Tumulus culture

Template:Short description Template:Infobox archaeological culture

Central European Bronze Age
Late Bronze Age
Ha B2/3	950–800 BC
Ha B1	1050–950 BC
Ha A2	1100–1050 BC
Ha A1	1200–1100 BC
Bz D	1300–1200 BC
Middle Bronze Age
Bz C2	1400–1300 BC
Bz C1	1500–1400 BC
Bz B	1600–1500 BC
Early Bronze Age
Bz A2	2000–1600 BC
Bz A1	2300–2000 BC

The Tumulus culture (German: Hügelgräberkultur) was the dominant material culture in Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age (Template:Circa 1600 to 1300 BC).

It was the descendant of the Unetice culture. Its heartland was the area previously occupied by the Unetice culture, and its territory included parts of Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, the Carpathian Basin, Poland and France. It was succeeded by the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture and part of the origin of the Italic and Celtic cultures.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Artefacts and characteristicsEdit

File:02019 0741 16-14th-century BC works in Silesia.jpg

Tumulus culture artefacts from Silesia, Poland, 16th-14th century BC

The Tumulus culture is distinguished by the practice of burying the dead beneath burial mounds (tumuli or kurgans).

In 1902, Paul Reinecke distinguished a number of cultural horizons based on research of Bronze Age hoards and tumuli in periods covered by these cultural horizons are shown in the table below (right). The Tumulus culture was prevalent during the Bronze Age periods B, C1, and C2. Tumuli have been used elsewhere in Europe from the Stone Age to the Iron Age; the term "Tumulus culture" specifically refers to the South German variant of the Bronze Age. In the table, Ha designates Hallstatt. Archaeological horizons Hallstatt A–B are part of the Bronze Age Urnfield culture, while horizons Hallstatt C–D are the type site for the Iron Age Hallstatt culture.

The Tumulus culture was eminently a warrior society, which expanded with new chiefdoms eastward into the Carpathian Basin (up to the river Tisza), and northward into Polish and Central European Únětice territories.

Some scholars see Tumulus groups from southern Germany as corresponding to a community that shared an extinct Indo-European linguistic entity, such as the hypothetical Italo-Celtic group that was ancestral to Italic and Celtic.<ref>Kortlandt, Frederik (2007a). Italo-Celtic origins and prehistoric development of the Irish language. Amsterdam: Rodopi, Template:Page needed</ref><ref>Eska, J. F. (2010). "The emergence of the Celtic languages". IN: M. J. Ball and N. Müller (eds.), The Celtic Languages, second edition. London: Routledge, Template:Page needed</ref> This particular hypothesis, however, conflicts with suggestions by other Indo-Europeanists. For instance, David W. Anthony suggests that Proto-Italic (and perhaps also Proto-Celtic) speakers could have entered Northern Italy at an earlier stage, from the east (e.g., the Balkan/Adriatic region).<ref>Anthony, David W. (2010). The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, Princeton University Press, p. 367.</ref>

CultureEdit

File:MUFT - Schwarza Frauentracht.jpg

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SettlementsEdit

The culture's dispersed settlements consisted of villages or homesteads centered on fortified structures such as hillforts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Significant fortified settlements include the Heuneburg, Bullenheimer Berg, Ehrenbürg, and Bernstorf.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Fortification walls were built from wood, stone and clay. The massive 3.6m-wide wall surrounding the plateau of the Ehrenbürg resembled later murus gallicus fortifications known from the Iron Age.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 'Cyclopean' stone fortifications topped with wooden battlements were constructed Template:Circa at the large hillfort of Stätteberg in Bavaria.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

TradeEdit

Tumulus culture societies traded with those in Scandinavia, Atlantic Europe, the Mediterranean region and the Aegean. Traded items included amber and metal artefacts.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> From the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age there is evidence for the use of weighed metal as form of payment or money.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Weighing equipment has been found in central Europe dating from c. 1400 BC onwards.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

MetalworkEdit

The Bronze Hand of Prêles from Switzerland, dating from the 16th-15th century BC, is a unique find from the Tumulus culture period.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Described as "the earliest metal representation of a human body part ever found in Europe",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it may have been a ritual object, or mounted on a standard like similar metal hands known from the Iron Age,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> or possibly a prosthesis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was found in a grave along with a bronze hair-ring, pin and dagger. The hand had a golden bracelet or cuff decorated with solar motifs.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

