It has already been noted here that life is such a complex thing that absolutely everything in it is interconnected, like threads in a ball. If you pull one, others will follow. So it was with the theme of the Trojan War. Bronze Age, it seems, what is more? But … it becomes interesting what was happening at the same time in the vastness of Siberia, where unknown Seimians-Turbines moved from Altai to the north, and then to the west. What happened in England, where Stonehenge was being built at about the same time, and the center of Europe still attracts attention - and what happened there after the "battle-ax culture"?
Burial urn. Marburg Museum, Hesse, Germany.
Let's start by compiling a small chronological table of the most important events of this interesting era. Here it is, in front of you:
1. The end of the Mycenaean culture, which is attributed to the conditional date of about 1200 BC. NS.
2. Destruction of Troy VI around 1200 BC. NS.
3. Battle of Ramses III with the "peoples of the sea", 1195 - 1190 BC. NS.
4. End of the Hittite state 1180 BC. NS.
5. The settlement of the Philistines in Palestine around 1170 BC. NS.
Well, what was in Europe at that time? And in Europe somewhere from 1300 to 300 BC. NS. the entire territory from the Baltic coast to the Danube and from the Spree River to Volhynia existed the so-called Lusatian culture, which is interesting for us, first of all, because its representatives suddenly changed very quickly … all their funeral rites! Prior to that, and in the vastness of the East European Plain, there were cultures of corpses - pit (a corpse in a pit), a log cabin (a corpse in a log frame), catacomb (a corpse in a special burial chamber). And then suddenly - rhhhh, and the corpses of the deceased began to be cremated, and what was left of it was put into a large earthenware vessel and buried. Without any mound, embankment or mound, although before that the mounds were filled up. And here is the first riddle - why would it be? What was it (if, of course, to exclude the Atlanteans and aliens from space) had to happen in the then society in order to radically change the most inert people in their spiritual culture - the attitude towards the dead ?!
Map of the distribution of the "fields of burial urns" culture.
That is, the entire area of the previously existing culture of burial mounds was suddenly reformed by the funeral rite, moreover, in just one or two hundred years, and then spread throughout Europe, and it was no longer the Lusatian culture as such, but a single culture of cremation of the dead. The area of its distribution was a very vast territory from Western Ukraine to eastern France, and this culture was called the culture of “fields of burial urns”.
Schematic representation of the late Bronze Age cultures of Europe, circa 1200 BC BC: Lusatian culture (purple), Terramar culture (blue), central culture of burial urn fields (red), northern KPPU (orange), Knoviz culture (purple), Danube cultures (brown), Atlantic bronze (green), Nordic bronze (yellow).
In the name of the culture, its characteristic feature played its role - the presence of burial grounds without embankments. If such a burial is excavated, then you can find clay vessels in the grave, in which there are the remains of cremations and … that's all! It has been established that its occurrence is associated with the Lusatia area, and the area is relatively small. But how did the inhabitants of this region bring their funeral rites to other places and instilled in their inhabitants that "it is necessary this way, but not in the old way!" That its inhabitants made long hikes, conquered and populated all the lands from the Baltic Sea downstream to the south, through the Alps and to the modern Adriatic and the Apennines? Or did they specially send emissaries who brought the people the truth about the correct burial ?!
Reconstruction of the settlement of the Lusatian culture. Museum in Biskupin. Poland.
American historian Robert Drews has suggested that the observed cultural changes may be the result of new ways of waging combat, based not on the use of chariots, but on the dominance of infantry warriors armed with long spears and equally long cutting swords. This change caused political instability associated with the emergence of these new troops where war chariots were the basis of armies, and this instability, in turn, led to the fall of ruling dynasties and entire states. And if before there was a caste of warriors who fought with stabbing swords with wooden handles, which needed to be able to fight, now they were replaced by an "armed people" armed with swords of the Naue Type II type. This sword, which appeared in the eastern Alps and the Carpathians around 1200 BC. e., quickly spread throughout Europe and became the only type of sword already in the XI century. BC NS. But the blades of such swords bent. Therefore, very soon iron was replaced by bronze with practically no change in the design of the blade, but the handle of the sword became cast bronze. At the end of the era of the fields of burial urns, that is, in the Hallstatt period, swords reached a length of 80-100 cm, that is, they became an extremely powerful weapon capable of ending any enemy with one blow.
The sword of the "fields of burial urns" culture was found in the river. Museum in the castle in Linz (Upper Austria). This is quite a combat weapon, as indicated by the presence of a counterweight on the handle.
The shape of their handle varied depending on the region, so that several types of them stand out, each of which has its own characteristic features. Spears also acquired great importance, with which the proto-hoplites were apparently armed. It is not for nothing that Homer uses the word "spears" as a synonym for the word "warrior", which testifies to the increased importance of spears in war already under him. It was the warriors with large shields and long spears, capable of repelling massive attacks of war chariots, who could defeat states whose armies were based on the use of chariots by the military elite of society, while ordinary farmers and hunters were excommunicated from professional military affairs.
Bronze swords from Hungary in the British Museum.
Other scholars consider such an approach somewhat superficial, but … the culture of the fields of burial urns appeared painfully unexpectedly at the end of the Bronze Age. And very soon its carriers also mastered the metallurgy of iron - the production of iron weapons and tools. Well, some time later, burial grounds began to appear in Europe, in which burials of burnt ashes were found, but already without urns, that is, they were considered superfluous!
Sword from the city museum of Welz (Upper Austria).
