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80-612: Chronological history The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age , or Scandinavian Bronze Age ) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c.  2000/1750–500 BC . The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (the Scandinavian Corded Ware variant) and Bell Beaker culture , as well as from influence that came from Central Europe . This influence most likely came from people similar to those of

160-540: A "Homeric burial" due to its close similarity to contemporary elite burials in Greece and Italy. In the Nordic Bronze Age, both agriculture (including cultivation of wheat , millet , and barley ) and animal husbandry (keeping of domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs) were practiced. Fishing and hunting were also sources of food, which included shellfish, deer, elk, and other wild animals. There

240-660: A decade or two), and therefore used in creating chronologies. Hoards can also be considered an indicator of the relative degree of unrest in ancient societies. Thus conditions in 5th and 6th century Britain spurred the burial of hoards, of which the most famous are the Hoxne Hoard , Suffolk; the Mildenhall Treasure , the Fishpool Hoard , Nottinghamshire, the Water Newton hoard, Cambridgeshire, and

320-609: A migration of people from the north or northeast and the emergence of stone cist burials, leading to the start of the Nordic Bronze Age. The study found that the LNBA phase III cluster forms the predominant source in supervised ancestry modelling for future populations in Iron Age Scandinavia and Viking Age Scandinavia, as well as non-Scandinavian populations with Scandinavian or Germanic association, for example Anglo-Saxons and Goths . These findings are in accordance with

400-466: A number of Swedish kings who lived in the 6th century, such as Eadgils , Ohthere and Onela , as well as a number of Geatish kings . Some of these kings were in all likelihood historic kings, although the sources sometimes give contradictory information, such as the death of Ottar . See Mythological kings of Sweden and Semi-legendary kings of Sweden . In those days the kings were warlords rather than kings as we understand that title today, and what

480-625: A prow in both ends (the shape we recognise as Viking ships). This word Suiones is the same name as in Anglo-Saxon Sweon whose country in Angle-Saxon was called Sweoland ( Svealand ). In Beowulf , this tribe is also called Sweoðeod , from which the name Sweden is derived, and the country has the name Sweorice , which is an old form, in Old English (Anglo-Saxon), of the present Swedish name for Sweden, Sverige . In

560-732: A sign or symbol akin to the Hittite hieroglyph meaning ‘divine’ found among the rock carvings at Fossum in Sweden, associated with possible images of divinities. According to Kristiansen & Larsson (2005), "From the eighteenth century BC until the beginning of the fifteenth century BC networks were operating between the Hittites, the steppe and the Carpathians, with direct link to northern Europe. During this period basic institutions were transmitted north in exchange for amber and horses, while at

640-477: A trading post for people from Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region, as well as a cult centre and seat of a ruling elite. Associated with Nordic Bronze Age settlements are burial cairns, mounds and cemeteries, with interments including oak coffins and urn burials; other settlement associations include rock carvings, or bronze hoards in wetland sites. Some burial mounds are especially large and, with respect to

720-629: A wetter, colder climate and a more radical climate change began around 650 BC. A June 2015 study published in Nature found the people of the Nordic Bronze Age to be closely genetically related to the Corded Ware culture , the Beaker culture and the Unetice culture. People of the Nordic Bronze Age and Corded Ware show the highest lactose tolerance among Bronze Age Europeans. The study suggested that

800-736: Is also known from Kültepe in Central Anatolia, dating from c.  1900 BC , concurrent with the appearance of steppe horses in this region. In contrast, chariot wheels from the Sintashta culture and Andronovo cultures near the Urals had more than four spokes. Miniature spoked-wheel models have been found in the Carpathian Basin dating to the 20th–19th centuries BC, and cheek-pieces are known there from c. 2000 BC. According to Maran (2020, 2014) chariots probably originated "in

