Today, many nations (and states!), And I’m not talking about individual citizens, are simply obsessed with the idea of making their roots more ancient and proving to each and every one that his people were the most … were the most advanced in all respects. Why? Because now labor productivity really decides everything! Whoever has it higher is the hegemon of everything. And then people try to look for consolation in the past, they say, this is so now, but in the past … And what about the past? What do we know about ancient cultures in the vastness of Eurasia, what artifacts did they leave behind? How and with whom did you fight, as well as what exactly?
A scaphoid stone ax from Finland.
Let us turn to the archaeological finds of a turning era, from the Stone Age to the Age of Metals, and find out that in the territories of Central and Eastern Europe in the period of 3200 BC. BC / 2300 BC NS. - 2300 BC BC / 1800 BC NS. there was a "battle-ax culture". However, it also has a more peaceful name - “Corded Ware culture”, which is associated with the characteristic ornament on its vessels.
It is believed that it covered a significant part of continental Europe, except for those countries of the western Atlantic and Mediterranean region, where the very ancient pre-Indo-European peoples lived (Ligurs, Iberians, etc., and the ancestors of the present Basques), and the north of Scandinavia, where the ancestors of the Sami settled.
Major cultures of the Copper Age in Europe.
The name of the culture arose from the stone battle axes found in male burials. Although some people prefer the name “Corded Ware” and the culture of “single graves”, which is associated with the characteristic ornamentation on ceramics and burial rites.
A number of scientists associate the origin of all "battle-ax cultures" (and there are several of them in different regions) with the catacomb culture (burials in the catacombs) of the southern European part of Eastern Europe. Others derive the battle-ax culture from an earlier pit culture (burial in pits). It is believed that in the west, she became the heir to an earlier culture of funnel-shaped cups, but in the territory of the modern Baltic and Kaliningrad region, the culture of Corded Ware is most likely a culture of aliens. In the east, it was a completely new culture, unrelated to earlier local cultures.
Stone axes of the Catacomb culture.
The representatives of this culture lived in very small settlements, kept livestock and were engaged in agriculture. It is possible that they led a semi-nomadic lifestyle - when the fields were depleted - they moved on. For migrations, wheeled transport was used - oxen harnessed to carts, stunted horses were used by riders, but their main domestic animal was clearly a pig!
They buried their dead in shallow graves (about 1 meter), and the men in them lay crumpled on their right side, and the women on their left. And all facing south. The burials were often arranged in rows, but in the graves of men there is always a stone battle ax! At the same time, there was a culture of bell-shaped cups and it had a similar funerary ritual, and these two cultures then occupied most of the territory of Western and Central Europe. As for the anthropological type, the representatives of this culture had long and narrow skulls with a high forehead and vault, so that they can be easily distinguished from all others.
Typical spherical amphora from the excavations at Piatra Neamt.
Most likely, this culture should be considered as one of a number of Indo-European cultures. Moreover, at one time it was believed that this is the protoculture of all European Indo-Europeans in general. But now "the culture of battle axes" is considered one of the major branches of the ancient peoples of Europe - the Proto-Balto-Slavs in the east and the Proto-Germans, Proto-Celts, and Proto-Italians in the west. Well, the presence of battle axes in the graves indicates their belligerence. It is obvious that life then was such that those people could not live without a stone battle ax!
Since there were quite a few regional cultures of "battle axes" that had their own characteristics, it makes sense to get to know each of them at least in general terms.
Let's start with the Swedish-Norwegian, the northernmost, whose settlements are known even beyond the Arctic Circle and which even has its own name: "the culture of boat-shaped axes". About 3000 axes of this culture were found in Scandinavia, and the time of its spread was called the "period of crushed skulls". This indicates that the movement of the narrow-faced aliens with battle axes to the area was clearly an invasion, and that they were clearly masterful in using them!
The Finnish "battle-ax culture" was the culture of forest hunters. There are very few finds made during the excavation of settlements in this area. In Central Europe, the main type of finds is ceramics decorated with prints of ropes, and dishes are found both in the graves of women and in the graves of men.
