Barbarians

by Peter Bogucki

  Plan of Stonehenge in stage 1 during the early third millennium BC.

  After the trilithons were in place, the outer circle of sarsen uprights and continuous lintels went up. Finally, bluestones from the Aubrey Holes were relocated to the centre of the monument to form further circular arrangements within the two sarsen settings. During this construction phase, other standing stones in the Stonehenge complex such as the Station Stone and the Heel Stone were probably also erected. Stonehenge continued in use as a cremation cemetery during this time. When the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen arrived about a century later, they saw Stonehenge functioning within its ceremonial landscape.

  Further modifications of Stonehenge continued for the rest of the third millennium BC and even into the start of the second millennium. These relatively smaller remodelling episodes took place against a backdrop of changes in the surrounding monumental landscape, which in turn reflect the social milieu within which Stonehenge functioned. This leads to the other half of the Stonehenge story, its larger ceremonial landscape, largely hidden due to the fact that other monuments were built in timber or with stones that were subsequently removed.

  Mortuary activity had already taken place around Stonehenge even before the first bank and ditch there. Long mounds at Netheravon Bake and Amesbury 42 were built around 3600 BC, around the same time as the famous West Kennet long barrow 37 kilometres (23 mi.) to the north. In 2014, geophysical surveys discovered an even earlier earthen long barrow, probably also from the fourth millennium BC, with a complex interior timber structure and a timber forecourt in front of its entrance.29

  Considerable structuring of the landscape had also taken place before the first monument was built at Stonehenge itself. Two linear bank and ditch features to the north of Stonehenge called the Greater Cursus and the Lesser Cursus are so named because they seemed to resemble Roman racing tracks. The Greater Cursus is about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi.) long and 100 metres (330 ft) wide, running west–east, while the Lesser Cursus is a smaller feature to its northwest. Geophysical surveys have recently found two immense pits within the Greater Cursus near its ends, each about 5 metres (16 ft) wide. About 2 kilometres (1.25 mi.) east of Stonehenge, a small circle of bluestones about 10 metres (33 ft) across was erected.

  Most of the construction of the Stonehenge ceremonial landscape took place when the trilithons and sarsens were erected. Two timber circles were set up at Durrington Walls, 3.2 kilometres (2 mi.) northeast of Stonehenge. The southern one is more complex, starting from a simple timber circle to six concentric rings with additional interior patterning that might reflect the stones at Stonehenge. Near Durrington Walls is Woodhenge, again with six concentric post settings in an oval pattern. Additional mini-henges are found nearby, and geophysical surveys keep finding more. In many respects, Stonehenge can be considered the exception in stone of a larger class of monuments mostly made from wood.

  Recent research at Durrington Walls has also brought to light traces of human habitation in the form of houses and rubbish deposits, which appear to date from around 2535–2475 BC. The Durrington Walls houses were small and square, about 5.25 metres (17 ft) on each side. No burials have yet come to light. Of special interest is the huge collection of animal bones, around 80,000, from the rubbish deposits.30 They consisted largely of pig and cattle bones, in an unusual ratio of 9:1 pigs to cattle. Most of the pigs were killed either at nine months or at fifteen months, so in the early summer or midwinter assuming they were born in the spring. Some of the cattle were brought from other parts of Britain, based on strontium isotope ratios. The habitation traces at Durrington Walls are interpreted as short-term occupations associated with feasting, suggesting that this was not a permanent community but rather temporary visitors.

  Many archaeologiests now believe that during the middle of the third millennium BC, Stonehenge on the chalk plateau in the west and Durrington Walls in the valley of the Avon on the east were the anchors of a complex ceremonial landscape that was continually being revised. It was dotted with timber henges and other bank and ditch structures. Sometime between 2480 and 2280 BC, the small bluestone henge at Durrington Walls was taken down, a ditched enclosure was built on the site, and an approach path to Stonehenge called The Avenue was constructed.

