Natalia Adnoral
Why is our age called the Iron Age? Is this related to the physical properties of the metal? Perhaps acquaintance with the history of the development of iron, with its nature and symbolism, will make it easier to understand our time and our place in it.
Iron Age
(began around the 2nd 1st millennium BC)
In archaeology: the historical period of widespread distribution of iron as a material for the manufacture of weapons and tools. Follows stone and bronze.
In Indian philosophy - Kali Yuga: the age of darkness, the fourth and final period in the cycle of the manifested world. Follows Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Plato in the Republic also talks about four centuries of mankind.
"Portrait" of an Iron Age man “From day to day, such a person lives, satisfying the first desire that hits him: either he gets drunk to the sound of flutes, then he suddenly drinks only water and exhausts himself, then he gets carried away with bodily exercises; but it happens that laziness attacks him, and then he has no desire for anything. Sometimes he spends his time in pursuits that seem philosophical. Social affairs often occupy him: suddenly he jumps up and speaks, and does whatever he has to. If he gets carried away by military people, that’s where he’ll be carried, and if they’re businessmen, then in that direction. There is no order in his life, there is no necessity in it; He calls this life pleasant, free and blissful, and as such he uses it all the time.” Equality and freedom lead people to the point that “everything forced causes them to be indignant as something unacceptable, and they will end up ceasing to take into account even the laws - written and unwritten - so that no one and nothing will have authority over them." |
Iron Age. This is an era of change, action and duality. Where there is war, there is both cruelty and heroism. Where there is personality, there is both a cult of ego and a bright individuality. Where freedom means a complete rejection of the law and absolute responsibility. Where power is both the desire to capture and subjugate others, and the ability to “rule oneself.” Where the search is both a thirst for new pleasures and a love for wisdom. Where life is both survival and the Path. The Iron Age is a stage of movement from the past to the future, from the old to the new. This is the century in which each of us lives.
Part one,
archaeological-etymological
Iron is called the metal of the power of civilizations. Historically, the onset of the Iron Age is directly associated with the discovery of a method for obtaining iron from ores located in the bowels of the Earth. But along with “earthly” iron, there is also its “heavenly” counterpart - iron of meteorite origin. Meteoric iron is chemically pure (does not contain impurities), and therefore does not require labor-intensive technologies for their removal. Iron in ores, on the contrary, requires several stages of purification. The fact that it was “heavenly” iron that was the first to be recognized by man is evidenced by archeology, etymology, and myths widespread among some peoples about gods or demons who dropped iron objects and tools from the sky.
In ancient Egypt, iron was called bi-ni-pet, which literally means “heavenly ore” or “heavenly metal.” The oldest examples of processed iron found in Egypt are made from meteorite iron (they date back to the 4th millennium BC). In Mesopotamia, iron was called an-bar - “heavenly iron”, in ancient Armenia - erkat, “dripped (fell) from the sky.” The ancient Greek and North Caucasian names for iron come from the word sidereus, “starry”.
The first iron - a gift from the gods, pure, easy to process - was used exclusively for the manufacture of “pure” ritual objects: amulets, talismans, sacred images (beads, bracelets, rings, hearths). Iron meteorites were worshiped, religious buildings were created at the site of their fall, they were ground into powder and drunk as a cure for many ailments, and carried with them as amulets. The first meteorite iron weapons were decorated with gold and precious stones and used in burials.
Some peoples were not familiar with meteoric iron. For them, the development of metal began with ore deposits of “earthly” iron, from which they made objects for applied purposes. Among such peoples (for example, the Slavs), iron was named according to its “functional” characteristics. So Russian iron (South Slavic zalizo) has the root “lez” (from “lezo” - “blade”). Some philologists derive the German name for the metal Eisen from the Celtic isara, meaning “strong, strong.” The international Latin name Ferrum, adopted by the Romance peoples, is probably related to the Greco-Latin fars (“to be hard”), which comes from the Sanskrit bhars (“to harden”).
Part two,
practically mystical
The “applied” duality of objects made from iron is obvious: it is both an instrument of creation and a weapon of destruction. Even the same iron object can be used for diametrically opposed purposes. According to legends, the blacksmiths of antiquity knew how to endow iron objects with powers of one direction or another. That is why they treated blacksmiths with respect and fear.
Mythological and mystical interpretations of the properties of iron in different cultures are also sometimes contradictory. In some cases, iron was associated with a destructive, enslaving force, in others - with protection from such forces. So, in Islam, iron is a symbol of evil, among the Teutons it is a symbol of slavery. Bans on the use of iron were widespread in Ireland, Scotland, Finland, China, Korea, and India. Altars were built without iron, and it was forbidden to collect medicinal herbs using iron tools. Hindus believed that iron in homes contributed to the spread of epidemics.
On the other hand, iron is an integral attribute of protective rituals: during plague epidemics, nails were driven into the walls of houses; a pin was pinned to clothing as a talisman against the evil eye; iron horseshoes were nailed to the doors of houses and churches, and attached to the masts of ships. In antiquity, rings and other amulets made of iron were common to ward off demons and evil spirits. In Ancient China, iron served as a symbol of justice, strength and chastity; figurines made from it were buried in the ground for protection from dragons. Iron as a warrior metal was glorified in Scandinavia, where the military cult reached unprecedented development. In addition, some peoples revered iron for its ability to awaken spiritual strength and cause dramatic changes in life.
Part three,
natural science
Iron is a metal, one of the most common elements in the Universe, an active participant in the processes occurring in the bowels of stars. The core of the Sun - the main source of energy for our planet (according to modern hypothesis) - consists of iron. On Earth, iron is ubiquitous: in the core (the main element), and in the earth's crust (in second place after aluminum), and in all living organisms without exception - from bacteria to humans.
The basic properties of iron metal, strength and conductivity, are determined by its crystalline structure. Positively charged ions “rest” at the nodes of a metal lattice, and negatively charged “free” electrons continuously “scurry” between them. The strength of a metallic bond is determined by the force of attraction between the “nodal pluses” and “moving minuses”; the conductivity potential is determined by the chaotic movement of electrons. A metal becomes a “real” conductor when, under the influence of poles applied to the metal, this electronic chaos turns into a directed, ordered flow (actually, electric current).
Man, like metal, with a fairly rigid external organization, is internally movement itself. At the physical level, this is expressed in the continuous movements and interconversions of billions of atoms and molecules, in the exchange of substances and energy in cells, in the blood flow, etc. At the mental level, in the constant change of emotions and thoughts. Stopping movement on all planes means death. It is noteworthy that iron is an invariable participant in the processes that provide energy to our bodies. Failure of at least one iron-containing system threatens the body with irreparable disaster. Even a decrease in iron content significantly impairs energy metabolism. In humans, this is expressed in chronic fatigue, loss of appetite, sensitivity to cold, apathy, decreased attention, decreased mental and cognitive abilities, and increased susceptibility to stress and infections. To be fair, it should be said that excess iron does not lead to anything good: iron poisoning is expressed in rapid fatigue, damage to the liver, spleen, increased inflammatory processes in the body, and a deficiency of other vital microelements (copper, zinc, chromium and calcium).
Any movement requires energy. Our body receives it through the process of chemical transformation of substances obtained from food. The driving force behind this process is atmospheric oxygen. This method of obtaining energy is called breathing. Iron is its most important component. Firstly, as part of a complex molecule - blood hemoglobin - it directly binds oxygen (structures in which iron is replaced by manganese, nickel or copper are not capable of binding oxygen). Secondly, muscle myoglobin stores this oxygen in reserve. Thirdly, it serves as a conductor of energy in complex systems, which, in fact, carry out the chemical transformation of substances.
In bacteria and plants, iron is also involved in the processes of transformation of substances and energy (photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation). If there is a lack of iron in the soil, plants stop catching sunlight and lose their green color.
Iron not only helps transform matter and energy in living organisms, it also serves as an indicator of changes that occurred on Earth in the distant past. Based on the depth of iron oxide deposits on the bottom of the world's oceans, scientists make assumptions about the timing of the emergence of the first photosynthetic organisms and the appearance of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. The orientation of iron-containing inclusions in lavas that erupted during ancient cataclysms indicates the position of the planet’s magnetic poles at that ancient time.
Part four,
symbolic (astrological-alchemical)
So what kind of energy does iron conduct that fuels the activity of our bodies? In the old days, it was assumed that the energies of celestial bodies were transmitted to the inhabitants of the Earth with the help of the conductive force of metals. Each specific metal (out of the seven mentioned in alchemy and astrology) promotes the distribution of a very specific type of energy in the body. Iron was considered a piece of heavenly power, which is given to the Earth by its closest neighbor, the planet Mars. Other names for this planet are Ares, Yar, Yari. The Russian word “rage” has the same root. In ancient times, it was said about the energy of Mars that it “heats the blood and mind” and is favorable for “work, war and love.” Mars and iron were often mentioned in connection with the astral plane - the plane of emotions. It was said that the power of Mars not only “ignites” our physical activity, but also provokes the “output” of our instincts, passions and emotions - active, mobile, changeable and, of course, sometimes diametrically opposed. It’s not for nothing that they say that from love to hate there is only one step.
Philosophers of the past considered these manifestations of “energetic and restless elements” as a necessary stage of growth, development, and improvement. It is no coincidence that in alchemy the path of evolution, the transformation of metals, the culmination of which is inert, integral, perfect gold, begins precisely with iron - a symbol of action.
The Iron Age is the historical era of iron mining and processing, the era of destructive wars and creative discoveries.
Iron in itself can be neither good nor bad, “neither great nor insignificant.” Its internal properties manifest themselves as provided by Nature. In human hands, iron is transformed into a product. Is it good or evil? Obviously not. Only the result of an action can be constructive or destructive. Only a person chooses the goal, method and direction of action and is responsible for its result.
Historical reference The earliest finds of iron objects made from meteorite iron were noted in Iran (VI IV millennium BC), Iraq (V millennium BC), Egypt (IV millennium BC) and Mesopotamia ( III millennium BC). Products made from meteorite iron are known in various cultures of Eurasia: in the Yamnaya (3rd millennium BC) in the Southern Urals and in the Afanasyevskaya (3rd millennium BC) in Southern Siberia. He was known to the Eskimos, the Indians of northwestern North America and the population of Zhou China. There are iron finds dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. in Cyprus and Crete, in Assyria and Babylon. The most ancient iron smelting furnaces (beginning of the 2nd millennium BC) belonged to the Hittites. Historically, the beginning of the Iron Age in Europe dates back to the end of the 2nd millennium BC; in Egypt - around 1300 BC. In Greece, the spread of iron coincided with the era of the Homeric epic (IX VI centuries BC). Among the Slavs, the god of the sky, the father of all things, was Svarog. The name of God comes from the Vedic svargas - “sky”; The root var means burning, heat. Legend says that Svarog, representing heavenly fire, gave people the first plow and blacksmith's tongs and taught people how to smelt iron. In the Chinese “Book of History” (Shu-ching), which, according to legend, was compiled by Confucius in the 6th century BC, the metal element is said to be in subjection (to external influence) and in change. The characteristic red color (the color of manifested duality, action, energy and life) of blood is given by iron. In the Old Russian language, metal deposits and blood were denoted by one word - ore. According to the generally accepted theory, our Sun is a hot ball of hydrogen and helium. But now a new hypothesis has emerged about its composition. Its author is Oliver Manuel, professor of nuclear chemistry at the University of Missouri-Rolla. He argues that the hydrogen fusion reaction, which produces some of the sun's heat, occurs near the surface of the sun. And the main heat is released from the core, which consists mainly of iron. The professor believes that the entire solar system was formed after a supernova explosion about 5 billion years ago. The Sun was formed from the collapsed core of the supernova, and planets were formed from the matter thrown into space. The planets closest to the Sun (including the Earth) were formed from internal parts - heavier elements (iron, sulfur and silicon); distant ones (for example, Jupiter) - from the matter of the outer layers of that star (from hydrogen, helium and other light elements). |
The original article is on the website of the magazine "New Acropolis": www.newacropolis.ru
for the magazine "Man Without Borders"
The Iron Age is a new stage in the development of mankind.
