A Megalithic Culture
Massive Stone Structures

061 Stonehenge, the megalithic monument of standing stones on Salisbury Plain, England. Built ca.3000-1000 BC.
Priests, priestesses and local chieftains were probably the leading figures in most of the small communities of temperate Europe until the middle of the second millenium. From then on until the Romans crossed the Alps, it seems that conflict between various tribes for territory and metal ores became widespread.
With no recorded evidence of their culture, nor any discoveries, lists of events or leaders written down for future generations, it is not too surprising that the conquering Romans regarded them almost as savages. So from Roman times down to the early 20th century the prehistoric Europeans featured little in history. Only in recent decades have researchers shown how false these assumptions were. The people of prehistoric Europe were highly skilled stone engineers. Many of their Megaliths still survive today.
The sheer size of the carved stone blocks involved shows that these neolithic and bronze age Europeans were masters in the skills needed to quarry, transport and erect such enormous standing stones: mehirs, megalithic tombs and sanctuaries such as that on Salisbury Plain in England. Stonehenge was begun around 3000 BC and later rebuilt and expanded by later cultures down to 1000 BC. Today, archaeologist still speculate about how and why such structures came about. Although they would have served some ritual purpose, it is doubtful if popular beliefs linking them with (later)druidical rites have any foundation.

The Age of Metals
and a Warrior Caste

062 Tiny bronze statuette of a warrior ht:10cm found in Sardinia.

Mining, Minerals and Metal Ores

063 Tiny bronze horse ht:9cm ca.1500 BC. from Moravia, Czechoslovakia MMB.
Exploitation of the metal ores and minerals was a most important activity and probably the greatest legacy of these ancient Europeans. In Central Europe their mining and metallurgical skills led first to copper smelting, followed later on by the invention of bronze alloy,(a molten mix of copper and tin - see T2).

064 A Bronze caldron with handle in the form of a cow and calf. ca. Diam.24cm. From Hallstatt grave, Austria NMV.
Towards the end of the third millennium BC Europeans learned how to replace their flint knives with much better ones cast in bronze. From about 1800 BC to about 1200 BC, bronze was the hardest and most common metal in use for weapons and tools. As the demand for this metal grew, specialist metal-working craftsmen became essential to the tribal rulers. New sharper weapons, such as the bronze sword were invented, then new ways of warfare with new armour. New tools led to different technologies. This tough new metal brought power and control to the possessors. Feuds, instability, local wars and invasions followed. Many regions of Europe were now ruled by a warrior caste equipped with bronze armour swords and spears. None of this was written down, only archaeological digs, graves and found objects give us clues to these events.

065 A small cast bronze bull ht:7.5cm From a sanctuary cave in Moravia, Czechoslovakia. NMV.
in Central Europe, before the end of the second millennium BC., iron was being smelted from its ores to make even sharper weapons and harder tools. Iron was tougher than bronze, so from about 1200 BC the Iron Age gradually replaced the Bronze Age in Europe during the first millennium BC. Bronze was still the metal of choice for many objects other than weapons. Smelting of these metals from their ores must have enormously advanced the understanding of furnaces and kilns. These technological discoveries and inventions involving metals had a wide-ranging impact. Though not documented in prehistoric Europe, metal smelting and casting processes must have had many links with contemporary pottery making and firing methods.

066 A Mycenaean richly decorated bronze dagger. ca.1550 BC from Mycenae. .NMA.
Remember those early Greek tribes, the so-called Achaeans or Mycenaeans? They began to swept down from the north into Greece from the Balkans around 1800 BC, armed with bronze weapons. This dagger probably dates from about 1600 BC. By this time these northern invaders were well established in Greece. The blade is inlaid with a scene of running lions in gold cemented in place with black niello. The handle is encased in beaten gold. The Dorians were the last Greek tribe to invade Greece around 1200 BC. They too came from the North and their weapons were made of iron. With swords and spears made of this new tougher metal they defeated the "bronze-clad" Mycenaeans. (see t.5. & 6.).

What meaning does this hold?

067 A Bronze Wagon with a female figure holding up a bowl and stags being led to sacrifice. l:35cm ht:27cm. From an urnfield grave site, Strettweg Austria. SLJG
The bronze objects highlight the abilities of European craftsmen long before the Romans conquered Europe. But, all these bronze objects were more than useful; they had a spiritual or symbolic value too. They were found as offerings in graves or sanctuaries. Each provides a glimpse, albeit perhaps difficult to interpret, into the way of life and beliefs of these early people.

La Tène or Celtic Decoration
on the edge of the Roman World

068 Ornamental Disk ca.300 BC. Repoussé sheet gold on bronze with filigree decoration and coral inlays. From Auvers-sur-Oise(Seine-et-Oise France BNP.
Swirling rhythms and a balanced arrangement of the bladder-like patterns raise the surface into dynamic curves. The outlines of filigree decoration break up the light and emphasise the intricate decoration.

069 Decorated copper sheaths l:15cm. ca.300 BC. From Tal-y-Llyn,Merionethshire, Wales. MOWC.
Figures and faces are integrated into a simplified Greek palmette ornament. Facial details are emphasised in a characteristic La Tène manner.