  Two questions remain: how was this ceremonial landscape used, and what was the role of the astronomical alignments that have been perceived in it? Vince Gaffney has proposed that the multiple timber henges that surround Stonehenge functioned as a sort of pilgrimage circuit as worshippers made their way from shrine to shrine.31 In my view, a modern analogy might be the Roman Catholic shrine at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in southern Poland, at which small chapels around a larger church mark the Stations of the Cross, the route taken by Christ on his way to crucifixion. After getting off the train, pilgrims make their way in prayer from chapel to chapel, sometimes ascending stairs on their knees. Whether or not the Stonehenge timber sanctuaries functioned in a similar way, it is clear that they were elements of a larger ritual landscape which offered visitors a rich assortment of opportunities.

  In 1965, the astronomer Gerald Hawkins (1928–2003) claimed that Stonehenge had functioned as an observatory to predict movements of the sun and moon.32 His argument was met with scepticism by archaeologists but seized the public imagination. Over the intervening fifty years, links to the annual passage of the sun have been documented from Stonehenge and other Stone Age monuments, the most notable being Newgrange as described above.33 At Stonehenge, the rising of the sun on the summer solstice over the Heel Stone and down the main axis of symmetry is complemented by the winter solstice sunset in the opposite direction. The two newly discovered huge pits on the Cursus align with the heelstone on the summer solstice as well. Rather than functioning as an observatory or calendar itself, however, it seems more likely that Stonehenge illustrates the extent to which celestial observation was embedded in the practices of Stone Age people. They were keen observers of the skies, and celestial events were taken as cause for ceremonies and feasting.

  Classic view of Stonehenge in its final phase as seen today: trilithons and sarsens erected in the second half of the third millennium BC.

  The Barbarian World at 2000 BC

  By 2000 BC, sedentary agricultural communities had been established throughout Europe north of the Alps. They took different forms in different places: large, small, concentrated, dispersed, on lakeshores, on high ground, long-term and temporary. The domestic plants and animals on which they relied were largely the same: wheat and barley as the principal grains, peas and lentils as legumes and cattle, goats, sheep and pigs as the major livestock species. Cattle were used not just for their meat but also for milk and power, while sheep provided wool and milk. Pottery replaced baskets to permit storage of grains and liquids.

  Although Stone Age people had become largely sedentary, this did not mean that they were completely immobile. On the contrary, they travelled quite a bit. Watercraft facilitated travel across rivers, along lowland streams and across sheltered straits. Adventurous seafarers could cross open seas. Across land, trails and pathways followed well-worn routes to connect concentrations of population. Raw materials and finished products were widely traded, and people were able to share ideas and learn from each other.

  Where large stones were available, people built megalithic mortuary and ceremonial monuments, after first building long earthen mounds without stone architecture. The most common form was the passage grave, concentrated along the Atlantic Facade but also found in southern Scandinavia. Passage graves took many different forms, but the central idea of a stone corridor into a burial chamber was largely similar in all areas. Standing stones were also a widespread form of monument across this entire area, in alignments or circles. Around Stonehenge, many timber circles were also erected, forming a complex ceremonial landscape.

  The use of copper moved progressively from southeastern Europe in the fifth millennium BC to reach northern and western Europe by the end of the
third millennium BC. Copper is soft, best suited to making ornaments, although daggers and axes were also made from it. The copper axe carried by Ötzi the Iceman and the copper knives of the Amesbury Archer represent the most that can be done with pure copper in terms of practical implements. Nonetheless, familiarity with mining and smelting copper, and eventually casting, was fundamental to the mastery of metals that followed.

  TWO

  CONNECTIONS, RITUALS AND SYMBOLS

  Between 2500 and 800 BC, prehistoric societies north of the Alps became more technologically sophisticated, leading to social and economic systems more complex than those seen during the Stone Age. This begins the second of Thomsen and Worsaae’s three ages: the Bronze Age. Bronze enabled the manufacture of tools, weapons and ornaments in forms hitherto unimaginable, triggering a cascade of changes in transportation, social status and wealth reinforced by other novel materials and practices.

