Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Urnfield culture" in English language version.
Birds play a much more prominent role in Late Bronze Age Central European imagery. One of the most important motifs, which is most certainly connected to the Nordic religious concepts, is that of the bird-ship (Vogelbarke) or Sun-ship (Vogelsonnenbarke). On these representations the keel extensions of the ships end in an aquatic bird's head, and in most cases the ships carry the Sun. … Three basic types of the Late Bronze Age Sun-ship motif can be distinguished. … The third, rarest version is a double Sun-ship, where two ships are represented keel-to-keel and have a Sun-disc in the middle. This motif can br seen on a shield from an unknown find spot in Denmark, and becomes more popular in Early Iron Age Italy
A connection, difficult to define as it might be, appears to exist between the Sea Peoples and the Urnfield cultures of Central and Eastern Europe. A possible Sea Peoples' ship, complete with a bird-head stem device with an up-curving beak, that is depicted on a crematory urn from Hama in Syria seems to support this connection. The manner in which the bird-head devices are positioned on the Sea Peoples' ships at Medinet Habu – facing outboard at stem and stern – invites comparison with the bird boats (Vogelbarke) of Central Europe
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The front and the back side of the Trundholm discrepresent through their difference in brilliance and decoration a separate concept– the Sun and the Moon. The analysis of these exquisite decorations demonstrates that the Bronze Age people had profound astronomical knowledge of the movements of these heavenly bodies. Taken together, the front and the back side of the disc form a complete picture, one which already contains the Metonic cycle. The mathematics of the ornamentation on both sides is also of great potency and beauty.
finds have also come to light in Hungary that are similar from an archaeoastronomical perspective to the Nebra sky disk, or hold even more possibilities for scientific analysis. One example is the gold bracelet from Dunavecse ... Its system of motifs and symbols is much more complex and richer than that of the sky disk. Two solar disks can be clearly identified at the meeting point of the tendril-like curves, which either represent the arc of the crescent moon or the prow of a boat. Between the two solar disks there is a very important symbol consisting of five circles, for which there are numerous known analogies. This can be found on the famous, so-called Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch or the Berlin Gold Hat, both from the Late Bronze Age (14th–8th centuries B.C.), as well as on the famous gold diadem from one of the Mycenaean shaft graves, which was perhaps contemporaneous.
Firedogs and moon idols belong to the symbolic world of the Urnfield Culture. ... The first firedogs and moon idols in graves appear in the 9th century BC. During the early Iron Age they became typical in eastern Central Europe. They emerge only in some archaeological cultures and are linked to specific groups of persons. Apparently these groups are religious communities. The firedogs and moon idols are an expression not only of material culture but especially of spiritual culture.
The moon idols/firedogs may have been the paraphernalia of domestic shrines.
What is especially fascinating is the ornamentation on the [Berlin gold hat] in which a complex counting system is encoded, enabling calendar calculations, especially the 19-year cycle of the sun and the moon. ... The star at the tip symbolises the sun, with the sickles and eye patterns representing the moon and Venus, while the circular ornaments can equally be interpreted as depictions of the sun or the moon. … The cycle of the sun determines day and nigh and the seasons, while the moon determines the division of the year into months and days. But the lunar year is eleven days shorter than the solar year. Even as early as the 2nd millennium BC intercalary days were inserted to bring the solar and lunar cycles into alignment. This knowledge is reflected in the ornamentation of the Gold Hat. The stamped patterns should be read as a calendar. For instance, the number of circles in certain decorative areas equals the twelve lunar periods of 354 days. If the patterns in other decorative areas are added, this gives the 365 days of the solar year. It takes 19 years for the solar year and the lunar year to align again. In the ornamentation of the hat the fact is encoded that seven lunar months need to be inserted into the 19-year cycle. Other calculations can be made as well, such as the dates of eclipses of the moon. (…) The golden hats show that astronomical knowledge was combined with cult activities… They were apparently worn over several generation and at some point buried in the ground in a sacred act to protect them from desecration and to place them in the realm of the gods. It seems that Bronze Age rulers combined worldly and spiritual power.
One particularly impressive piece of evidence for early man's astronomical knowledge is the Bronze Age Berlin gold hat, unique in its size and preservation. The sun, evoked by the gold coloration and the pattern of rays at the top of the hat, creates day, night and the seasons by apparently circling the earth. The moon, represented several times on the hat, marks out months and weeks. The number and arrangement of the ornaments is not random; it allows a nineteen-year lunisolar cycle of 228 solar months and 235 lunar months to be calculated. Someone who knew how to read these ornaments would be able to calculate the shifts between the solar year and the lunar year, predict lunar eclipses, and set fixed dates for significant events. … Over half a millennium before the astronomer and mathematician Meton in 432 BC calculated the shifts in the lunisolar cycle, they were already known to the educated elite of the Bronze Age. The golden hat may have been worn by a ruler with a religious role on ceremonial occasions. Other Bronze Age items prove that astronomical knowledge was often preserved in coded form on valuable and sacred objects.
