Eastern Influences and the Transition to New Types of Metal Working at the End of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe
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MUSAICA ARCHAEOLOGICA 2/2018 33-49 33 EASTERN INFLUENCES AND THE TRANSITION TO NEW TYPES OF METAL WORKING AT THE END OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE IN CENTRAL EUROPE Stanislav Grigoriev* ____________________ * Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (620990, Kovelevskoj-str., 16, Ekaterinburg, Russia), [email protected] Abstrakt: Východné vplyvy a nové technológie spracovania kovov na konci staršej doby bronzovej v strednej Európe. Prvé cínové zliatiny bronzu sa v Európe objavujú v priebehu Reineckeho stupňa A1. Následne vo fáze A2 sa objavujú prvé nástroje s tuľajkou a tiež hroty kopijí s tuľajkou. Rozšírenie týchto hrotov kopijí koreluje s rozšírením nástro- jov s vysokým podielom cínu v zliatine bronzu. Predpokladá sa, že k najstarším hrotom kopijí s tuľajkou patrili nálezy z Dyje na Morave a z Děteníc v Čechách. Ale paralelne zaznamenávame v Euroázii podobné procesy súvisiace s rozšírením technologickej tradície kultúrneho fenoménu Sejma-Turbino s nástrojmi s tuľajkou a vysokým podielom cínu v zliatine bronzu. Na základe morfologických charakteristík môžeme priradiť väčšinu kopijí z európskych nálezísk k typom príznačným už pre kultúry a kultúrne skupiny, ktoré nasledovali po kultúrnom fenoméne Sejma-Turbino. Článok pouka- zuje na relatívne neskoré zaradenie hrotov kopijí z Dyje a z Děteníc a tiež na ich vznik pod vplyvom východných impulzov. V Európe sa neobjavujú v klasickej forme, ale transformované ako výsledok interakcie tradícií kultúr post-Sintašta, Petro- vka a Alakul. Kľúčové slová: Sejma-Turbino, metalurgia, nástroje s tuľajkou, stredná Európa, andronovský komponent Abstract: The first tin alloys appeared in Europe within the framework of the Reinecke’s phase A1. After that, in phase A2, the first socketed tools appeared, and socketed spearheads. The distribution of these spearheads coincided with the distribution of tools with a high degree of tin alloying. It is assumed that the earliest socketed spearheads were those from Dyje in Moravia and Dětenice in Bohemia. But at the same period in Eurasia, we see similar processes associated with the spread to the west of the Seima-Turbino tradition of metalworking with socketed tools and high tin bronze. And the ma- jority of European spearheads in their morphological characteristics can be considered as post-Seima ones. The article shows a relatively late chronological position of the spearheads from Dyje and Dětenice, and the formation of this tradi- tion under the influence of eastern impulses. However, in Europe, this tradition did not appear in its classical form, but transformed as a result of interaction with the post-Sintashta, Petrovka and Alakul traditions. This caused significant transformations in the European area. Key words: Seima-Turbino, metallurgy, socketed tools, Central Europe, chronology, Andronovo component 1. Introduction For Eurasia, the early 2nd millennium BC was the time of introduction of tin alloys and transition to the casting socketed tools and weapons. In the forest-steppe and forest zone of Northern Eurasia, this was caused by the move- ment from the Altai to the west of Seima-Turbino tribes and corresponding metalworking traditions. This phenom- enon is represented by a series of cemeteries, burials and finds with a new complex of metal objects. The peculiarity is that everywhere between the Altai and Volga, despite the similarity of burials, these objects are accompanied by local ceramic complexes. Therefore, the phenomenon is called ‘transcultural’. Analysis of distribution of morpho- 34 Stanislav Grigoriev Eastern Influences and the Transition to New Types... logical and chemical characteristics led to a conclusion of migration (Черных – Кузьминых 1989, 183–203, 208–216, 251–253). Unfortunately, there are few radiocarbon dates for these monuments, but the existing ones fall within the range 2290–1880 BC, however it seems to be too early (Молодин и др. 2014, 141). The most western point of pene- tration of this tradition is the Borodino hoard in Moldavia, with two typical Seima-Turbino spearheads (Fig. 1: 1, 2). To the west, classic Seima-Turbino objects are absent. However, just since that time the tin alloys and casting sock- eted spearheads spread in Europe. Based on the analysis of complexes of hoards, the Early Bronze Age1 of Central Europe was divided by P. Reinecke into two main phases, A1 and A2 (see Coles, Harding 1973, 49; Bartelheim 1988, 148), whose chronological boundary is the 19th century BC. Tin bronzes are present in Central Europe already within the A1 phase, but only since the A2 phase they become mass, and objects with a high tin content began to dominate (Krause 2003, 216, 219, 220, Abb. 200; Kienlin 2008, 184). It is also noteworthy that only since this time spearheads appeared in this region (Tarot 2000, 2, 3, 9, 10, 51). In the previous period, only tanged spearheads of Greece are known, and in Moravia a fragment of spear blade was found in a burial of the Nitra