to region.

Rod daggers were used from the Early Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age (2300–1500 BC). Flint daggers from the 4th millennium are dated much earlier. It is not currently clear whether this is the earliest form or an independent development.

use

For the stock see: Stock (prehistory and early history)

According to the doctrine, staff daggers are a combination of stabbing and cutting weapons. Treherne (1995, 109) saw the stick dagger as the first weapon that was explicitly created as such and does not represent the conversion of a tool. Flanagan saw the skull as a target, Brandherm also saw the throat. Flanagan tried the weapon on sheep and found it effective. Weapons that show a certain similarity, but are much sharper and more pointed, are known from various East Asian cultures. The only known European parallel shows the so-called pole ax in the Middle Ages. A test with flint daggers as a weapon was carried out and filmed by Christian Horn and his Finnish colleague. The video is in the section links link.

On the other hand, there is the opinion of other scientists who regard the stick dagger as a kind of cult object. The clear rounded tip of the shaft, which has no real blade, speaks in favor of this. Resharpening, as would be necessary with a metal blade, would certainly leave clear marks. The protruding rivets and the decorations speak more for a cult item. Some finds also have a small platform on the head that would be superfluous for a weapon. In their opinion, they are not useful as weapons and were not made for this purpose.

As far as is known, no skeletons have been found whose wounds would correspond to such a weapon, but these wounds would probably not be easy to detect either.

In their opinion, the importance of the daggers as a badge of rank or cult device emerges from rock carvings .

Still other scientists see them as both a weapon and a ritual cult object. In their opinion, the symbolic character is inseparable from the practical function as a deadly weapon. You compare this e.g. B. with the worship of swords, which could be used both for accolades and as a weapon.

All in all, the purpose of these so-called staff daggers is more or less unclear and one of the many mysteries of archeology. In any case, no plausible application can be found for use as a tool.

There are specimens from Ireland with a preserved wooden shaft (Carn, Co. Mayo, with an oak shaft); the dagger from Altnamacken, Co. Armagh had a wooden handle that could not be preserved. An example with a metal shaft is known from Sweden. Some shafts have been hardened by cold hammering. In the meantime, wood finds from Germany are also known. The use of yew wood was determined, but it was not the heartwood that would be much better suited for a striking weapon.

Ritual context

In the hoard finds there are often layings as twins, which could have a ritual background. Likewise, stick daggers were sometimes intentionally broken or bent in the middle of the shaft, but just as often they were laid down in an intact state. Horn sees a cultural background in the fact that the daggers, like their owners , would have to die ritually in order to accompany them on their journey to the afterlife. However, this does not explain why some staff daggers were whole and others broken. It is also interesting that some rod daggers were newly traded and apparently passed on to the next generation. Since the urn fields time, around 800 years later, the rod daggers were often replaced by sickles.

Hoard from Dieskau

One of six early Bronze Age hoard finds from the area around Halle was plowed in 1904 in a field north of Dieskau. A large clay pot filled to the brim with bronzes was recovered at a depth of 0.75 m. Amber pearls were found in the area of ​​the bottom of the vessel . The after-school inventory includes three daggers in different preservations and eleven dagger blades. The rod daggers, which were widespread in almost all of Europe in the early Bronze Age, each show regional peculiarities, an indicator that the blades were usually made locally. The elaborate design of some objects and the often lack of stability mean that they cannot be used as a weapon. The objects are probably rather badges of rank or status symbols of an upper class. Furthermore, based on images on rock art in Scandinavia and Northern Italy, use in the cultic-religious area can be assumed.

distribution

Rod daggers can be found from Poland to Spain, partly as water finds, but also numerous hoard finds, which u. a. also contained axes. According to Shoemakers, the oldest rod daggers may have come from Ireland (around 2300 BC). In his opinion, the idea spread via France to Spain, Italy and Central Europe (Schuhmacher 2002).

In fact, much older finds have now been made in Germany, Denmark and the Carpathian Mountains (Horn 2011), whose cultures have been in direct interaction since the Bronze Age (Kristiansen 2012).

A depot with 2 flint daggers from the Middle Neolithic funnel cup culture was excavated in Oppe Sundby, Friedrichsborg Amt (as well as another 8 flint daggers in Bjerre, Vejle Amt). It is noteworthy that it is not copper or bronze, but flint from North Jutland and the Danish islands. If this is an early form, it must have spread from there to Central Germany and finally across Western Europe. This is supported by the numerous bronze rod daggers, which were also found in Jutland, Denmark and Northern Germany. However, whether this is really a tradition that extends from the Neolithic to the Aunjetitz culture is questionable, especially since there are some differences between the stone and metal form.