In the ornamentation of the hat the fact is encoded that seven lunar months need to be inserted into the 19-year cycle. Other calculations can be made as well, such as the dates of eclipses of the moon.
Someone who knew how to read these ornaments would be able to calculate the shifts between the solar year and the lunar year, predict lunar eclipses, and set fixed dates for significant events.
The star at the tip symbolises the sun, with the sickles and eye patterns representing the moon and Venus, while the circular ornaments can equally be interpreted as depictions of the sun or the moon.
Gold vessels in the Eberswalde hoard bear sun and circular symbols like those on the Berlin gold hat. Some of these contain calendrical information as well. The base of a bowl [from the Eberswalde hoard] is formed from ten, or counting the centre disc, eleven concentric circles topped by a band of 22 circular discs. This corresponds to the number of solar years (10+22=32) and together with the centre disc the number of lunar years (11+22=33) until the solar and lunar calendars are in alignment.
Other Bronze Age items prove that astronomical knowledge was often preseved in coded form on valuable and sacred objects. ... Especially impressive are the solar and lunar calendars numerically encoded in the ornamentation of the belt disc from Heegermühle in Brandenburg, Germany.
There are three such gold collars in the museum, which are thought to be from three different hoard found close together. They were found together with gold wire and necklaces of bone and amber beads and shells. they are particularly important in terms of both crafting and cultural history and probably belonged to a woman of high social status. They are decorated with circular ornamentation and thus similar to the roughly contemporary Berlin Gold Hat and the Eberswalde golden bowls.
Three pairs of boats with bird's head prow and stern surrounding a solar disc consisting of several concentric circles are depicted on a bronze shield from Denmark.
The West Bohemian gold roundels with twelve bosses are simplified calendars of the gold cones.
In the stylistic development during the Metal Ages, two phenomena are of particular interest. The first is the development of the sun-bird-ship motif of the Urnfield Culture. The origin of this motif, which featured bird-headed ships embellished with solar disks, is not known, but over a short period about 1400 BCE it became common both as incised decoration and as plastic art throughout a vast area of eastern and central Europe. The similarity in execution and composition is remarkable and suggests a shared understanding of its meaning and the intensity of contact between distant areas.
Surviving upstanding ramparts are rare and are associated with the larger and most monumental sites, the extreme case being Corneşti Iarcuri at ca. 1765 ha. This was the largest construction built in any part of Europe up to that time, dwarfing the citadels of the Aegean world and their surrounding towns.
sites such as Sântana Cetatea Veche, Gradište-Iđoš, Sakule, Crepaja, Bašaid, Csanádpalota, Orosháza Nagytatársánc and Újkígyós all warrant the term megasite or megafort, ranging from 75 to 460 Ha of enclosed space.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The front and the back side of the Trundholm discrepresent through their difference in brilliance and decoration a separate concept– the Sun and the Moon. The analysis of these exquisite decorations demonstrates that the Bronze Age people had profound astronomical knowledge of the movements of these heavenly bodies. Taken together, the front and the back side of the disc form a complete picture, one which already contains the Metonic cycle. The mathematics of the ornamentation on both sides is also of great potency and beauty.
Surviving upstanding ramparts are rare and are associated with the larger and most monumental sites, the extreme case being Corneşti Iarcuri at ca. 1765 ha. This was the largest construction built in any part of Europe up to that time, dwarfing the citadels of the Aegean world and their surrounding towns.
sites such as Sântana Cetatea Veche, Gradište-Iđoš, Sakule, Crepaja, Bašaid, Csanádpalota, Orosháza Nagytatársánc and Újkígyós all warrant the term megasite or megafort, ranging from 75 to 460 Ha of enclosed space.