Iron Age, an era in the primitive and early class history of mankind, characterized by the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools. Replaced by the Bronze Age mainly at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. The use of iron gave a powerful stimulus to the development of production and accelerated social development. In the Iron Age, the majority of the peoples of Eurasia experienced the decomposition of the primitive communal system and the transition to a class society. The idea of three centuries: stone, bronze and iron - arose in the ancient world (Titus Lucretius Carus). The term "Iron Age" was introduced into science around the mid-19th century. Danish archaeologist K. J. Thomsen. The most important studies, the initial classification and dating of Iron Age monuments in Western Europe were made by the Austrian scientist M. Görnes, the Swedish - O. Montelius and O. Oberg, the German - O. Tischler and P. Reinecke, the French - J. Dechelet, the Czech - I. Pich and Polish - J. Kostrzewski; in Eastern Europe - Russian and Soviet scientists V. A. Gorodtsov, A. A. Spitsyn, Yu. V. Gauthier, P. N. Tretyakov, A. P. Smirnov, H. A. Moora, M. I. Artamonov, B. N. Grakov and others; in Siberia - S. A. Teploukhov, S. V. Kiselev, S. I. Rudenko and others; in the Caucasus - B. A. Kuftin, A. A. Jessen, B. B. Piotrovsky, E. I. Krupnov and others; in Central Asia - S.P. Tolstov, A.N. Bernshtam, A.I. Terenozhkin and others.
The period of the initial spread of the iron industry was experienced by all countries at different times, but the Iron Age usually includes only the cultures of primitive tribes that lived outside the territories of ancient slave-owning civilizations that arose in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, India, China, etc. ). The Iron Age is very short compared to previous archaeological eras (Stone and Bronze Ages). Its chronological boundaries: from 9-7 centuries. BC e., when many primitive tribes of Europe and Asia developed their own iron metallurgy, and before the time when class society and the state emerged among these tribes.
Some modern foreign scientists, who consider the end of primitive history to be the time of the appearance of written sources, attribute the end of the Jewish century. Western Europe by the 1st century. BC e., when Roman written sources appear containing information about Western European tribes. Since to this day iron remains the most important metal from whose alloys tools are made, the term “early Iron Age” is also used for the archaeological periodization of primitive history. In Western Europe, only its beginning is called the Early Iron Age (the so-called Hallstatt culture).
Initially, meteorite iron became known to mankind. Individual objects made of iron (mainly jewelry) from the 1st half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. found in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The method of obtaining iron from ore was discovered in the 2nd millennium BC. e. According to one of the most likely assumptions, the cheese-making process (see below) was first used by tribes subordinate to the Hittites living in the mountains of Armenia (Antitaurus) in the 15th century. BC e. However, for a long time iron remained a rare and very valuable metal. Only after the 11th century. BC e. A fairly widespread production of iron weapons and tools began in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, and India. At the same time, iron became famous in southern Europe. 
In the 11th-10th centuries. BC e. individual iron objects penetrate into the region north of the Alps and are found in the steppes of the south of the European part of the modern territory of the USSR, but iron tools begin to predominate in these areas only from the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. In the 8th century. BC e. iron products are widely distributed in Mesopotamia, Iran and somewhat later in Central Asia. The first news of iron in China dates back to the 8th century. BC e., but it spreads only from the 5th century. BC e. In Indochina and Indonesia, iron predominates at the turn of the Common Era. Apparently, since ancient times, iron metallurgy was known to various tribes of Africa. Undoubtedly, already in the 6th century. BC e. iron was produced in Nubia, Sudan, and Libya. In the 2nd century. BC e. The Iron Age began in central Africa. Some African tribes moved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, bypassing the Bronze Age. In America, Australia and most of the Pacific Islands, iron (except meteorite) became known only in the 16th and 17th centuries. n. e. with the arrival of Europeans in these areas.
In contrast to the relatively rare deposits of copper and especially tin, iron ores, although most often low-grade (brown iron ores), are found almost everywhere. But it is much more difficult to obtain iron from ores than copper. Melting iron was inaccessible to ancient metallurgists. Iron was obtained in a dough-like state using the cheese-blowing process, which consisted of the reduction of iron ore at a temperature of about 900-1350 ° C in special furnaces - forges with air blown by forge bellows through a nozzle. A kritsa formed at the bottom of the furnace - a lump of porous iron weighing 1-5 kg, which had to be forged to compact it and also remove slag from it.
Raw iron is a very soft metal; tools and weapons made of pure iron had low mechanical qualities. Only with the discovery in the 9-7 centuries. BC e. With the development of methods for making steel from iron and its heat treatment, the new material began to become widespread. The higher mechanical qualities of iron and steel, as well as the general availability of iron ores and the low cost of the new metal, ensured that they replaced bronze, as well as stone, which remained an important material for the production of tools in the Bronze Age. This did not happen right away. In Europe, only in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. e. iron and steel began to play a truly significant role as materials for the manufacture of tools and weapons. 
The technical revolution caused by the spread of iron and steel greatly expanded man's power over nature: it became possible to clear large forest areas for crops, expand and improve irrigation and reclamation structures, and generally improve land cultivation. The development of crafts, especially blacksmithing and weapons, is accelerating. Wood processing is being improved for the purposes of house construction, the production of vehicles (ships, chariots, etc.), and the manufacture of various utensils. Craftsmen, from shoemakers and masons to miners, also received more advanced tools. By the beginning of our era, all the main types of craft and agricultural hand tools (except for screws and hinged scissors), used in the Middle Ages, and partly in modern times, were already in use. The construction of roads became easier, military equipment improved, exchange expanded, and metal coins became widespread as a means of circulation.
The development of productive forces associated with the spread of iron, over time, led to the transformation of all social life. As a result of the growth in labor productivity, the surplus product increased, which, in turn, served as an economic prerequisite for the emergence of exploitation of man by man and the collapse of the tribal primitive communal system. One of the sources of accumulation of values and growth of property inequality was the expansion of exchange during the Iron Age. The possibility of enrichment through exploitation gave rise to wars for the purpose of robbery and enslavement. At the beginning of the Iron Age, fortifications became widespread. During the Iron Age, the tribes of Europe and Asia experienced the stage of collapse of the primitive communal system, and were on the eve of the emergence of class society and the state. The transition of some means of production into the private ownership of the ruling minority, the emergence of slavery, the increased stratification of society and the separation of the tribal aristocracy from the bulk of the population are already features typical of early class societies. For many tribes, the social structure of this transition period took the political form of the so-called. military democracy. 
Iron Age on the territory of the USSR. On the modern territory of the USSR, iron first appeared at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Transcaucasia (Samtavrsky burial ground) and in the southern European part of the USSR. The development of iron in Racha (Western Georgia) dates back to ancient times. The Mossinoiks and Khalibs, who lived in the neighborhood of the Colchians, were famous as metallurgists. However, the widespread use of iron metallurgy in the USSR dates back to the 1st millennium BC. e. In Transcaucasia, a number of archaeological cultures of the late Bronze Age are known, the flourishing of which dates back to the early Iron Age: the Central Transcaucasian culture with local centers in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kyzyl-Vank culture, the Colchis culture, the Urartian culture. In the North Caucasus: Koban culture, Kayakent-Khorochoev culture and Kuban culture.
In the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region in the 7th century. BC e. - first centuries AD e. Scythian tribes lived, creating the most developed culture of the early Iron Age on the territory of the USSR. Iron products were found in abundance in settlements and burial mounds of the Scythian period. Signs of metallurgical production were discovered during excavations of a number of Scythian settlements. The largest number of remains of ironworking and blacksmithing were found at the Kamensky settlement (5-3 centuries BC) near Nikopol, which was apparently the center of a specialized metallurgical region of ancient Scythia. Iron tools contributed to the widespread development of all kinds of crafts and the spread of arable farming among the local tribes of the Scythian period.
The next period after the Scythian period of the Early Iron Age in the steppes of the Black Sea region is represented by the Sarmatian culture, which dominated here from the 2nd century. BC e. up to 4 c. n. e. In previous times, from the 7th century. BC e. Sarmatians (or Sauromatians) lived between the Don and the Urals. In the first centuries A.D. e. one of the Sarmatian tribes - the Alans - began to play a significant historical role and gradually the very name of the Sarmatians was supplanted by the name of the Alans. At the same time, when the Sarmatian tribes dominated the Northern Black Sea region, the cultures of “burial fields” (Zarubinets culture, Chernyakhov culture, etc.) spread in the western regions of the Northern Black Sea region, the Upper and Middle Dnieper and Transnistria. These cultures belonged to agricultural tribes who knew iron metallurgy, among which, according to some scientists, were the ancestors of the Slavs. The tribes living in the central and northern forest regions of the European part of the USSR were familiar with iron metallurgy from the 6th to 5th centuries. BC e. In the 8th-3rd centuries. BC e. In the Kama region, the Ananyin culture was widespread, which was characterized by the coexistence of bronze and iron tools, with the undoubted superiority of the latter at the end of it. The Ananino culture on the Kama was replaced by the Pyanobor culture (end of the 1st millennium BC - 1st half of the 1st millennium AD).
In the Upper Volga region and in the regions of the Volga-Oka interfluve, the settlements of the Dyakovo culture date back to the Iron Age (mid-1st millennium BC - mid-1st millennium AD), and in the territory south of the middle currents of the Oka, west of the Volga, in the river basin. Tsna and Moksha are settlements of the Gorodets culture (7th century BC - 5th century AD), which belonged to the ancient Finno-Ugric tribes. Numerous 6th century settlements are known in the Upper Dnieper region. BC e. - 7th century n. e., belonging to the ancient Eastern Baltic tribes, later absorbed by the Slavs. The settlements of these same tribes are known in the south-eastern Baltic, where, along with them, there are also cultural remains that belonged to the ancestors of the ancient Estonian (Chud) tribes. 
In Southern Siberia and Altai, due to the abundance of copper and tin, the bronze industry developed strongly, successfully competing with iron for a long time. Although iron products apparently appeared already in the early Mayemirian time (Altai; 7th century BC), iron became widespread only in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. (Tagar culture on the Yenisei, Pazyryk mounds in Altai, etc.). Iron Age cultures are also represented in other parts of Siberia and the Far East. On the territory of Central Asia and Kazakhstan until the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. tools and weapons were also made of bronze. The appearance of iron products both in agricultural oases and in the pastoral steppe can be dated back to the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Throughout the 1st millennium BC. e. and in the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD. e. The steppes of Central Asia and Kazakhstan were inhabited by numerous Sak-Usun tribes, in whose culture iron became widespread from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In agricultural oases, the time of the appearance of iron coincides with the emergence of the first slave states (Bactria, Sogd, Khorezm). 