The focus of the finds is mainly in central Germany and the western Baltic coast (as part of the Aunjetitz culture ) as well as in south- east Iberia (in the settlement area of ​​Bastetani, Oretani, Edetani) and in Scotland (in the settlement area of ​​the Picts ). They were also common in Ireland. However, finds are scattered over half of Europe and were u. a. also made in France, Slovenia and Pannonia, the Carpathian Mountains and in central Italy (e.g. in the area of ​​the Osker, Umbrer and Messapier).

Staff daggers were carved into the rock around Mont Bégo in the Ligurian Alps . The pictures of Mont Bégo and Valcamonica show a number of types that have not been proven by finds. At the same time, the rock art testify that the spread was wider than what is proven by finds (cf. e.g. the maps in Lenerz-de Wilde 1991). According to C14 dating, some finds are also attributed to the Remedello culture in the western Po Valley (Dolfini 2011). In Oukaimeden in (Morocco), there are numerous, very precise figures.

The statue menhir of Valdefuentes de Sangusin ( province of Salamanca , Spain ) carries a sword and dagger. On a stele by Arco on Lake Garda (Italy), staff daggers and daggers are part of the equipment. Also on the menhir of Weilheim (Tübingen), a stone of the Early Bronze Age Neckar Group , five staff daggers are carved. In the Almería region, a man was buried with a dagger in hand. It is attributed to the El Argar culture (1800-1300 BC), which developed from the Los Millares culture. (Horn 2011)

The future will show to what extent stick daggers were actually widespread in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The rich finds in the west have so far been offset by a rather poor yield in eastern Europe. Unfortunately, many finds can no longer be assigned to a location and many a find is rediscovered in the archives of the museums. Missing metal finds can often be traced back to robbery excavations and recent wars and can easily lead to misinterpretations.

The stick daggers are a clear indication that behind this idea there was a commonality that spread from the western Baltic coast to western Europe, even before the Urnfields and Hallstatt cultures . With the beginning of the Hallstatt period ends around 800 BC. The dumping of hoards of this kind.

Chinese staff daggers

Dagger-staff weapons were also found in China , from the Shang (1450 BC) to the Han dynasty (220 AD). A stick dagger was found in the Tarim Basin in Yanghai, Turfan region on the Silk Road, which dates back to the 11th century BC. Was dated. Presumably this idea was exported from Europe via the Silk Road.

literature

  • Dirk Brandherm: The daggers and stick daggers of the stone copper and older bronze ages on the Iberian Peninsula. Steiner, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-07810-X ( Prehistoric bronze finds. Dept. 6, Vol. 12), (At the same time: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 1995).
  • Gretel Gallay: The copper and ancient bronze age daggers and rod daggers in France. Beck, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-406-07802-8 ( Prehistoric Bronze Finds. Dept. 6, Vol. 5).
  • Marek Gedl: The daggers and stick daggers in Poland. Beck, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07242-9 ( Prehistoric bronze finds. Dept. 6, Vol. 4).
  • H. Genz: Rod daggers - weapons and status symbols. : H. Meller (ed.), The forged sky. The wide world in the heart of Europe 3600 years ago. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition, Halle (Saale), 2004 p. 160f.
  • Christian Horn: Studies on the European rod daggers (= university research on prehistoric archeology. Volume 246). Habelt, Bonn 2014, ISBN 978-3-7749-3793-2 .
  • Arnold Muhl: Gesegnetes Land - The Dieskau area in the Early Bronze Age find mosaic. In: H. Meller (ed.), The forged sky. The wide world in the heart of Europe 3600 years ago. Volume accompanying the special exhibition, Halle (Saale), 2004 p. 100ff.
  • Thomas X. Schuhmacher: Some remarks on the origin and chronology of halberds in Europe. In: Oxford Journal of Archeology. 21, 3, 2002, ISSN  0262-5253 , pp. 263-288.
  • Heiko Steuerstaff dagger. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 29, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018360-9 , pp. 418-421.
  • Bettina Stoll-Tucker: The treasure in the field. Beauty, power and death. 120 finds from 120 years of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition, Halle (Saale), 2001 p. 90f.
  • Harry Wüstemann: The daggers and staff daggers in East Germany. Steiner, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-515-05788-9 (Prehistoric bronze finds. Dept. 6, Vol. 9).
  • Bernd Zich: Studies on the regional and chronological structure of the northern Aunjetitz culture. Pre. Forschungs. 1996 p. 427 [E134].

Individual evidence

  1. Flanagan 2007, 424
  2. Flanagan 2007, 430
  3. Bagolini et al. 1992, Fig. 1
  4. ^ Exhibition "Steppe Warriors", Museum Bonn 2012, loan from Academia Turfanica, Turfan Museum

Web links