Únětice culture
![]() | |
Geographical range | Europe |
---|---|
Period | Early Bronze Age |
Dates | c. 2300–1600 BC[1] |
Type site | Únětice |
Preceded by | Bell Beaker culture, Corded Ware culture |
Followed by | Tumulus culture, Nordic Bronze Age, Mad'arovce culture, Trzciniec culture |
Bronze Age |
The Únětice culture, Aunjetitz culture or Unetician culture (Czech: Únětická kultura, German: Aunjetitzer Kultur, Polish: Kultura unietycka, Slovak: Únětická kultúra) is an archaeological culture at the start of the Central European Bronze Age, dated roughly to about 2300–1600 BC.[1] The eponymous site for this culture, the village of Únětice (Czech pronunciation: [ˈuːɲɛcɪtsɛ]), is located in the central Czech Republic, northwest of Prague. There are about 1,400 documented Únětice culture sites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 550 sites in Poland, and, in Germany, about 500 sites and loose finds locations.[2] The Únětice culture is also known from north-eastern Austria (in association with the so-called Böheimkirchen group), and from western Ukraine.
History of research
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Nebra_disc_1.jpg/220px-Nebra_disc_1.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Nebra_Schwerter.jpg/220px-Nebra_Schwerter.jpg)
The Aunjetitzer/Únětice culture is named after a discovery by Czech surgeon and amateur archaeologist Čeněk Rýzner (1845–1923), who in 1879 found a cemetery in Bohemia of over 50 inhumations on Holý Vrch, the hill overlooking the village of Únětice. At about the same time, the first Úněticean burial ground was unearthed in Southern Moravia in Měnín by A. Rzehak. Following these initial discoveries and until the 1930s, many more sites, primarily cemeteries, were identified, including Němčice nad Hanou (1926), sites in the vicinity of Prague, Polepy (1926–1927), and Šardičky (1927).
In Germany, a Princely Grave in Leubingen had already been excavated in 1877 by F. Klopfleisch; however, he incorrectly dated the monument to the Hallstatt during the Iron Age. In subsequent years, a main cluster of Úněticean sites in Central Germany were identified at Baalberge, Helmsdorf, Nienstedt, Körner, Leubingen, Halberstadt, Klein Quenstedt, Wernigerode, Blankenburg, and Quedlinburg. At the same time, Adlerberg and Straubing groups were defined in 1918 by Schumacher.
In Silesia, the first archaeologist associated with the discovery and identification of the Únětice culture was Hans Seger (1864–1943). Seger not only discovered several Úněticean sites and supervised pioneering excavations in locations in Silesia, now in Poland as Przecławice, but he also linked Bohemian European Bronze Age (EBA) materials with similar assemblages in Lower Silesia. In Greater Poland, the first excavations at royal Úněticean necropolis of Łęki Małe were undertaken by Józef Kostrzewski in 1931, but major archaeological discoveries at this site were made only years later in 1953 and 1955.[4] In 1935 Kostrzewski published the first data and findings of the Iwno culture, another Bronze Age culture contemporaneous with the Únětice EBA, from Western Poland. In 1960 Wanda Sarnowska (1911–1989) began excavations in Szczepankowice near Wrocław, southwest Poland, where a new group of barrows was unearthed. In 1969 she published a new monograph on the Únětice culture in which she cataloged, analysed, and described assemblages deriving from 373 known EBA Úněticean sites in Poland.[5][6]
The first unified chronological system (relative chronology) based on a typology of ceramics and metal artefacts for the Únětice culture in Bohemia was introduced by Moucha in 1963.[7] This chronological system consisting of six sub-phases was considered valid for the Bohemian groups of the Únětice culture, and later was adapted in Poland[8] and in Germany.[9]
Recently, the Únětice culture has been cited as a pan-European cultural phenomenon[10] whose influence covered large areas due to intensive exchange, with Únětice pottery and bronze artefacts found from Ireland to Scandinavia, the Italian Peninsula, and the Balkans.[11] As such, it is candidate for a community connecting a continuum of already scattered, late Indo-European languages, ancestral to the Italo-Celtic, Germanic, and perhaps Balto–Slavic groups, between which words were frequently exchanged, and a common lexicon, as well as regional isoglosses were shared.[12]: 845
Chronology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/MUFT_-_Leubingen_F%C3%BCrstengrab_1_Rekonstruktion.jpg/220px-MUFT_-_Leubingen_F%C3%BCrstengrab_1_Rekonstruktion.jpg)
The culture corresponds to Bronze A1 and A2 in the chronological schema of Paul Reinecke:
- A1: 2300–1950 BC: triangular daggers, flat axes, stone wrist-guards, flint arrowheads
- A2: 1950–1700 BC: daggers with metal hilt, flanged axes, halberds, pins with perforated spherical heads, solid bracelets
Period | Reinecke 1924[15] | Moucha 1963[7] | Pleinerová 1967[16] | Bartelheim 1998[17] | Absolute dating | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Late Eneolithic | (A0) | 1. Proto-Únětice | Ia Ib | Older Únětice | 1 | 2300–2000 BC |
2. Old Únětice | ||||||
3. Middle Únětice | II | 2 | ||||
4. Pre-classical Únětice | ||||||
Older Bronze Age | A1 | 5. Classic Únětice | III | Younger Únětice | 3 | 2000-1800 BC |
A2 | 6. Post-classical Únětice | 1800–1700 BC | ||||
Middle Bronze Age | B2 | Tumulus culture (west), Trzciniec culture (east) |
Sub-groups
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Helmsdorf_burial_mound.jpg/261px-Helmsdorf_burial_mound.jpg)
The Únětice culture originated in the territories of contemporary Bohemia. Ten local sub-groups can be distinguished in its classical phase:[18]
- Moravia Group[19]
- Slovakia Group; following the so-called Nitra Group[20]
- Lower Austria Group[21]
- Central Germany Group[22]
- Lower Saxony Group[22][23]
- Lower Lusatia Group[22]
- Silesia Group[5][24]
- Greater Poland (Kościan) Group[25][26]
- Galicia (Western Ukraine) Group[27]
Artefacts and characteristics
Burials
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Helmsdorf_burial_mound_artefacts.jpg/220px-Helmsdorf_burial_mound_artefacts.jpg)
From a technical point of view, Úněticean graves can be divided in two categories: flat graves and barrows.[28] The Únětice culture practiced skeletal inhumations, but occasionally cremation was also practised.
A typical Úněticean cemetery was situated near a settlement, usually on a hill or acclivity and in the vicinity of a creek or river. The distance between the cemetery and the adjacent settlement very rarely exceeds 1 kilometre (0.62 mi). Cemeteries were usually spatially organized, with symmetrical rows or alleys.[29] Burials of the Únětice culture are orientated according to stars and the relative position of the sun on the horizon during the year, which may indicate quite advanced prehistoric astronomical observations.[30][31]
Barrows–Princely graves
To date, over fifty Úněticean barrows have been found in Central Europe; the majority of the monuments have been published in archaeological literature, but only about 60% of that number have been excavated according to modern standards. Some of the tombs found in the early 19th century such as the many tombs in Kościan County, Poland, were incorrectly identified and robbed or otherwise destroyed.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Bornhock1.png/220px-Bornhock1.png)
The largest concentrations of Úněticean barrows, also known in archaeological literature as "princely graves", can be found:
- in Czech Republic – in the vicinity of Prague, e.g. Brandýs, Březno, Mladá Boleslav–Čejetičky–Choboty, Prague 5- Řeporyje, Prague 6- Bubeneč;
- in Central Germany – in, for example, Bornhöck, Leubingen, Helmsdorf, Baalberge, Dieskau II, Sömmerda I–II[34] and Groß Gastrose;
- in Poland – in Greater Poland, e.g. Łęki Małe I–V, in Silesia: e.g. Szczepankowice Ia–Ib, Kąty Wrocławskie.
