Give me the study of native history !!! More articles, good and different (and maybe even controversial) !!
Someone JääKorppi
The genuine interest caused by the material about the "culture of battle axes" once again reminds that knowledge of the history of its origins is a very, very important thing. Moreover, this knowledge itself should be complex, and not … well, let's put it this way: "narrowly national". I remember well the textbooks on the history of the USSR. Many people now consider them the standard of educational aids, but remember that it was usually written there: "On the territory of our country there was the Stone Age … On the territory of the USSR, finds of the Bronze Age are characteristic of …" It is clear that these were textbooks on the history of our country, local area of human civilization. But, in my opinion, they still did not give a complete picture. I have a good memory, I remember how the history of ancient cultures was taught in my native "pedyushnik". But in any business, an integrated approach is important, so that a person studying history could compare and what was here, and at the same time in-oh-oh-n there. What pots were made by the ancient Fatyanovites and, say, American farmers in the Mississippi River Valley.
Typical funnel-shaped goblet. State Archaeological Museum of the Federal State, Schleswig-Holstein Gottorp Castle.
By the way, the late Thor Heyerdahl understood this very well, believing that already in ancient times people had quite wide connections with each other, that even the seas and oceans did not so much separate them as connected them. As a result, one culture replaced another, some people in search of a "better life" came to the place of others.
That is, the same "battle-ax culture" in Europe did not arise from scratch. People in its open spaces lived before it. But how and how they lived is evidenced by earlier archaeological finds. Earlier in relation to "battle axes", this is understandable. Moreover, the early ones also mean more deeply lying. And here burials come to our aid again. For example, the find in the Teshik-Tash cave in 1938 - 1939. Soviet archaeologist A. P. Okladnikov, the burial of a Neanderthal girl from the Mousterian culture, surrounded by the horns of mountain goats, proved the existence of religious beliefs at such a distant time. Well, in this case, numerous excavations in Europe proved the existence here in 4000 - 2700 years. BC NS. "Culture of funnel beakers" - a megalithic culture of the late Neolithic era.
Another vessel of the "culture of funnel-shaped cups" with miniature handles. State Archaeological Museum of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein Gottorp Castle.
The area of its distribution in the south reached the Czech Republic, in the west - the territory of the Netherlands, in the north the extreme point was the Swedish city of Uppsala, and in the east - the mouth of the Vistula River. The predecessor of the "funnel beaker culture" was the subneolithic Ertebölle culture, which it completely replaced at the appropriate time. Well, its very origin is a subject of debate today. The main thing is unclear: whether it is a product of local culture, or it appeared as a result of migration of some people "from outside". Thus, the modern inhabitants of southern Scandinavia, along with the genetic markers of the autochthonous population, also have the genes of immigrants from the south and east of Europe. That is, there was a newcomer population there, and together with the culture of "funnel-shaped cups", it also brought the local people genes that allow adults to digest lactose - not all peoples, as it turned out, have such genes!
The Ertebelle culture (red, top) is the predecessor of the funnel-cup culture.
Why were the cups placed in the grave? - this is the question that is usually asked when talking about this culture. And here is an answer question: what else to put to the deceased in order to show him your care, and … not to deprive yourself too much ?! The fact is that in the Neolithic era - the "New Stone Age" - a very important discovery was made: people created the first artificial material in their history - ceramics. People have learned to make vessels for storing grain, water, cooking food. It was in this era that people began to eat boiled food more often than fried food, eat from plates (well, not plates, so bowls), and drink from cups. But the potter's wheel was still unknown at that time and all the pots and cups were molded by hand, using the molding method. They rolled out earthen sausages and stuck them one by one on top of each other. The walls were smoothed by hand and, depending on the experience and skill of the potters, more or less even and beautiful vessels were obtained. Surprisingly, their shape was typical for huge territories, as if people at that time somehow got together and agreed: from tomorrow, the pots are going to be like this, and the cups are like that! It is clear that this could not have happened in principle, but the fact that people in the past also liked to copy from each other all the best and practically expedient is undoubtedly!
Ertebelle culture (orange in the center), green - "funnel-cup culture" (top).
The concept of "beautiful" was well known to people of that era, and these dishes were usually decorated. With a sharp stick, they applied patterns on it, scratched lines, stripes, printed pieces of fabric and cords. By the way, it was the rope marks printed on the vessels that gave the name to the next culture - “Corded Ware” - the second name of the “battle-ax culture”.
A remarkable beauty vessel from about 3200 BC.
