(Western) Mediterranean and central Europe in the Urnfield period = Late Bronze Age (here) – Early Iron Age (there) = 1300/1200 – 750/700/600 aC POPELNICOVÁ POLE URNFIELDS CHAMPS D‘URNES URNENFELDER CAMPI DELLE URNE … Hermann Müller-Karpe (1925-2013) Gero von Merhard (1886-1959) Oskar Montelius (1843-1921) Jan Bouzek (1935-2020) Kristian Kristiansen (1948) -(Late) Bronze Age as a period particularly favoured for study of interaction between CE and Mdtrrn -transalpine interaction a principal research topic of some of the greatest figures in the history of the field -some of these figures excessively over-optimistic about these contacts Late (Recent) Bronze Age 1300(–1100)–800 aC Urnfield cultures -a complex of archaeological groups -covering larger part of Europe -sharing some ritual and material features -….differing in others -in most areas it evolved into Early Iron Age cultures Luco Meluno Cane- grate Chiusi-Cetona Roma Colli Albani Tolfa-Alumiere Protovillanoviano Padano Luco Meluno 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 750 600 Br C Tumulic. Terramare Sub-apenninec. 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 750 600 Br D Knovízc. Lusatianc. Canegrate Ha A1 Proto-villanoviano Proto-villanoviano Ha A2 Ha B1 Štítaryc. Silesia–Platěnicec. Ha B3 Golaseccac. Villanovac. Estec, Villanovac. Ha C Bylanyc. Ha D MiddleBronzeAgeLateBronzeAgeEarlyIronAge -cremation in an urn -none or minimal gravegoods directly in the urn -only few burials per cemetery -exceptional burials under tumuli and rich gravegoods  -countless local varieties of burialsFrattesina hoards -objects hoarded in Bohemia → hoards Carrara -a phenomenon shared between both sides of the Alps in terms of the practice itself and of the types of hoarded objects  two examples of hoards from Italy → Shared iconography = Shared believes? -from Scandinavia through Central Europe, Mediterranean and the Balkans -recurrent and systematic use of identical symbolism and its identical stylisation -ships, birds, wheels, horses => shared solar cult ? Acholshausen, DETrundholm, DK Tarquinii, ItEste, It Transregional contacts at the beginning of the Urnfield period (ca. 1300–1200/1150 BC) -a well established network of transregional contacts based on raw materials exchange -strong players in the systém including Mycenenan Greece, Hetite and Egyptian empires -new types of artefacts come to existence and get widespread throughout Europe  brooches -appearance and pan-European diffusion of new types of weaponry and armour => new way of waging war -mobile warriors migrating in small groups from central Europe and Italy to the Aegean -swords of Naue II type and lancelolate spearheads helmets corselets greaves round shields belts -the majority of finds of Urnifield culture weaponry in the Aegean apparently comes from Italy https://www.academia.edu/4972900/Mycenaean_Greece_an d_Bronze_Age_Italy_Cooperation_Trade_or_War  Communities of people of Italian (or generally European?) origin arriving in Greece and the Near East as mercenaries (?) or (soon-to-be) conquerors  Ca 1200 BC Mycenenan palaces come to their end  Ca 1210/1150 BC incursions of Sea peoples on Levantine Coast and Egypt  Collapse of Bronze Age system throughout Europe and the Near East Medined Habu – Ramesses III deafeats the invasion of Sea Peoples Transregional contacts in the Later Urnfield period (ca 1200 – 800 aC) -collapse of previously established networks -disappearance of Mycenenan civilisation -disintegration of Hetite empire -marginalisation of Egypt Frattesina -in the Western Mediterranean, the only site of higher social complexity and building in some ways on the earlier social and economic models is Frattesina in the Po delta Frattesina -13th–10th c. BC -a settlement area (ca 20 ha) and cemeteries in vicinity -long distance trade and concentration of specialised production -bronze smelting: -shovel- and pick-shaped ingots cast in Frattesina and distributed widely accross Italy and the Alpine area -working of bone, antler, ivory (!), and ostrich eggs (!!!) -glass -amber -….. https://independent.academia.edu/PaoloBellintani Frattesina and glass large scale production of glass beads cruciblesRaw glass Glass coated pottery (!) - glass of alcali type in which the flux used was made of plant ashes -its characteristic chemical signature made it possible to trace the Frattesina glass beads throughout Italy and Transalpine Europe (P. Bellintani) -after the demise of Frattesina the alcali glass recipe got lost and was only reintroduced in the Middle