  Today, most people do not know much about bronze, a material used largely for sculptures, church bells and specialized applications to avoid corrosion or sparks. Four thousand years ago, however, it was the industrial metal of choice, the result of experimentation and accumulated knowledge transmitted among metalsmiths throughout Europe. To make bronze requires knowledge of minerals, control of temperature, expertise in casting and the ability to recycle broken and worn-out products. Since bronze does not exist in nature, it represents the earliest example of what today we call materials science.

  Bronze: the first engineered metal

  Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin (sometimes arsenic or lead). Addition of tin to copper makes it much stronger and easier to cast. Moreover, the amount of tin can be varied to make the metal more or less hard depending on the desired use. For example, 10 per cent tin makes very hard bronze, good for weapons, while a milder 6 per cent bronze could be hammered into sheets to make body armour. As a result, the range of objects made from metal expanded dramatically. Their forms and decoration, reflecting the stylistic tastes of their makers, also multiplied.

  The development of bronze 4,000 or more years ago can be compared to the invention of the microchip in the 1950s. Suddenly it was possible to make things that people had not even known they wanted and with a style that reflected their own identity and fashion sense. Different regions could make distinctive forms of weapons and ornaments, and to the joy of archaeologists 4,000 years in the future, these forms changed in response to shifts in taste and technological advances. Bronze could also be combined with traditional materials like wood or ornamental materials like gold and silver to make composite products.

  Making bronze requires copper, and Europe north of the Alps has copper in abundance. It is rarely visible on the surface, so the mining of copper, a relatively limited practice during the Stone Age, started to take place on an industrial scale to meet the demand. Certain regions across temperate Europe became centres for copper mining.1 In the Austrian Alps, the Mitterberg region south of Salzburg emerged as a major centre which produced several tons of copper per year for a number of centuries.2 In this region, small settlements like the one at the Klinglberg that specialized in copper mining were established in defensible positions. At Great Orme in northern Wales, shafts and galleries were dug into the ore-bearing rocks. Other important mines were found in southwestern Ireland, for example at Mount Gabriel on the Mizen peninsula.

  There was a catch, however. Tin is not usually found in the same places as copper. In fact, tin sources can be some distance away from copper ores and are usually very localized. During the Bronze Age, we know that tin deposits were exploited in Cornwall, Brittany and Spain. We have to be impressed by the ability of Bronze Age prospectors to find tin sources, and once they were found, to establish the trade connections to being the copper and tin together in the hands of smiths in central and northern Europe.

  The result is a fascinating archaeological distribution of bronze artefacts across Europe that reflects centres of power and wealth rather than the distribution of raw materials. For example, while the mountains surrounding the Carpathian Basin have abundant copper deposits, there is no tin nearby, yet tremendous numbers of bronze artefacts dating to the second millennium BC have been found in Hungary, Austria and surrounding countries. Even more astonishing is the fact that Denmark lacks local deposits of both copper and tin, but there are probably more Bronze Age metal finds per square kilometre than in any other country north of the Alps.

  Among many remarkable properties of bronze was its suitability for casting in moulds, and prehistoric smiths developed this expertise throughout the second millennium BC. Early open moulds were carved out of soft stones, but these were replaced by two-piece moulds made from stone and clay. Metalsmiths learned to include channels in the moulds into which molten bronze could be poured and through which the air in the mould could escape, which prevented bubbles in the finished product. Clay and wax cores made it possible to produce hollow objects or sockets into which a handle could be inserted. Moulds also permitted mass production: stone moulds could be reused dozens of times, and clay moulds could be formed around a prototype to make identical copies.

