Before talking about how the Bronze Age in Europe was replaced by the Iron Age, it is necessary to "transfer" to the territory of … Ancient Assyria - a kingdom that is considered the world's first empire. Naturally, it was surrounded by certain states, and with one of them - the state of Urartu, we were introduced in Soviet times in the fifth grade of secondary school, with the most ancient state on the territory of the USSR. Now this territory is not included in Russia, but the history of Urartu itself has not changed at all. To the east of it was the Hatti region, and just there, as the Russian historian S. A. Nefedov people and learned for the first time to receive and process iron. The Urarts first borrowed this technology from them. During the reign of the Urartian king Argishti I (about 780), the Urartian army received iron swords, iron helmets and armor made of iron plates or scales sewn on clothes, and, having overtaken neighboring powers in this respect, began to threaten Assyria itself. Naturally, the Assyrians tried to immediately adopt the novelty, and adopted it. After all, something, let alone everything related to weapons, people borrow from each other instantly.
The end of the Bronze Age was marked by the appearance of bronze daggers of amazing beauty and perfection. It should be noted that its handle is cast in one piece with the blade, but by tradition it repeats the design of daggers and swords with wooden handles that were riveted to the blade. From the collection of Georges Hasse. Currently in Antwerp in the depositories of the Het Vleeshuis Museum.
In the burials on the island of Crete, two fragments of blast iron, dated to the 19th century, were also found. BC. And already at the end of the II millennium BC. some iron objects are also found in Europe. We emphasize - separate, as well as individual iron objects that were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. As for the large-scale production of iron and its processing - that is, the actual ferrous metallurgy - first became widespread in Greece and on the islands of the Aegean Sea. When it was? Around 1000 BC, which is confirmed by archaeological finds. Iron production was then brought to southern Italy by Greek colonists around 800 BC.
"Crooked Swords" 1600 - 1350 BC. from Sweden clearly had a ritual purpose. (State Historical Museum, Stockholm)
Well, in the temperate zone of Europe, in the Eastern Alps and surrounding areas, it appeared around 700 BC. Moreover, iron played a rather limited role in the economy of European tribes for a long time. And even in 500 BC. NS. iron items were still rare here. There were also areas where copper ores were abundant, which held back the spread of iron. For example, in the same Egypt, the competition between bronze and iron continued until the 6th century BC. BC, and the nomadic peoples of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, who also used their rich copper deposits, began to use iron only in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. NS.
Neil Burridge (whom we already talked about in the materials about the Trojan War) also specializes in Hallstatt swords and makes them to order.
Well, now, having got acquainted with the ways in which iron got to Europe, let's see what ways it spread here. Let's start with chronology: in Western Europe, two periods of its spread can be distinguished: Hallstatt (900 - 500 BC) and Laten (500 BC - beginning of our era).
Hallstatt sword from Mindelheim. The Late Bronze Age. Length 82.5 cm. Weight 1000 g. £ 300 for the finished blade, £ 400 for the trim and with the handle.
Well, the actual archaeological finds of the Iron Age in Europe can already be associated with the European peoples mentioned in written monuments: in the north - the Germans, in the east - the Slavs and Illyrians, in the southeast - the Thracians, the peoples of the Apennine peninsula in the south, and, finally, Celts - in Western and Central Europe.
Sword "carp tongue" - a blade with a shank under the handle.
Sword "carp tongue" from France. The original is one of the few complete bronze European swords in a scabbard. Length 76 cm.
Typical antenna sword from Witham, UK.
Let's start with the Hallstatt culture, named after a burial ground excavated near the city. Hallstatt is a city in Southwest Austria. Digging in this area began in 1846-1864. and until the beginning of the 20th century, about two thousand burials were uncovered here. And this is not surprising: after all, the time when the dead were buried here takes an entire era: something about 350 years (750 - 400 BC). However, this is not surprising. Well, people lived here for several centuries and lived, especially since there were also deposits of rock salt and, apparently, it was their occupation to extract salt and sell it. It is surprising that about 45% of all graves are cremations, that is, they belong to the era of "fields of burial urns."
