The
Nordic Bronze Age (also
Northern Bronze Age) is the name given by
Oscar MonteliusOscar Montelius was a Swedish archaeologist who refined the concept of seriation, a relative chronological dating method...
to a period and a
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
cultureIn addition to its usual meaning in social science, in archaeology, the term culture is also used in reference to several related concepts unique to the discipline.-Archaeological culture:...
in
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
n pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of written sources. It is followed by the
Pre-Roman Iron AgeThe Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Netherlands north of the Rhine River. These regions feature many extensive archaeological excavation sites, which have yielded a wealth of artifacts...
.
General characteristics
Even though Scandinavians joined the European
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
cultures fairly late through trade, Scandinavian sites present rich and well-preserved objects made of
woolWool is a fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles. The wool is taken from animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals including: goats, llamas, and rabbits may also be called wool...
,
woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
and imported
Central EuropeCentral Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West,...
an
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
and
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
. The Scandinavians adopted many important European and
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
symbols while adapting these to create a unique Nordic style.
Mycenaean GreeceMycenaean Greece is a cultural period of Ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
, the
Villanovan cultureThe Villanovan culture was the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly following the Bronze Age Terramare culture and giving way in the seventh century BC to an increasingly orientalizing culture influenced by Greek traders, which was followed without a severe break by the...
,
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
and
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
have all been identified as possible sources of influence for Scandinavian artwork from this period. The foreign influence is believed to have been due to the
amberAmber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since neolithic times. Good quality amber is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelry...
trade. Amber found in Mycenaean graves from this period originates from the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
, so it is reasonable to assume that the culture that arose in the Nordic Bronze Age constituted one supply end of the so-called
Amber RoadThe Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber. As one of the waterways and ancient highways, for centuries the road led from Europe to Asia and back, and from northern Europe to the Mediterranean Sea....
. Many rock carvings depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as
stone shipThe Stone ship was a Germanic burial custom, typical of Scandinavia, built from tightly or loosely fit slabs or stones. Sometimes they are of monumental proportions. In Sweden, the size varies from 67 metres to only a few metres. The orientation varies. Inside, they can be cobbled or filled with...
s suggest that shipping played an important role. Several rock carvings depict ships that have been identified as plausibly Mediterranean.
There are many mounds and rock carving sites from the period. Numerous artifacts of bronze and gold are found. No written language existed in the
Nordic countriesThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
during the Bronze Age. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artifacts, for example bronze axes and swords. (There are also numerous
Nordic Stone AgeThe Nordic Stone Age refers to the Stone Age of Scandinavia.-Late Upper Paleolithic:As the ice receded reindeer grazed on the plains of Denmark and southernmost Sweden, while along the coast of western Sweden, marine resources were exploited. This was the land of the Ahrensburg culture, tribes who...
rock carvings in the north of Scandinavia, mostly portraying elk.)
Sub-periodization
Oscar MonteliusOscar Montelius was a Swedish archaeologist who refined the concept of seriation, a relative chronological dating method...
, who coined the term used for the period, divided it into six distinct sub-periods in his piece
Om tidsbestämning inom bronsåldern med särskilt avseende på Skandinavien ("On Bronze Age dating with particular focus on Scandinavia") published in 1885 which is still in wide use. His absolute chronology has held up well against radiocarbon dating, with the exception that the period's start is closer to 1700 BC than 1800 BC, as Montelius suggested. For
Central EuropeCentral Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West,...
a different system developed by Paul Reinecke is commonly used, as each area has its own artefact types and archaeological periods.
- I: 1700 BC-1500 BC
- II: 1500 BC-1300 BC
- III: 1300 BC-1100 BC
- IV: 1100 BC-900 BC
- V: 900 BC-700 BC
- VI: 700 BC-500 BC
These six periods are then followed by the
Pre-Roman Iron AgeThe Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Netherlands north of the Rhine River. These regions feature many extensive archaeological excavation sites, which have yielded a wealth of artifacts...
. Another, broader subdivision is the "Early Bronze Age" between 1700 BC and 1100 BC and the "Late Bronze Age" 1100 BC to 550 BC.
Climate
The Nordic Bronze Age was characterized by a warm climate that began with a
climate changeClimate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average...
circa 2700 BC (comparable to that of present-day central Germany and northern France). The warm climate permitted a relatively dense population and good farming, for example
grapeA grape is the non-climacteric fruit, botanically a true berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, and grape seed oil...
s were grown in Scandinavia at this time. However a small change in climate between 850 BC and 760 BC and a more radical one circa 650 BC brought in a deteriorating, wetter and colder climate (sometimes believed to have given rise to the legend of the
FimbulwinterIn Norse mythology, Fimbulvetr is the immediate prelude to the events of Ragnarök. Fimbulvetr is three successive winters where snow comes in from all directions, without any intervening summer...
).
Religion
Not much is known about the Nordic Bronze Age religion, since written sources are lacking. However numerous archaeological finds draw a vague picture of what the religion might have been, but only some possible sects of it and only certain possible tribes. Some of the best clues to the religion of this period come from the rock carvings scattered through Northern Europe.