880-406: Is evidence that oxen were used as draught animals; domesticated dogs were common, but horses were rarer and probably status symbols. Scandinavian Bronze Age sites present a rich and well-preserved legacy of bronze and gold objects. These valuable metals were all imported, primarily from Central Europe, but they were often crafted locally and the craftsmanship and metallurgy of the Nordic Bronze Age

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960-749: Is marked by the Funnelbeaker culture (4000–2700 BC), followed by the Pitted Ware culture (3200–2300 BC). Around 2800 BC, metal was introduced in Scandinavia in the Corded Ware culture . In much of Scandinavia, a Battle Axe culture became prominent, known from some 3,000 graves. The period 2500–500 BC also left many visible remains to modern times, most notably the many thousands rock carvings ( petroglyphs ) in western Sweden at Tanumshede and in Norway at Alta . A more advanced culture came with

1040-652: Is the size of a megaron in contemporary Mycenean palaces". Larger settlements are also known (such as Hallunda and Apalle in Sweden and Voldtofte in Denmark), as well as fortified sites, specialist workshops for metalwork and ceramic production, and dedicated cult houses. Settlements were geographically located on higher ground, and tended to be concentrated near the sea. Certain settlements functioned as regional centres of power, trade, craft production, and ritual activity. The Bronze Age fortified town of Hünenburg bei Watenstedt in northern Germany (12th c. BC) has been described as

1120-552: Is today eastern Svealand . It is unknown when it happened and it probably happened several times, but when sources become more reliable the territories of the Swedish kings include Västergötland and other parts of Götaland . This stage is by some considered to be the beginning of Sweden, as we know it today. Hoard Hoards provide a useful method of providing dates for artifacts through association as they can usually be assumed to be contemporary (or at least assembled during

1200-646: The Ancylus Lake in turn named after Ancylus fluviatilis , a small fresh-water gastropod from this time. At this time, Denmark and Sweden were joined and the " Baltic Sea " of the age was a fresh water lake called the Ancylus Lake . The Ancylus age is followed by formation of the Littorina Sea and the Litorina Stage (named after the Littorina littorea mollusc) at around 6200 BC. With

1280-518: The Battle-Axe culture . This new people with Steppe-derived ancestry advanced up to Uppland and the Oslofjord , and they probably provided the language that was the ancestor of the modern Scandinavian languages. This new culture had the battle axe as a status symbol, and were cattle herders. However, soon a new invention would arrive, that would usher in a time of cultural advance in Scandinavia,

1360-784: The Cuerdale Hoard , Lancashire, all preserved in the British Museum . Prudence Harper of the Metropolitan Museum of Art voiced some practical reservations about hoards at the time of the Soviet exhibition of Scythian gold in New York City in 1975. Writing of the so-called "Maikop treasure" (acquired from three separate sources by three museums early in the twentieth century, the Berliner Museen ,

1440-590: The Don - Volga interfluve , in the context of pre-Sintashta cultures (such as the Abashevo culture ). According to Kristiansen and Larsson (2005), "foreign origins were most consciously demonstrated in the formation of the Nordic Bronze Age Culture from 1500 BC onwards, basing itself on a Minoan/Mycenaean template." During the 15th–14th centuries BC the Nordic Bronze Age and Mycenaean Greece shared

1520-517: The Fosna-Hensbacka culture , who lived mostly along the shores of the thriving forests. Utilizing fire, boats and stone tools enabled these Stone Age inhabitants to survive life in northern Europe . The northern hunter/gatherers followed the herds and the salmon runs, moving south during the winters, and moving north again during the summers. These early peoples followed cultural traditions similar to those practiced throughout other regions in

1600-708: The Germanic peoples . The Nordic Bronze Age is a successor of the Corded Ware culture in southern Scandinavia and Northern Germany . It appears to represent a fusion of elements from the Corded Ware culture and the preceding Pitted Ware culture . The decisive factor that triggered the change from the Chalcolithic Battle Axe culture into the Nordic Bronze Age is often believed to have been metallurgical influence as well as general cultural influence from Central Europe , similar in custom to those of