The handle of an iron sword of the Hallstatt culture made of ivory with a pommel of amber. Austria. Around 650-500 BC. Vienna Military History Museum.
But in the rest of the graves, elongated corpses are found (usually with the head facing west, that is, "towards the sunset"). At the same time, both those and other rituals were performed during the burial of both sexes, and not, say, so - only for men, burning or only for women. The only difference that was noticed was the richness of the grave goods. Corpse burnings in this regard are richer and there are still more men in them. Another difference: the inventory of corpses does not contain weapons. The burning of the deceased was done not at the burial site (no remnants of the fireplaces were found!), But somewhere else (“in the local crematorium”!).
The famous Hochdorf Tomb was located under this hill. And what did they find inside?
Well, the burnt bone remains were piled either on the ground, or on stones, or in a clay container or a bronze vessel. Then all this was buried at a depth of 1 - 1, 5 m. There are graves surrounded by a circle of stones and covered with stones on top. Along with the dead that lie in these strange Hallstatt graves, many bronze and iron weapons, as well as bronze dishes and ornaments were found.
Hochdorf Tomb, Germany. Around 530 BC Considered as the "Celtic tomb of Tutankhamun". It was discovered in 1977 near Hochdorf in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A 40-year-old man, 187 cm tall, was buried in it, who was laid on a bronze sofa. The clothes are richly decorated with gold, gold bracelets on the hands. A large cauldron was placed near the sofa, with figures of lions at the edges. The tomb contained a four-wheeled cart with a set of bronze dishes - enough to serve nine people. (Historical Museum of Bern).
As for La Tene culture, it became known to science from the second half of the 19th century. and was named after the Swiss village of La Ten on Lake Neuchâtel. In 1872 the archaeologist G. Hildebrand named the La Tene era as the Second Iron Age, following the First Iron Age - that is, the Hallstatt era. At the same time, the second Iron Age in Europe was clearly more perfect than the first, since in the La Tene time, tools and weapons made of bronze ceased to be encountered!
A cart with dishes.
Where did the representatives of Hallstatt culture live? In wooden log houses and semi-dugouts. The usual type of settlement is a village with the correct layout of the streets, not too much fortified. Pile settlements are also known, that is, the people of this culture were much for inventions. Salt mines of Hallstatt were discovered, copper mines where they mined copper ore, iron-smelting workshops and forges.
Replica of a dagger from the Hochdorf Tomb.
Typical objects of Hallstatt culture are bronze and iron swords with hilts, the pommel of which could have the shape of a bell or represent a semblance of an "antenna" of two volutes bent towards each other, daggers in a metal sheath, axes, iron and bronze spearheads.
Two "muscular" cuirasses and a helmet with two crests (first third of the 6th century BC) Found in Styria, Austria. The artifacts are housed in the Archaeological Museum at Eggenberg Castle, Graz.
The protective equipment of the Hallstattians included bronze conical and hemispherical helmets with wide flat brims and ridges on the dome, shells, both from individual bronze plates, and "muscle cuirasses". The burials contain bronze dishes, peculiar brooches, molded ceramics and necklaces made of opaque glass. The art of the tribes of Hallstatt culture clearly gravitated towards luxury; after all, in the burials they find a lot of jewelry made of bronze, gold, glass, bone, brooches with figures of animals, belt plaques with embossed drawings and patterns, and their dishes were also very beautiful: yellow or red, with polychrome, carved or stamped geometric ornament.
Map. Areas of Hallstatt and La Tene culture. The area of maximum distribution of Celtic culture is shown in red.
As for who these people were, then … it is believed that the Hallstattis are Proto-Celts and, finally, the La Tene culture - "pure Celts." At the same time, there is no chasm between the Hallstatt and La Tene cultures: the abundance of artifacts makes it possible to trace both the development and modification of the same forms of tools, jewelry and weapons in both cultures.
The author would like to thank Neil Burridge (https://www.bronze-age-swords.com/in_my_workshop.htm) for the information and photographs provided.