CalendarEdit

Golden hats from Schifferstadt in Germany and Avanton in France, dating from the late Tumulus period (c. 1400 BC), may have been worn by elite religious figures, described as 'oracles' or 'king-priests' by researchers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The patterns of ornaments or symbols on the hats are thought to represent calendars,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> as on the later and more elaborate Berlin Gold Hat, which may encode knowledge of the luni-solar Metonic cycle.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some researchers have suggested that a Venus calendar is encoded on the Schifferstadt hat and later Ezeldorf and Berlin gold hats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gold discs from the Czech Republic, dating from c. 1650-1250 BC, feature similar ornaments and are thought to represent simpler calendars.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Identical 'ritual objects' from Haschendorf in Austria and Balkåkra in Sweden may also date from the Middle Bronze Age and have been interpreted as solar calendars.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Simple numerals on the objects in the form of lines and dots represent assembly instructions for the objects.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Similar 'counting marks' were also used by craftsmen in the production of swords.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

GalleryEdit

Gentleman, Bronze Age, 15th century BC, replica - Naturhistorisches Museum Nürnberg - Nuremberg, Germany -DSC04215.jpg

Bronze Age dress, 15th century BC, Germany
Molzbach 1.jpg

The Girl from Molzbach, Germany, c. 1300 BC
Wetteraumuseum Grab BZ Woelfersheim.jpg

Grave goods from Wölfersheim, Germany
Middle Bronze Age swords, 1600-1400 BC.png

Bronze swords, 1600-1400 BC
Middlebronze3.jpg

Burial goods, 1400 BC
Hortfund Bronzezeit.JPG

Bronze & gold items, Germany, Template:Circa
Bronze spiral ornaments, Tumulus culture.png

Bronze spiral arm ornaments, c. 1500 BC
ALB - Goldarmband Nassenheide.jpg

Gold bracelet from Nassenheide, Germany
Gobelets - Man - Saint-Germain-en-Laye - 27 mars 2017.jpg

Gold artefacts, France, Template:Circa
Golden decorated disc, 1800-1300 BC, Museum of Western Bohemia, 187791.jpg

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Eschenz gold cup 1.jpg

Gold cup from Eschenz, Switzerland, Template:Circa
Speyer-2009-historisches-museum-026.jpg

Schifferstadt gold hat, Germany, Template:Circa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Cône d'Avanton, musée des Antiquités Nationales, 2010-03-26.jpg

Avanton gold hat, France, Template:Circa
Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin 019.jpg

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Necklace, amber, glass, Middle Bronze Age, Museum of Western Bohemia, 187798.jpg

Amber, glass necklace, Czech Republic
Bernsteincollier.jpg

Amber necklace, Germany, 1500 BC.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
La céramique à l'âge du bronze (musée historique, Haguenau) (36058831702).jpg

Tumulus ceramics, Hagenau, France
Tumulus culture Ornaments 2.jpg

Bronze and amber ornaments, Germany, 1500-1400 BC
Goldhort Gessel Ausstellung im Landesmuseum Hannover.jpg

Gold hoard from Gessel, Germany, Template:Circa
Bronze Age jewelleryDSCF6607.jpg

Gold Jewellery, Hungary
Bronze armband british museum.JPG

Bronze armbands, Hungary, 1400-1200 BC
Middlebronze6.jpg

Bronze anklets, Germany, 1600-1400 BC
Bronze Age Europe Decorative Needles & Pendants (28140506213).jpg

Bronze clothing pins
0367 Schmuck von der Bronzezeit zirka 11. Jh. v. Chr..jpg

Gold ring, Carpathian basin
Balkåkra ritual object (4663417814).jpg

Ritual objects from Haschendorf in Austria and Balkåkra in Sweden
AMK - Bronzezeit Frauenberg Trensenknebel.jpg

Horse bits made from antler, Germany
Bronze Sword, 13th century BC.png

Bronze sword, Central Europe, 13th century BC
Bronze swords-MGR Lyon-IMG 9733.jpg

Bronze sword, France, 1550-1450 BC
Huegelgrab3-unteralting-grafrath16.JPG

Tumulus, Germany
Opferplattform aus der mittleren Bronzezeit in Aicholding bei Riedenburg.jpg

Cremation platform, Germany
Copenhagen - Nationalmuseet - The Bronze Age House.JPG

Middle Bronze Age house

ReferencesEdit

Nora Kershaw Chadwick, J. X. W. P. Corcoran, The Celts (1970), p. 27.[1]
Barbara Ann Kipfer, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology (2000)

Specific

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External linksEdit

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