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The Tumulus culture (German:
''Hügelgräberkultur'') dominated
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
during the
Middle Bronze Age ( 1600 to 1300 BC).
It was the descendant of the
Unetice culture. Its heartland was the area previously occupied by the Unetice culture, and its territory included parts of Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, the Carpathian Basin, Poland and France. It was succeeded by the Late Bronze Age
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...
.
The Tumulus culture is distinguished by the practice of burying the dead beneath burial mounds (
tumuli
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
or
kurgan
A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central As ...
s).
In 1902,
Paul Reinecke distinguished a number of cultural horizons based on research of Bronze Age hoards and tumuli in periods covered by these cultural horizons are shown in the table below (right). The Tumulus culture was prevalent during the Bronze Age periods B, C1, and C2. Tumuli have been used elsewhere in Europe from the
Stone Age to the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
; the term "Tumulus culture" specifically refers to the South German variant of the Bronze Age. In the table, Ha designates
Hallstatt. Archaeological horizons Hallstatt A–B are part of the Bronze Age Urnfield culture, while horizons Hallstatt C–D are the type site for the Iron Age
Hallstatt culture.
The Tumulus culture was eminently a
warrior society, which expanded with new chiefdoms eastward into the
Carpathian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large Sedimentary basin, basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The Geomorphology, geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewh ...
(up to the river
Tisza
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
), and northward into Polish and
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
an Únětice territories. The culture's dispersed settlements consisted of villages or homesteads centred on
fortified structures such as hillforts. Significant fortified settlements include the
Heuneburg
The Heuneburg is a prehistoric hillfort by the river Danube in Hundersingen near Herbertingen, between Ulm and Sigmaringen, Baden-Württemberg, in the south of Germany, close to the modern borders with Switzerland and Austria. It is considered ...
,
Bullenheimer Berg,
Ehrenbürg, and
Bernstorf. Fortification walls were built from wood, stone and clay. The massive 3.6m-wide wall surrounding the plateau of the Ehrenbürg resembled later
murus gallicus fortifications known from the Iron Age.
Tumulus culture societies traded with those in Scandinavia, Atlantic Europe, the Mediterranean region and the
Aegean. Traded items included amber and metal artefacts.
Some scholars see Tumulus groups from
southern Germany
Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...
as corresponding to a community that shared an extinct Indo-European linguistic entity, such as the hypothetical
Italo-Celtic
In historical linguistics, Italo-Celtic is a hypothetical grouping of the Italic and Celtic branches of the Indo-European language family on the basis of features shared by these two branches and no others. There is controversy about the causes o ...
group that was ancestral to
Italic and
Celtic. This particular hypothesis, however, conflicts with suggestions by other Indo-Europeanists. For instance,
David W. Anthony suggests that
Proto-Italic
The Proto-Italic language is the ancestor of the Italic languages, most notably Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. It is not directly attested in writing, but has been reconstructed to some degree through the comparative method. P ...
(and perhaps also
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celti ...
) speakers could have entered
Northern Italy at an earlier stage, from the east (e.g., the
Balkan/
Adriatic region).
Gallery
File:Zuse Museum Huenfeld Maedchen von Molzbach Lebensbild 2017.jpg, Reconstruction of the woman from Molzbach
File:Zuse Museum Huenfeld Maedchen von Molzbach Sarg 2017.jpg, The Molzbach burial, c. 1300 BC.
File:Wetteraumuseum Grab BZ Woelfersheim.jpg, Grave goods from Wölfersheim, Germany
File:Gentleman, Bronze Age, 15th century BC, replica - Naturhistorisches Museum Nürnberg - Nuremberg, Germany -DSC04215.jpg, alt=, Bronze Age dress, 15th century BC, Germany
File:Tumulus sword 1.jpg, alt=, Bronze sword, 1400 BC
File:Middlebronze2.jpg, alt=, Bronze sword, 1600-1500 BC
File:Middlebronze3.jpg, alt=, Burial goods, 1400 BC
File:Middlebronze4.jpg, alt=, Bronze dagger, c. 1700-1500 BC
File:Middlebronze6.jpg, alt=, Bronze anklets, 1600-1400 BC
File:Clevelandart 1988.5.jpg, Bronze spiral armband, c. 1500 BC
File:Central Europe, Bronze Age, c. 2500-800 BC - Spiral Armilla - 1988.4 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Bronze spiral armband, c. 1500 BC
File:ALB - Goldarmband Nassenheide.jpg, Gold bracelet from Nassenheide, Germany
File:Gobelets - Man - Saint-Germain-en-Laye - 27 mars 2017.jpg, Gold artefacts, France, c. 1400 BC
File:Cône d'Avanton, musée des Antiquités Nationales, 2010-03-26.jpg, Gold hat, bracelet and bowl, France, c.1400 BC
File:Speyer-2009-historisches-museum-026.jpg, Gold hat, bronze axes, Germany, c. 1300 BC.