The size of the tombs varies, with the largest of all originally being the Bornhöck burial mound (the largest Bronze Age burial mound in central Europe), dating from c. 1800 BC. The mound belonged to a ruler or 'prince' who was likely associated with the Nebra sky disc.[35] It was originally around 65 metres in diameter and 15 metres in height, but was mostly destroyed in the late 19th century.[36] The mound was originally covered with white limestone (chalk) – a very unusual practice in central Europe but common in contemporary Bronze Age Britain.[37][38][a] A 'brotlaibidol' clay tablet was also found in the grave.[39]
The largest surviving burial mound is Barrow No. 4 at Łęki Małe, associated with the Kościan Group of the Únětice Culture – which is 50 metres in diameter and 5–6 metres in height today. In the classic phase, a typical "princely grave" was approximately 25 metres in diameter and 5 metres in height.
Gold weapons
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Dieskau_gold_axe_9.jpg/178px-Dieskau_gold_axe_9.jpg)
A gold axe and jewellery dating from c. 1800 BC were discovered at Dieskau in Germany and are thought to be associated with the ruler buried in the Bornhöck mound.[41] A gold dagger dating from the Early Bronze Age has also been recovered from Inowrocław in Poland, associated with the Iwno culture.[42][41] Gold weapons are known from other parts of Europe in this period, including a gold axe from Tufalau in Romania belonging to the Wietenberg culture,[43] a gold dagger from Mala Gruda in Montenegro belonging to the Vučedol culture,[44] a gold dagger from Dabene in Bulgaria, and gold daggers and halberds from Perșinari and Măcin in Romania belonging to the Tei culture.[45] The Tei culture weapons were found buried with gold bracelets of Unetice type.[46]
Flat graves
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Unetice_2.jpg/178px-Unetice_2.jpg)
A typical Úněticean flat grave was a rectangular or oval pit 1-1.9 metres long, 0.6-1.2 metres wide and 0.30-1.5 metres deep. Depending on the shape of the bottom and depth, graves can be divided into four sub-types: rectangular, concave, trapezoid, or hourglass.[48]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Spiral_golden_lock_rings%2C_%C3%9An%C4%9Btice_culture%2C_Bronze_Age%2C_City_of_Prague_Museum_%28cropped%29.png/124px-Spiral_golden_lock_rings%2C_%C3%9An%C4%9Btice_culture%2C_Bronze_Age%2C_City_of_Prague_Museum_%28cropped%29.png)
One of the most prominent characteristics is the position of the body in the grave pit. The deceased were always buried in a north–south alignment, with the head south and facing east. The body was usually placed in the grave in a slightly contracted position. Exceptions from this rule are sporadic.
In the classic phase (approximately 1850–1750 BC), the Úněticean burial rite displays strong uniformity, regardless of the gender or age of the deceased. Men and women were buried in the same north–south position. The grave goods consisted of ceramic vessels (usually 1–5), bronze items (jewellery and private belongings, rings, hair clips, pins etc.), bone artefacts (amulets and tools, including needles), occasionally flint tools (the burial of Archer from Nowa Wieś Wrocławska, for example, was buried with colour flint arrowheads).[49] A body deposited within a grave might have been protected with mats made from plant materials or a coffin, but in the majority of cases there was no additional coverage of the corpse. A well-known example of wicker-made coffin inhumation derives from Bruszczewo fortified settlement, nearby Poznań in Greater Poland.[50] In approximately 20% of burials, stone settings were found. Erection of a full stone setting or just a partial one (a few stones in the corners of grave) seems to be quite a common practice observed in all phases of the EBA in Central Europe. Wooden coffins were discovered at several sites such as in Lower Silesia. Únětice culture coffin burials can be divided in two types, according their construction: coffins of the stretcher type, and coffins of the canoe type. Coffins were made of single block of wood. The most prominent example of a rich cemetery containing many of such inhumations is in Przecławice[51] nearby Wrocław. Coffin burials appear in Central Europe in the Neolithic and are well known from Bell Beaker and Corded Ware cultures in Moravia.[52]
Metal objects
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Bronze_Age_Europe_Axe_%2828138324124%29.jpg/220px-Bronze_Age_Europe_Axe_%2828138324124%29.jpg)
The culture is distinguished by its characteristic metal objects, including ingot torcs, flat axes, flat triangular daggers, bracelets with spiral ends, disk- and paddle-headed pins, and curl rings, which are distributed over a wide area of Central Europe and beyond.
The ingots are found in hoards that can contain over six hundred pieces. Axe-hoards are common as well: the hoard of Dieskau (Saxony) contained 293 flanged axes. Thus, axes might have served as ingots as well. These hoards have formerly been interpreted as a form of storage by itinerant bronze-founders or as riches hidden because of enemy action. They have also been interpreted as evidence for the existence of organized groups of warriors or 'armies'.[56] Hoards containing mainly jewellery are typical for the Adlerberg group.
After 2000 BC a major expansion of bronze production took place, with tin bronzes becoming dominant. Ring ingots were exchanged widely.[57] Special weapons and ornaments were produced as status symbols for high-ranking individuals.