The Iron Age in Western Europe is usually divided into 2 periods - Hallstatt (900-400 BC), which was also called the early, or first Iron Age, and La Tène (400 BC - beginning of AD) , which is called late, or second. The Hallstatt culture was widespread in the territory of modern Austria, Yugoslavia, Northern Italy, partly Czechoslovakia, where it was created by the ancient Illyrians, and in the territory of modern Germany and the Rhine departments of France, where Celtic tribes lived. The cultures close to the Hallstatt belong to this time: the Thracian tribes in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, the Etruscan, Ligurian, Italic and other tribes on the Apennine Peninsula, the early Iron Age cultures of the Iberian Peninsula (Iberians, Turdetans, Lusitanians, etc.) and the late Lusatian culture in river basins Oder and Vistula. The early Hallstatt period was characterized by the coexistence of bronze and iron tools and weapons and the gradual displacement of bronze. Economically, this era is characterized by the growth of agriculture, and socially, by the collapse of clan relations. In the north of modern Germany, Scandinavia, Western France and England, the Bronze Age still existed at this time. From the beginning of the 5th century. The La Tène culture spreads, characterized by a genuine flourishing of the iron industry. The La Tène culture existed before the Roman conquest of Gaul (1st century BC), the area of distribution of the La Tène culture is the land west of the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean along the middle course of the Danube and north of it. La Tène culture is associated with the Celtic tribes, who had large fortified cities that were centers of tribes and places of concentration of various crafts. During this era, the Celts gradually created a class slave-owning society. Bronze tools are no longer found, but iron became most widespread in Europe during the period of the Roman conquests. At the beginning of our era, in the areas conquered by Rome, the La Tène culture was replaced by the so-called. provincial Roman culture. In northern Europe, iron spread almost 300 years later than in the south. The culture of the Germanic tribes that lived in the territory between the North Sea and the river dates back to the end of the Iron Age. Rhine, Danube and Elbe, as well as in the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and archaeological cultures, the bearers of which are considered the ancestors of the Slavs. In the northern countries, the complete dominance of iron came only at the beginning of our era.
The Iron Age is a period in human history characterized by the spread of iron processing and smelting, and the production of iron tools and weapons. The Iron Age gave way to the Bronze Age at the beginning of the first millennium BC.
The idea of three centuries: stone, bronze and iron arose in ancient times. This is well described by Titus Lucretius Cara in his philosophical poem “On the Nature of Things,” in which the progress of mankind is seen in the development of metallurgy. The term Iron Age was coined in the 19th century by the Danish archaeologist K.J. Thomsen.
Although iron is the most common metal, it was late mastered by mankind, due to the fact that in nature, in its pure form, iron is difficult to distinguish from other minerals, in addition, iron has a higher melting point than bronze. Before the discovery of methods for producing steel from iron and its heat treatment, iron was inferior in strength and anti-corrosion qualities to bronze.
Iron was originally used to make jewelry and was smelted from meteorites. The first iron products were discovered in Egypt and Northern Iraq; they were dated to the third millennium BC. According to one of the most probable hypotheses, the smelting of iron from ores was discovered by the Khalib tribe who lived in Asia Minor in the 15th century BC. However, iron remained a very valuable and rare metal for a very long time.
The rapid spread of iron and its displacement of bronze and stone as a material for the production of tools was facilitated by: firstly, the widespread occurrence of iron in nature and its lower cost compared to bronze; secondly, the discovery of methods for producing steel made iron tools better than bronze ones.
The Iron Age came to regions of the world at different times. Initially in the 12th-11th centuries BC, iron production spread to Asia Minor, the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Iran, Transcaucasia and India. In the 9th-7th centuries BC, the production of iron tools spread among the primitive tribes of Europe, starting from the 8th-7th century BC. The production of iron tools spreads to the European part of Russia. In China and the Far East, the Iron Age begins in the 8th century BC. In Egypt and North Africa, the production of iron tools spread in the 7th and 6th centuries BC.
In the 2nd century. BC e. The Iron Age came to the tribes inhabiting Central Africa. Some primitive tribes of Central and Southern Africa moved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, bypassing the Bronze Age. America, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania saw iron (except meteorite) only in the 16th-17th centuries AD when representatives of European civilization appeared in these areas.
The spread of iron tools led to a technical revolution in human society. The power of man in his fight against the elements increased, the impact of people on nature increased, the introduction of iron tools made the work of farmers easier, it became possible to clear large forest areas for fields, contributed to the improvement of irrigation structures and generally improved the technology of land cultivation. The technology of processing wood and stone is being improved for the construction of houses, defensive structures and vehicles (ships, chariots, carts, etc.). Military affairs have improved. Craftsmen received more advanced tools, which contributed to the improvement and acceleration of the development of crafts. Trade relations expanded, the decomposition of the primitive communal system accelerated, which contributed to the acceleration of the transition to a class-slave society.
Due to the fact that iron is still an important material in the production of tools, the modern period of history is included in the Iron Age.
Iron Age an era in the primitive and early class history of mankind, characterized by the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools. The idea of three centuries: stone, bronze and iron - arose in the ancient world (Titus Lucretius Carus). The term "J. V." was introduced into science around the mid-19th century. Danish archaeologist K. J. Thomsen om. The most important studies, initial classification and dating of monuments of the Jewish century. in Western Europe were made by the Austrian scientist M. Görnes, the Swedish - O. Montelius and O. Oberg, the German - O. Tischler and P. Reinecke, the French - J. Dechelet, the Czech - I. Pich and the Polish - J. Kostrzewski; in Eastern Europe - Russian and Soviet scientists V. A. Gorodtsov, A. A. Spitsyn, Yu. V. Gauthier, P. N. Tretyakov, A. P. Smirnov, H. A. Moora, M. I. Artamonov, B. N. Grakov and others; in Siberia - S. A. Teploukhov, S. V. Kiselev, S. I. Rudenko and others; in the Caucasus - B. A. Kuftin, A. A. Jessen, B. B. Piotrovsky, E. I. Krupnov and others; in Central Asia - S.P. Tolstov, A.N. Bernshtam, A.I. Terenozhkin and others. All countries experienced the initial spread of the iron industry at different times, but by the ironclad century. usually include only the cultures of primitive tribes that lived outside the territories of ancient slave-owning civilizations that arose in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, India, China, etc.). J.v. compared to previous archaeological eras (Stone and Bronze Ages) is very short. Its chronological boundaries: from 9-7 centuries. BC e., when many primitive tribes of Europe and Asia developed their own iron metallurgy, and before the time when class society and the state emerged among these tribes. Some modern foreign scientists, who consider the end of primitive history to be the time of the appearance of written sources, attribute the end of the Jewish century. Western Europe by the 1st century. BC e., when Roman written sources appear containing information about Western European tribes. Since to this day iron remains the most important metal from whose alloys tools are made, the term “early iron century” is also used for the archaeological periodization of primitive history. On the territory of Western Europe, early life century. only its beginning is called (the so-called Hallstatt culture). Initially, meteorite iron became known to mankind. Individual objects made of iron (mainly jewelry) from the 1st half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. found in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The method of obtaining iron from ore was discovered in the 2nd millennium BC. e. According to one of the most likely assumptions, the cheese-making process (see below) was first used by tribes subordinate to the Hittites living in the mountains of Armenia (Antitaurus) in the 15th century. BC e. However, for a long time iron remained a rare and very valuable metal. Only after the 11th century. BC e. A fairly widespread production of iron weapons and tools began in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, and India. At the same time, iron became famous in southern Europe. In the 11th-10th centuries. BC e. individual iron objects penetrated into the region lying north of the Alps and were found in the steppes of the south of the European part of the modern territory of the USSR, but iron tools began to predominate in these areas only from the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. In the 8th century. BC e. iron products are widely distributed in Mesopotamia, Iran and somewhat later in Central Asia. The first news of iron in China dates back to the 8th century. BC e., but it spreads only from the 5th century. BC e. In Indochina and Indonesia, iron predominates at the turn of the Common Era. Apparently, since ancient times, iron metallurgy was known to various tribes of Africa. Undoubtedly, already in the 6th century. BC e. iron was produced in Nubia, Sudan, and Libya. In the 2nd century. BC e. J.v. occurred in the central region of Africa. Some African tribes moved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, bypassing the Bronze Age. In America, Australia and most of the Pacific Islands, iron (except meteorite) became known only in the 16th and 17th centuries. n. e. with the arrival of Europeans in these areas. In contrast to the relatively rare deposits of copper and especially tin, iron ores, although most often low-grade (brown iron ores), are found almost everywhere. But it is much more difficult to obtain iron from ores than copper. Melting iron was inaccessible to ancient metallurgists. Iron was obtained in a dough-like state using the cheese-blowing process (See Cheese-blowing process) ,
which consisted in the reduction of iron ore at a temperature of about 900-1350 ° C in special furnaces - forges with air blown by forge bellows through a nozzle. A kritsa formed at the bottom of the furnace - a lump of porous iron weighing 1-5 kg, which had to be forged to compact it, as well as to remove slag from it. Raw iron is a very soft metal; tools and weapons made of pure iron had low mechanical qualities. Only with the discovery in the 9-7 centuries. BC e. With the development of methods for making steel from iron and its heat treatment, the new material began to become widespread. The higher mechanical qualities of iron and steel, as well as the general availability of iron ores and the low cost of the new metal, ensured that they replaced bronze, as well as stone, which remained an important material for the production of tools in the Bronze Age. This did not happen right away. In Europe, only in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. e. iron and steel began to play a truly significant role as materials for the manufacture of tools and weapons. The technical revolution caused by the spread of iron and steel greatly expanded man's power over nature: it became possible to clear large forest areas for crops, expand and improve irrigation and reclamation structures, and generally improve land cultivation. The development of crafts, especially blacksmithing and weapons, is accelerating. Wood processing is being improved for the purposes of house construction, the production of vehicles (ships, chariots, etc.), and the manufacture of various utensils. Craftsmen, from shoemakers and masons to miners, also received more advanced tools. By the beginning of our era, all the main types of handicraft and agricultural. hand tools (except for screws and hinged scissors), used in the Middle Ages, and partly in modern times, were already in use. The construction of roads became easier, military equipment improved, exchange expanded, and metal coins became widespread as a means of circulation. The development of productive forces associated with the spread of iron, over time, led to the transformation of all social life. As a result of the growth in labor productivity, the surplus product increased, which, in turn, served as an economic prerequisite for the emergence of exploitation of man by man and the collapse of the tribal primitive communal system. One of the sources of the accumulation of values and the growth of property inequality was the expansion in the era of housing. exchange. The possibility of enrichment through exploitation gave rise to wars for the purpose of robbery and enslavement. At the beginning of the Zh. century. fortifications are widespread. During the era of housing. The tribes of Europe and Asia were experiencing the stage of collapse of the primitive communal system and were on the eve of the emergence of class society and the state. The transition of some means of production into the private ownership of the ruling minority, the emergence of slavery, the increased stratification of society and the separation of the tribal aristocracy from the bulk of the population are already features typical of early class societies. For many tribes, the social structure of this transition period took the political form of the so-called. military democracy (See Military democracy).