070 A long spouted bronze pitcher ht:37cm. ca.500 BC. Kleinaspergle, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. WLS.
This appears at first to be a Greek or Italian( Etruscan) wine pitcher. But the masks on the handle show it to have been manufactured north of the Alps.

071 The long spouted bronze pitcher above: Detail of the face mask at the base of the handle. ca 500 BC.
A stylised head with horns and beard - an odd hybrid, a kind of Celtic Silenus. It well illustrates a characteristic Celtic (Early La Tène) technique of incorporating foreign motifs into their Style.

072 Large bronze boar with stylized bristles.ca.50 BC-50AD. ht:76cm.Neuvy-en-Sullias,Loiret, France. MHOO.
A fine example of Celtic animal art, stylised head, mouth, tusks and body, but full of nervous tension.

073 A Stone head of a chieftain or hero wearing a neck ring. Stone ca.300 BC. ht:23.5cm. Found at Mseke-Zehrovice, Czechoslovakia. NMP.
The head is egg-shaped, Moustache and eyebrows have become spiral ornaments. The protruding eyes are strongly outlined, the mouth a tightly closed upward curve. Only the bronze or gold neck ring is rendered more naturalistically. Its purpose is unknown but it was found with bones of sacrificed animals in a sacred site.

074 Ceremonial shield ca.50 BC. Repoussé bronze with red glass inlays, ht:80cm. From the River Thames at Battersea, London England. BML.
Discoveries of many bronze objects like this shield in France, Spain, north Italy and Britain are evidence of a Celtic migration from the Upper Danube into western Europe between the 7th and the 3rd centuries BC. The Celts had become proficient in bronze casting and goldsmith's work early in their history, having learned these skills from Mediterranean and Asia Minor trading contacts. This beautiful shield, found in the Thames, displays the Celtic genius for decoration. The geometric, curvilinear motifs, swirling spirals and circles enclosing coral and enamel inlay are enclosed in their turn by three circles. These patterns are used again and again in Celtic artifacts in different combinations without ever becoming monotonous. The style is of a pronounced Late British type: the continent was too strongly influenced by Roman patterns ever to develop anything like this.

075 Back of a hand mirror engraved with tendril ornament. Bronze. length with handle:35cm. From Desborough, Nottinghamshire, England BML.
In the first century BC., the island Celts attained undisputed mastery in the decoration of flat surfaces. What might appear sheer fantasy is actually the result of deliberate composition, though the traditional motifs are transformed in a characteristic way. The decorated side of the mirror takes the swelling volutes and bladder patterns of La Tène art and refines them to the point of geometric stylisation.

076 Part of what is thought to be a crown, known as "Petrie Horns" Bronze. From an unknown site in Ireland. NMD.
The pattern on this fragment of an object, thought to be a bronze crown, is more austere than the previous example but is most effective in bringing out the shape of the bowl structures by an off-centre design of swirling spirals. In the centuries of Roman occupation which followed, only in the British Isles (Ireland and Britain) did the Celtic style survive and for a while flourish. The influence of Rome almost extinguished this native style, but five centuries later in 5th century AD Christian monks in Ireland returned to the Celtic style combining more of the figurative style of the Germanic tribes now migrating across the North Sea to the British Isles.

Italy Before The Romans
Carthaginians, Greeks, Villanovans
and the Etruscans

077 Map of Italy ca. 5th century BC Showing the important tribes and spheres of influence Although part of Europe, Italy has been influenced and part colonised from earliest times. Before 1000 BC there were already many related Italic tribes throughout Italy. By the early part of the first millennium BC. Phoenicians traders from Palestine and North Africa(Carthaginians) and Greeks from the Aegean had begun to colonise as much as they could of Italy's coastline, from the Tiber down to Sicily. Eventually they came into conflict. Celts and German tribes from across the Alps influenced development of the tribes in Northern Italy during this time.

The Villanovan Culture

In northern Italy the greatest influence and migrants at the beginning of the first millennium BC., came from the Germanic and Celtic tribes from beyond the Alps. North of the Apennines in Tuscany, Emilia and in the Po valley flourished the most original and developed culture in Italy between 1000 and 800 BC. Called the Villanovan culture (after a excavated settlement near Bologna). They cremated their dead in double-cone shaped urns covered by cups or bowls turned upside down, sometimes these lids were like a warriors helmet. The Villanovans controlled the rich copper and iron mines of Tuscany and were accomplished metalworkers. In the second half of the 8th century the Villanovans of Tuscany began to be influenced artistically by Greece.

078 A bronze girdle from the Benacci cemetery near Bologna. ca 800 BC. CMB
This beautiful girdle is a masterpiece of Villanovan metalwork. Here the geometric decoration has formalised a common Bronze Age theme: The journey of the sun drawn by swans. The sun, its chariot and the swans are shown as a series of elegant spirals and arabesques, engraved with meticulous care. The spiral was a favourite motif in Bronze and Iron Age art.

