Helena Forshell ROCK ART An attempt to understand rock art motifs through ancient literature, epics of creation and the history of metals IN WORKS AND DAYS (probably written down that the different properties of the metals in the 9th century B.C.) by the Greek Hesiod, the may have brought about the growing cruelty first humans are described as a golden race, and greed of man. In which way may the so- ”living like gods without sorrow of heart, re- cial behaviour of man be influenced by the mote and free from toil and grief. When they availability of metals and knowledge of their died, it was as though they were overcome properties? First, a brief outline of the qualities with sleep … they had all good things; for of gold, silver and copper. the fruitful earth unforced bare them fruit abundantly and without stint”. “The second generation which was of silver was less no- Gold ble by far … when they were full grown and Thousands of gold occurrences, most of them were come to the full measure of there prime, less profitable have been discovered in Europe they lived only a little time and that in sorrow alone. There, and in Caucasus, Ural and the because of their foolishness, for they could Himalayas, the heavy gold has accumulated not keep from sinning and from wronging in sea-beds and rivers through erosion of the one another”. The third generation, that of rock. Already in prehistoric times, gold was bronze, was violent, ”… they ate no bread, sifted in large quantities. Parrish (p. 116) esti- but were hard of heart like adamant, fearful mates that almost 30.000 tons were collected men … their armour was of bronze, and their from Europe and Asia before the discovery houses of bronze, and of bronze were their of the Americas. Around the Danube, Don implements: there was no black iron”. “They and Donets, upper Euphrates and Tigris and passed to the dark house of chill Hades and their tributaries, native gold was recovered in left no name.” Hesiod also mentions a fourth great quantities. Native gold at 24 carats purity generation, the Heroes. They ”… were a god- does not bond with oxygen, thus it does not like race of hero-men who are called half-gods mineralise. It is easy to work without melting. … these last equally have honour and glory.” Certain heating of the gold is required before Hesiod then laments over his own position, it can be stretched and shaped by beating. because he lives in the generation of iron, The material is soft and could be used only for ”… where men never rest from labour and jewellery, minting coin and the like; seldom sorrow by day, and from perishing by night”. for utensils and weapons. (Hesiod p. 110-200). When Hesiod describes the first three gen- erations as gold, silver and copper/bronze, Silver he alludes to metals, which were introduced Silver is found in late deposited mountain at different times. He possibly also believes chains but seldom as a pure metal because 81 the mineral is constantly exposed to air and sulphates and other frequently occurring ele- sulphur which easily bonds to silver. To melt ments like lead, iron and silica, distribution and purify silver, higher temperatures were and trade multiplied (Chernykh p. 104-122). required. During Roman times, lead was added Religious copper artefacts of earlier epochs to the melted slurry causing lower tempera- were replaced by the stronger bronze, which tures. Silver is also a soft metal which is not now also was used to manufacture tools and suited for tools or weapons. It was used early weapons. The Bronze Age had replaced the for minting and gifts in the form of costly Copper Age and continued for more than worked discs and bowls. Some daggers and 2000 years in many areas. Already before the arrowheads of gold and silver have been found 3rd millennium B.C., Phoenicians traded cop- (II, Primas p. 1-185). per and bronze artefacts beyond Gibraltar (Ghirshman p. 185) Thus Mesopotamians and Hesiod had Copper compared the social and technical evolution The easily found, easily recovered and easily of man with his increasing use of different melted native copper also occur in geologically metals like the archaeologists did in the 19th young regions. The earliest traces of man’s use century A.D. of copper were found in Anatolia, Caucasia (Armenia is rich in all precious metals), the Carpathians, the Alps and in the offsets of the Why did Himalayas in India and the Far East. Artefacts the bronze age come to an end? of native copper (a certain amount of differ- A combination of causal connections may be ent impurities always occurred, mostly below put forward. When the cuneiform script gradu- 0.5%, although silver and arsenic