J.v. on the territory of the USSR. On the modern territory of the USSR, iron first appeared at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Transcaucasia (Samtavrsky burial ground) and in the southern European part of the USSR. The development of iron in Racha (Western Georgia) dates back to ancient times. The Mossinoiks and Khalibs, who lived in the neighborhood of the Colchians, were famous as metallurgists. However, the widespread use of iron metallurgy in the USSR dates back to the 1st millennium BC. e. A number of archaeological cultures of the late Bronze Age are known in Transcaucasia, the flourishing of which dates back to the early Bronze Age: the Central Transcaucasian culture with local centers in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the Kyzyl-Vank culture (see Kyzyl-Vank),
Colchis culture ,
Urartian culture (see Urartu). In the North Caucasus: Koban culture, Kayakent-Khorochoev culture
and Kuban culture. In the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region in the 7th century. BC e. - first centuries AD e. lived by Scythian tribes, who created the most developed culture of the early Western century. on the territory of the USSR. Iron products were found in abundance in settlements and burial mounds of the Scythian period. Signs of metallurgical production were discovered during excavations of a number of Scythian settlements. The largest number of remains of ironworking and blacksmithing were found at the Kamensky settlement (See Kamenskoye settlement) (5-3 centuries BC) near Nikopol, which was apparently the center of a specialized metallurgical region of ancient Scythia (see Scythians). Iron tools contributed to the widespread development of all kinds of crafts and the spread of arable farming among the local tribes of the Scythian period. The next period after the Scythian period was the early Zh. century. in the steppes of the Black Sea region it is represented by the Sarmatian culture (see Sarmatians), which dominated here from the 2nd century. BC e. up to 4 c. n. e. In previous times, from the 7th century. BC e. Sarmatians (or Sauromatians) lived between the Don and the Urals. In the first centuries A.D. e. one of the Sarmatian tribes - Alans -
began to play a significant historical role and gradually the very name of the Sarmatians was supplanted by the name of the Alans. At the same time, when the Sarmatian tribes dominated the Northern Black Sea region, the cultures of “burial fields” (Zarubinets culture, Chernyakhov culture, etc.) spread in the western regions of the Northern Black Sea region, the Upper and Middle Dnieper and Transnistria. These cultures belonged to agricultural tribes who knew iron metallurgy, among which, according to some scientists, were the ancestors of the Slavs. The tribes living in the central and northern forest regions of the European part of the USSR were familiar with iron metallurgy from the 6th to 5th centuries. BC e. In the 8th-3rd centuries. BC e. In the Kama region, the Ananyinskaya culture was widespread, which was characterized by the coexistence of bronze and iron tools, with the undoubted superiority of the latter at the end of it. The Ananyino culture on the Kama was replaced by the Pyanobor culture (end of the 1st millennium BC - 1st half of the 1st millennium AD). In the Upper Volga region and in the regions of the Volga-Oka interfluve towards the Zh. century. include the settlements of the Dyakovo culture (See Dyakovo culture) (mid-1st millennium BC - mid-1st millennium AD), and in the territory to the south of the middle reaches of the Oka, to the west of Volga, in the basin of the river. Tsna and Moksha are settlements of the Gorodets culture (See Gorodets culture) (7th century BC - 5th century AD), which belonged to the ancient Finno-Ugric tribes. Numerous 6th century settlements are known in the Upper Dnieper region. BC e. - 7th century n. e., belonging to the ancient Eastern Baltic tribes, later absorbed by the Slavs. The settlements of these same tribes are known in the south-eastern Baltic, where, along with them, there are also cultural remains that belonged to the ancestors of the ancient Estonian (Chud) tribes. In Southern Siberia and Altai, due to the abundance of copper and tin, the bronze industry developed strongly, successfully competing with iron for a long time. Although iron products apparently appeared already in the early Mayemirian time (Altai; 7th century BC), iron became widespread only in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. (Tagar culture on the Yenisei, Pazyryk mounds in Altai, etc.). Cultures Zh. v. are also represented in other parts of Siberia and the Far East. On the territory of Central Asia and Kazakhstan until the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. tools and weapons were also made of bronze. The appearance of iron products both in agricultural oases and in the pastoral steppe can be dated back to the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Throughout the 1st millennium BC. e. and in the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD. e. The steppes of Central Asia and Kazakhstan were inhabited by numerous Sak-Usun tribes, in whose culture iron became widespread from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In agricultural oases, the time of the appearance of iron coincides with the emergence of the first slave states (Bactria, Sogd, Khorezm). J.v. on the territory of Western Europe is usually divided into 2 periods - Hallstatt (900-400 BC), which was also called the early, or first Zh. century, and La Tène (400 BC - beginning of AD) , which is called late, or second. The Hallstatt culture was widespread in the territory of modern Austria, Yugoslavia, Northern Italy, partly Czechoslovakia, where it was created by the ancient Illyrians, and in the territory of modern Germany and the Rhine departments of France, where Celtic tribes lived. Cultures close to the Hallstatt period date back to the same time: the Thracian tribes in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, the Etruscan, Ligurian, Italic and other tribes on the Apennine Peninsula, and the cultures of the beginning of the African century. Iberian Peninsula (Iberians, Turdetans, Lusitanians, etc.) and the late Lusatian culture in the river basins. Oder and Vistula. The early Hallstatt period was characterized by the coexistence of bronze and iron tools and weapons and the gradual displacement of bronze. Economically, this era is characterized by the growth of agriculture, and socially, by the collapse of clan relations. In the north of modern East Germany and Germany, Scandinavia, Western France, and England, the Bronze Age still existed at that time. From the beginning of the 5th century. The La Tène culture spreads, characterized by a genuine flourishing of the iron industry. The La Tène culture existed before the Roman conquest of Gaul (1st century BC). The area of distribution of the La Tène culture was the land to the west from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean along the middle course of the Danube and to the north of it. La Tène culture is associated with the Celtic tribes, who had large fortified cities that were centers of tribes and places of concentration of various crafts. During this era, the Celts gradually created a class slave-owning society. Bronze tools are no longer found, but iron became most widespread in Europe during the period of the Roman conquests. At the beginning of our era, in the areas conquered by Rome, the La Tène culture was replaced by the so-called. provincial Roman culture. Iron spread to northern Europe almost 300 years later than to the south. By the end of the European century. refers to the culture of the Germanic tribes that lived in the territory between the North Sea and the river. the Rhine, Danube and Elbe, as well as in the southern Scandinavian Peninsula, and archaeological cultures, the bearers of which are considered the ancestors of the Slavs. In the northern countries, the complete dominance of iron came only at the beginning of our era. Lit.: Engels F., The origin of the family, private property and the state, Marx K. and Engels F., Works, 2nd ed., vol. 21; Avdusin D. A., Archeology of the USSR, [M.], 1967; Artsikhovsky A.V., Introduction to Archeology, 3rd ed., M., 1947; World History, vol. 1-2, M., 1955-56; Gauthier Yu. V., The Iron Age in Eastern Europe, M. - L., 1930; Grakov B.N., The oldest finds of iron objects in the European part of the USSR, “Soviet Archaeology”, 1958, No. 4; Zagorulsky E.M., Archeology of Belarus, Minsk, 1965; History of the USSR from ancient times to the present day, vol. 1, M., 1966; Kiselev S.V., Ancient history of Southern Siberia, M., 1951; Clark D.G.D., Prehistoric Europe. Economic essay, trans. from English, M., 1953; Krupnov E.I., Ancient history of the North Caucasus, M., 1960; Mongait A.L., Archeology in the USSR, M., 1955; Niederle L., Slavic Antiquities, trans. from Czech., M., 1956; Piotrovsky B.B., Archeology of Transcaucasia from ancient times to 1 thousand BC. e., L., 1949; Tolstov S.P., On the ancient deltas of Oxus and Jaxartes, M., 1962; Shovkoplyas I. G., Archaeological research in Ukraine (1917-1957), K., 1957; Aitchison L., A history of metals, t. 1-2, L., 1960; CLark G., World prehistory, Camb., 1961; Forbes R. J., Studies in ancient technology, v. 8, Leiden, 1964; Johannsen O., Geschichte des Eisens, Düsseldorf, 1953; Laet S. J. de, La préhistoire de l’Europe, P. - Brux., 1967; Moora H., Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr., 1-2, Tartu (Dorpat), 1929-38; Piggott S., Ancient Europe, Edinburgh, 1965; Pleiner R., Stare europske kovářství, Prague, 1962; Tulecote R. F., Metallurgy in archaeology, L., 1962. L. L. Mongait.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
See what “Iron Age” is in other dictionaries:
IRON AGE, a period in the development of mankind associated with the development of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools. It was replaced by the Bronze Age, and in some regions by the Stone Age. In the North Caucasus, iron tools were created from the 9th to 6th centuries. BC e. under... ...Russian history
IRON AGE, a historical period that began with the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools and weapons. Replaced by the Bronze Age at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC... Modern encyclopedia
A period in the development of mankind that began with the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools and weapons. Replaced by the Bronze Age mainly in the beginning. 1st millennium BC e. The use of iron gave a powerful impetus to the development of production and... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
The historical period that began with the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools and weapons. Replaced by the Bronze Age at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC ... Historical Dictionary
English age of iron; German Eisenzeitalter. According to archaeological classification, the period that replaced the Bronze Age. J.v. characterized by the manufacture of the main tools of production and weapons from iron, which played a revolutionary role in history;... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology
A period in the development of mankind that began with the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools and weapons. Replaced by the Bronze Age mainly at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The use of iron gave a powerful impetus to the development of production and... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies
Early Iron Age
The transition from one metal to another took place very gradually, and for a long time bronze continued to be used along with iron, for example in Hallstatt, which is located in the Noric Alps of the Austrian Tyrol. Salt mines have been mined there since ancient times, and Hallstatt was probably the most important trading center. Archaeologists have excavated a graveyard of salt miners and found tools that clearly belong to the early Iron Age civilization, when bronze had not yet fallen into disuse.
It is believed that the second half of the Early Iron Age is most fully represented by tools found in an ancient settlement on Lake Neuchâtel near Marin. It consists of houses on stilts and is called La Tène, or the Shoal. The most skillful artifacts of the early Iron Age were discovered in this area, since it fell under the influence of the Roman Empire later than other lands; for the same reason, Iron Age or Late Celt traditions survived in Ireland and areas of Scotland that were never conquered by the Romans.
As for nationalities, England had a very mixed population. We have previously sketched out the order in which the different tribes arrived in the country; and just as they continued to forge bronze along with iron, the old peoples still went about their daily lives, and it was not always the case that the newly arrived tribes exterminated the old-timers or drove them from their homes. We learned that in the first round mounds, late brachycephals were buried next to early dolichocephals.
Next came the Gaels, the first peoples who spoke the Celtic language, to the island. We also mentioned the most common theory that they went west under the onslaught of a related tribe of Britons, who spoke a different dialect of the Celtic language. Currently, this theory is gradually being abandoned; it is believed that no Gaelic tribe ever settled in England or Wales, but they all went straight to Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland, where their descendants of Celtic origin still live.
