Archaeology of Northern Europe
The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain, roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.
The region entered the
Periodization
The following is a refined listing of Northern European archaeological periods, expanded from the basic three-age system with finer subdivisions and extension into the modern historical period.
Stone Age (to c. 1500 BC) |
Palaeolithic | to c. 8000 BC |
Mesolithic | c. 8000 – c. 3000 BC | |
Neolithic | c. 3000 – c. 1750 BC | |
Bronze Age | c. 1750 – c. 500 BC | |
Iron Age (c. 500 BC – c. 800 AD) |
Pre-Roman Iron Age
|
c. 500 BC – c. 1 AD |
Roman Iron Age
|
c. 1 – c. 400 AD | |
Germanic Iron Age
|
c. 400 – c. 800 AD | |
Viking Age | c. 800 – c. 1066 AD | |
Medieval | c. 1066 – c. 1500 | |
Post-medieval | c. 1500 – c. 1800 | |
Industrial/Modern | Industrial period | c. 1800 – c. 1917 |
Modern period | c. 1917 – present |
Stone Age
During the 6th millennium BC, the climate of Scandinavia was generally warmer and more humid than today. The bearers of the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures and the Kongemose culture were mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The Kongemose culture was replaced by the Ertebølle culture, adapting to the climatic changes and gradually adopting the Neolithic Revolution, transitioning to the megalithic Funnelbeaker culture.
Pottery Neolithic
The Pezmog 4 archaeological site along the
During the 4th millennium BC, the Funnelbeaker culture expanded into Sweden up to Uppland. The Nøstvet and Lihult cultures were succeeded by the Pitted Ware culture
Early Indo-European presence likely dates to the early 3rd millennium BC, introducing branches of the
Bronze Age
Iron Age
The tripartite division of the Nordic Iron Age into "Pre-Roman Iron Age", "Roman Iron Age" and "Germanic Iron Age" is due to Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius.
Pre-Roman Iron Age
The Pre-Roman Iron Age (5th/4th–1st centuries BC) was the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia and the North European Plain. Succeeding the Nordic Bronze Age, the Iron Age developed in contact with the Hallstatt culture in Central Europe.[4]
Archaeologists first decided to divide the Iron Age of Northern Europe into distinct pre-Roman and
Out of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC developed the Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture of Central Europe from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, which was followed by the La Tène culture of Central Europe (450 BC to 1st century BC). Although the metal iron came into wider use by metalsmiths in the Mediterranean as far back as c. 1300 BC due to the Late Bronze Age collapse, the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe covered the 5th/4th to the 1st centuries BC.
The Iron Age in northern Europe is markedly distinct from the Celtic La Tène culture south of it. The old long-range trading networks south–north between the Mediterranean cultures and Northern Europe had broken down at the end of the Nordic Bronze Age and caused a rapid and deep cultural change in Scandinavia. Bronze, which was an imported alloy, suddenly became very scarce; and iron, which was a local natural resource, slowly became more abundant, as the techniques for extracting, smelting and smithing it were acquired from their Central European Celtic neighbours. Iron was extracted from bog iron in peat bogs, and the first iron objects to be fabricated were needles and edged tools such as swords and sickles. The rise of iron use in Scandinavia was slow: bog ore was only abundant in southwestern Jutland and it was not until 200–100 BC that iron-working techniques were generally mastered and a productive smithing industry had evolved in the larger settlements. Iron products were also known in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age, but they were a scarce imported material. Similarly, imported bronze continued to be used during the Iron Age in Scandinavia, but it was now much scarcer and mostly used for decoration.[6]
Funerary practices continued the Bronze Age tradition of burning corpses and placing the remains in
The cultural change that ended the Nordic Bronze Age was influenced by the expansion of Hallstatt culture from the south and accompanied by a changing climate, which caused a dramatic change in the flora and fauna. In Scandinavia, this period is often called the "Findless Age", due to the lack of archaeological finds. While the archaeological record from Scandinavia is consistent with an initial decline in population, the southern part of the culture, the
The bearers of this northern Iron Age culture were likely speakers of Germanic languages. The stage of development of this Germanic is not known, although Proto-Germanic has been proposed. The late phase of this period sees the beginnings of the Migration Period, starting with the invasions of the Teutons and the Cimbri until their defeat at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, presaging the more turbulent Roman Iron Age and Migration Period.