impurities ally went out of use and was replaced by other could reach 15%), have been found close to scripts, old traditions could not be upheld. these mining areas but also in far-away regions The cultural development in the West where which had no mineable native copper of their Greek ratio and logos became the first steps own, such as the northern part of Europe. towards democracy may have contributed to These axes, razors, sickles, vessels, jewellery, this transformation. Was religion intimately wagons and so forth were seldom usable as connected with the use of copper and bronze? tools but were intended for religious services. Ancient religion had spread from Anatolia The shining copper brought from deep in the and Mesopotamia to Europe via areas rich mountains reflected the sun in shields and in precious metals over the Black Sea further pectorals. The threshold between day and through the Hellespont and/or the Danube night, to the entrance of the netherworld, was with its tributaries and Don and Donets. Dif- made of copper. ”It is an immovable threshold ferent cultures in the transit areas may have of bronze having unending roots and it is influenced the intrinsic meaning of the religion grown in itself” says Hesiod in the Theogony as well as its physical manifestations. (p. 730-810). In Gilgamesh, the threshold in Artefacts of bronze were gradually replaced Uruk is made of copper. by the accessible and forgeable, stronger iron. Early on, lead-rich copper-mineral was That changed the demand. In the 4th century found and used in Etruria and Sardinia. In B.C. Herod (p. 106), was surprised that the some areas the native copper, as mentioned Massagetes still used weapons of bronze in- above, contained the impurity arsenic, which stead of iron. The large depots of poorly cast, made the copper hard and less prone to dam- destroyed and discarded bronze artefacts all age. When, where and how the miners found over Europe bear witness that bronze had and learned how to alloy the copper with tin become obsolete. Had the itinerant craftsman in order to get a tougher material, may be no consumers any more? Some models of axes, disclosed by analysing archaeological bronze daggers, razors and sickles had for some time artefacts for their chemical composition. When been cut up and had possibly been used as man understood how to mine, melt, purify and means of payment (I, Primas p. 36, Weiler p. alloy copper-minerals which contained oxides, 140-145). The custom of interring the dead 82 Fig. 1. Der Geschmiedete Himmel. Disc of copper, showing the paths of the sun, the moon and the Pleiades. 1700 B.C. Nebra, Germany with artefacts of bronze weakened. During resented beardless on reliefs and statues. Eter- the 8th century B.C. in Iran, a dip in the prize nal youth was then, as now, hotly coveted and of copper minerals is observed. Was this caused idolised. Old age and death was something to by decreased demand? Iron was evidently bet- be vanquished, or at least postponed. ter suited for the manufacturing of farming In addition, did the knowledge of the an- implements and weapons. cient astronomers (based on their observa- Still copper and bronze must have had a tion of the changing star-filled sky during religious significance which would not have thousand of years), no longer correspond with been understood in a culture based on iron. the present? Could they not foresee the fu- Herod mentions that the god Apollo could ture any more? Did the priests have to move only use razors made of bronze. Razors are further from their earlier homes to be able deposited in most Bronze Age male burials to envisage the will of the gods? The Bronze in Northern Europe. Mostly, it is the eternally Age chronology coincides in time with the young Apollo and other youths which are rep- majority of rock art in Europe. 83 Fig. 2. Astrolab. Bronze, mechanism showing time and months. 1st century B.C. An- tikythera, Greece The idea of universe in ancient Babylonia to dawn in fixed paths. These yearly recurrent To understand the culture, the significance of changes were used as a calendar which also the stars has to be understood. Nilsson (1995) established the equinox. Man organised his writes that the starry heaven can be regarded life according to the positions of the stars. as an ancient monument with connection to The different phases of the Moon, the wax- most epics of creation as in the Epic of Gil- ing and waning of the crescent, determined gamesh, Enuma elish, the Old Testament and the division of the year into twelve months the Theogony forwarded in cuneiform scripts, (Robson p. 46, 52-56, 72). The eclipse of the reliefs and seals.