The Britons were followed by the Marne Celts, the authors of the exquisite works we call late Celtic art, and the Belgians, the last of the pre-Roman invaders of Great Britain. They came from the lands where modern Belgium is now located, and more Nordic blood flowed in them than in their predecessors; they were a half-Germanic tribe of fierce warriors.
We further said that the people who left their traces in the Hetherie Burn cave belonged to the dolichocephals who absorbed the Bronze Age civilization. Much the same thing happened in the Iron Age at the lake village of Glastonbury, and our illustrations of this period come from finds made there.
During the Neolithic era, the idea arose to build houses over water, and in Switzerland, dwellings built along lake shores appeared. They were first discovered in 1853 at Ober Meulen on Lake Zurich, and this event marked the beginning of further discoveries and studies of similar houses in various parts of Europe. They can be divided into three types. 1. Swiss lake houses on stilts. Piles were driven into the lake bed near the shore or, more often, into the marshy ground at the water's edge, a plank platform was laid on top and houses dating back to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages were built on it. 2. Another type of house, which instead of a pile foundation has large open frames, reminiscent of log cabins. They were installed in water and reinforced with beams like the caissons that modern builders use in foundations. Dwellings of this type, dating back to the beginning of the Iron Age, are found in France and Germany. 3. Houses of the same type as those in Glastonbury and Crannogee - this is what artificial islands on lakes are called in Ireland and Scotland. These are actually small earthen islands surrounded by a palisade, heaped on coastal swamps and raised above the flood level; and instead of a foundation they have a quagmire, which, as we will see from the example of Glastonbury, caused the inhabitants a lot of trouble. Their construction dates back to the beginning of the Iron Age, and until the 17th century they served as shelters for people in remote areas.
When the Swiss lakes became too crowded, settlers moved to the Po Valley, where villages called terramaras- this word comes from the expression terra marna, which means marl, calcareous clay. Local peasants discovered that the land there was very good for agriculture, began to take it out in carts and stumbled upon the remains of an ancient culture that helped reveal the secret.
References to lake villages are found in the literature. This is what Caesar wrote about the Morini (a Belgian tribe that lived in Gaul opposite Kent): “Since the swamps in which they hid last year had dried up, now they had nowhere to hide, and they almost all fell into the hands of Labienus” ( Notes on the Gallic War, Book IV, 38).
Venice itself, the famed queen of the Adriatic, is an artificial island that was originally a refuge. “Those who first drove piles into the sand and made themselves a bed of reeds did not think that their descendants would become princes of the ocean and it would be proud of their palaces.”
Gerward the Awake 11 held his last line of defense against the Normans in a marshy refuge on the island of Ely.
And now we come to the curious way in which England learned about her own lake village. Arthur Bulleid from Glastonbury, while still a young man, read Keller’s book “Swiss Lake Settlements” and was inspired by the idea of finding a lake village in the swamps near Glastonbury, which must have been there in the old days. After all, it is to this area that King Arthur with his knights and the island of Avalon are traditionally referred to: “The flat island of Avalon, where there is no rain, no hail, no snow, and even the wind does not rage loudly.”
So whenever he went for a walk, Mr. Bulleid was on the lookout for any trace of the lake village. In the end she was found - she was given away by the mounds of earth left over from the village where the foundations of the huts had previously been located, and although for 2000 or more years the ground had dried out and become covered with peat and turf, an attentive eye could still see them. In these molehill mounds were found bones and charcoal, and when Mr. Bulleid dug a hole to test he found more coal, and also some pottery and two oak beams. And then a worker named David Cox told Bulleid that in 1884, about three-quarters of a mile away, he was digging a ditch and found a black oak beam buried in the ground, which he had to saw off to widen the ditch. Cox said that the beam looked like the stern of a boat, which is what it actually turned out to be (Fig. 127). Thus Arthur Bulleid's dream came true, and he found his lake village. Excavations began in 1892, and since then the village has been thoroughly studied.
In Fig. 124 shows a bird's eye view of the village. Its area was about 10,530 square yards. At the base of the built-up area, surrounded by a palisade, lay logs laid crosswise, and the spaces between them were filled with stones, clay and windfall, but this cannot in any way be classified as what land agents call "a site suitable for building " During Glastonbury village times the peat bog was up to 5 feet thick in some places and residents were constantly rebuilding. The village was surrounded by a palisade; piles were driven into the peat, intertwined with branches and covered with a mixture of clay and straw. This method was also used in the construction of huts - there were 8-9 dozen of them, they had a round shape and a diameter of 18 to 28 feet. It is possible that not all of these buildings were inhabited by people; some were probably used as barns or workshops. In the middle of the dwelling hut there was a hearth of flat stones on a clay foundation, and in some places up to 9–10 hearths were found, stacked on top of each other as the foundation sank into the swamp. The wicker walls of the huts were coated with clay; This is evidenced by pieces of clay with traces of weaving. Each hut had a central post, or rafter. Almost nothing more can be said about them.
This means that in order to find parallels in construction methods, we need to turn again to primitive peoples. The Kenyan Kikuyu tribe even today builds and lives in huts that are probably similar to those at Glastonbury. Rice. 125 shows a cross-section of such a hut: on the left side is a Kikuyu hut, on the right is the supposed structure of a Glastonbury hut. We made this drawing based on the plan and detailed description from the Routledge couple's book, With Prehistoric People. It is interesting to note that in building the huts, the African tribe faced the same problem that the architect Christopher Wren had to solve when he designed the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Some Neolithic tribes built small houses where the rafters leaned against a central post, and this was a very practical method. If the rafters were firmly dug into the soil, the house did not fall apart either under the pressure of the wind or under the load of fallen snow; its disadvantage was that the sloping walls did not provide a high ceiling, so you could only sit inside, like in a tent. To obtain sufficient height, the wall can be raised, and this method is quite suitable if the wall is built of heavy stone, to give the rafters sufficient stability. Difficulties arise if they try to apply the same idea to thin wooden walls that simply tip over.
In the Kikuyu tribe, they first dig holes in a circle about 15 feet in diameter and install 15 wooden poles split at the top. To appreciate the resourcefulness of the builders, let us note that all the pillars are no thicker than a human hand. Four posts are placed in the middle in a rectangle 4 feet 5 inches by 3 feet. The tops of the outer pillars are braided with long flexible rods, they form a wall panel and take on the weight of the roof. Twist ties are then woven up from this wall panel across the center beams, catching the tops of the center beams along the way. When designing St. Paul's Cathedral, Wren transferred the weight of the brick cone that supports the dome and lantern - a superstructure above the roof covering - to an iron ship's cable, which was placed in stone and poured with molten lead. The remaining details of the Kikuyu hut are explained in the picture.
Also found at Glastonbury are the remains of an earlier type of hut, built from wall panels supported on posts driven into the peat. They appear to have been oblong in shape with wicker walls attached to panels. We cannot reconstruct them; we have more confidence in the construction of round huts, and it seems to us that it would not be a big mistake to admit their similarity with the dwellings of the Kikuyu tribe.
Such buildings made of wicker walls covered with clay are traditional throughout Celtic Britain. William of Malmesbury, who lived in the 12th century, mentions the Ealde Chirche, the ancient church of St Mary's at Glastonbury, built in the 7th century from wicker panels.
We know that the Glastonbury people used shuttles because one was found by the aforementioned David Cox; in addition, the villagers simply could not do without boats of one kind or another. Judging by the layers of peat, the entire area around the Bru River was in ancient times a vast swamp, and during floods it turned into an inland sea. The Glastonbury shuttle (Fig. 127) is of great interest, being about 18 feet long, with a flat bottom 2 feet wide, and a maximum depth of 12 inches.
It is already becoming like a boat and represents a significant improvement on the shuttle from Fig. 73, as it already has a distinct bow shape and a graceful side curvature. In the lake village there were wharves and wharves attached to the houses, with vertical walls made of strong grooved oak boards driven into the peat, to which horizontal boards were nailed (Fig. 127). We know that the villagers were engaged in fishing because lead weights for nets were found during excavations. On their shuttles they were transported to the land to the fields, because there was no room on the islands for growing cereals. A stone engraving from that time depicts two fishermen sitting in a boat (Fig. 128). You see they have lines in their hands, and the boat has an anchor with a spreader and a heavy stone at the end, like some modern boats. Many millstones were found; early (Fig. 85) and late rotational (Fig. 129). Such a millstone consisted of a lower fixed stone with a wooden rod in the middle. Another stone was placed on top, and grain was poured into the hole, which fell down and was ground between the upper and lower millstones, and flour was poured from the sides. A number of small flatbreads were found at Glastonbury, made from unmilled wheat, which was probably mixed with honey and baked.
The villagers also kept horses; archaeologists have found harnesses, bridles and chariot wheels. The horses were brought to the land on rafts or kept in the village, we don’t know for sure. In the summer they could be grazed on solid ground, setting up a temporary camp, and in the winter they were transported to the village, where they shared huts with people. There is no doubt that the people of Glastonbury used shuttles to trade surplus goods that they wanted to exchange for other things. Two iron bars that were used as money tell us this.
In approaching the question of the mode of life of the Glastonbury village, we rely on ample evidence of the varied occupations of its inhabitants, but it may be better to begin with a description of the ironwork from which the century takes its name.
Melting crucibles made of refractory clay and pipes found at Glastonbury (tuyure), through which a stream of air entered the firebox, but historians believe that copper and tin were melted in crucibles for bronze.
As for iron smelting, we are inclined to believe that it was carried out in the same way as is done in our time in the Kenyan Kikuyu tribe (see Fig. 130). Iron ore is collected on the surface of the earth in the form of sand containing iron ore particles; the sand is washed to get rid of clay and other impurities and leave only grains of iron. The smelting furnace is an oval-shaped hole in the ground, lined with clay. The ore is placed in the cavity of the furnace, a charcoal fire is lit, the ore is placed on the fire, and then the ore and charcoal are added as needed. Air enters from the side, just below the middle part, through a clay pipe.
Two wooden bellows tubes are inserted into the pipe, which are thus protected from fire by fireproof clay. For blowing, two goat skin furs are used, sewn in the shape of cones or caps, to the narrow end of which tubes are attached. Two short sticks are inserted into the open - wide - end of the fur; they are sewn to the skins in such a way that one third of the circumference remains free. The blacksmith's apprentice holds in each hand two sticks from both bellows and alternately opens one bellow, then the other, as if the sticks at one end are attached to a hinge, and, squeezing his hand, closes the hole of the bellows and squeezes its end, directing a continuous stream into the fire air. With a constant supply of air, the fire flares up stronger and the temperature in the furnace rises, just like from ordinary bellows.
When smelted in this way, the ore is more likely to turn into a viscous mass; furnaces that provide sufficient heat to melt the metal into a liquid state will appear only in the 17th century, and until that time we do not find cast iron in excavations. The iron lump is left overnight in the furnace, where it cools, then in the morning it is broken into large pieces, from which ingots or blanks are forged. Such iron is very pure and malleable, it is easy to forge; in the fire of charcoal it is purified from sulfur, which is released from the coal and makes the iron brittle and brittle. The fireclay crucibles we mentioned were placed in a hole dug in the ground, and the fire was fanned by a constant flow of air, as when melting iron.