The famous Nebra sky disk is associated with the Central Germany groups of the Únětice culture.[58] Gold and tin used to make the Nebra disc was imported from Cornwall in southern England,[59][60] whilst the copper was imported from Austria.[61] According to the archaeologist Sabine Gerloff the gold plating (or inlay) technique used on the disc originated in Britain.[62] A similar gold inlay technique is seen on the contemporary Thun-Renzenbühl axe from Switzerland, and has also been connected to Mycenaean Greece.[63][64]
Settlements
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Langhaus_benzingerode_2022-05-27_5.jpg/220px-Langhaus_benzingerode_2022-05-27_5.jpg)
Typical Úněticean housing structures are known from the Czech Republic and Germany. The houses were constructed of wood, with a gabled roof, and rectangular in plan with an entrance on the western side. The roofs were thatched, and walls were constructed using the wattle and daub technique.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/09/Dermsdorf_longhouse_reconstruction%2C_Unetice_culture%2C_Germany.jpg/173px-Dermsdorf_longhouse_reconstruction%2C_Unetice_culture%2C_Germany.jpg)
One of the most characteristic features associated with settlements are storage pits of the Únětice type. They were located beneath the houses, and were deep and spacious, with a cylindrical or slightly conical neck, arched walls, and a relatively flat bottom. These pits often served as granaries.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0f/Fidv%C3%A1r_Early_Bronze_Age_settlement_reconstruction%2C_Unetice_culture.jpg/220px-Fidv%C3%A1r_Early_Bronze_Age_settlement_reconstruction%2C_Unetice_culture.jpg)
The vast majority of settlements consisted of several houses congregated in the communal space of the village or hamlet. Larger fortified villages, with ramparts and wooden fortifications, have been discovered as well, in, for example Bruszczewo in Greater Poland[70] and Radłowice in Silesia.[71] These larger villages played a role as local political centres, possibly also market places, facilitating the flow of goods and supplies. The 'proto-urban' fortified settlement of Fidvár in Slovakia was an important centre for the exploitation of nearby gold and tin deposits.[72][73] Hillforts are known from the Late Unetice period, such as Cezavy in the Czech Republic which featured stone fortification walls.[74][75]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Pommelte_Ring1.png/220px-Pommelte_Ring1.png)
Around 2300 BC, large circular enclosures were built at Pömmelte and nearby Schönebeck in central Germany. These were important ritual sites which remained in use until c. 1900 BC.[80][77] Pömmelte is described as a central place of supra-regional importance.[79] The largest known Early Bronze Age settlement in central Europe was built next to the Pömmelte enclosure.[78] The remains of 130 large timber houses have been found on the site; they were typically 20 metres in length with some up to 30.5 metres in length, and with floor areas ranging from 80m² to 360m².[81][82][83]
Some Unetice buildings were exceptionally large, such as the Dermsdorf longhouse (44m x 11m) and Zwenkau longhouse (57m x 9m), both in central Germany. These may have been elite residences, cult buildings, meeting halls, or 'men's houses' for groups of warriors or soldiers under the command of individual rulers.[69][56][84][85][86] The Dermsdorf longhouse was built a short distance from a settlement at Leubingen, in direct alignment with the nearby Leubingen burial mound. A large number of axes were ritually deposited together in front of the longhouse, which may have belonged to a contingent of warriors or soldiers.[56]
Experimental reconstructions of Bronze Age longhouses indicate that the builders must have had "a complex system of numbers and data for linear measurements" to manage such house building challenges.[87] Construction techniques included the use of rectangular beams, planks and boards, mortice and tenon joints, scarf joints, single notched joints, slots, grooves, pivots, wooden pegs, and rebates.[87]
Trade
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/02019_0885_%282%29_Funde_aus_der_Fr%C3%BChbronzezeit%2C_Schlesien.jpg/220px-02019_0885_%282%29_Funde_aus_der_Fr%C3%BChbronzezeit%2C_Schlesien.jpg)
The Únětice culture had trade links with the British Wessex culture. Únětice metalsmiths used pure copper as well as alloys of copper with arsenic, antimony, and tin to produce bronze. The cemetery of Singen contained daggers with a high tin content (up to 9%). They may have been produced in Brittany, where a few rich graves have been found from this period. Cornish tin was widely traded as well. A gold lunula of Irish design has been found as far south as Butzbach in Hessen (Germany). Amber was also traded, but small fossil deposits may have been used as well as Baltic amber.
Weights and money
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Spangenbarren_aus_dem_Hort_Oberding_im_Museum_Erding.jpg/220px-Spangenbarren_aus_dem_Hort_Oberding_im_Museum_Erding.jpg)
Analyses of Early Bronze Age rings, ribs and axe blades from across central Europe have found that they had approximately standardised weights and probably served as a form of commodity money.[88] In the first centuries of the second millennium BC, increasing precision in exchange was achieved by the introduction of lighter ingots. Certain artefacts (e.g. ösenrings) may have also been used as a type of token-money.[89]
At the end of the Early Bronze Age rings and ribs were replaced by scrap and raw metal, indicating the development of weighing scales and the use of weighed metal as a means of payment. This weighing system may have emerged independently in central Europe through the serial production of bronze artefacts with perceptibly similar weights.[88][89]
In 2014 the largest known hoard of copper rib-ingots was discovered in Oberding, Germany, consisting of 796 ingots, dating from c. 1700 BC. The find is associated with the Straubing group. Most of the ingots were tied together with tree bast in bundles of ten, each individual ingot weighing approximately 100 grams on average and the bundles weighing approximately 1 kilogram each. Forty of these bundles were further grouped into bundles of ten (or 100 ingots). This indicates the use of a decimal system.[90][91] The use of approximately 1 kilogram weight is also unusual as the kilogram was first introduced as a unit of measurement in 1793.[91][92]
'Enigmatic tablets'
Numerous 'enigmatic tablets' (Brotlaibidole) made from clay (and occasionally stone) have been found across central Europe and northern Italy, dating from the Early and Middle Bronze Age, including in Unetice Culture sites. The tablets are marked with sequences of geometric figures, such as circles, lines, points, crosses, etc. The function of the tablets is not clear and the meaning of the incisions has not yet been deciphered. The prevailing theory is that they served a purpose in long-distance trade, possibly of metals.[93][94][95] According to Harald Meller they probably represent a 'sign system' involved in trade. They are often found broken in two which may indicate some sort of credit/debt system.[39]
In 2010 a major exhibition was organized on the 'enigmatic tablets' from the Archaeological Museum of Upper Mantua in Cavriana with the collaboration of thirty-five other museums. One hundred examples of enigmatic tablets were exhibited. In 2015 an international project was launched to study the tablets involving various Italian and foreign universities. The artefacts have been analysed and categorised using a three-dimensional scanning and measuring technique that allows for a precise morphological comparison to be made between tablets.[96]
Social organisation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Sogenannter_Fritzdorfer_Becher_%28Henkelbecher%29.jpg/140px-Sogenannter_Fritzdorfer_Becher_%28Henkelbecher%29.jpg)
Archeological evidence from 2000 BC onwards points to the emergence of a more complex and ranked society in central Europe and the appearance of a new aristocratic leadership on top of the traditional clan-based organisation of farmsteads and hamlets. The effects were seen across all spheres of society from technology and economy to settlement and religion.[97] The Únětice Culture in Central Germany in particular exhibited a remarkably high level of social complexity. Based on the funerary record, metal hoards and architectural evidence it has been suggested that by the 20th-19th centuries BC this society had developed into a type of state, ruled by a dominant leader and supported by armed troops.[56] This is further indicated by evidence for the surplus production and centralisation of agricultural goods, as well as the production of the Nebra Sky Disc.[98][56]
Calendar