culture at the Holešov cemetery, but more likely it is a fragment of a dagger (Říhovský 1996, 11). This fundamental chronological coincidence of the mass transition to tin alloys and socketed casting in both Europe and Eurasia, as well as the movement of the Seima-Turbino tradition westwards shown by the above-men- tioned authors, allows us to raise a question that these transformations in the metalworking of Europe and Eurasia can be described within a single process (Grigoriev 2002, 213–222). However, specific mechanisms and exact chronol- ogy of this process are not completely understood. For orientation in the text, a table of synchronization of com- plexes of various areas is presented, which, of course, requires future corrections and changes as each scheme with strong horizontal lines. Phases NE Europe S. Germany L. Austria Czechia, W. Slovakia C. and E. Hungary Poland Greece Ukraine Eurasia Reine- Moravia Slovakia cke B1 Wessex II Tumulus Tumulus, Tumulus, Tumulus, Maďarovce, Koszider Trzciniec- LH I Srubnaja Srubnaja Nordic BA Věteřov Věteřov, Maďarovce North-Pannonian, period, Vatya Kamorów Alakul – IB Maďarovce Otomani- Fü- III Fyodorovka zesabony (Andronovo) Suskan-Lugavskaya A2c Wessex II Arbon Věteřov Věteřov Věteřov, Maďarovce, Hajdúsám- Trzciniec- LH I Early Srubnaja Seima-Turbino Nordic BA Maďarovce North-Pannonian, son-Apa Kamorów Borodino Early Srubnaja – – IA Otomani- Fü- Encrusted Pokrovsk zesabony Pottery Alakul Petrovka Late Abashevo Fyodorovka (Andronovo) Suskan-Lugavskaya A2b Nordic BA Arbon Věteřov, Únětice- Únětice Maďarovce, Vatya II Trzciniec- MH III Babino Sintashta – IA Langquaid Unterwölbling Věteřov –Maďarovce Otomani- Fü- Encrusted Kamorów Abashevo Wessex II Gemeinlebarn zesabony, Pottery Nowa Seima-Turbino III Hatvan Gerekwia Early Alakul Petrovka A2a Wessex I Straubing, Unterwölbling Únětice Únětice Hatvan Vatya I, Mierzanowi- MH III Babino Sintashta Nordic LN Adlerberg Gemeinlebarn Košťany, Encrusted ce Seima-Turbino II Otomani Pottery Abashevo Early Alakul Petrovka A1c Wessex I Straubing, Unterwölbling Únětice Únětice -Nitra Hatvan Vatya Ia, Mierzanowi- MH III Babino Sintashta Nordic LN Adlerberg Gemeinlebarn Košťany, Nagyrév II, ce Abashevo II Otomani Szőreg 2 Early Alakul Kisapostag 3, Petrovka Seima-Turbino (?) Table 1. Synchronization of the Bronze Age cultures in Central Europe with those in Eurasia. One of the main hoards, on whose basis the phase A2 was separated, is the Langquaid hoard in Bavaria contained a cast socketed spearhead and flat axes of the Langquaid type with a semicircular blade, typical of Central Europe (Fig. 2: 7, 8; Říhovský 1992, 6, 7; Pászthory – Mayer 1998, 9, 42–45; Laux 2000, 7, 8, 38, 38, 199). Scholars divide this EBA phase into several subphases, and the Langquaid period falls into A2b. But diagnostic axes of this type appeared 1 Further in the text abbreviations are used :Early Bronze Age – EBA ,Middle Bronze Age – MBA ,Late Bronze Age – LBA ,Early Helladic – EH, Middle Helladic – MH. MUSAICA ARCHAEOLOGICA 2/2018 33-49 35 Fig. 1. Seima-Turbino socketed artefacts: 1-7 – speaheads, 8, 9 – axes. 1 – Borodino (KD-20), 2 – Borodino (KD-34), 3 – Djangeldy V (KD-40), 4 – Krivoe Ozero (KD-36), 5 – Bekteniz (KD-36), 6 – Taktalachuk (KD-40), 7 – Gribžiniai; 8 – Sokolovo (K-24), 9 – Seima (K-18) (based on Черных – Кузьминых 1989), the figures were made by Oksana Orlova. Obr. 1. Sejma-Turbino – artefakty s tuľajkou: 1-7 – hroty kopijí, 8, 9 – sekery, autorka ilustrácií O. Orlova. 36 Stanislav Grigoriev Eastern Influences and the Transition to New Types... perhaps earlier, within the previous subphase A2a, occur occasionally in burials of the Unterwölbing group, and in the subsequent phase of the Bühl hoard (Mayer 1977, 91, 95, 96). This provokes an impression that the Seima-Turbino metalworking traditions penetrated into Europe not at the beginning of the younger EBA phase (A2a), but only since the A2b phase, i.e., after the appearance of the Langquaid axes (Grigoriev 2002, 219; Grigoriev 2018, 14). But the characteristic feature of these axes is a high tin content (Kienlin 2008, 224). In this case, the discussed above single process splits into two separate processes: 1) the introduction of alloys with the high tin content within the subphase A2a; 2) the subsequent introduction of the socketed casting within the subphase A2b. And we can imagine this as a local independent development, only accidentally coinciding with similar processes in the east. Contrary to this, despite a number of morphological differences, general propor- tions of the majority of early Central European spearheads correspond to the Seima-Turbino ones. The purpose of this article is to discuss these paradoxes. 2. Socketed spearheads The Seima spearheads have a leaf-shaped blade with an extension in the lower part, and according to the struc- ture of the rod of the blade they can be divided into three groups: with a forked, rhombic and round rod. We will touch upon only some types; detailed typology should be viewed in the author’s work (Черных – Кузьминых 1989, 63–90). Spearheads with the round rod are most interesting for us, since these are typical for European complex- es.