Bulleid and Gray's book illustrates all the finds made during the excavations at Glastonbury, and we see among them daggers, spearheads, swords, knives, cutters, sickles, saws, chisels, adzes, files, bolts, nails, rivets, keys and chisels . There are few weapons, only a few types, and it is possible that this was one of the reasons why in the end the villagers became easy prey for their enemies. In Fig. 131 one person cuts a log with an unusually shaped saw, the teeth of which are arranged in such a way as to cut as they move upward, and another uses an adze, a relative of the axe. In Fig. 132 shows a man with a knife of particularly fine workmanship found at Glastonbury.
Leaving iron behind, let us return for a moment to bronze, which was still used at the beginning of the Iron Age, as it is now.
In Fig. 133 shows a brooch in the form of an open ring. The upper part shows how a pin, hanging loosely on a ring, was threaded through the material and then fastened by turning the ring slightly in a circle and bringing it under the point of the pin. A brooch of this shape was the predecessor of a buckle.
In Fig. 134 depicts three bronze brooches or brooches. Such fasteners were used in Swiss and Italian lake villages when weaving was first started there. The brooches placed in the picture show how the development of these pretty trinkets went on, which archaeologists associate with the village of La Tène on Lake Neuchâtel, although only brooches of the second type are found directly in La Tène. In the first type, the shaft is bent back to such an extent that it comes into contact with the curve of the brooch. In the second brooch, the end is no longer free, but attached to the bend, and in the third, both the stem and the bend are made at the same time.
On the right side of Fig. 134 we depicted the evolution of springs, in all cases the tip is vertical. In Galyitat brooches the springs are located on one side of the head; in La Tène brooches they are double-sided: number 1 is a spring of the very first type, similar to a modern safety pin; number 2 is a double spring; and brooch number 3 has one spiral on the right, then the wire is bent to the left side, where after a triple turn it is bent upward and forms the bend of the brooch. In example 4 there is a double turn on both sides, in example 5 there is a triple turn, but the elasticity is enhanced in a clever way: a loop is placed under the bend; the entire pin, including the coils of the spring, the loops and the bend of the brooch, consists of one piece of wire. At number 6, the tip and coils of the spring are on the right, then the loop and coils, made at the same time, are on the left; but the curve of the brooch is a separate piece attached under the loop. Brooch number 8 is based on the same principle, only the spring is covered with a metal case attached to the bend. In example 7, the bend is attached to the smaller loop. We believe these brooches are significant: the first dates from around 400 BC and is known to be the first use of a spring, while the eighth takes us back to the time of the Roman conquest. The ancient master, who in 400 BC wound a wire on a rod and discovered a spring, would probably be surprised if he looked into the future and saw where his invention was not used; Who would have thought then that we, for example, would determine time using miniature mechanisms on a spring factory, which we call watches.
Glastonbury was home to amazing potters. Most of the pottery appears to have been hand shaped, but the magnificent bowl in the foreground must have been turned on a potter's wheel. As we learned, the Kikuyu tribe make pots on a bed of leaves to make them easier to turn while working. Probably, a turning circle appeared in front of the potter's wheel, made like a rotating millstone (Fig. 129). If you twist a heavy stone or piece of wood in a similar way, its weight increases the inertia of rotation and is very helpful in making pots. In Fig. 145And you see an early potter's wheel, as scientists imagine it.
Judging by the spindles and weights from the loom, they spun and wove in the village.
Glastonbury had experienced coopers who knew how to make barrels and tubs from wooden planks, hoops and staves. The people of Glastonbury were good turners. Nothing can tell us what the Glastonbury lathe looked like, but in fig. 135 we place a primitive machine which was used at Chiltern and is called a rod lathe.
In Chiltern, furniture makers, who make chair legs from birch logs to save on transportation, set up temporary homes for themselves right in the forest and grind the legs on the spot. The support for the machine, as a rule, turns out to be two trees growing nearby, which are sawed off at the required height, two boards are nailed to the trunks, forming the base of the machine, into which the thrust headstocks are inserted. Then a third tree is bent over the machine and a string is tied to it, which will impart movement to the machine, wrapping it around a wooden piece and connecting it to the pedal below. This creates a rough machine support. The turner presses the pedal with his foot, the string begins to rotate the workpiece towards the turner, and the workpiece is turned, then he releases the pedal, the bent tree again pulls the string up and turns the workpiece. The work goes very quickly, and we ourselves saw that one chair leg can be turned in a minute.
In our picture we show a turner turning a wooden bowl, which was used by people before the advent of enamelled iron. A wooden blank was placed next to one axis, and on the other side a round rod was fitted, around which a string was wrapped; this piece was placed against another axis and secured to the workpiece with four pins. In our opinion, this suggests that the so-called Kimmeridgian coal money is nothing more than the core of the blank left over from turning slate bracelets on a lathe. Coal money is found on the Dorset coast near the Kimmeridgian slate deposits, they are discs with a hole on one side and a square depression or two or three smaller holes on the other. In the diagram below Fig. 135 shows how we imagine turning a slate bracelet on a lathe. A is the headstock, B is the axle, C is the round wooden rod on which the string is wound, mounted on one axle and inserted into a square recess in the slate blank or hole by means of two or three separate pins, the blank being in contact with the other axle. The turner first checked the dimensions of the bracelet and its shape, then made a cut on each side and finally separated the bracelet from the rest of the blank, as shown by the dotted line under the letter D. Thus, the Kimmeridgian coal money turned out to be just a discarded core of the blank, and not equivalent of money. Ancient lathes had one big advantage - the turner could turn two or even three bowls of different sizes from one piece of wood.
Glastonbury carpenters used axes, and modern people often don't realize how useful a tool an ax can be in the hands of a craftsman. Architect Alexander Beazley wrote in 1882 that Swedish carpenters in Dalkarlia and Nordland “need no other tools than the ax and drill, and despise the saw and plane, seeing in them pathetic innovations, suitable only for the unskilled who do not know how to take them.” for a noble instrument. They know how to process and trim a log 40 feet long so smoothly, as if it came from a sawmill, and from under their hands its surface comes out as smooth as if it had been planed with a plane.”
The shape of the lake villages leads us to assume that they were built by timid people, living in fear of warlike neighbors. Apparently, they were first founded by a dolichocephalic Mediterranean tribe in the Neolithic era. The inhabitants of the Glastonbury village belonged to the Marne Celts, who at the time inhabited much of Britain and were famous for their elaborately decorated and enameled woodwork. It is believed that the Marne Celts came from the valley of the Marne River, which flows north of Paris. In the photo you can see the face of a man whose remains were discovered in an area as swampy as the Glastonbury Marshes, only in Denmark. In the peat, the body was preserved in excellent condition, like the Glastonbury houses - from the contents of the stomach we can tell what the man ate, and his skull allowed us to make the first reliable portrait of a person who actually lived. The people of this people were dark and short - ranging in height from 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 8 inches - and had oval-shaped heads with a cephalic index of 76, that is, they were mesocephalic. Representatives of the same people founded the site of Warbury at the western end of the track at Mendips, and also settled in the villages of Woodcuts, Roderley, Woodyets and Cranbourne Chase from the era of the Roman conquest until the invasion of the Saxons.
The Glastonbury residents' worst fears came true shortly before the Roman occupation. The village died: perhaps at the hands of the Belgian invaders, also dolichocephals, but a completely different, much more ferocious and warlike tribe. Caesar (Notes on the Gallic War. Book V, 43) tells how the Nervii attacked Cicero’s camp, began throwing red-hot clay bullets from slings into the thatched barracks and set them on fire. Bullets are found in abundance at Glastonbury and help us imagine the final scene. We noted above that very few weapons were discovered during the excavations; the short, dark people wanted only one thing: to be left alone and allowed to go about their business; So they continued to live until the invaders found them. Enemies destroyed their crops and possessions on solid ground, and the ancients surrendered. The inhabitants of Glastonbury could only watch in horror and grief from behind their stockade, and then the invaders probably took advantage of the canoes pulled ashore, swam across the lake and set fire to the roofs with their fiery shells. When the fire died out, the few remaining residents were probably killed. From their very beginning the Celts lived in communities; perhaps they brought this tradition with them from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Belgae who supplanted them, like the later, similar Anglo-Saxons, preferred to lead a freer life in the open air, and today their fair-haired descendants are distinguished by the same inclinations.
In his report “The History of the British Peoples,” Professor Fleur comes to the following conclusion: “The descendants of the Neolithic tribes - dolichocephalic, long-faced, dark-haired and brown-eyed - form a large proportion of the population of large English cities. They seem to have been better adapted than other types to survive in conditions of low social status, and their second generation, born in the big cities, rose up in their millions to again, after many years, form practically the majority of the population of South Britain.” So the history of the Mediterranean tribes is not over yet.
Having gained an idea of the dwellings and lifestyles of the early Iron Age, it is time to turn to later times. Dating back to the Iron Age are a series of magnificent earthworks linked by a system of tracks and roads. They may have originally been built as simple cattle pens surrounded by a ditch and embankment, with some additional protection at the entrance. Gradually they improved until they came to such a masterpiece as Maiden Castle at Dorchester. Intricate labyrinths of earthen mounds were added to the original structure, and the structure as a whole developed along the same path as the Tower of London, where the Norman watchtower was surrounded over time by new buildings and later additions.
It is very difficult to determine the age of earthen structures, especially the simplest ones. Roman coins are found in some, but this does not give us the right to say that they were built by the Romans. During military campaigns, the Romans built fortified camps, but Iron Age fortresses were not occupied very often. The Roman coins found in them may speak of the times of the ferocious Saxon invasion, from which the Britons, taking money with them, sought refuge in these fortifications.
Earthen structures are classified by archaeologists as follows: A - a fortress-cape, standing on an elevated area, impregnable on one side due to a cliff or reservoir and protected by buildings on the other. B-1 is a fort on the top of a hill with artificial defense lines and fortifications that follow the natural contours of the hill, sometimes called contour forts. B-2 is a fort, also installed on a hill, but its defense is not so dependent on natural barriers. There are several other types of later fortresses that are not of interest to us at the moment.
It may be wise to begin by giving a brief explanation of the terms used to describe earthworks. The rampart is an earthen wall. The scarp is the steep outer slope facing the enemy, and the counter-scarp is the inner slope. The flat piece of undeveloped land between the ramparts is a bypass. On plans, earthworks usually look like furry caterpillars biting their own tail, and the top of the slope is shown on them with a thick line tapering down.
Now let's see how the builders acted. To begin with, they had to be able to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the area no worse than an officer of the engineering troops or a landowner who loves fox hunting. They always chose a good sunny area for fortresses, where fragrant grass grows - useful food for livestock - and the breeze sways the flower heads in time with the song of the lark. There is no more pleasant place than an ancient earthen fortress, it’s so good to have a drink, sit in the sun and, hiding from the wind, look around the surroundings, because the slope of the embankment is located in such a way that nothing obscures the view, because this is exactly what the ancient defenders of the fortress needed . Their herds grazed on the hillsides, and the watchman watched for wolves or boars or stray cattle rustlers. In those days, cattle were of great value.