File:Golden decorated disc, 1800-1300 BC, Museum of Western Bohemia, 187791.jpg, Gold disc, Czech Rep., 1650-1250 BC.
File:Necklace, amber, glass, Middle Bronze Age, Museum of Western Bohemia, 187798.jpg, Amber and glass necklace, Czech Republic
File:Bernsteincollier.jpg, Amber necklace, Germany, 1500 BC.
File:La céramique à l'âge du bronze (musée historique, Haguenau) (36058831702).jpg, Tumulus ceramics, Hagenau, France
File:Landesmuseum Württemberg -Würtingen-Grabbeigaben560.jpg, Bronze ornaments, Germany, c. 1500 BC
File:Landesmuseum Württemberg-Engstingen-Frauengrab554.jpg, alt=, Bronze and amber ornaments, c. 1500 BC
File:Goldhort Gessel Ausstellung im Landesmuseum Hannover.jpg, Gold hoard from Gessel, Germany, c.1400 BC
File:Eschenz gold cup 1.jpg, Gold cup from Eschenz
Eschenz is a municipality in Frauenfeld District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
History
The prehistoric shore village on ''Werd Island'' and in the ''Seeäckern'' area (northeast of Eschenz) are rich archeological sites that have contr ...
, Switzerland, c. 1600 BC
File:Huegelgrab3-unteralting-grafrath16.JPG, Tumulus, Germany, 1600-1300 BC
See also
*
Bernstorf fortified settlement
*
Bronze hand of Prêles
*
Beaker culture
The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from a ...
*
Frankleben hoard
The Frankleben hoard is a significant hoard deposit of the European Bronze Age, associated with the Unstrut group (associated with the Tumulus or early Urnfield culture (ca. 1500–1250 BC). The site is in the Geisel valley, formed by a minor t ...
*
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...
*
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC.
The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (th ...
*
Bronze Age Britain
*
Argaric culture
The Argaric culture, named from the type site El Argar near the town of Antas, in what is now the province of Almería in southeastern Spain, is an Early Bronze Age culture which flourished between c. 2200 BC and 1550 BC.
The Argaric culture ...
*
Ottomany culture
*
Wietenberg culture
*
Srubnaya culture
The Srubnaya culture (russian: Срубная культура, Srubnaya kul'tura, ua, Зрубна культура, Zrubna kul'tura), also known as Timber-grave culture, was a Late Bronze Age 1850–1450 BC cultureParpola, Asko, (2012)"Format ...
*
Mycenaean Greece
*
Atlantic Bronze Age
The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period in Prehistoric Europe of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Britain, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.
Trade
The Atlantic Bronze Age ...
External Links
Bronze age fortresses in EuropeDefended sites and fortifications in Southern Germany during the Bronze Age
References
*Nora Kershaw Chadwick, J. X. W. P. Corcoran, ''The Celts'' (1970), p. 2
*Barbara Ann Kipfer, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology (2000)
;Specific
{{Bronze Age footer
Tumulus culture,
17th-century BC establishments
13th-century BC disestablishments
Culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
Archaeological cultures of Central Europe
Archaeological cultures of Western Europe
Bronze Age cultures of Europe
Archaeological cultures in Austria
Archaeological cultures in Belgium
Archaeological cultures in the Czech Republic
Archaeological cultures in France
Archaeological cultures in Germany
Archaeological cultures in Hungary
Archaeological cultures in the Netherlands
Archaeological cultures in Poland
Archaeological cultures in Slovakia
Indo-European archaeological cultures
Italo-Celtic