The main entrances of the Pömmelte circular enclosure were oriented towards sunrise and sunset midway between the solstices and equinoxes, indicating that it served as a monument for "ceremonies linked to calendrical rites and seasonal feasting".[77] These alignments marked the same dates as later Celtic seasonal festivals such as Beltane and Samhain, which celebrated the transition of the seasons, the harvest, or commemoration of the dead.[99][100]
The diameter and ground plan of the Pömmelte enclosure are almost identical to those of Stonehenge in Britain (built around 2500 BC), which was aligned with the solstices and has also been interpreted as serving a calendar function.[101][102][103] According to excavators of the Pömmelte site, the similarities between both monuments indicate that they were built by "the same culture" (the Bell Beaker culture) with "the same view of the world".[78] It has been suggested that the close similarity between the Pömmelte enclosure and earlier earth-and-timber circular enclosures, such as the Goseck Circle in Germany (c. 4900 BC) and henges in Britain, may indicate a continuation of traditions dating back to the early Neolithic.[104][105]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/KM_-_Bronzedepot_Neudorf.jpg/220px-KM_-_Bronzedepot_Neudorf.jpg)
The Nebra Sky Disc, described as 'the oldest concrete depiction of astronomical phenomena in the world',[108][109] is thought to depict a calendar rule for harmonising the solar and lunar years, enabling the creation of a lunisolar calendar.[110][111][112] The cluster of stars next to the crescent moon is thought to represent the Pleiades, known from other ancient contexts as 'calendar stars',[113] whilst the gold arcs on the edge of the disc (one of which is now missing) represent the angle between the solstices at the latitude where the disc was found.[114] This feature also appears in a different form on the Bush Barrow gold lozenge from Stonehenge, dating from c. 1900 BC.[105] The number of stars on the disc (32, or 33 if the sun is included) may represent the equivalence of 32 solar years to 33 lunar years.[111][112][115] According to the archaeologist Christoph Sommerfeld the disc may also encode knowledge of the 19-year luni-solar Metonic cycle.[116]
According to Harald Meller the Nebra disc allowed for "an extremely accurate positing of time, including even the capacity for predicting lunar eclipses." As such it represents "the establishment of a new temporal order" by elites of the Unetice culture, and thereby "ultimately demonstrates their claim to state power".[117]
The site on the Mittelberg hill where the Nebra disc was found is thought to have served as an enclosed 'sacred precinct', delimited by earthen ramparts on two sides of the hill. From this location, when the disc is aligned to the north, the upper terminus of the western gold arc points towards the Brocken mountain, where the sun is seen to set on the summer solstice (June 21st). Another distinctive marker on the horizon is the Kulpenberg hill, where the sun sets on May 1st (Beltane), a date also marked by the Pömmelte enclosure.[118]
Influence of the Únětice tradition
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Vollgriffdolch_von_D%C3%B6ttingen.jpg/132px-Vollgriffdolch_von_D%C3%B6ttingen.jpg)
Today, the Únětice culture is considered to be part of a wider pan-European cultural phenomenon, arising gradually between the second half of the 3rd millennium and the beginning of the 2nd.[120][10] According to Pokutta, "The role of the Únětice Culture in the formation of Bronze Age Europe cannot be overrated. The rise and the existence of this original, expansive and dynamic population mark one of the most interesting moments in European prehistory." The influence of this culture covered much larger areas mainly due to intensive exchange.[11] Únětice pottery and bronze objects are thus found in Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Italy as well as the Balkans.
The strong impact of Úněticean metallurgical centres and pottery-making traditions can be seen in other EBA groups, for example, in the Adlerberg, Straubing, Singen, Neckar-Ries, and Upper-Rhine groups in Germany and Switzerland, as well as the Unterwölbling in Austria. The Nitra group, inhabiting southern Slovakia, not only precedes the Únětice culture chronologically, but is also strongly culturally related to it. All of these groups are alternatively seen as local variants of a broader Únětice culture.[121][122] According to Marija Gimbutas these cultures were, in a broad sense, "one unit", with the same burial rites, economy, habitation patterns, and pottery, which she groups together as 'early Únětice'.[123] According to Sergent (1995) the Polada culture in northern Italy and the Rhône culture in France and Switzerland also represent southern variants of the Únětice culture.[124][125] In later times, some elements of the Úněticean pottery-making traditions can be found in the Trzciniec culture as well.
Genetics
Haak et al. 2015 examined the remains of 8 individuals of the Unetice culture buried in modern-day Germany c. 2200–1800 BC.[126] The 3 samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to Y-haplogroups I2a2, I2c2 and I2, while the 8 samples of mtDNA extracted were determined to belong to haplogroup I3a (2 samples), U5a1, W3a1, U5b2a1b, H4a1a1, H3 and V.[127] The examined Unetice individuals were found to be very closely related to peoples of the earlier Yamnaya culture, Bell Beaker culture and Corded Ware culture.[128] Their amount of steppe-related ancestry is comparable to that of some modern Europeans.[129]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Leubingen_tumulus_1.jpg/220px-Leubingen_tumulus_1.jpg)
Allentoft et al. 2015 examined the remains of 7 individuals of the Unetice culture buried in modern-day Poland and Czech Republic from c. 2300–1800 BC.[130] The 7 samples of mtDNA extracted were determined to belong to haplogroup U4, U2e1f1, H6a1b, U5a1b1, K1a4a1, T2b and K1b1a.[131] An additional male from the late Corded Ware culture or early Unetice culture in Łęki Małe, Poland of c. 2300–2000 BC was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup R1b1a and the maternal haplogroup T2e.[132][131][133] It was found that the people of the Corded Ware culture, Bell Beaker culture, Unetice culture and Nordic Bronze Age were genetically very similar to one another, and displayed a significant amount of genetic affinity with the Yamnaya culture.[134]
Papac et al. (2021) tested some more individuals from the Únětice burial sites: their the Y-chromosome results (not including two by low coverage samples) were: 1 G2a2b2a, 1 I2a1, 8 I2a2, 7 R1a-Z645, and 8 R1b-P312. The geneticists found that: "The Y-chromosomal data suggest an even larger turnover. A decrease of Y-lineage R1b-P312 from 100% (in late Bell Beaker Culture) to 20% (in preclassical Únětice) implies a minimum 80% influx of new Y-lineages at the onset of the Early Bronze Age". The autosomal results even point to a migration from the northeast, which the authors can link with the arrival of R1a-Z645, previously found in the Baltic region.[135]
Several individuals from two burial sites in Prague were tested in 2022 (both sites were used in different cultural periods), the male Y-DNA haplogroups from individuals assigned to the Únětice period were: two R1a1a1 (Z280), eight I2a2a (I6635), with an individual with the derived clade PF3885, a tested male was I2a-L38, and four males had the R1b-L2 haplogroup (another tested individual had the derived R1b-L20 clade); a male had the haplogroup R1b-Y153322, which is under DF27.[136]
Gallery
-
Gold artefacts from the Leubingen barrow
-
Bronze axes
-
Bronze halberd, Poland
-
Ingots, rings, tools, spirals, amber, Germany
-
Bronze dagger, Germany
-
Daggers from Łęki Małe, Poland
-
Daggers, halberds and swords, Germany, c. 2000 BC
-
Bronze and amber from Kyhna, Germany
-
Bronze axe
-
Baltic amber
-
Pottery
-
Gold and silver artefacts from Dieskau, Germany
-
Bronze artefacts, Dieskau II hoard.[53]
-
Bronze and amber artefacts, Dieskau II[137]
-
Bronze armband, Austria
-
Horse harness, illustration
-
Finds from Únětice
-
Finds from Únětice, Czech Republic
-
Hoard from Pilszcz, Poland
-
Leubingen barrow excavation
-
Bronze artefacts from the Nebra sky disc deposit
-
Gold ring from Barwice, Poland
-
Bronze axe, Austria[138]
See also
Part of a series on |
Indo-European topics |
---|
![]() |
- Deposit finds of the Aunjetitz culture
- Bronze Age Britain
- Wessex culture
- Armorican Tumulus culture
- Nordic Bronze Age
- Argaric culture
- Rhône culture
- Sintashta culture
- Catacomb culture
- Abashevo culture
- Ottomány culture
- Wietenberg culture
- Polada culture
- Cetina culture
- Castellieri culture
- Helladic culture
- Mycenaean Greece
- The Collection of Pre- and Protohistoric Artifacts at the University of Jena
Notes
- ^ The Bornhock mound lies at the same latitude (51.41° N) as Silbury Hill in England, the largest prehistoric human-made mound in Europe (constructed c. 2400-2300 BC), which was also covered in white limestone/chalk.