1680-497: The Hallstatt culture . Copper was imported from Central Europe and Italy. There is no coherent knowledge about the Nordic Bronze Age religion, its pantheon , world view, and how it was practised. Written sources are lacking, but archaeological finds draw a vague and fragmented picture of the religious practices and the nature of the religion in this period. Only some possible sects and only certain possible tribes are known. Some of

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1760-630: The Kongemose culture lived off these animals. Like their predecessors, they also hunted seals and fished in the rich waters. North of the Kongemose people, lived other hunter-gatherers in most of southern Norway and Sweden, called the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures , descendants of the Fosna and Hensbacka cultures. These cultures still hunted, in the end of the 6th millennium BC when the Kongemose culture

1840-512: The Last Glacial Maximum . The migration routes, cultural networks, and the genetic makeup of the first Scandinavians remain elusive and several hypotheses exist based on archaeology, climate modeling, and genetics. Analysis of genomes of early Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers (SHGs) from the cave Stora Förvar on Stora Karlsö , Stora Bjers on Gotland, Hummervikholmen in Norway showed that migrations followed two routes: one from

1920-739: The Nordic Bronze Age (c. 2000/1750–500 BC). It was followed by the Iron Age in the 4th century BC. The pre-history of Scandinavia begins at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, following the last glacial period 's receding Fenno-Scandian ice sheet . Parts of Denmark , Scania and the Norwegian coast line were free from ice around 13,000 BC, and around 10,000 BC the rim of ice was around Dalsland , Västergötland and Östergötland . It wasn't until 7000 BC that all of Svealand and

2000-667: The Sintashta culture , and its succeeding Andronovo culture , represented an eastward migration of Corded Ware peoples. In the June 2015 study, the remains of nine individuals of the Northern Bronze Age and earlier Neolithic cultures in Denmark and Sweden from ca. 2850 BC to 500 BC, were analyzed. Among the Neolithic individuals, the three males were found to be carrying haplogroup I1 , R1a1a1 and R1b1a1a2a1a1 . Among

2080-595: The Tumulus culture and Mycenaean Greece . The Nordic Bronze Age exported amber through the Amber Road , and imported metals in return. During the time of the Nordic Bronze Age, metals, such as copper , tin and gold , were imported into Scandinavia on a massive scale. Copper was imported from Sardinia , Iberia and Cyprus . The trade network was briefly disrupted during the Late Bronze Age collapse in

2160-802: The Unetice culture , since they brought customs that were derived from Unetice or from local interpretations of the Unetice culture located in North Western Germany. The metallurgical influences from Central Europe are especially noticeable. The Bronze Age in Scandinavia can be said to begin shortly after 2000 BC with the introduction and use of bronze tools, followed by a more systematic adoption of bronze metalworking technology from 1750 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age maintained close trade links with Mycenaean Greece , with whom it shares several striking similarities. Some cultural similarities between

2240-415: The Unetice culture . Oscar Montelius , who coined the term used for the period, divided it into six distinct sub-periods in his piece Om tidsbestämning inom bronsåldern med särskilt avseende på Skandinavien ("On Bronze Age dating with particular focus on Scandinavia") published in 1885, which is still in wide use. His relative chronology has held up well against radiocarbon dating, with the exception that

2320-574: The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology , and the Metropolitan Museum, New York), Harper warned: By the time "hoards" or "treasures" reach museums from the antiquities market, it often happens that miscellaneous objects varying in date and style have become attached to the original group. Such "dealer's hoards" can be highly misleading, but better understanding of archaeology amongst collectors, museums and

2400-428: The 12th century BC. Evidence for horse-drawn chariots appears in Scandinavia c.  1700 BC , around the same time or earlier than it appears in Greece. In both cases the chariots appear to have come from the region of the Carpathian Basin or the western steppe. Cheek-pieces and whip handles in Denmark dating from this time feature curvilinear 'wave-band' designs that are also found on contemporary artefacts from