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Clothing worn by the Huldremose Woman, Denmark, 2nd century BC
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Gundestrup Caudron, Denmark, 2nd-1st century BC
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Jastorf culture gold ornaments, Germany (replicas)
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Various artefacts, northern Germany
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Reconstructed Iron Age house at Funkenburg, Germany, c. 200 BC
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Fortified settlement of the Eburones, Germany, c. 50 BC
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Model of Hodde Iron Age village, Denmark, c. 100 BC[9]
Roman Iron Age
The Roman Iron Age (1–400 AD) is a part of the
In Scandinavia, there was a great import of goods, such as
There are also many
The Gudme Hall complex, a ruling elite residence and cult site, was built in Denmark in the 3rd century.[10][11][12] In Norway the large chiefly hall at Borg (Lofotr) was built around 500 AD. At Upkåkra in Sweden, the largest Iron Age settlement in Scandinavia developed from c. 200 AD onwards.[13][14] A wooden temple was built at Upkåkra in the 3rd century and continued to be used and rebuilt over 600 years, into the early Viking Age.[15]
Through the 5th and 6th centuries, gold and silver become more and more common. This time saw the ransack of the Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, from which many Scandinavians returned with gold and silver. A new Iron Age had begun in Northern Europe, the Germanic Iron Age.
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Princely grave of Marwedel, Germany, 2nd c. AD
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Hoby chieftain's grave, Denmark, 1st c. AD[18]
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Warrior of Kemathen burial reconstruction, Germany
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Horse bridle, Germany, 3rd c. AD
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Settlement artifacts, Germany
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Roman sculpture of a German man
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Farm at Feddersen Wierde, north Germany, 1st c. BC–5th c. AD
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Shield and sword
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Preserved clothes, Germany
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Shields, Germany, 3rd c. AD
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Model of a longhouse, Germany
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Glass artefacts and jewellery
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Shoe, Germany
Germanic Iron Age
The Germanic Iron Age is divided into the Early Germanic Iron Age (EGIA) and the late Germanic Iron Age (LGIA). In
The Germanic Iron Age begins with the fall of the
During the
After the
The LGIA in the 8th century blends into the Viking Age and the proto-historical period, with legendary or semi-legendary oral tradition recorded a few centuries later in the Gesta Danorum, heroic legend and sagas, and an incipient tradition of primary written documents in the form of runestones.
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Vendel Period helmet, Sweden
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Burial reconstruction, Germany, 420 AD
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Golden Horns of Gallehus, Denmark, 5th century AD
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Temple at Uppåkra in Sweden
See also
References
- Notes
- from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
- ISBN 0-14-051054-0.
- ISBN 0-85229-571-5.
- ^ Dina P. Dobson, "Roman Influence in the North" Greece & Rome 5.14 (February 1936:73–89).
- ^ Vedel, Bornholms Oldtidsminder og Oldsager, (Copenhagen 1886).
- ^ Jørgen Jensen: I begyndelsen
- ISBN 978-90-5345-303-2., p. 67
- ^ "The Hjortspring Boat". Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "Hodde Iron Age village". danmarksoldtid.lex.dk. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Gudme". National Museum of Denmark.
- ^ "Gudmebygden". danmarkshistorien.lex.dk. 2012.
- ^ "Gudme" (PDF). Kulturarv I Danmark.
- ^ "Upkåkra - The center of power". www.uppakra.se.
- ^ "Modern archaeology reveals the secrets of Iron age power centre". lunduniversity.lu.se. 2022.
- ^ "The Iron Age ritual building at Uppåkra, southern Sweden". 2006.
- ^ "Vestiges of Roman Cult Religion and Household Deities in the Northern Barbaricum". 2021.
The Öland statuette of a woman has been interpreted as either a Roman deity, such as Venus and Juno, or possibly a Roman empress
- ^ "Veien Kulturminnepark". Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "The chieftain's grave from Hoby". Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ Harald Meller, Halle State Museum of Prehistory, 'Das Fürstengrab von Gommern' (2021). Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "Das germanische Fürstengrab von Gommern". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period. By Boyd Dawkins. p423
- Bibliography
- Jørgen Jensen (2002): I begyndelsen, Gyldendal og Politikens Danmarks Historie (Vol. 1), ISBN 87-89068-26-2(in Danish)
- J. Brandt, Jastorf und Latène. Internat. Arch. 66 (2001)
- John Collis, The European Iron Age (London and New York: Routledge) 1997. The European Iron Age set in a broader context that includes the Mediterranean and Anatolia.
- W. Künnemann, Jastorf – Geschichte und Inhalt eines archäologischen Kulturbegriffs, Die Kunde N. F. 46 (1995), 61–122.
- Herwig Wolfram, Die Germanen, Beck (1999).
- Ove Eriksson, B, Sara, O. Cousins, and Hans Henrik Bruun, "Land-use history and fragmentation of traditionally managed grasslands in Scandinavia" Journal of Vegetation Science pp. 743–748 (On-line abstract)
External links
Media related to Archaeology of Northern Europe at Wikimedia Commons