079 Detail of Map of Italy 5th century BC: Etruscan territory and sphere of influence.
How the people called Etruscans came into being is still far from settled. Today it seems most likely that this vibrant society evolved from the ninth century BC onwards out of a mix of different cultures: principally the Villanovan culture but these developments may have included Phoenician colonists and other Italic tribes in Tuscany and Umbria.

Few certain facts are known but it is now thought this was probably the beginning of the Etruscan Culture. Then during the middle of the 8th century BC. two events of great significance for the future, took place. One was the arrival of the first Greek colonists on the southern coasts of Italy and Sicily,about 750 BC. The other, a little later towards 700 BC, was the seemingly sudden emergence of a distinct Etruscan style of art in Tuscany. By then, this culture had evolved its own language, religion, and urban way of life. It soon became powerful and militant.

The 7th century BC. Phoenician traders and Greek colonist establishing bases around the Italian coastline soon recognised, respected and at times fought against this new Italian nation - the Etruscans. But trade and exchange of metals and other needed raw materials for finished products such as pottery and jewellery for a time allowed these three civilisations to exist in relative harmony in and around Italy.

The Etruscan heartland was Etruria, between the Tiber and Arno rivers west and south of the Apennines. In any event, by the middle of the 7th century BC the chief Etruscan towns had been founded. Before reaching the Arno River in the north and incorporating all Tuscany in their dominion, the Etruscans embarked upon a series of conquests initially probably not coordinated but undertaken by individual cities. The pressing motive for expansion was that by the middle of this century the Greeks not only had obtained a grip on Corsica and expanded their hold on Sicily and southern Italy but also had settled on the Ligurian coast (northwestern Italy) and in southern France.

From the Po valley, the Etruscans made contact with the central European La Tène cultures. Etruscan conquests in the northeast extended to include what are now the modern cities of Piacenza, Modena, Parma, and Mantua. To the south they were drawn into Latium and Campania from the end of the 7th century.

This civilization reached its height in the 6th century BC. but by the end of that century its cities were under attack from many quarters. The Celts in the north, the Greeks around the coasts and their expulsion from the city of Rome in 509 BC. During the next centuries Etruscan power gradually ebbed away to be swallowed up by the growing power of Rome. However, many features of Etruscan culture were adopted by the Romans, their successors to power in the peninsula.

080 Old Drawing: Etruscan Tomb. Click for photo. Drawing
To the Etruscans the tomb was the dwelling-place of the dead in their after-life. Such tombs are still being excavated in northern Italy.
041 Drawing of a terracotta sarcophagus ca.530 BC: click for photo

082 Inside the Tomb of the Shields at Cerveteri 7th century BC
From the 7th century BC onwards tombs were made to look like rooms, with couches around the walls for the dead to rest on.

083 and 084 Details of Frescos from the Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia ca. 470 BC
The most impressive part is the rich colourful decoration. Unique in the ancient European world were the bright naturalistic wall paintings portraying scenes of dancing drinking and celebration. Some of the walls have lost their paintings, but fortunately many tomb paintings have survived, which help us to understand their beliefs and life-styles.

085 Detail of a dancer at the funeral games. From the Tomb of the Augers at Tarquinia ca. 530 BC
The naturalistic emphasises the Greek influence but this style of painting is less polishes and perhaps is more colourful, lively and vivacious. Richly painted walls in a style of naturalism quite different from the ancient Egyptian tomb paintings.

086 Tiny bronze figure of an Etruscan warrior with plumed helmet ca. 5th century BC. VGR
An example of the vast number of tiny bronze figurines of fighting men found at various Etruscan burial sites. The Etruscans shared with the earlier Villanovans and their cousins north of the Alps, the expertise of Mining and Metalworking. The Phoenicians and the Greeks were familiar with Etruscan bronzework as early as the 7th century BC.

087 Bronze Statue of a Chimera ca.380 BC. ht:79cm. From Arezzo FAM
A superb bronze sculpture of the Chimera, the fabulous beast with a lion's head a goat's body and a serpent tail from a Greek Myth. The Romans inherited much from Etruscan metalworking skills.

088
By the 7th century BC the Etruscan building had become strongly influenced by Greek styles. Wood, fired brick and terracotta remained the dominant building materials. Only fragments of any structures remain. 089
At first sight the structures appear to be Greek, but closer examination shows important differences of detail. The columns, made of wood, are smooth not fluted. The capitals are often simple saucer-shaped rings. The sides of the temple are solid walls built between and against the wooden columns. Much of the "Etruscan Classical" style was adopted by the Romans.

A small clay model of an Etruscan temple found in a tomb. It shows clearly the characteristic single front entrance(usually with front steps); closed-in side and back walls with engaged columns. Notice the terracotta decorations around the roof and filling the gable ledge(tympanum)

046 A small clay model of an Etruscan temple found in a tomb ht:20cm VGR
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The Etruscan Arch

090
The structural Arch in brick devised by the Etruscans can still be seen in many ancient buildings of Northern Italy. Many have been repaired or virtually re-built by the Romans or later people down to the present time.
091
The simple brick arch of the Etruscans was adopted by the Romans, later copied in stone and from this simple form developed the many great buildings, bridges and aqueducts of the Roman Empire.