2480-605: The 6th century the Ostrogoth Jordanes mentioned a tribe named Suehans which is the same name as Tacitus' Suiones . He also unwittingly described the same tribe by a different name, the Suetidi which is the same as an old name for Sweden, Svíþjóð and the English Sweoðeod . Several sources, such as Beowulf , Ynglingatal , Ynglinga saga , Saxo Grammaticus and Historia Norwegiae , mention

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2560-523: The Amber Road and other trade routes that were important for the continuous prosperity of their society. Many of the stone carvings from the Nordic Bronze Age depict boats in great numbers as well as groups of armed men manning the boats. Finds such as the Hjortspring boat , among others, give further credence to the theory that Bronze Age people in Scandinavia relied heavily on naval dominance of

2640-529: The Bronze Age. During the Nordic Bronze Age from c. 1700–500 BC, an advanced civilization appears in Denmark, parts of Sweden and parts of Norway. They manufactured bronze tools and weapons as well as jewellery and artifacts of bronze and gold. All the bronze and gold was imported and it has been assumed that the civilization was founded in amber trade, through contacts with Central European and Mediterranean cultures. The period between 2300 and 500 BC

2720-553: The Carpathian Basin and Greece, including in the elite shaft graves at Mycenae. These designs subsequently appear on Nordic Bronze Age metalwork, including on the gold disc of the Trundholm Sun Chariot . Engraved depictions of chariots appear in Scandinavian rock art from c.  1700 BC onwards, as they do on engraved stone stelae from Mycenae. The introduction of the chariot in Scandinavia coincided with

2800-532: The Ertebølle culture, which had maintained a Mesolithic lifestyle for about 1500 years after farming arrived in Central Europe. Tribes along the coasts of Svealand , Götaland , Åland , northeastern Denmark and southern Norway learnt new technologies that became the Pitted Ware culture (3200–2300 BC). The Pitted Ware culture then developed along Sweden's east coast as a return to a hunting economy in

2880-572: The LNBA phase I cluster belonged to haplogroup R1a. LNBA phase II - Dated to 4,300–3,700 cal. bp and archaeologically associated with the Flint Dagger period (c. 2300-2000 BC). The males in the LNBA phase II cluster belonged to haplogroup R1b. LNBA phase III - A final stage from around 4,000 cal. bp onwards, in which a distinct cluster of Scandinavian individuals dominated by males with I1 Y-haplogroups appears. Archaeologically associated with

2960-661: The Late Bronze Age which she calls the Lady of the Battle and of the Horse. Sacrifices , including of animals, weapons, jewellery, and humans, often had a strong connection to bodies of water. Water bodies such as bogs, ponds, streams, and lakes were often used as ceremonial and holy places for sacrifices and many artifacts have been found in such locations. Ritual instruments such as bronze lurs have been uncovered, especially in

3040-412: The Nordic Bronze Age period consisted mainly of single farmsteads, which usually consisted of a longhouse plus additional four-post built structures ( helms ). Longhouses were initially two aisled, and after c.  1300 BC three aisled structure became normal. Some longhouses were exceptionally large (up to about 500 m in area), and have been described as "chiefly halls", "the sitting area of which

3120-518: The Nordic Bronze Age, the Sintashta / Andronovo culture and peoples of the Rigveda have also been detected. The Nordic Bronze Age region included part of northern Germany, and some scholars also include sites in what is now Estonia , Finland and Pomerania as part of its cultural sphere . The people of the Nordic Bronze Age were actively engaged in the export of amber , and imported metals in return, becoming expert metalworkers. With respect to

3200-605: The amount of gold and bronze in them, extraordinarily rich for this time period. Examples of prominent burial mounds include the Håga mound and Kivik King's Grave in Sweden, and the Lusehøj in Denmark. A minimum of 50,000 burial mounds were constructed between 1500 and 1150 BC in Denmark alone. Oak coffin burials dating from the 14th–13th centuries BC contained well-preserved mummified bodies, along with their clothing and burial goods. The bodies were intentionally mummified by watering