In general most scholars agree that the Bronze Age religion was centered around the sun or a sun god. The sun was carried across the sky on a wagon pulled by a horse. Rock carvings from this time period sometimes show a sun wheel (usually depicted as an equilateral cross in a circle) near or being held by a figure that seems to be male. The gender of this figure is not known with certainty, but is believed to be male because of a penis-like projection coming from the groin. It is interesting to note that while the sun seems to have been worshipped as a male figure during the Bronze Age, later Scandinavian pagan beliefs pictured the sun as a goddess (Sunna in Norse religion), and the word for "Sun" is generally attested with feminine
grammatical genderIn linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called noun classes, are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words; every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be very few which belong to several classes at once....
in the later Germanic languages. It is unknown how this transition occurred; perhaps a merging of different cultures is the answer.
A pair of twin gods are believed to have been worshipped, and is reflected in a duality in all things sacred: where sacrificial artifacts have been buried they are often found in pairs. A female or
mother goddessA mother goddess is a term used to refer to any goddess associated with motherhood, fertility, creation or the bountiful embodiment of the Earth...
is believed to have been widely worshipped (see
NerthusIn Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by Tacitus, a first century AD Roman historian, in his work entitled Germania. Various theories exist regarding the goddess and her potential later traces amongst the Germanic tribes...
).
SacrificesSacrifice is commonly known as the practice of offering food, objects , or the lives of animals or people to the gods as an act of propitiation or worship...
(animals, weapons, jewelry and men) have been connected to water and small lakes or ponds have often been used as holy places for sacrifice and many artifacts have been found in such locations.
Hieros gamosHieros gamos or Hierogamy refers to marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities...
rites may have been common. Ritual instruments such as
bronze lursLur is a name given to two distinct types of wind musical instrument. The more recent type is made of wood and was in use in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages...
have been found sacrificed and are believed to have been used in ceremonies.
Bronze Age rock carvings may contain some of the earliest depictions of well known gods from later
Norse mythologyNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
. A common figure in these rock carvings is that of a male figure carrying what appears to be an axe or hammer. Most likely, this may have been an early representation of
ThorThor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic paganism....
. Other male figures are shown holding a spear. Whether this is a representation of
OdinOdin , is considered the chief god in Norse paganism and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon Wōden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz or *Wōđanaz.The name Odin is generally accepted as the modern translation; although, in some cases, older...
or
TýrTyr is the god of single combat, victory and heroic glory in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man.Corresponding names in other Germanic languages are Gothic Teiws , Old English Tīw and Old High German Ziu, all from Proto-Germanic *Tîwaz.In the late Icelandic Eddas, Tyr is portrayed,...
is not known, as both gods are associated with this weapon. It is possible the figure may have been a representation of Tyr, as one example of a Bronze Age rock carving appears to show a figure missing a hand. A figure holding a bow may be an early representation of
UllrIn early Germanic paganism, *Wulþuz appears to have been a major god, or an epithet of an important god, in prehistoric times....
.
Remnants of the Bronze Age religion and mythology are believed to exist in
Germanic mythologyGermanic mythology refers to:*any myths associated with historical Germanic paganism*Norse mythology*Continental Germanic mythology*Anglo-Saxon mythology*Germanic folklore -See also:*Common Germanic deities*Germanic paganism...
and
Norse mythologyNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
; e.g.,
Skinfaxi and HrímfaxiIn Norse mythology, Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi are the horses of Dagr and Nótt . The names Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi are bahuvrihis, meaning "shining mane" and "rime mane" , respectively...
and
NerthusIn Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by Tacitus, a first century AD Roman historian, in his work entitled Germania. Various theories exist regarding the goddess and her potential later traces amongst the Germanic tribes...
.
See also
- Bronze Age Europe
The Bronze Age in Europe succeeds the Neolithic in the late 3rd millennium BC , and spans the entire 2nd millennium BC in Northern Europe lasting until ca...
- Bronze Age sword
Bronze Age swords appear from around the 17th century BC , evolving out of the dagger. Before bronze, stone was used as primary material for cutting edged tools and weapons. Stone is however very fragile, and therefore not practical to be used as swords...
- Egtved Girl
The Egtved Girl was a Nordic Bronze Age girl whose well-preserved remains were found at Egtved , Denmark in 1921. Aged 16–18 at death, she was slim, 160 cm tall , had long blonde hair and well-trimmed nails. Her burial has been dated by dendrochronology to 1370 BC...
- The King's Grave
The King's Grave near Kivik in the southeastern portion of the Swedish province of Skåne is what remains of an unusually grand Nordic Bronze Age double burial c...
- Stone ship
The Stone ship was a Germanic burial custom, typical of Scandinavia, built from tightly or loosely fit slabs or stones. Sometimes they are of monumental proportions. In Sweden, the size varies from 67 metres to only a few metres. The orientation varies. Inside, they can be cobbled or filled with...
s
- Tanumshede
Tanumshede is a locality and the seat of Tanum Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,597 inhabitants in 2005.-Rock Carvings in Tanum:...