Bronze Age Religion Research Papers (original) (raw)

2025, BAEC

Depuis le IX e congrès International d'Études Celtiques qui s'est déroulé à Paris en 1991, notre association s'attache à diffuser les résultats des recherches scientifiques sur les peuples celtes de l'Antiquité au Moyen-Âge. Elle regroupe des universitaires, des chercheurs indépendants et des amateurs éclairés. Nos activités incluent la publication d'un bulletin de liaison ainsi que l'organisation de conférences et de voyages d'étude. Le mot « Amis » montre qu'il s'agit de connaissances sur un ensemble de peuples que nous considérons comme constitutif de notre culture et de notre identité. Le professeur Venceslas Kruta, créateur de notre association et son président emblématique jusqu'en 2019, écrit que la curiosité, la passion du savoir et de savoir sont les moteurs essentiels du progrès scientifique. C'est dans cet esprit d'ouverture que nous désirons poursuivre notre action. Certains s'engagent pour que les monuments anciens soient préservés, restaurés et réinvestis par le public. Notre mission est de donner des clés pour mieux comprendre les traces du passé celtique : monuments, écrits, images, afin que le public averti puisse devenir un gardien vigilant de ce trésor.

2025, Populär Arkeologi

"Nyheten om att farao Thutmosis II:s grav upptäckts blev en världssensation. Egyptologen Daniel Henningsson har tagit en närmare titt på det senaste fyndet från Konungarnas dal."

2025, Marcigny C. et Mordant C. (dir.), L’âge du Bronze en France (2500 à 800 avant notre ère). Synthèses thématiques, Paris, Inrap et CNRS, Recherches archéologiques 29

Gods, heroes & religion during European Bronze Age

2025, Vägar till en alternativ arkeologi: Det förflutna som motmakt, myt och ritual

C-uppsats i arkeologi: utforskar arkeologins roll i en tid av social, existentiell och ekologisk kris

2025

H. Meller, Gold aus dem Zentrum der Macht. Der Goldfund von Dieskau (Bornhöck). In: H. Meller/K. Gärtner (Hrsg.), Schönheit, Macht und Tod II. 275 Funde aus dem Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Halle [Saale] 2023) 260–261.

2025, Davide Camboni (a cura di), L'acqua a Vallermosa nella vita, nel lavoro, nel sacro, Comune di Vallermosa - Regione Autonoma della Sardegna

I templi a pozzo, eretti a protezione di fonti e pozzi, testimoniano l'importanza centrale dell'acqua nella vita quotidiana e religiosa delle comunità nuragiche. La loro monumentalità, così come la continuità d'uso in epoca punica, romana... more

2025, Zborník Slovenského Národného Múzea, Archeológia

Bound Pendants from the Roman period in Sládkovičovo and Závod. The aim of this paper is to determine the types of minerals used in the construction of so called bound pendants from Sládkovičovo and Závod (SW Slovakia – Roman period Barbaricum) and the composition of the materials of the their construction frame, and briefly contextualize them within the cultural and historical context. Traditional methods of mineral identification in bound pendants have relied predominantly on macroscopic observations, often lacking precise verification. To address this, Raman microspectroscopy was utilized to accurately determine the types of minerals. Furthermore, surface composition analysis was conducted using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) to examine the frames of the pendants, a technique that is infrequently applied and typically described only through macroscopic observation in existing literature. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the material composition and cultural significance of bound pendants in the Roman-period Barbaricum, highlighting the importance of precise
analytical techniques in the study of archaeological artefacts.

2024

Nova referència a una inscripció perduda (CIL II 3668) .