3280-692: The archaeological and linguistic associations of the Nordic Bronze Age with early Germanic speakers. Scandinavian prehistory Chronological history The Scandinavian Peninsula became ice-free around the end of the last ice age . The Nordic Stone Age begins at that time, with the Upper Paleolithic Ahrensburg culture , giving way to the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers by the 7th millennium BC ( Maglemosian culture c. 7500–6000 BC, Kongemose culture c. 6000–5200 BC, Ertebølle culture c. 5300–3950 BC). The Neolithic stage

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3360-560: The best clues come from tumuli , elaborate artifacts , votive offerings , and rock carvings scattered across Northern Europe. There are many rock carving sites from this period. The rock carvings have been dated through comparison with depicted artifacts, for example bronze axes and swords. Many rock carvings are uncanny in resemblance to those found in the Corded Ware culture . There are also numerous Nordic Stone Age rock carvings, those of northern Scandinavia mostly portray elk . Many finds, especially rock carvings, indicate sun worship

3440-647: The burial mounds to create a bog-like, oxygen-free environment within the graves. This practice may have been stimulated by cultural influence from Egypt, as it coincided with the appearance of Egyptian artefacts in Scandinavia and the appearance of Baltic amber in Egypt (e.g. in the tomb of Tutankhamun ). However, intentional mummification within oak coffin burials has also been noted in Britain at an earlier date (c. 2300 BC). The Late Bronze Age King's Grave of Seddin in northern Germany (9th century BC) has been described as

3520-595: The entire zone between the Carpathian Basin and the Southern Ural", rather than just in the Ural region, and spread southwards from there to Greece and the Near East. In the case of Greece this is given some support by analyses of skeletal material from the shaft graves at Mycenae, which also indicate connections to the north. Chechushkov & Epimakhov (2018) suggest that chariot technology developed before 2000 BC in

3600-570: The far-north areas, including modern Finland, Russia, and across the Bering Strait into the northernmost strip of North America (containing portions of today's Alaska and Canada) The Maglemosian people lived in forest and wetland environments using fishing and hunting tools made from wood, bone and flint microliths . A characteristic of the culture are the sharply edged microliths of flintstone which were used for spear heads and arrowheads. Microliths finds are more sparse from c. 6000 BC and

3680-432: The first human colonization of this new land (the territory of modern Sweden was partly under water though, and with radically different coastlines) during the Ancylus and Litorina ages begins the Nordic Stone Age . In recent years there have been archaeological finds in caves which strongly suggest human inhabitation of Scandinavia before the Weichsel glaciation, at least 50,000 years ago, presumably by Neanderthals . As

3760-430: The general public is gradually making them less common and more easily identified. Hoards may be of precious metals , coinage , tools or less commonly, pottery or glass vessels. There are various classifications depending on the nature of the hoard: A founder's hoard contains broken or unfit metal objects, ingots , casting waste, and often complete objects, in a finished state. These were probably buried with

3840-467: The helmets. Despite the importance of weapons in their society, archaeological discoveries suggest that intrasocietal violence was not particularly common in the Nordic Bronze Age, especially not when compared to contemporary European Bronze Age cultures. The people of the Nordic Bronze Age seem to instead have been directing their military efforts outwards, likely against people of neighbouring cultures, and are believed to have participated in battles along

3920-419: The ice receded reindeer grazed on the plains of Denmark and southernmost Sweden. This was the land of the Ahrensburg culture , whose members hunted over territories 100,000 km vast and lived in teepees on the tundra . On this land there was little forest but arctic white birch and rowan , but the taiga slowly appeared. The Scandinavian peninsula was the last part of Europe to be colonized after