References
- ^ a b Allentoft et al. 2015, Supplementary Information, p. 6.
- ^ Zich B. 1996, Studien zur regionalen und chronologischen Gliederung der nördlichen Aunjetitzer Kultur, Berlin, p. 5–19
- ^ "The Nebra Sky Disc: decoding a prehistoric vision of the cosmos". the-past.com. 25 May 2022.
- ^ Kowiańska-Piaszykowa M. (ed.) 2008, Cmentarzysko kurhanowe z wczesnej epoki brązu w Łękach Małych w Wielkopolsce, Poznań
- ^ a b Sarnowska W. 1969, Kultura unietycka w Polsce, vol. 1, Wrocław
- ^ Sarnowska W. 1975, Kultura unietycka w Polsce, vol. 2, Wrocław
- ^ a b Moucha V. 1963, Die Periodisierung der Úněticer Kultur in Böhmen, Sborník ČSSA 3, p. 9–60
- ^ Machnik J. 1977, Frühbronzezeit Polens (Übersicht über die Kulturen und Kulturgruppen), Wrocław
- ^ Müller J. 1999, Radiocarbonchronologie-Keramiktechnologie-Osteologie-Anthropologie-Raumanalysen. Beiträge zum Neolithikum und zur Frühbronzezeit im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet, Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 80, p. 28–211
- ^ a b Kristiansen, K., Larsson, T. 2005, The rise of Bronze Age Society. Travels, Transmissions and Transformations, Cambridge, p. 108–118
- ^ a b Pokutta D. 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Unetice culture in Poland, Gothernburg
- ^ Gamkrelidze, T. V., and V. V. Ivanov. 1995. Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture. Part I: The Structure of Proto-Indo-European. Part II: Semantic Dictionary of Proto-IndoEuropean Language. Vol. 80. Walter de Gruyter, 1995. Edited by W. Winter. Vol. 80. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter
- ^ The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Leubingen tumulus (Harald Meller, Halle State Museum of Prehistory, 2022).
- ^ "Model of the burial mound of Leubingen (Thuringia) in the exhibition "The World of the Nebra Sky Disk - New Horizons" at the Landesmuseum Halle". www.agefotostock.com. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ Reinecke, P. 1924, Zur chronologischen Gliederung der süddeutschen Bronzezeit, Germania 8, p. 40–44
- ^ Pleinerová I. 1967, Únetická kultura v oblasti Krušných hor a jejím sousedství II, Památky archeologické 58, p. 1–36
- ^ Bartelheim M. 1998, Studien zur böhmischen Aunjetitzer Kultur: Chronologie und chronologische Untersuchungen, vols. 1–2, Bonn
- ^ Pokutta D. 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg, p.25
- ^ Bartelheim M. 1998, Studien zur böhmischen Aunjetitzer Kultur: Chronologie und chronologische Untersuchungen, vols. 1–2. Bonn
- ^ Bátora J. 2000, Das Gräberfeld von Jelšovce/Slowakei. Ein Beitrag zur Frühbronzezeit im nordwestlichen Karpatenbecken, vols. 1–2, Kiel
- ^ Neugebauer J. W. 1994, Bronzezeit in Ostösterreich, Wien
- ^ a b c Zich B. 1996, Studien zur regionalen und chronologischen Gliederung der nördlichen Aunjetitzer Kultur, Berlin
- ^ Gimbutas, M. 1965, Bronze Age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe, Hague–London, p. 248, 261–265
- ^ Pokutta D. 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg
- ^ Lasak I. 2001, Epoka brązu na pograniczu śląsko-wielkopolskim. Część II. Zagadnienia kulturowo -osadnicze, Seria: Monografie Archeologiczne 6, Wrocław
- ^ Machnik J. 1977, Frühbronzezeit Polens (Übersicht über die Kulturen und Kulturgruppen), Wrocław
- ^ Pasternak J. 1933, Перша бронзова доба в Галичині в світлі нових розкопок, Записки НТШ Львів, vol.152, p. 63–112
- ^ Steffen C. 2010, Die Prunkgräber der Wessex-und der Aunjetitz-Kultur, BAR International Series 2160
- ^ Butent-Stefaniak B. 1997, Z badań nad stosunkami kulturowymi w dorzeczu górnej i środkowej Odry we wczesnym okresie epoki brązu, Prace Komisji Archeologicznej 12, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków
- ^ Romanow J., Wachowski K., Miszkiewicz B. 1973, Tomice, pow. Dzierżoniów. Wielokulturowe stanowisko archeologiczne, Wrocław
- ^ Pokutta D 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg, p. 71–74
- ^ Digital reconstruction of the Bornhock burial mound, c. 1800 BC. Terra X.
- ^ "Model of the Bornhöck mound and burial chamber".
- ^ Klopfleisch, F. 1884, Die Grabhügel von Leubingen, Sömmerda und Nienstedt : allgemeine Einleitung : Charakteristik und Zeitfolge der Keramik Mitteldeutschlands, Historische Commission der Provinz Sachsen, Druck und Verl. von O. Hendel
- ^ "Deutschlands erste Fürsten starben wie Pharaonen". www.welt.de. 2016.
- ^ a b Meller, Harald (May 2019). "Princes, Armies, Sanctuaries - The emergence of complex authority in the Central German Únětice culture". Acta Archaeologica. 90 (1): 39–79. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0390.2019.12188.x. S2CID 241149593.
- ^ Concepts of cosmos in the world of Stonehenge. British Museum. 2022.
- ^ Digital reconstruction of the Bornhock burial mound, c. 1800 BC. Terra X.
- ^ a b "Das Brotlaibidol vom Bornhöck". www.museumsfernsehen.de. 2023.
- ^ "Photo of the gold axe and jewellery from Dieskau". st.museum-digital.de.
- ^ a b Meller, Harald (2019). "Princes, Gold Weapons and Armies". Studia Hercynia. 23 (2): 9–21.
- ^ Makarowicz, Przemyslaw (2003). "The construction of social structure: Bell Beakers and Trzciniec complex in north-eastern part of central Europe". Przeglad Archeologiczny. 51: 135.
- ^ "Golden axe of Tufalau". Natural History Museum Vienna.
- ^ "Mala Gruda". Muzeji Kotor.
- ^ Boardman, John; Edwards, I.E.S; Hammond, N.G.L; Sollberger, E., eds. (1982). "1. The Prehistory of Romania, VII. The Bronze Age". The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 1 (Second ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0521224963.
- ^ Gimbutas, Marija (1965). Bronze Age Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. De Gruyter. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9783111668147.
- ^ "Amber in Czech Únětice (Aunjetitz) culture – on the origin of the Amber Route". 2012.