2024, Zborník SNM

T e submitted text is an appendix to a previous
article by the author (Jelínek 2022a), where he elaborated on theories of Bronze Age religion by Slovak researcher J.
Paulík. T e current contribution further explores the question of dating and identif cation of a hybrid vessel fragment,
which J. Paulík considered as a “general symbol of the bronze Age religion”. In the study, we of er a more modest interpretation, i.e. that it is a potential import of a hybrid zoomorphic vessel from the area of the lower Danube, from the
cultural environment of the so-called Žuto Brdo – Gârla Mare culture. We also critically re-evaluate interpretations of
authors who analyzed this culture’s hybrid vessel phenomenon. Finally, based on iconographic analysis and comparative
Indo-European mythology, we interpret it as a female mythological being, or the hypostasis of a goddess whose domain
includes life-giving moisture and fertility, but also safe passage into the af erlife.

2024, https://www.mrosborne.co.uk/authors-blog/wescott

A critique of William Wynn Wescott's 1906 comparative lecture on serpent symbolism to the Bradford Lodge of the Order of Light.

2024, IN: Jindřich Šteffl (eds.): Hradiště Hradec u Levína. Výsledky archeologického výzkumu (2022-2023) Teplice 2023.

[EN] The archaeological record indicates that in Central Europe during (at least the second half of) the Bronze Age, the sun deity was perceived in the form of a (young) woman closely associated with the afterlife, the daily journey... more

2024, E. Borgna (ed.), Nature and function of bronze deposition between Europe and the Mediterranean: Hoards of the Late Bronze Age. West & East Monografie, 5. Trieste 2024, 19-40

Although fragmentation is a distinctive feature of Late Bronze Age hoards, little research into scrapping has been carried out so far. The article reviews the most important aspects of fragmentation in Late Bronze Age hoards and discusses a number of characteristic conclusions which are drawn from the archaeological evidence. Recurring patterns in the archaeological record evidently reflect manifold facets of hoarding, both in economic
as in religious terms. In contrast, patterns in the way of interpreting hoards rather seem to mirror preconceptions of what the Bronze Age world would have looked like. A less dogmatic approach in explaining fragmentation in Late Bronze Age hoards is suggested.

2024, Antiquarium X

26 aprile 2024 - Presentazione del volume ANTIQUARIUM X - Arona scomparsa, Arona sconosciuta
Il decimo volume di Antiquarium edito nel novembre scorso sta continuando a riscuotere successo.
Per questo venerdì 26 aprile alle ore 21.00 si terrà una presentazione in Power Point ad Invorio, nella sala di Casa Curioni, sotto l’egida della locale amministrazione comunale.
Presenteranno i contenuti della rivista con abbondanza di immagini inedite il presidente del GASMA Carlo Manni e la consigliera Silvia Gadina.
Il numero 10 di Antiquarium festeggia il cinquantenario di vita dell’associazione con copertina oro, con molte pagine dedicate alle attività del mezzo secolo e con schede illustrate di monumenti, opere ed elementi della Arona scomparsa e sconosciuta per dimostrare quanto il campo delle novità storiche sia ancora ricco. Non sono da meno le località circostanti come Invorio e le aree del Vergante.
Proprio un'appassionata, Silvia Gadina, ha svelato i "misteri" di un grosso masso perso nei boschi di Barquedo (alla Valascia sotto Cascina Parone). Dopo un lungo ed accurato studio lo ha pubblicato, mostrandone i segni incisi, cioè numerose coppelle ed affilatoi. Si tratta di una novità di grande valenza archeologica in un'area ormai lontana da quelle della montagna o dell'alta collina, che ne sono ben più ricche.
Carlo Manni presenterà un recupero nella vicina Paruzzaro che getta luce su una secolare tradizione delle comunità circostanti. E’ stata conservata a Borgo Agnello una bella scultura lignea policroma di circa 60 centimetri raffigurante un "orribile drago" che dagli inizi del '900 fino al lontano dopoguerra veniva portato nelle processioni delle Rogazioni Minori percorrenti tutta la campagna di Paruzzaro, giungendo anche ai confini con Invorio. Esso raffigurava il demonio predatore delle messi e dei frutti della terra, rovina dei contadini, che dopo benedizioni itineranti dei sacerdoti, litanie e preghiere dei fedeli, si dava per sconfitto: chinava il capo, le ali e la coda e lasciava in pace i raccolti. Tutto il Novarese almeno dal Seicento vedeva questa pratica religiosa in uso in tutte le località, e si stanno cercando anche ad Invorio eventuali analoghe testimonianze.