4000-445: The individuals from the Nordic Bronze Age, two males carried I1 , while two carried R1b1a1a2 . A 2024 study published in Nature analyzed around 40 individuals from Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Southern Scandinavia. The study found evidence for three distinct genetic clusters: LNBA phase I - Dated to 4,600 and 4,300 cal. bp and archaeologically associated with the Battle Axe culture and early Single Grave culture. The males in

4080-419: The intention to be recovered at a later time. A merchant's hoard is a collection of various functional items which, it is conjectured, were buried by a traveling merchant for safety, with the intention of later retrieval. A personal hoard is a collection of personal objects buried for safety in times of unrest. A hoard of loot is a buried collection of spoils from raiding and is more in keeping with

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4160-441: The introduction of socketed spearheads, whose ultimate origin Vandkilde (2014) ascribes to the Seima-Turbino culture. Cheek-pieces and belt hooks adorned with horse heads are suggested to have originated from the Carpathian Basin, making their way into Scandinavia. Chariot wheels in Scandinavia are depicted with four spokes, as in Mycenaean Greece and the Carpathian Basin. A depiction of a two-wheeled vehicle with four-spoked wheels

4240-510: The large stone burial monuments known as stone ships . Those sites suggest that ships and seafaring played an important role in the culture at large. The depicted ships, most likely represents sewn plank built canoes used for warfare, fishing and trade. These ship types may have their origin as far back as the neolithic period and they continue into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as exemplified by the Hjortspring boat . 3,600-year-old bronze axes and other tools made from Cypriot copper have been found in

4320-445: The largest number of Bronze Age rock carvings in Europe . The west coast of Sweden is home to around 1,500 recorded rock engraving sites, with more being discovered every year. When the rock carvings were made, the area was the coastline; but it is now 25 meters above sea level . The engravings in the region depict everyday life, weapons, human figures, fishing nets, ships, chariots, plows, the sun, deer, bulls, horses, and birds. By far,

4400-434: The mid-4th millennium BC (see the Alvastra pile-dwelling ). The Funnelbeaker culture population was of Neolithic Anatolian origin. It is not known what language these early Scandinavians spoke. It might have been similar to Basque, due to the distribution of the monuments by early megalith builders. Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, they were overrun by new groups who many scholars think spoke Proto-Indo-European ,

4480-420: The modern coastal regions of northeastern Sweden were free of ice, although the huge weight of the ice sheet had caused isostatic depression of Fennoscandia , placing large parts of eastern Sweden and western Finland underwater. In Scandinavia, the time following the last ice age period begins at circa 9500 BC and is called at first the Yoldia Stage , after the Yoldia Sea , then the Ancylus Stage , after

4560-471: The most dominant theme is human figures and ships, especially ships — 10,000 of which have recorded. The typical ship depicts a crew of six to thirteen. Rock carvings in the late Bronze Age, and even the early Iron Age, often depict conflict, power, and mobility. The culture of the Nordic Bronze Age was that of a warrior culture, with a strong emphasis on weapons and status. Helle Vandkilde of Aarhus University, in her publications from 1995, describes most men of

4640-422: The nature of the goods themselves (from animal bones to diminutive artifacts), the places buried (being often associated with watery places, burial mounds and boundaries), and the treatment of the deposit (careful or haphazard placement and whether ritually destroyed/broken). Valuables dedicated to the use of a deity (and thus classifiable as "votive") were not always permanently abandoned. Valuable objects given to

4720-413: The number and density of metal deposits, the Nordic Bronze Age became the richest culture in Europe during its existence. Iron metallurgy began to be practised in Scandinavia during the later Bronze Age, from at least the 9th century BC. Around the 5th century BC, the Nordic Bronze Age was succeeded by the Pre-Roman Iron Age and the Jastorf culture . The Nordic Bronze Age is often considered ancestral to

4800-444: The number and density of metal deposits, the Nordic Bronze Age became the richest culture in Europe. More Bronze Age swords have also been found in Denmark than anywhere else in Europe. Uniform crucibles found at metal workshop sites further indicate the mass production of certain metal artefacts. The west coast of Sweden , namely Bohuslän , has the largest concentration of Bronze Age rock carvings in Scandinavia; and Scandinavia has