- ^ Pokutta D. 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg, p. 52–59
- ^ Pokutta D. 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg, p. 81
- ^ Müller, J., Czebreszuk, J., Kneisel, J. (eds.) 2010, Bruszczewo II. Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in einer prähistorischen Siedlungskammer Grosspolens. Badania mikroregionu osadniczego z terenu Wielkopolski, vols. 1–2, Bonn, p. 724–730
- ^ Lasak I. 1988, Cmentarzysko ludności kultury unietyckiej w Przecławicach, Studia Archeologiczne 18, Wrocław
- ^ Lasak I. 1982, Pochówki w trumnach drewnianych jako forma obrządku grzebalnego we wczesnym okresie epoki brązu w świetle badań w Przecławicach, woj. Wrocław, Silesia Antiqua 24, p. 89–108
- ^ a b "Dieskau Hoard II". Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ "Life and Belief During the Bronze Age"- Halberd of Kanena, Neues Museum, Berlin". Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ "Unetice culture halberds".
- ^ a b c d e Meller, Harald (2019). "Princes, Armies, Sanctuaries - The emergence of complex authority in the Central German Únětice culture". Acta Archaeologica. 90 (1): 39–79.
- ^ Kristiansen, Kristian; Larsson, Thomas B. (2005). The Rise of Bronze Age Society. Cambridge University Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 9780521843638. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
In the Unetice and related cultures a major expansion of production took place and ring ingots were exchanged widely. ... From now on tin bronzes began to dominate
- ^ Eiland, Murray (2003). "Pre-heraldry on the Sangerhausen Disc". The Armiger's News. 25 (2): 1, 9 – via academia.edu.
- ^ Ehser, Anja; Borg, Gregor; Pernicka, Ernst (2011). "Provenance of the gold of the Early Bronze Age Nebra Sky Disk, central Germany: geochemical characterization of natural gold from Cornwall". European Journal of Mineralogy. 23 (6): 895–910. Bibcode:2011EJMin..23..895E. doi:10.1127/0935-1221/2011/0023-2140. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
- ^ Haustein, M. (2010). "Tin isotopy: a new method for solving old questions". Archaeometry. 52 (5): 816–832. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2010.00515.x.
- ^ Pernicka, E. & Wunderlich, C-H. "Naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen an den Funden von Nebra". Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt. 1/02: 24–29.
- ^ Gerloff, Sabine (2010). "Von Troja an die Saale, von Wessex nach Mykene – Chronologie, Fernverbindungen und Zinnrouten der Frühbronzezeit Mittel- und Westeuropas". In Meller, Harald; Bertemes, Francois (eds.). Der Griff nach den Sternen. Internationales Symposium in Halle (Saale) 16.-21. Februar 2005. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). pp. 603–639. ISBN 978-3-939414-28-5.
This phase also includes the hoard of Nebra with its famous disc showing gold-plated heavenly bodies. Its plating technique is generally connected to Mycenaean metalwork. It will be shown, however, that this technique together with that of metal inlay had its origins in Britain, where it was already applied to organic material during the first phase of the Early Bronze Age, and flourished during the second and third phases when it was introduced on the continent and used on prestige metalwork.
- ^ Berger, Daniel (September 2013). "New insights into early bronze age damascene technique north of the alps". The Antiquaries Journal. 93: 25–53. doi:10.1017/S0003581513000012. S2CID 129042338.
- ^ Gerloff, Sabine (2010). "Von Troja an die Saale, von Wessex nach Mykene – Chronologie, Fernverbindungen und Zinnrouten der Frühbronzezeit Mittel- und Westeuropas". In Meller, Harald; Bertemes, Francois (eds.). Der Griff nach den Sternen. Internationales Symposium in Halle (Saale) 16.-21. Februar 2005. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). pp. 603–639. ISBN 978-3-939414-28-5.
- ^ What was life like in the Early Bronze Age? (Digital reconstruction of a Unetice culture longhouse, c. 2200 BC). Terra X.
- ^ "Benzingerode longhouse reconstruction, p.192". Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle. 2019.
- ^ "Das Langhaus und der Depotfund von Dermsdorf". Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens. 2022.
- ^ "Ein erstes "Fürstentum"". Das Ist Thuringen. 2022.
- ^ a b "Depotfund Dermsdorf". Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens.
- ^ Müller, J., Czebreszuk, J., Kneisel, J. (eds.) 2010, Bruszczewo II. Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in einer prähistorischen Siedlungskammer Grosspolens. Badania mikroregionu osad¬niczego z terenu Wielkopolski, vols. 1–2, Bonn.
- ^ Lasak, I., Furmanek, M. 2008, Bemerkungen zum vermutlichen Wehrobjekt der Aunjetitzer Kultur in Radłowice in Schlesien, In: Müller, J., Czebreszuk, J., Kadrow, S. (eds.), Defensive Structures from Central Europe to the Aegean in the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C, Studia nad pradziejami Europy Środkowej, vol. 5, Poznań–Bonn, p. 123–134
- ^ Toth, Peter; Gresky, Julia (2012). "The rise and decline of the Early Bronze Age settlement Fidvár near Vráble, Slovakia". In Kneisel, J. (ed.). Collapse or Continuity? Environment and development of Bronze Age human landscapes. Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH. pp. 111–129.
- ^ "Fidvár near Vráble - Archaeological Investigations at a Central Place of the Early Bronze Age on the Fringes of the Western Carpathians in Slovakia 2007-08". Universität Würzburg.
- ^ Gimbutas, Marija (1965). Bronze Age Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. De Gruyter. p. 270. ISBN 9783111668147.
- ^ "Prehistoric hillfort Cezavy". Archaeological Atlas of the Czech Republic.
- ^ "Aerial view of the Pommelte enclosure". Deutsche Welle. 2020.
- ^ a b c Spatzier, Andre; Bertemes, Francois (June 2018). "The ring sanctuary of Pömmelte, Germany: a monumental, multi-layered metaphor of the late third millennium BC". Antiquity. 92 (363): 655–673. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.92. S2CID 165852387.
- ^ a b c "Stonehenge's Continental Cousin". Archaeology. January 2021.
- ^ a b "The World of the Nebra Sky Disc". Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ Spatzier, André (2019). "The enclosure complex Pömmelte–Schönebeck: The dialectic of two circular monuments of the late 3rd to early 2nd millennium BC in Central Germany". In Bertemes, F.; Meller, H. (eds.). Der Aufbruch zu neuen Horizonten. NeueSichtweisen zur europäischen Frühbronzezeit. Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle. pp. 421–443. ISBN 9783948618032.
- ^ "Discovery Map around and about the Pömmelte Ring Sanctuary" (PDF). landesmuseum-vorgeschichte.de.
- ^ "Stonehenge's Continental Cousin". archaeology.org. 2021.
- ^ "Archaeologists discovered 130 dwellings around the Ringheiligtum Pömmelte monument "German Stonehenge"". arkeonews.net. 2021.
- ^ Risch, R. (2022). "Architecture and Settlement Dynamics in Central Germany from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. 88: 123–154. doi:10.1017/ppr.2022.10. S2CID 253611144.
- ^ Meller, Harald (2022). The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Dermsdorf house (video). State Museum of Prehistory Halle.
- ^ Johannsen, Jens (2017). "Mansion on the Hill – A Monumental Late Neolithic House at Vinge, Zealand, Denmark". Journal of Neolithic Archaeology. 19.
Monumental two-aisled houses are found in the core area of the Únětice culture, while recent excavations show that monumental, three-aisled houses were introduced in the Saxony-Anhalt/Thuringia area in the Classical Únětice phase. An example is a 44 metres long and 11 metres wide three-aisled house excavated at Dermsdorf in Central Germany. This contained a hoard of approximately 25 kilos of bronze, consisting of 98 axes and two dagger rough-outs indicating that these monumental houses were inhabited by the elite who controlled metal exchange. The house was found only 3.6 kilometres from the famous Leubingen mound and belongs to the Classical Únětice phase.