Then the builders chose a rounded limestone hill dominating the area and began to make an embankment, that is, a moat and a rampart. When examining ancient earthworks, it is important to see the natural starting level in order to understand how the work went, because at first glance it seems that the ditch is very deep and the embankment is very high, and it is difficult to even imagine that such a grandiose work could be done without an excavator. After you see the natural level, the trick will be revealed to you: it consisted in the fact that, by scooping up the earth with baskets, they not only deepened the ditch, but also raised the embankment, and that on a slope a high embankment arose faster than on a flat plain. In addition, on a very steep slope, the excavated soil could simply be thrown down.
And yet, despite everything that has been said, earthen structures certainly required all efforts from the builders. The fortress of Badbury, near Wimborne, in Dorsetshire, has three mounds, and the outermost of them is a full mile in circumference; at Maiden Castle near Dorchester - almost a mile and a half. The entrance was built with special care. There are two passages in Badbury, one on the east side, the other on the west. Relatively recently, several more gaps were made in the embankment on the western side, but initially the enemies inevitably had to make their way into the fortress through these two paths, putting themselves at the mercy of the archers located on top of the embankment. The entrance was arranged in such a way that the attackers were open to arrows from the defenders of the fortress on the right side (not protected by a shield). The top of the embankment was surrounded by a palisade, and the bottom of the ditch was covered with sharpened stakes. The wide spaces between the embankments, the so-called bypasses, were used as walking areas for cattle - especially since the attackers would hardly like to be under the hooves of cows maddened with fear; in Maiden Castle, for the same purpose, the camp was divided into two parts.
Inside the fortifications, the remains of round huts were discovered, apparently the same as those in the drawings in our book. Also found there are piles of stones for slings and archers' bracers.
The problem of supplying the fortress with water caused a lot of controversy, and there are different opinions on this matter. Firstly, the people who came to the fort from all over the surrounding area and grouped around it with their simple farming did not require as much water as modern people, and, as a rule, they could simply go down to the nearest river. However, excavations at Maiden Castle have revealed a complex system of tunnels and ditches dug into the limestone bed and converging to several shallow wells. Perhaps the bottom and walls of the wells were lined with sewn skins to make them waterproof, and the ditches were coated with clay. In addition, there are dew ponds where cattle are still taken to water in the Wiltshire Hills. Its device is shown in Fig. 136. A small plate-like depression is dug in the limestone and lined with straw. Then a layer of compacted clay is placed, and the edges are made of limestone to protect the clay from animal hooves. The bottom is lined with flint and a small amount of water is poured into the reservoir. Straw and clay prevent the earth from heating up, and at night, when damp mists thicken over the hills, they condense in a cool depression. Ordinary ponds also form when a clay depression occurs in the heated soil. Water accumulates in them, and the cows compact the clay until there are no holes in it and it becomes waterproof, so the pond becomes wider and wider.
In the hot summer of 1921 we were traveling around Dorset inspecting earthworks and on Holt Heath near Bull Barrow we found a pond full of water, while the River Tarrent in a nearby valley was completely dry. The Wycombe furniture makers, who go into the woods to turn chair legs, obtain water in an ingenious way. If you examine a beech stump, you will see clear channels where rainwater and condensed dew flow down the tree trunk. The furniture maker makes a cross-shaped cut on such a channel and inserts a board along which the water is drained into a bucket; Simply turning on the tap is not the only way to get water.
The fact that many people were concentrated in the fortress, either living or working there, inevitably had to lead to radical changes. In the old days, a hunting tribe was like a large family, where relatives knew each other well; their lives weren't all that exciting. And in the fortress, life was in full swing, every now and then different people came and went, new discoveries were made. Gradually, customs developed, from which laws crystallized. The formation of the language was underway, and the tales that were told to each other around the fire marked the beginning of literature. The fortresses indicate the emergence of a more ordered life than ever before; even today, with our transport system and labor organization, the construction of Badbury or Maiden Castle would require serious effort. Making a flint or metal tool yourself is one thing, but building a camp is a completely different matter. It requires the participation of many people. Camp needs to be planned; there should have been several fairly skilled people in the tribe who could tell their fellow tribesmen: “Today we will dig a ditch, and here we will dump earth to make a rampart. This is where you did it wrong; but here they didn’t leave enough space for the scarp, because the slope is too steep,” and so on.
If our readers read Hippisley Cox's Green Roads of England, they will learn that all the fortresses are connected by a road system and are well adapted to the needs of their time, like later Roman roads and stations. The presence of roads raises the problem of fortification and everything connected with it. Let us imagine Badbury not as it is now, all overgrown with grass, but as a snow-white fortress with limestone ramparts, or Maiden Castle with a mile and a half embankment around the outer perimeter. It had to make a lasting impression. When settlers from other tribes passed along the roads, these fortresses blocked their path. Of course, in that era there were no all-out invasions and armies that had to hold lines of communication with the coast; the invaders were the same tribes who only wanted to settle in a new land. If they were met by a hostile tribe, they, of course, could not simply cross the road and bypass the fortification from the flank or rear without coming to an agreement with the local residents. In this sense, fortresses played the same role as Norman castles and walled medieval cities.
Among the ancient Britons, twig weaving was widespread. Even the church had wicker walls. Boats were made in the same way, in Fig. 137 depicts a coracle - a boat made of a wicker frame covered with skins; To this day, fishermen of Welsh rivers sometimes catch fish on coracles.
In Fig. 138 depicts an umiak, an Eskimo women's boat, made without a single nail from branches washed ashore by the sea. They were tied with straps and covered with skins.
And in Fig. 139 the boat is equipped with a mast and a square sail made of membrane. European stone engravings from the late Bronze Age or Iron Age depict a heavy seagoing ship, similar to a Viking galley, with a high, curved stern and a totemic figure at the bow.
It seems that the people in these ships are rowing furiously (Fig. 140).
In Fig. 141 swords from the early Iron Age are presented: 1 - an early Hallstatt example, 2 - a sample from La Tene in a scabbard. The scabbard was made of bronze and often decorated with beautiful patterns. The iron blade of the sword had a tang on which a bronze base for the handle was mounted, and the handle was cut out of bone or wood and mounted on the tang.
In Fig. 141 also shows two iron spearheads from the same period, which differ markedly from the leaf-shaped spearheads of the Bronze Age. Oblong-shaped shields appeared. These magnificent works of art can be seen in the British Museum, they are forged from bronze and decorated with enamel inserts. Apparently, this method of decorating products appeared when using corals, which were used to decorate bronze.
Early Iron Age smiths then began making pins with an enameled surface, attaching them to bronze. The pinnacle of their art, which glorified its creators, is champlevé enamel. With this technique, indentations were made in the metal, carving out a pattern, and filled with molten enamel, which was then polished so that it was flush with the metal surface. In Fig. 142 shows a piece of harness decorated with enamel; it proves what high skill the artists achieved. Just imagine how magnificent the clan leader looked in the first half of the Iron Age; his helmet, shield and horse harness, forged from bronze, sparkled like gold, having not yet had time to fade over the centuries, and the enamel glittered like liquid rubies. The first enamels had only one color - red.
At the beginning of the Iron Age, clothing also changed somewhat; they began to weave multi-colored fabrics from bright yarn. It is believed that at first it was a simple tartan - tartan, checkered woolen fabric. As in the Bronze Age, a piece of material was wrapped around the body in the form of a skirt, and this, together with a sleeveless vest and a semi-circular cape, completed the man's attire. Shoes were cut out of leather, tied with strings and tied at the ankle. The Britons apparently began to wear loose trousers, which were derived from the Persian and Scythian ones (Fig. 143). Women wore ankle-length tunics with short sleeves. All women, men and horses wore beautiful belts and brooches made of bronze and enamel.
Unfortunately, no burial sites have been found at Glastonbury, but there are many Iron Age cemeteries elsewhere also dating back to the Marne Celts. Of great importance is Arras in the East Riding, Yorkshire; there are small, round mounds, no more than 2 feet in height and about 8 feet in diameter. The bodies were not cremated, but buried, bent, in a stone tomb or grave carved into limestone. It is clear from the skulls that people were dolichocephalic, and in these burials for the first time iron objects are found next to the bodies. This means that either it was a return to the old Neolithic traditions, or they were reintroduced by newcomers from the continent; in any case, cremation, characteristic of the Bronze Age, was no longer practiced. In addition, dolichocephalic skulls may indicate that the Neolithic tribes were not completely exterminated, or that there were new invasions from the mainland. Some mounds in Arras and other areas of Yorkshire contain the remains of chariots and resemble chariot burials in France; it rather suggests that the Yorkshire mounds were built by alien invaders. The wheels of the chariots there are about 2 feet 8 inches in diameter, and fragments of oak rims with sockets for sixteen spokes have also been found. Iron rims with bronze and skeletons of horses approximately 4 feet 8 inches tall were found.
We have seen from the finds at Hetherie Burn that chariots appeared in the Bronze Age, and it is clear that in the first half of the Iron Age they already played a significant role in human daily life. In many Yorkshire burial mounds there are signs that women were buried in them. In one they found glass beads of a beautiful blue color with white specks, ringed with metal, and others of pure green glass. Rings made of amber and gold and bronze bracelets were also found. Also preserved in the mounds were fragments of pottery, animal bones and charcoal, apparently the remains of a funeral feast. An iron mirror was found in Arras, completely rusted, of course. In Fig. 144 bronze mirror is of a completely traditional type.
In Fig. 146 shows late Celtic design. In Fig. 118 we saw that in the Bronze Age, patterns consisted of diamonds, triangles and concentric circles, and in the Early Iron Age, wavy lines and curls appeared, the combination of which provides countless possibilities for creativity.
We can now move on to the last type of burial found in our country. There is little doubt that they belong to the Belgian invaders. They opened in 1886 in Aylesford, Kent. The Belgae settled in this area, and the custom of fire burial reappeared there - apparently the Belgae retained this custom.
The tomb or grave under the mound went out of fashion, so to speak, and its place was taken by a circular pit about 3 feet 6 inches deep, the walls and bottom of which were lined with compacted marl. A pit at Aylesford found burnt bones and fragments of a ceramic urn, a tub, a jug, a frying pan or shallow pan and bronze brooches.
Apparently, the Belgae still maintained the custom of burying things that belonged to the deceased along with him, because they had some symbolic meaning; perhaps so that he could use them in the afterlife or because it was not good to keep his things and use them. The beautifully shaped jug most likely came from Italy.
The Aylesford pottery suggests that a great advance had been made. It has an elegant shape and was probably made on a potter's wheel, and during firing it received a shiny black surface. Perhaps the pots were spun on the turntable shown under the letter A in Fig. 146, or potters have already begun to use the potter's wheel, which you see in Fig. 146 under the letter B. This is a circle of a primitive type, on which flower pots and bread bins were made until recently.
With the exception of this important detail - the return of cremation - the Belgae did not seem to have any significant impact on the daily life of the people of that era. They were fierce warriors and conquered the south-eastern regions of Great Britain. This gave them possession of the iron mines of the Sussex Weald, which in the 18th century was to become an industrial area of England.
The Britons, early Gaelic tribes of the Bronze Age and the Marne Celts of Glastonbury and Arras learned to use iron, but continued to live according to their customs.