4880-833: The opposite, that snakes were the enemy of the Sun. During the day, the Sun is thought to be transported by horse or by boat, then at night embarks a night ship to be transported in at night, switching for a day ship or horse afterwards, repeating this process every night and day in its journey. A pair of male twin gods are believed to have been worshiped in close conjunction with the sun goddess and were associated with objects such as lurs, horned helmets, and weapons, particularly axes and swords. Where sacrificial artifacts have been buried, they are often found in pairs and paired objects, like boats, are very common on rock carvings. The horned helmets found in sacrificial deposits are thought to be purely ceremonial and to have no practical function, i.e. in actual warfare. The Divine Twins are thought to be

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4960-500: The period as having followed a warrior ethos. More than 70% of burials dating to the Nordic Bronze Age contain metal objects of various kinds, the most common objects being swords and daggers. It is noted that the people of the Nordic Bronze Age also placed great importance on helmets of intricate design, which they put much effort into making. However, not all of the weapons and armour of the Nordic Bronze Age were used for warfare. Some of them are believed to have been ceremonial, especially

5040-469: The period is said to transit into the Kongemose culture (c. 6000–5200 BC). The finds from this period are characterised by long flintstone flakes which were used for making the characteristic rhombic arrowheads, scrapers, drills, awls and toothed blades. During the 6th millennium BC, southern Scandinavia was clad in lush forests of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests . In these forests roamed animals such as aurochs , wisent , moose and red deer . Now,

5120-438: The period's start is closer to 1700 BC than 1800 BC, as Montelius suggested. For Central Europe a different system developed by Paul Reinecke is commonly used, as each area has its own artifact types and archaeological periods. A broader subdivision is the Early Bronze Age, between 1700 BC and 1100 BC, and the Late Bronze Age, 1100 BC to 550 BC. These divisions and periods are followed by the Pre-Roman Iron Age . Settlement in

5200-476: The popular idea of " buried treasure ". Votive hoards are different from the above in that they are often taken to represent permanent abandonment, in the form of purposeful deposition of items, either all at once or over time for ritual purposes, without intent to recover them . Furthermore, votive hoards need not be "manufactured" goods, but can include organic amulets and animal remains. Votive hoards are often distinguished from more functional deposits by

5280-402: The protectors of the sun, ensuring its safe passage through the night so it can rise again in the morning and make its usual path across the daylit sky, repeating this every night and day. Jeanette Varberg has proposed, in light of archaeological evidence pairing horse gear with women's ornaments (and wagons), that there may have been a goddess associated with war and horses that was worshiped in

5360-419: The region of Denmark and western Sweden. Lurs are also depicted in several rock carvings and are believed to have been used in ceremonies. Nordic Bronze Age religion and mythology is believed to be mostly Indo-European in character and to itself be the ancestor to Norse mythology and religion and wider Germanic mythology and religion. Thousands of rock carvings from the Nordic Bronze Age depict ships, and

5440-413: The region. Researchers note that there is great continuity in the way that ships continuously had a strong importance in Scandinavian society. The boat building and seafaring traditions that were established during the Nordic Bronze Age lasted throughout the ages and were further developed upon during the Iron Age . Some archaeologists and historians believe that the culmination of this sea-focused culture

5520-404: The same time the institution of chariotry was transmitted south from the steppe". Trade and cultural contacts have also been noted between the Nordic Bronze Age and New Kingdom Egypt . The contacts during the Late Bronze Age (period IV–VI) were more intensive with Central Europe and Italy. A lot of similarities are seen in art and iconography between different continental Urnfield cultures and