As the Czech archaeologist of the second half of the XX century Jan Philip writes about this time: “The culture of the fields of burial urns unexpectedly arose at the turn of the second and first millennia in a large part of the Danube and in the southern German region of burial mounds, as well as in the north-western part of France and in Switzerland … We find cremations everywhere, everywhere we see similar cultural implements."
Bronze spearheads from the fields of burial urns. (1400 - 750 BC) and Hallstatt culture (750 - 250 BC). Museum in Carinthia, Austria.
From the data of the Czech historian, it is necessary to highlight information that with the replacement of the kurgan culture with the culture of burial urns, the approach to the selection of a place for settlements has significantly changed. The new culture became, first of all, characterized by such characteristic features in the organization of settlements as security from attacks. That is, they were all located in places convenient for protection. And the settlements themselves were also fortified with ramparts made of stones or logs. On the other hand, many areas have become depopulated and it is not clear why, although judging by the finds, people used to live here. They lived, but with the advent of iron tools they left their habitable places and left! Where did people disappear in the beginning of the Iron Age? Unknown!
This is how the burial of the “fields of burial urns” culture looked like.
On the other hand, simultaneously with the formation of the period of burial fields in urns, gold mining is clearly progressing. Gold becomes an attribute of the highest nobility, and, what is important, it also acquires ceremonial value. All found burial grounds testify to the special position of men in society - that is, gold jewelry is found, first of all, in male burials. They also find treasures of bronze items. They were buried because of their value, obviously. That is, the life of people on the territory of the "fields of burial urns" was full of dangers, and it was not at all superfluous to take care of hiding wealth for a "rainy day".
There are many burial urns. Marburg Museum, Hesse, Germany.
And this is what a causal relationship we get: a sudden, unjustified change of the funeral rite on a huge territory, on the one hand, and on the other, a clear increase in military activity on it, from which people tried to fence themselves off with ramparts and walls.
But the material is material, and how to explain such a sharp change in the funeral rite - a phenomenon related to spiritual culture? Scientists are trying to explain it by a sharp change among the inhabitants of Europe in the concepts of life and earthly existence and life after death. That is, it can be assumed that people of this culture for some reason began to believe that when the body of the deceased is burned, the soul of the deceased quickly flies to heaven. That is, while it is his spirit that gets out of the earth into the light of day (or even goes to the dark underworld?). And then … he put it on the fire, poured it with oil, set it on fire and … once or twice, and the soul, along with the smoke, flew to heaven right before your eyes. And you stand to yourself with a long bronze sword at your belt and think about what else to plunder the neighboring settlement!
Ancient fortification at the top of the hill in Burgstalkogel, Austria.
"The procedure for getting rid of the deceased is repeatedly perceived as one of the most characteristic customs of this or another nation, which is especially strongly preserved over a long period of time." (G. Child) Such a rapid breakdown of people's consciousness is inconceivable, and yet it happened! What could have compelled people to change their tribal customs so suddenly? In addition, after some time, people returned to the old kurgan system. This "restoration" captured large areas of Europe - from the Czech Republic to France. However, archaeological finds now trace both forms of burial, that is, pits with urns and burial mounds, also with or without urns, are adjacent to each other.
By the way, it is understandable why the Czech archaeologist paid such attention to the cultures of the "fields of burial urns". After all, it was on the territory of the Czech Republic that the Knoviz culture, close to the Lusatian culture, existed, dating back to 1300 - 1050. BC NS.
Its characteristic feature was developed blacksmithing. For example, the vessels there were made of forged bronze sheet. In the Vltava River, they found a sword, the hilt of which was decorated with volutes. But they also found signs of cannibalism here. Alas, not only the naked tropical savages ate each other. Civilized, of course in their own manner, the Europeans of the Bronze Age also engaged in this business, but for what purpose, it is difficult to say.
The simplest helmet of the Bronze Age. "Fields of Burial Urns".
The end of the era of fields of burial urns came in the 8th century. and was connected, again, with the resettlement of new masses of newcomers to Europe, both from the north and those who walked through the Black Sea steppe corridor.
Entrance to the Museum of Lusatian Architecture and Life in Biskupin. Poland.
Museum of Lusatian Architecture and Life in Biskupin. Poland. Such was the wall of the ancient settlement.
Well, and, finally, what does the author himself think about all these changes, both in the material and spiritual culture of people of this time? What if the culture then (the culture of people in general) was much higher than we used to think. That people did not confine themselves in their cramped world of the clan-tribe, the chicken coop and the barn, but knew and understood that they belong to the powerful human race, which subjugates the surrounding world and … that other people are also people, even if they speak an incomprehensible language … Yes, they can serve as an object of trouble (when they rob you!), But also an object of increasing your own well-being when you rob them! But at the same time, there were some sacred prohibitions on the murder of travelers and merchants. Perhaps there was a cult of trade sanctified by traditions, and there were clans of translators, scouts, travelers, ambassadors and merchants who carried out long trips and enjoyed the right of immunity.
The religion was solar, that is, solar, as indicated by the symbols on ceramics and jewelry. And they had their own prophets and messiahs, no less significant than Buddha, Christ and Mohammed, whose ideas were imposed (or transmitted!) To other peoples not only by force, but also by example. But there was no written language (which means that they had both wonderful storytellers and composers of oral works). Different languages were not an obstacle to communication, just like linguistic differences among the Indians of North America. They communicated using the language of signs, which helped establish communication between people who lived thousands of kilometers from each other. However, only the sword and his personal physical culture made a person free. The lot of those who "did not meet the requirements of the times" could be slavery, or even something worse …