2024, Antiquarium X

8 dicembre 2023 - Dopo che sabato 25 novembre è avvenuta ad Arona la prima presentazione del volume X di Antiquarium, il Gasma si accinge ad altri due incontri nel territorio per valorizzare alcuni contenuti aggiuntivi a quelli principali della Arona Scomparsa Arona Sconosciuta.
Infatti, salva restando l’attenzione al tema aronese, sabato 2 dicembre alle ore 16 nella Sala Consiliare di Gozzano si parlerà anche di Cusio e venerdì 8 dicembre alle 16.15 nella analoga Sala del Comune di Paruzzaro l’attenzione, oltre ai contenuti aronesi, sarà posta in particolare su due argomenti locali.
La presentazione con due proiezioni in Power Point, sarà aperta dal presidente del Gasma Carlo Manni e proseguita da Silvia Gadina, consigliera del Gasma stesso.
Come già illustrato, Il volume ANTIQUARIUM X, ricco di 272 pagine a colori con 18 articoli di archeologia, storia, arte e geologia, come al solito illustratissimo, contiene articoli su Arona, Cusio, Vergante e Novarese.
Il GASMA festeggia così al meglio i suoi 50 anni (gennaio 1974 - 2023) e i dieci della rivista con due servizi particolari: il primo che percorre con molte immagini la vita associativa condivisa nei decenni da alcune centinaia di appassionati; il secondo con lo ‘Speciale’ Arona scomparsa Arona sconosciuta - siti, monumenti e segreti della città e delle frazioni aronesi, per lo più ignoti-.
Si tratta infatti di soggetti, spesso minori, che in 50 anni non hanno avuto voce nella divulgazione storica locale o che sono emersi da poco. Riaffiora così parte della Arona dimenticata e perduta.
Ma fino a pochi anni fa non si conoscevano neanche i "misteri" di un grosso masso di quasi 10 metri di lunghezza perso nei boschi di Barquedo a poca distanza dall’oratorio di S. Grato di Paruzzaro (La Valascia sotto Cascina Parone). Il defunto Walter Giacometti, ex sindaco del paese, già socio Gasma, lo segnalò al Gruppo nel 2009. Oggi Silvia Gadina dopo un lungo ed accurato studio lo ha pubblicato, mostrandone i segni incisi: ben 63 coppelle (incavi tondi di funzione rituale) e 18 affilatoi (tagli provocati dalle lame metalliche che vi si affilavano).
Si tratta di una novità di grande valenza archeologica in un’area ormai lontana da quelle della montagna o dell’alta collina, che ne sono ben più ricche.
Ancor più appartenente a Paruzzaro è una bella scultura lignea policroma di circa 60 centimetri raffigurante un "orribile drago" che fino al lontano dopoguerra veniva scortato nelle processioni delle Rogazioni Minori percorrenti tutta la campagna del Paese. Esso raffigurava il demonio predatore delle messi e dei frutti della terra, rovina dei contadini. In primavera bersagliato per tre giorni da benedizioni itineranti dei sacerdoti, litanie e preghiere dei fedeli, si dava infine per sconfitto; chinava il capo, le ali e la coda e… lasciava in pace i raccolti. Va sottolineato che tutto il Novarese almeno dal Seicento vedeva questa pratica religiosa in uso in tutte le località e che pochi simulacri del Drago (differenti per fattura e materiale) sono noti o si sono oggi conservati a Briga, Borgomanero, Isola di S. Giulio. Questo salvataggio di un oggetto che rischiava di essere disperso dopo la cessazione delle Rogazioni è anch’esso dovuto a Walter Giacometti che lo tolse da una soffitta.
Questa presentazione sarà dunque la giusta occasione per ricordare il vecchio sindaco, e si concluderà con la donazione alla sua comunità d’origine del drago, generosamente ceduto dalla vedova Alba Gattoni Giacometti al Gasma e fatto restaurare dall’Associazione stessa.