5600-515: The south and another from the northeast along the ice-free Norwegian Atlantic coast. These groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a population more diverse than contemporaneous central and western European hunter-gatherers . In the 7th millennium BC, when the reindeer and their hunters had moved for northern Scandinavia, forests had been established in the land. A culture called the Maglemosian culture lived in Denmark and southern Sweden, and north of them, in Norway and most of southern Sweden,

5680-407: The use of similar flange-hilted swords, as well as select elements of shared lifestyle, such as campstools, drinking vessels decorated with solar symbols, and tools for body care including razors and tweezers. This "Mycenaean package", including spiral decoration, was directly adopted in southern Scandinavia after 1500 BC, creating "a specific and selective Nordic variety of Mycenaean high culture" that

5760-486: The waters surrounding their region in order to secure trade and safety. Ancient DNA and archaeological evidence indicates that people from the Nordic Bronze Age sphere were involved in the conflict at the Tollense valley battlefield in northern Germany (13th century BC), "the largest excavated and archaeologically verifiable battle site of this age in the world". The Nordic Bronze Age maintained intimate trade links with

5840-490: Was apparently replicated in the Nordic Bronze Age. However this dual organization may have also been part of a shared Indo-European tradition. Other similarities have been noted in artistic iconography from both regions and its associated cosmology. Some of the contacts between Scandinavia and Greece were probably conveyed through Central Europe. Cultural connections with the Hittites have also been suggested. These include

5920-471: Was central to the religion. The Sun , when personified, was conceived of as female and associated with various objects, like the swastika , sun cross , and boats, and animals such as horses, birds, snakes, and fish (see also Sól ), though snakes may only have been associated with the Sun by one group of religious specialists, as seen on their razors; otherwise the myths depicted on rock carvings seem to indicate

6000-510: Was not adopted in the intermediate region of Central Europe. These similarities can not have come about without intimate contacts, probably through the travels of warriors and mercenaries. Archaeological evidence further indicates the existence in both regions of shared institutions linked to warriors. Specifically, the dual organisation of leadership between a Wanax (ritual chief) and a Lawagetas (warrior chief) in Mycenaean Greece

6080-464: Was of a high standard. The lost-wax casting method was used to produce artefacts such as the Trundholm Sun Chariot and the Langstrup belt plate . The archaeological legacy also encompasses locally crafted wool and wooden objects. During the 15th and 14th centuries BC, southern Scandinavia produced and deposited more elaborate bronzes in graves and hoards than any other region of Europe. As regards

6160-681: Was replaced by the Ertebølle culture in the south. During the 5th millennium BC, the Ertebølle culture took up pottery from the Linear Pottery culture in the south, whose members had long cultivated the land and kept animals. About 4000 BC south Scandinavia up to River Dalälven in Sweden became part of the Funnelbeaker culture (4000–2700 BC), a culture that originated in southern parts of Europe and slowly advanced up through today's Uppland , Sweden. In southern Scandinavia it replaced

6240-496: Was the Viking Age . The Nordic Bronze Age was initially characterized by a warm climate that began with a climate change around 2700 BC. The climate was comparable to that of present-day central Germany and northern France and permitted a fairly dense population and good opportunities for farming; for example, grapes were grown in Scandinavia at this time. A minor change in climate occurred between 850 BC and 760 BC, introducing

6320-545: Was the most intensive petroglyph -carving period in Scandinavia, with carvings depicting agricultural activities, animals, nature, hunts, ships, ceremonies, warfare, etc.. Petroglyphs with themes of a sexual nature have also been found in Bohuslän , dating from 800 to 500 BC. Tacitus (about 98 AD) described a nation called " Suiones " living on an island in the Ocean . These Suiones had ships that were peculiar because they had

6400-553: Was to become Sweden, Norway and Denmark in a modern sense, were a number of petty kingdoms whose borders changed constantly as the kings killed each other, and had the local assemblies accept them as kings. The politics of these early kingdoms are retold in Beowulf (see e.g. the semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars ) and the Norse sagas . One of the most powerful kings was the Swedish king who according to early sources only ruled what

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