Until now, much remains a mystery for archaeologists, much is unclear in the life and way of life of all those peoples who lived in Great Britain before the coming of the Romans, with whom our written history began. It is still not clear how the British people organized communications and transport. As we remember, the stones that form the inner circle at Stonehenge, each weighing several tons, were brought from the mountains to the Pembrokeshire coast. Directly it will be 150 miles. How could this transport feat be accomplished 2000 BC? Either they were brought by land, making a long detour to go around the Severn Estuary, when dense virgin forest and vast swamps covered most of the lowland lands, or by sea, going out into the open Atlantic, passing the rocky headland of Cornwall before the wind and crossing the English Channel against the wind. But we know nothing about their ships and very little about their roads, although there is some evidence that they were used as early as the Bronze Age. And why was it necessary to drag these huge blocks for so many miles? Perhaps they traveled on short treks with the tribe as shrines, like the Ark of the Covenant carried by the biblical Israelites? Or was it a mystical symbol of conquest, such as the sacred Scottish stone that Edward I carried from Scotland to London? Or the tops of the coastal mountains were considered more sacred than the Salisbury Plain, and the transportation of stone blocks from there was the consecration of a new sanctuary - just as we bring water from the Jordan for baptism.
The roads, which follow the crests of the chalk hills and Cotswold Hills, traverse terrain less disturbed by the building and farming that changed the face of this densely populated area in the Middle Ages and beyond. For this reason, until the end of the 19th century, herd drivers drove cattle along them. Therefore they are well preserved and clearly visible.
However, Bronze Age people were scattered throughout the country, and the homogeneity of their culture indicates that they must have established an efficient system of communication, at least along pack trails. Recent archaeological research has uncovered Bronze Age farmsteads in Sussex, and you can see that the paths leading to them are not simple paths, but rather wide roads.
As for the Iron Age, it most likely saw the first paved roads. A settlement was excavated in Anglesey, right in the middle of which there was a road of this type and, apparently, of ancient construction. Not far from the same place in 1942, a remarkable discovery was made: several iron rims from chariot wheels. But if there were roads in the Iron Age, even mediocre ones, the question arises who looked after them. This means that our ancestors stood at a higher level of civilization than we usually think. Moreover, the Bronze Age saw more than a thousand years of peace, and if the Iron Age tribes were organized enough to build such serious earthworks as Maiden Castle and Old Oswestry, then in the pauses between hostilities they could maintain the roads in good condition. In addition, in many ways they imitated the Romans, who, with their campaigns of conquest, alarmed the new continent and introduced a new order on it. So when Roman generals arrived, it was not difficult for them to attract the population of the fortresses to the Latinized tribal centers.
Camulodunum, or Colchester, was the chief city of the Trinovantes; Verulamium, or St. Albans, was Catuvellaunian, and Cassivellaunus was their king. It is believed that Caesar was talking about St. Albans when he wrote about “a city of the Britons in the midst of a dense forest, fortified by a rampart, behind which they usually take refuge to save themselves from enemy invasion.” In Corinia (Cirencester) lived the Dobun; in Calleva (Silchester) - atrebates; in London - cantia. Women were allowed to be queens. Cartismandua was the queen of the Brigantes who inhabited the Pennine Mountains, and Boudicca (Boadicea) ruled the Iceni.
In the Bronze Age chapter we talked about trade and traffic, which makes us think about the use of money as a medium of exchange for goods, which is the basis of trade. A theory has emerged that Bronze Age gold bracelets could have been used as money; rings were attached to them, and therefore they are called ring money. This idea doesn't seem too crazy. The situation is completely different with iron money bars from Fig. 147: we see how our readers, if they are not born financiers, say: “How can you buy something with an iron stick?” We are quite sure that many would be puzzled by some of the methods of monetary settlements adopted by various nations. In Great Britain there were gold sovereigns, unfortunately no longer in circulation, and their dirty, greasy successors, so typical of their time, treasury notes; we heard about cowrie shells and other things; All parts of the world used their own money, but the strangest are the iron bars of the early Iron Age.
Of the two bars found at Glastonbury, one is 27 7/8 inches long and weighs 4666 grains, the other is 21 inches and a quarter long, but much thicker than the first and weighs 9097 grains. Mr. Reginald Smith identified the money bars with taleae ferreae, Caesar's iron rods (Notes on the Gallic War. V, 12). It is believed that there were 6 varieties of whetstones, m - an imperial unit - equal to approximately 4770 grains. Bars of 1/4, 1/6, 1, 1 1/2, 2 and 4 units were also found.
We will try to illustrate with an example how it could be that such things came into circulation as banknotes. Until recently, in the remote villages of our country, it was customary to pay everyone once a year after the harvest; for the rest of the year, everyone bought from each other on credit and all payments were written down on the barn door. On the day of settlement, the farmer went to the miller and said: “How are we doing?” To which the miller replied: “I ground your grain and gave you flour, but I sold the rest and owe you 5 pounds.” Then the miller went to the baker, and he said to him: “Yes, I bought flour from you, but I gave it back in bread and still owed 5 pounds.” The butcher bought carcasses from the farmer and sold the meat to the whole village, so that one balanced the other and the villagers agreed among themselves. Thus the same 5-pound note passed from hand to hand, and the whole village was able to start the new financial year with a clean slate; and if instead of the 5-pound note they had an iron bar, it would not have made any difference - in fact, it would have been even more convenient, because, like a gold sovereign that had fallen into disuse, the iron bar had value in itself, which is not the case talk about a paper banknote. The basis of both intertribal and international trade, although more complex, remains the exchange of goods.
From about 200 to 150 BC we find a less exotic and quite modern currency in the form of British gold coins in two denominations. Apparently they first appeared in the southeast, and since some of these coins have inscriptions, this indicates the development of writing.
The system of money bars proves the existence of a certain system of weights and measures, and beautiful clay and metal utensils also testify to this. A good master will never make a thing of any size that comes to mind. He learns in practice the most convenient weight and size. Modern brick, for example, is of a size and weight that experience has shown to be easy for a mason to work with. Countless experiments were needed to find out the convenient sizes, weights and other properties of everyday things, and the measuring boards that craftsmen kept for reference eventually became generally accepted standards of measurement.
Monetary bars prove that there was an exchange of goods, but do not help us understand how prices were formed; for example, how many measures of grain had to be paid for the plow. Theoretically, it would be fair if the farmer paid for the plow the excess grain that he could grow with its help. In practice, the price is partly regulated by shortages, which tend to increase the price, and by overproduction, which tends to decrease the price. In addition, there are luxury goods that people pay more for than they are worth on their own because they are very beautiful or rare and so on. As you know, in the Middle Ages, canon law paid a lot of attention to the establishment of fair prices and usury, and even today speculation is considered not a good activity. In the wonderful kaleidoscope of history, every little thing is important: trade and money bars, a system of weights and measures, the honesty of a decent person and even the theft of a swindler - none of this can be neglected.
Now that we have reached the end of our story, it is time to talk about what ideas inspired people and gave flavor to their daily lives. We have seen that in the Neolithic era people worshiped the forces of nature, placing the supreme mother goddess at the head of everything. Monk Gildas in the chronicle of the 6th century AD wrote: “I will not cry over the fate of the mountains and streams, rivers and hills, which previously brought death and torment to man, and in his blindness he worshiped them as gods, but now they have submitted and serve to him". However, the worship of the forces of nature is still reflected in superstitions that attribute healing powers to stones and springs.
Sun worship appears to have been typical in the Early Bronze Age, and hero worship may have emerged with the arrival of the Celts. Probably, at the beginning of the Iron Age, as the gods became more and more humanized, they also adopted human shortcomings; since they were considered stronger and braver than people, and waged an eternal war with the forces of darkness, they often showed greater cruelty and inflexibility.
The religion of the later Celtic tribes of Britain and Gaul was Druidism, but it certainly overlapped with the cult of the sun and heroes of the Bronze Age, as well as the more ancient cult of nature and the moon characteristic of Neolithic man. Such layering of cults was the most common thing; the conquerors, conquering a new land, wanted to give honor to the victory to their own gods, but did not want to spoil relations with the local deities, whom they had thrown off their pedestal. A god remains a god even if he is defeated, and can easily avenge himself by allying with the forces of darkness. It's better not to take risks, and that's why we see old beliefs being adapted to new cults.
Caesar, in Book VI of the Notes on the Gallic War, gives us an interesting description of the Druids and Druidry. Mr. Squire collected other sources of inspiration - Celtic myths and legends - in his book. These tales have come down to us because they were collected by monastic chroniclers from the 12th to the 15th centuries, but throughout the previous era they were traditionally told in the Celtic lands from the time when they were first read by Druid bards to the accompaniment of the harp.
About the Druids, Caesar wrote this: “The Druids try most of all to strengthen the belief in the immortality of the soul: the soul, according to their teaching, passes after the death of one body into another; they think that this faith eliminates the fear of death and thereby arouses courage. In addition, they tell their young students a lot about the luminaries and their movement, about the size of the world and the earth, about nature and about the power and authority of the immortal gods.” And again a quote from Caesar: “All Gauls are extremely susceptible to superstition. Therefore, people affected by serious illnesses, as well as those who spend their lives in war and other dangers, make or vow to make human sacrifices; The Druids are in charge of this. It is the Gauls who think that the immortal gods can be appeased only by sacrificing a human life for a human life. Some tribes use for this purpose huge effigies made of twigs, the members of which they fill with living people and set on fire.”
From what little we know about religion, we can understand that the Druids formed a religious aristocracy, which could only be entered after a long novitiate. Its head was elected for life; Druids did not participate in wars, did not pay taxes, administered justice, and only they were allowed to teach others. Time was counted not in days, but in nights, and the year was determined by lunar months. Before cutting the white mistletoe from the sacred tree, white bulls were sacrificed. The prisoners were killed, and the future was predicted by the way their blood flowed and their insides trembled.
The Gallic Druids saw their British brethren as those who possessed a purer faith, and sent newcomers to them to learn the mysteries. This happened because the mainland came under the influence of Rome earlier than Britain; for the same reason, after the arrival of the Romans on the island, Druidism moved west, as its rituals horrified and disgusted the Romans, and they eventually expelled the Druids from their main city in Anglesey. Druidry persisted in Ireland, which did not know Roman influence, until St. Patrick overthrew Crom Cruach 12 .
Although the Celtic legends are poisoned by monstrous cruelty, we must still remember that this was not the cruelty of the Romans, who delighted in watching bloodshed in the amphitheatres, but a religion of sacrifice carried to the most terrible limit. The Druids were cruel not for the sake of cruelty, but in order to appease the gods.
On the other hand, Celtic myths and legends, having become traditional, have reached our time and, under the pen of monastic chroniclers, became the foundation on which English literature, which already entirely belongs to our culture, was based.
We learned that the Celts were great craftsmen; their metalwork and enamels became inspiration for new artists and experienced new revivals. They were hailed as new, although in reality they originated in the time of the Druids.
The main Celtic holidays were Beltane - the festival of bonfires on May 1, the summer solstice, the festival of the god Luch on the night of August 1, and Samhain. Until now, they have been preserved in the holiday of May 1, Ivan Kupala Day, the harvest festival of August 1 and Halloween, or All Saints' Day; and the bonfires around which we dance and have fun first arose as sacrificial fires, which were kindled on the days of ancient Celtic holidays and where victims were thrown to appease the gods and cattle to ward off foot-and-mouth disease or plague.
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