- ^ a b Lobisser, Wolfgang (2018). "The Construction of a Bronze Age Longhouse Model in Dwelling-byre Style using Experimental Archaeological Techniques". Exarc Journal (EXARC Journal Issue 2018/2).
- ^ a b Kuijpers, Maikel H. G.; Popa, Cătălin N. (January 2021). "The origins of money: Calculation of similarity indexes demonstrates the earliest development of commodity money in prehistoric Central Europe". PLOS ONE. 16 (1): e0240462. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1640462K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240462. PMC 7816976. PMID 33471789.
- ^ a b Pare, Christopher (2013). "Chapter 29: Weighing, Commodification and Money". In Harding, Anthony; Fokkens, Harry (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age. OUP Oxford. pp. 508–527. ISBN 978-0-19-957286-1.
- ^ Krause, Harald; Kutscher, Sabrina (2017). "Spangenbarrenhort Oberding: Zusammenfassung und Ausblick". Spangenbarrenhort Oberding. Museum Erding. pp. 238–243. ISBN 978-3-9817606-5-1.
- ^ a b The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The hoards from Domsen and Oberding. State Museum of Prehistory Halle. 2022.
- ^ "kilogram". Merriam-Webster. April 2024.
- ^ LE INCREDIBILI TAVOLETTE ENIGMATICHE
- ^ AENIGMA - Der geheimnisvolle Code der Bronzezeit, 2011
- ^ Deutschlands erste Fürsten starben wie Pharaonen
- ^ The Brotlaibidole Project
- ^ Kristiansen, Kristian; Larsson, Thomas B. (2005). The Rise of Bronze Age Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780521843638. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ Risch, R.; Meller, H.; Delgado-Raack, S.; Schunke, T. (2021). "The Bornhöck Burial Mound and the Political Economy of an Únětice Ruler". In Gimatzidis, S.; Jung, R. (eds.). The Critique of Archaeological Economy. Frontiers in Economic History. Springer. pp. 85–116. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-72539-6_6. ISBN 978-3-030-72538-9. S2CID 236719148.
- ^ Spatzier, Andre; Bertemes, Francois (June 2018). "The ring sanctuary of Pömmelte, Germany: a monumental, multi-layered metaphor of the late third millennium BC". Antiquity. 92 (363): 655–673. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.92. S2CID 165852387.
- ^ "Das Ringheiligtum Pömmelte".
- ^ Concepts of cosmos in the world of Stonehenge. British Museum. 2022.
- ^ "Solstice". English Heritage.
- ^ Darvill, Timothy (2022). "Keeping time at Stonehenge". Antiquity. 96 (386): 319–335. doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.5.
- ^ "Rituals performed at this German 'Stonehenge' may link mysterious monument to its U.K. counterpart". Science. June 28, 2018.
- ^ a b Dathe, Henning; Kruger, Harald (2018). "Morphometric findings on the Nebra Sky Disc". Time and Mind. 11 (1): 89–104. doi:10.1080/1751696X.2018.1433358. S2CID 165508431.
- ^ Gimbutas, M. (1965). Bronze Age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. pp. Plate 39.
- ^ Kristiansen, Kristian; Larsson, Thomas B. (2005). The Rise of Bronze Age Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 302. ISBN 9780521843638.
Women of the later Unetice Culture would sometimes wear a sun-disc with protruding star ornament
- ^ "Nebra Sky Disc". Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ Pernicka, Ernst; Adam, Jörg; Borg, Gregor; Brügmann, Gerhard; Bunnefeld, Jan-Heinrich; Kainz, Wolfgang; Klamm, Mechthild; Koiki, Thomas; Meller, Harald; Schwarz, Ralf; Stöllner, Thomas; Wunderlich, Christian-Heinrich; Reichenberger, Alfred (2020). "Why the Nebra Sky Disc Dates to the Early Bronze Age. An Overview of the Interdisciplinary Results". Archaeologia Austriaca. 104. Austrian Academy of Sciences: 89–122. doi:10.1553/archaeologia104s89. S2CID 229208057.
- ^ "The Nebra Sky Disc". Archaeology. June 2019.
- ^ a b Meller, Harald (2021). "The Nebra Sky Disc – astronomy and time determination as a source of power". Time is power. Who makes time?: 13th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany. Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). ISBN 978-3-948618-22-3.
- ^ a b Hansen, Rahlf; Rink, Christine (2008). "Himmelsscheibe, Sonnenwagen und Kalenderhüte - ein Versuch zur bronzezeitlichen Astronomie". Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica. 40: 97–98.
- ^ Garrow, Duncan; Wilkin, Neil (June 2022). The World of Stonehenge. British Museum Press. pp. 145–147. ISBN 9780714123493. OCLC 1297081545.
- ^ Meller, Harald (2021). "The Nebra Sky Disc – astronomy and time determination as a source of power". Time is power. Who makes time?: 13th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany. Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). pp. 151–152. ISBN 978-3-948618-22-3.
- ^ "The difference between solar and lunar years". Sciencing.com. 2018.
- ^ Sommerfeld, Christoph (2012). "... Sterne mal Sterne durch Sonne ist Mond - Bemerkungen über die Nebra-Scheibe". Preaehistorische Zeitschrift. 87 (1): 110–131. doi:10.1515/pz-2012-0006. S2CID 163304521.
- ^ Meller, Harald (May 2019). "Princes, Armies, Sanctuaries - The emergence of complex authority in the Central German Únětice culture". Acta Archaeologica. 90 (1): 39–79. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0390.2019.12188.x. S2CID 241149593.
- ^ "Nebra Sky Disc: The Place of Discovery". Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
Another distinctive elevation on the horizon are the Kyffhäuser mountains with the Kulpenberg hill, where the sun is swallowed by the mountain on May 1st. Although this date is not encoded on the Sky Disc, it is known by other cultures as the Beltane or Spring Festival.
- ^ Uenze, Otto (1938). Die frühbronzezeitlichen triangulären Vollgriffdolche. De Gruyter. p. 33. ISBN 9783111385792.
Wir können diese Dreinietendolche als eine Art Unterabteilung des Aunjetitzer Typus auffassen. Der Dolch von Döttingen mit seinen 6 Nieten beweist durch diese und möglicherweise durch die Verzierung des Griffes, von Punkten eingefaßte Linienbänder, einen Einfluß vom Rhônetypus. Die Klinge dieses Dolches ist aber echt aunjetitzisch verziert, wie das große Linienbanddreieck erkennen läßt. Dieser Dolch muß ähnlich den Dolchen vom Schweizer Typus eine Mischform sein, die entstanden ist in der Peripherie des Verbreitungsgebietes beider Dolchtypen." English translation: "The dagger from Döttingen with its six rivets, and possibly the decoration of the hilt, line bands bordered by dots, prove an influence of the Rhône type. The blade of this dagger, however, is genuinely Aunjetitz decorated, as the large triangle of line bands indicates. Similar to the daggers of the Swiss type, this dagger must be a hybrid form that originated on the periphery of the distribution area of both dagger types.