In the east, the Middle Dnieper culture and the Fatyanovo culture in the upper Volga are known. Some of the researchers also distinguish the Balanovo culture, which is attributed to the eastern version of the Fatyanovo culture. Few traces remain of the Middle Dnieper culture, although it occupied a convenient path from the steppes to Central and Northern Europe. As its name implies, it was located along the course of the Dnieper and its tributaries in the area between Smolensk and Kiev. In time, it coincides with the catacomb culture in the Northern Black Sea region.
Well, now about what has become a kind of "visiting card" of the tribes of this culture - drilled stone battle axes! Their findings are found throughout the territory of the settlement of these tribes everywhere. But they are different! According to the classification, for example, D. A. Krainov, only the main types of axes characteristic of the Fatyanovo culture can be counted sixteen, and nine for the Middle Dnieper culture. And then there are three to five subtypes, so for the layman, all these axes are a headache.
A typical cleaver ax. Museum of Local Lore in Pyatigorsk.
Be that as it may, the earliest form of this weapon was the cleaver ax. Such axes are found in Kursk, Orel, Belgorod, and Lipetsk regions. With these axes it was possible with success to cut down trees and smash skulls. However, later, in the second quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. the main type of ax was a hammer-ax with an elongated butt. Then, in the Upper Volga region, blade-shaped axes appeared - very beautiful and graceful stone products. They are found in the Kostroma, Yaroslavl and Tver regions, but over time, the shape of the axes becomes more and more simplified and there is no longer any special beauty in them. Why? Apparently, with the transition to a more peaceful life, since there were more tools than weapons in the burials. Well, and then copper replaced the stone here, although outwardly the first copper axes were still very similar to stone ones. True, only about 30 such axes were found on the territory of the former USSR, which clearly indicates that it was a great rarity.
Copper spearheads are even rarer. Only five finds are known, of which three belong to the Fatyanovo culture, and two to the Middle Dnieper culture. Usually these tips are forged, have a sleeve with holes for nails and an ornament.
Fatyanovskaya culture in the territory of Eastern Europe.
Then there are flint-tips of darts and arrows, which do not differ in variety. Most of them have a petiole and two spines set aside, so that the injuries inflicted by them could be very serious. Most likely, these arrowheads served for combat arrows, but such finds are typical mainly for the Moscow-Klyazminskaya and Oka-Desninskaya groups of burials. It is possible that this is due to the flourishing of military art among the Fatyanovites, who began to neglect hand-to-hand combat, and already rely more on bow and arrows. By the way, the Fatyanovites also buried their dead in a crumpled position, men, as a rule, on the right side, but with their heads to the west, and women on their left and their heads to the east!
A mace from the local history museum in Pyatigorsk.
The so-called "throwing stones" are very rarely found. These stone balls are small in size and very well polished. It is possible that these are stones for a sling, but they are too carefully processed. In a forest area, such stones could most likely be used as a pommel for the so-called "flexible club" - a very popular weapon of the Dakota Indians. The stone was wrapped in leather and attached to a wooden handle in such a way that the connection was not rigid. A blow to the head with such a weapon (even through a fur hat) was undoubtedly crushing.
Well, they drilled stone axes with the help of a stationary bow drill, which is why they could not appear before the bow appeared. As a drill, either a wooden rod was used (quartz sand served as the working medium) or a hollow bone put on a stick. There were a lot of sticks and bones, and even more sand! One "sawed" an ax with a bow, and his assistant, or assistants, were engaged in preparing "drills" for him. This is how, literally on the "stream", these axes were created, although after rough processing they had to be sharpened, grinded and polished for a long time!
A boat-shaped polished stone battle ax of the early Bronze Age from the National Museum of History and Culture of Belarus. Postage stamp of the Republic of Belarus.
And last but not least, with regard to attempts to politicize ancient history in today's Ukraine and attribute to it achievements that the cultures that existed on its territory did not possess. Everything was about like everyone else's. Yes, it could not be otherwise, and the finds of archaeologists clearly confirm this!