ages Frattesina amber working -amber of Baltic origin -local production of bead types Tyrins and Allumiere, which are widespread in the the whole of Mediterranean and represent the most common amber artefacts in Late bronze Age -Tyrins type beads are named after find from the Mycenenan palace in Tyrins where beads of this form were found arranged in a weird circular ornament  the Urnfield culture(s) = unifying element of cis- and transalpine Europe  (±) koiné of bronze artefacts, funerary rite (=ideology), iconography (=religion) and a net of (unconspicuous) contacts from the Baltic to Sicily, from the Rhine delta to Crete and from Catalunya to Palestine  unity as a departure point of the following development FROM THE BRONZE TO THE IRON AGE (900–700 BC) -900 BC is conventionally considered the beginning of the Iron Age in Italy -rather than large scale appearance of Iron it marks beginning of significant cultural and social transformations -at ca. 900 BC Frattesina is abandoned -at the same moment other centres emerge north and south of Po → Este and Padua in Veneto → Bologna and Verucchio in Emilia Romagna -all are of these large agglomerations concentrating specialised production and inheriting thus the role of Frattesina -from ca 900 BC Italy is divided in two halves – the north retains the urnfield traditions in both ritual (cremations) and materiál sense -the south adopts inhumations (‚fossa cultures‘) and new forms of materiál cultures emerge there -over the 9th century local cultures cristalise in Italy to develop in their respektive regions down to the Roman conquest THE VILLANOVA CULTURE 900–700/680 ... –510 aC Bologna Verucchio Fermo Capua Pontecagnano -the Villanova culture (Tuscany, Northern Lazio, Emilia-Romagna; punctual appearance in Marche and Campania) -an Urnfield culture of the Early Iron Age -developing from the Protovillanovan culture -throughout the region the trasition from Protovillanovan to the Villanovan culture is marked with strong centralisation and creation of large populous centres to become the future Etrucan cities Proto-Villanova culture settlements Villanova culture settlements Populonia Volterra Clusium Volsinii Veii Cerae Tarquinii Vulci Vetulonia Elba Monti Metalliferi Monti di Tolfa -foci of the Villanovan urbanisation process concentrate in the regions of metal extraction The Villanovan burial rite remains basically unchanged from the protovillanovan – poor cremations in an urn Appearance of large cemeteries organised in family based clusters Tarquinii -from late VIII c. BC burials bear testimony of social differentiation 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 750 600 Br C Tumulic. Terramarac. Sub-apenninec. 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 750 600 Br D Knovízc. Lusatianc. Canegratec. Ha A1 Proto-villanovanc. Proto-villanovanc. Ha A2 Ha B1 Štítaryc. Silesia-Platenicec. Ha B3 Golaseccac. Villanovac. Estec. Villanovac. Ha C Bylanyc. Ha D Uneven developments South and North of the Alps Italy -the void after collapse of the Bronze Age economical system (caused by Italians) seems to have had no serious repercussions -stable Protovillanovan Frattesina => stable EIA cultures – among them the Villanova culture as a solid self-contained social and economical system developing steadily from 8th century on Central Europe -floruit of urnfield cultures (Knovíz/Štítary cultures; Lusatian culture) coming to a sudden end in the 8th century BC on the transition to the Iron Age with a sligh revival only some 150 years later Trasalpine contacts in the 9th – 8th c. BC -material culture of urnfield cultures is relatively uniform throughout the territory -similar artefacts are widespread in the entire territory of the culture and it is often difficult to tell to what extent they are imports and to what they reflect shared material culture (which by itself is highly indikative of an interconnected world) -several examples below Germany Italy Poland Este(Padua) Bologna Tarquinia Eastern Bohemia so what….? -Urnfield cultures are epitomy of a highly interconnected culture -strong links between Mediterranean and Central Europe up to a point that (with a slight exaggeration) both regions can be considered part of a single ideological and cultureal world -this situation makes it difficult to describe in more detail the nature of many interactions -BUT … … as such Urnfield cultures are the ideal departure point for study of further development and differentiation of both regions and of interaction between them To be continued…