In this case, this culture was named so for the characteristic shape of glasses and amphorae, with tops in the form of funnels, and, apparently, intended for drinking. On one of these amphorae, the oldest drawing of a wheeled carriage (four wheels on two axles) was discovered, the age of which is about 6 thousand years. So the people of this culture knew the carts too!
Archaeological Museum Brandenburg - artifacts from the 4th millennium BC NS.
Another feature of this culture was its fortified settlements. Oh, there was no "world under the olives" then, just as there is none now! The area of many of them is 25 hectares, that is, many people lived in these settlements at once and, most likely, they drove cattle beyond their walls at night! They are mainly found on the coast near the settlements of the pre-existing cultures Ertebelle and Nöstvet-Likhult. The houses in them are built of adobe bricks, measure about 12 × 6 m, and are clearly designed for one family.
Megalith belonging to the "funnel beaker culture", Germany.
In the center of the settlement there was usually a monumental religious burial, and all these houses were built around it, after which the whole village was surrounded by an earthen rampart, on which, most likely, a tyn - a palisade - was installed. It is interesting that they buried their dead in a variety of ways: in simple graves dug in the ground, in dolmens, in corridor-shaped tombs, they poured mounds over them, but inhumation prevailed in all these cases. The earliest burials looked like a chamber made of wood in the depths of a long burial mound, the entrance to which was filled up with stones, and covered with earth from above. In addition, it was these people who installed the megaliths and built the famous Stonehenge, although not all scientists agree with this statement.
Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae, Orkney, Scotland
It is assumed that such labor-intensive tombs were not intended for all carriers of a given culture, but only for representatives of the elite. In addition to ceramics (probably together with food), the burials also contained stone products: flint chipped and polished adze axes, daggers and, again, stone polished and drilled battle axes. But … more often than not, they were thrown into water bodies for some reason! They are found in rivers and lakes near the settlements of the "funnel beaker culture" in huge quantities! For example, almost all 10 thousand stone axes belonging to this culture and found in Sweden were found in water bodies, that is, they were drowned there for some reason!
Neolithic artifacts of Western Europe, many of which are found in water bodies.
People of this culture also built large cult centers, which were surrounded by moats and ramparts, fortified by palisades. The most significant, with an area of 85,000 m², was the center on the island of Funen. It is estimated that 8,000 man-days were spent on its construction. The area of another, the same center near the city of Lund, is 30,000 m², which is also quite a lot.
Interestingly, the representatives of this culture already used copper axes, and that they were similar to the stone battle axes known in Central Europe. The plow was also famous. So the people of this culture were both pastoralists and farmers at the same time.
Stone wedge-shaped ax of the early stage of the "funnel beaker culture", Denmark.
From domestic animals they raised sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, but also hunted and fished. Wheat and barley were sown in small fields. The soil in these fields was quickly depleted, and they were often forced to move from place to place, but not too far from their old places, that is, they did not radically change their area of residence. In the town of Malmö, flint was mined in the mines, and then they were exchanged for products of other Swedish cultures. The list of imported goods included copper products, and especially knives and axes, which were shipped from Central Europe.
Stone hammer ax. Also belonged to the "funnel beaker culture". State Archaeological Museum of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein Gottorp.
Well, then, then there was this: at the beginning of the III millennium BC. NS. it has literally been replaced by the "battle-ax culture" in just two generations. The rapidity of changes and the presence of mixed burials indicate that this was possibly due to the penetration of people of the Indo-European type from the steppes of southeastern Europe. Well, the fact that their ceramics have been used for the longest time in the British Isles proves that it was not so easy for them to get across the strait. There are a number of hypotheses as to who these people were. For example, that the "funnel-cup culture" was ancestral to the Indo-Europeans, or that it was a hybrid of the first wave of Indo-European conquerors with representatives of the earlier Ertebelle culture. But how it really was today, in general, no one knows! There are cups, but they are just as silent as the battle axes that replaced them in the graves! But something is not in doubt: wave after wave of people from the East through the Black Sea steppe corridor went to the West. Some of them separated and went north to the forests. Someone sailed by sea or walked across the coast of North Africa. But the end of the road was Norway, England and the Hebrides. The aborigines retreated there, while the newcomers killed the locals in part, and assimilated some.
Belief in the miraculous was unshakable. How else to explain all these laborious work on the installation of huge stones and the construction of dolmens? The deceased in the next world, in the opinion of these people, certainly came to life, so he needed to be given food (at least for the first time!), And tools of labor and hunting in order to do his usual things in the next world! However, wars between tribes or groups of tribes even then went on almost continuously, the attackers tried to steal livestock, and in order to protect themselves from the invaders, people were forced to build fortified settlements.