Fur die drei hute wird ausserdem die frage diskutiert, ob die verzierungen im goldblech neben den mond- und sonnensymbolen auch venus-symbole und eined venuskalender enthalten. Die ansichten der fachleute gehen insbesondere bei der frage auseinander ob jahrzehntelange astronomische zyklen damals schon bekannt gewesen sein konnen. Dagegen ist leicht vorstellbar und kaum strittig, dass dis menschen der bronzezeit die widederkehr der Venus am himmel nach 584 Tagen bereits beobachtet haben. Das im mediterranean Bereich fur die venus ubliche Augensymbole befindet sich auf allen dreihuten. Auf dem Berliner Goldhut 19-mal, was genau der Anzahl der monate fur einen Venuszyklus entspricht, wenn man pro Monat mit 30/31 tagen rechnet. Auf dem Schifferstadter un dem Ezeldorfer Goldhut sind die Venuszeichen 22-mal enthalten. Das entspricht ebenfalls der Monatszahl fur einen Venuszyklus, wenn man den alteren Mond-Monat mit 27 tagen als Basis nimmt, Moglicherweise wurde bei Herstellung des Schifferstadter Goldhutes noch mit dem Mondkalender und 300 jahre spater am Ende der Bronzezeit dei Herstellung des Berliner Goldhutes schon in "modernerer" zeitrechnung mit: 30/31 Tagen pro Monat gerechnet." English translation: "For the three hats, the question is also being discussed as to whether the decorations in the gold plate also contain Venus symbols and a Venus calendar in addition to the moon and sun symbols. The views of the experts diverge in particular on the question of whether decades-long astronomical cycles could have been known at the time. On the other hand, it is easy to imagine and hardly controversial that the people of the Bronze Age had already observed the return of Venus in the sky after 584 days. The eye symbol common for Venus in the Mediterranean region can be found on all three hats. On the Berlin Gold Hat 19 times, which corresponds exactly to the number of months for a Venus cycle, if one reckons with 30/31 days per month. On the Schifferstadt and Ezeldorf gold hats, the Venus signs are contained 22 times. This also corresponds to the number of months for a Venus cycle, if one takes the older lunar month with 27 days as a basis. It is possible that when the Schifferstadt gold hat was made, the lunar calendar was still used and 300 years later, at the end of the Bronze Age, the Berlin gold hat was made in a more "modern" calendar with 30/31 days per month.
Tous ces objets précieux et remarquablement exécutés évoquent une société complexe, sans doute strictement hiérarchisée, aux savoirs techniques et astronomiques avancées, organisée autour des travaux des champs." English translation: "All these precious and remarkably executed objects evoke a complex society, undoubtedly strictly hierarchical, with advanced technical and astronomical knowledge, organized around work in the fields.
Surviving upstanding ramparts are rare and are associated with the larger and most monumental sites, the extreme case being Corneşti Iarcuri at ca. 1765 ha. This was the largest construction built in any part of Europe up to that time, dwarfing the citadels of the Aegean world and their surrounding towns.
sites such as Sântana Cetatea Veche, Gradište-Iđoš, Sakule, Crepaja, Bašaid, Csanádpalota, Orosháza Nagytatársánc and Újkígyós all warrant the term megasite or megafort, ranging from 75 to 460 Ha of enclosed space.
Surviving upstanding ramparts are rare and are associated with the larger and most monumental sites, the extreme case being Corneşti Iarcuri at ca. 1765 ha. This was the largest construction built in any part of Europe up to that time, dwarfing the citadels of the Aegean world and their surrounding towns.
sites such as Sântana Cetatea Veche, Gradište-Iđoš, Sakule, Crepaja, Bašaid, Csanádpalota, Orosháza Nagytatársánc and Újkígyós all warrant the term megasite or megafort, ranging from 75 to 460 Ha of enclosed space.
These extraordinary appliqués were part of treasures deposited in the Bronze Age as an offering to gods on the shore of Lake Bled. The prestigious gold appliqués also indicate that the lake was an important centre of a cult. ... Similar appliqués have been discovered in Switzerland, Bavaria and Hungary, mainly in Bronze Age fortified settlements and in the graves of wealthy women. ... The ornamentation bears markings of the solar and lunar year.
The front and the back side of the Trundholm discrepresent through their difference in brilliance and decoration a separate concept– the Sun and the Moon. The analysis of these exquisite decorations demonstrates that the Bronze Age people had profound astronomical knowledge of the movements of these heavenly bodies. Taken together, the front and the back side of the disc form a complete picture, one which already contains the Metonic cycle. The mathematics of the ornamentation on both sides is also of great potency and beauty.
Archaeological investigation has revealed the remains of an unusually large settlement, measuring around 30ha, fortified by two rows of ramparts and tall stone walls.
the strongly fortified complex upon Mount Ipf held an extraordinary position ever since the Late Bronze Age and Urnfield culture, specifically as a centre of power on the western periphery of the Nördlinger Ries. ... there was already a large settlement and fortification on the summit plateau during the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture. Geomagnetic investigations and targeted excavations have confirmed a densely built settlement on the upper plateau.