  The variety and abundance of objects made by Bronze Age metalsmiths is astonishing. Weapons were in high demand, including daggers, swords, spear-points and many kinds of axe-heads. Axe shapes developed considerably over time. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, smiths continued to make flat axes like those used during previous centuries, only this time using the harder bronze. This was the cause of the initial assignment of Ötzi the Iceman to the Bronze Age, since his flat axe was first presumed to be from bronze rather than pure copper. Axes progressed to a form known as a palstave, which had a ridge halfway between the sharp edge and the blunt end that improved the attachment of a curved handle. Over time, the palstave was replaced by forms in which the handle was inserted into a socket moulded into the end of the axe-head. Thus the handle would not be split by striking a tree or a skull. Another nasty weapon was the halberd, which was like a dagger attached perpendicularly to a long handle.

  Two remarkable Bronze Age objects are the so-called Sun Chariot from Trundholm in Denmark and the Nebra Disc found in southeastern Germany. The Sun Chariot has a moulded bronze horse on a four-wheeled platform pulling a bronze disc about 25 centimetres (10 in.) in diameter which has two additional wheels under it. The disc was plated with gold on one side and is covered with engraved designs. Dated to the second half of the second millennium BC, it was possibly made somewhere in central Europe. The Trundholm Sun Chariot currently appears on the Danish 1,000-krone banknotes issued in 2009.3

  The Nebra Disc was found in a hoard of bronze objects by illegal metal-detectorists and was obtained by archaeologists after a sting operation. Thus its context is far from secure. Nonetheless, there is a strong consensus among archaeologists that the Nebra Disc is genuine and dates to the middle of the second millennium BC.4 On a bronze disc about 32 centimetres (12 in.) in diameter, gold appliqués have been affixed. They clearly represent celestial bodies, including the sun, different stages of the moon and stars such as the Pleiades. The Nebra Disc is yet another indication of interest in the movement of celestial bodies by the inhabitants of the Barbarian World.

  Everyday life in the Bronze Age

  Despite the emergence of bronze metallurgy, everyday life for most people north of the Alps did not change much from previous millennia. Agricultural societies using the major domestic species of cereals, legumes and livestock flourished everywhere they could find fertile soil and ample pastures. Wheat and barley were the most widely cultivated plants, made into bread, porridge and beer. Legumes such as broad beans and peas were an important complement to cereals. Cattle, pigs, sheep and goats were kept in varying proportions from region to region, and the importance of milk and wool continued to grow. In many regions, herds of animals began to form the foundation for wealth rather than simply being household possessions. Well-trained oxen or productive dairy cows could be exchanged for commodities or loa
ned to clients. It is not entirely clear when tamed horses, domesticated in central Asia during the fourth millennium BC, entered the Barbarian World for riding, although horse finds in bog offerings suggest that they were present by the end of the second millennium BC.

  Bronze and gold ‘sun chariot’ from Trundholm, Denmark.

  The archaeological record reveals a tremendous diversity of Bronze Age houses and settlements in Europe north of the Alps. A small farmstead with one or more houses, presumably the residence of one or more families, is the general form. They would have been surrounded by their fields and pastures. In general, these are dispersed across the landscape. More clustered settlements, what archaeologists would call ‘nucleated’, are rare.

  In Denmark, the standard Bronze Age form was a long timber house with interior posts supporting the roof.5 There is evidence that part of the interior space of these Danish houses was used for sheltering livestock. This practice is seen more clearly in the Netherlands, where longhouses were also the standard form and were clearly divided into stalls for animals and living space for people. The farmstead site at Elp was occupied repeatedly over several centuries, after being intermittently abandoned.

  Bronze Age settlements in central Europe were quite varied. At Lovčičky in Moravia, substantial rectangular timber houses date to the late second millennium BC. Around the same time in Bavaria, a settlement at Hascherkeller consists of several compounds demarcated with ditches.6 Wall daub and large pits interpreted as cellars point to the presence of houses, but unfortunately their outlines were eroded away. At a wetland settlement along the Federsee in southern Germany called Wasserburg Buchau, two phases of Late Bronze Age settlement were identified during excavations in the 1920s. The first consisted of 38 square houses, each side about 5 metres (16 ft) long, situated around an open plaza, while the second was composed of nine larger structures with a U-shaped plan.