- ^ Sosna, D. 2009, Social Differentiation in the Late Cooper Age and the Early Bronze Age in South Moravia (Czech Republic), BAR International Series 1994, Oxford
- ^ "Únětice Culture". Oxford Reference.
Únětice Culture: A large group of early Bronze Age communities in central Europe, especially Bohemia, Bavaria, southeastern Germany, and western Poland, dating to the second half of the 3rd millennium bc. Named after a cemetery of 60 graves excavated north of Prague in the Czech Republic. Also known as the Aunjetitz Culture. The early phase seems to have developed out of the local Bell Beaker Culture and embraces a series of regional groups including Nitra (western Slovakia), Adlerberg (mid‐Rhine), Straubing (Bavaria), Marschwitz (Oder Basin), and Unterwölbling (Austria). ... To the east, the Únětice Culture overlaps the currency of the Nagyrév and Hatvan cultures, all within Montelius' Bronze Period I.
- ^ Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). "Únetice". Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Kluwer Academic. p. 583. ISBN 9780306461583.
Regional groups [of the Unetice culture] include Nitra, Adlerberg, Straubing, Marschwitz, and Unterwölbling (Austria).
- ^ Gimbutas, M. (1965). Bronze Age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. pp. 251–253.
The western, southern, eastern, and northern parts of the same culture have been given different names, which makes it appear as if seven or eight different cultures existed in this period. The group in the Oder basin was called the Marschwitz in German or Marszowic in Polish; the western Slovakian group: Nitra; the northwestern Hungarian and lower Austrian group south of Vienna: Wieselburg in German or Gata in Hungarian; the group west of Vienna along the Danube: Unterwolbling; the group in Bavaria south of the Danube: Straubing; the culture in the Tyrol: the Early Bronze Age of upper Austria; and the group on the upper Rhine: Adlerberg. All of these names designate local variants or groupings of one growing culture. [...] In a broad sense, however, the culture between the upper Rhine and the middle Danube west of Budapest was one unit, with the same burial rites, economy, habitation patterns, and pottery which I call early Únětice.
- ^ Bernard Sergent (1995). Payot, Catherine (ed.). Les Indo-Européens. Histoire, langues, mythes. Payot. p. 416. ISBN 2-228-88956-3.
- ^ Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). "Rhône culture". Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Kluwer Academic. p. 479. ISBN 9780306461583.
The Rhône culture is the Swiss and east French counterpart of the Early Bronze Age cultures of central Europe. The metalwork and pottery are similar to those of the Straubing group in Bavaria.
- ^ Haak et al. 2015, Extended Data Table 2, I0114, I0115, I0116, I0117, I0164, I0803, IO804, I0047.
- ^ Haak et al. 2015, Extended Data Table 2.
- ^ Haak et al. 2015, Supplementary Information, p. 6. "The Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age Yamnaya fall closest to the central European Late Neolithic Corded Ware (CWC) and Bell Beaker groups (BBC), and in particular to samples from the early Bronze Age Unetice culture (UC). This supports a genetic contribution of eastern groups to central Europe during the Late Neolithic ~4,500 BCE, consistent with the autosomal SNP data. These results indicate that the Late Neolithic migration into central Europe was not entirely male in origin."
- ^ Haak et al. 2015, p. 7.
- ^ Allentoft et al. 2015, Supplementary Information, p. 42, RISE109, RISE 139, RISE 145, RISE 150, RISE 154, RISE 577, RISE 586.
- ^ a b Allentoft et al. 2015, p. 14.
- ^ Allentoft et al. 2015, Supplementary Information, p. 42, RISE 431.
- ^ Mathieson et al. 2018, Supplementary Table 1, Row 150, RISE 431.
- ^ Allentoft et al. 2015, pp. 2–3. "European Late Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures such as Corded Ware, Bell Beakers, Unetice, and the Scandinavian cultures are genetically very similar to each other..."
- ^ Papac, Luka; Ernée, Michal; Dobeš, Miroslav; Langová, Michaela; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Aron, Franziska; Neumann, Gunnar U.; Spyrou, Maria A.; Rohland, Nadin; Velemínský, Petr; Kuna, Martin; Brzobohatá, Hana; Culleton, Brendan; Daněček, David; Danielisová, Alžběta; Dobisíková, Miluše; Hložek, Josef; Kennett, Douglas J.; Klementová, Jana; Kostka, Michal; Krištuf, Petr; Kuchařík, Milan; Hlavová, Jana Kuljavceva; Limburský, Petr; Malyková, Drahomíra; Mattiello, Lucia; Pecinovská, Monika; Petriščáková, Katarína; Průchová, Erika; Stránská, Petra; Smejtek, Lubor; Špaček, Jaroslav; Šumberová, Radka; Švejcar, Ondřej; Trefný, Martin; Vávra, Miloš; Kolář, Jan; Heyd, Volker; Krause, Johannes; Pinhasi, Ron; Reich, David; Schiffels, Stephan; Haak, Wolfgang (27 August 2021). "Dynamic changes in genomic and social structures in third millennium BCE central Europe". Science Advances. 7 (35). Bibcode:2021SciA....7.6941P. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abi6941. hdl:11025/47212. PMC 8386934. PMID 34433570.
- ^ Patterson, Nick; et al. (27 January 2022). "Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age". Nature. 601 (7894): 588–594. Bibcode:2022Natur.601..588P. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4. PMC 8889665. PMID 34937049.
- ^ "Dieskau". Halles State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ Gimbutas, M. (1965). Bronze Age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. pp. Plate 46.
Sources
- J. M. Coles/A. F. Harding, The Bronze Age in Europe (London 1979).
- Allentoft, Morten E.; et al. (June 10, 2015). "Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia". Nature. 522 (7555). Nature Research: 167–172. Bibcode:2015Natur.522..167A. doi:10.1038/nature14507. PMID 26062507. S2CID 4399103. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- Haak, Wolfgang; et al. (March 2, 2015). "Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe". Nature. 522 (7555). Nature Research: 207–211. arXiv:1502.02783. Bibcode:2015Natur.522..207H. doi:10.1038/nature14317. PMC 5048219. PMID 25731166.
- Mathieson, Iain; et al. (February 21, 2018). "The genomic history of southeastern Europe". Nature. 555 (7695). Nature Research: 197–203. Bibcode:2018Natur.555..197M. doi:10.1038/nature25778. PMC 6091220. PMID 29466330.
- G. Weber, Händler, Krieger, Bronzegießer (Kassel 1992).
- R. Krause, Die endneolithischen und frühbronzezeitlichen Grabfunde auf der Nordterrasse von Singen am Hohentwiel (Stuttgart 1988).
- B. Cunliffe (ed.), The Oxford illustrated prehistory of Europe (Oxford, Oxford University Press 1994).
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Nebra Sky Disk official website, State Museum of Saxony-Anhalt in Halle
- What was life like in the Early Bronze Age? - German language documentary about the Unetice culture era
- The wide world at the heart of Europe - Illustrations of the Unetice culture (Halle State Museum of Prehistory)
- The nature of artistic expression of the Únětice culture's people (Gralak 2021)
- Gold from Leki Male barrows, Poznan Archaeological Muzeum
- Uneticean cemetery Prague East
- Greater Poland (Koscian) Group of the Unetice culture
- Henge-like sanctuary of the earliest Únětice Culture
- Im Reich der Himmelsscheibe (2021)