2024, BAR International Series 3167

This book aims to deepen our understanding of twin pottery vessels from 2nd millennium BC Bronze Age Eastern Iberia, found in settlements, caves, shafts and graves from the Vinalopó Valley to Navarre. A bibliographical and photogrammetry-based approach aims to identify how the Tipo Pleno twin vessel is disseminated, exploring connections between territories during the Argaric period which coincides with the peak of a new economic power centre: Cabezo Redondo in the Vinalopó valley. Additionally, and through comparison with mythical narratives and ethnographic sources, it is argued that Bronze Age twin vessels were a manifestation of the universally present divine twin cult linked to the Bronze Age solar cult, traceable from Scandinavian sites down to the Mediterranean.

2024, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society

Abstract The waterscape, including the sea, rivers, and lakes, was highly important to communities living during the Nordic Early Bronze Age (1800/1700–1100 bc). Waterways acted as highways that facilitated journeys, trade, and warfare,... more

2024, Zborník Slovenského národného múzea CXVII, Archeológia 33

Keywords: South Slovakia, Bronze Age, casting mould, spear-shaped pendants. Abstract: Mould for casting pendants from Tekovské Lužany. The contribution presents a casting mould made of greywacke sandstone for spear-shaped pendants, found... more

2023, ósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 73

Despite of the fact that the Rózsapallag Hoard was published several times and repeatedly has been a matter of professional discussions, we still meet a lot of mistaken information in the scholarship. In the present article, we try to clear these errors and reinterpret the hoard in the light of deposition phenomena observed in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin.

2023, Current Swedish Archaeology

In this article, we identify and discuss Nordic Bronze Age interspecies relationships through a relational approach that is open to ontologies that differ from our own. Drawing on bronze objects, faunal remains and rock art recovered from a multitude of Nordic Bronze Age sites (1700-500 BC), we outline the complex evolution and interactions of significant socioeconomic and cosmological elements such as the horse, the sun, the warrior, the sea and fish, and their relationships to life and death. We suggest that these elements may be seen as interconnected parts of an entangled whole, which represents a specific Nordic Bronze Age cosmology, which developed between 1600 and 1400 BC, and combined local, archaic world views and foreign influences.

2023, E. Warmenbol & J. Cao-Van (ed.), Cheval et cavalier à l'époque celtique, Libramont

We have a look in this paper at the earliest remains bearing testimony to the use of horses and wagons in Belgium and the Southern Netherlands. The oldest ones belong to the Late Bronze Age, about the X th and IX th century BC, and were part of two recently found hoards. The one from Petigny (Namur) had some bronzes that belonged to a cart, the one from Echt / Susteren (Nl. Limburg) several bronzes that must have been part of horse gear, including a phalera. And then there is the very rich cave site in Han-sur-Lesse (Namur), which produced three antler horse-bits; another one was dredged out of the Scheldt, probably near Asper (Oost-Vlaanderen). No evidence for the use of horses and wagons are known from the earliest Iron Age, but parts and pieces of them reappear, in tombs, maybe at the end of the VIII th and certainly during the VII th century BC. A "classic" is Tomb 3 from Court-Saint-Etienne "Ferme Rouge" (Brabant wallon) and some of the material could be non-functional, as the oversized bits from Meerlo (Nl. Limburg) suggest.

2023, Journal of World History

T he world-system perspective was originally conceived by I. Wallerstein in 1974 to apply to the modern period. However, many researchers have tried to use it for more ancient times, often introducing some modifi cations to its concept (

2023, Investigating Archaeological Cultures

2023, Journal of World History

2023, Sociologisk Forskning

2022, Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt

A hoard consisting only of fragments from one or several flesh-hooks was found in 2012 in Normandy by a metal
detectorist. The fragments have made it possible to identify at least one object belonging to the class 3 defined by
S. Needham and S. Bowman, and similar to the one found in Dunaverney, Ulster. The ornamental bird models are
not corvids or palmipeds, as on the Dunaverney example, but more likely wood pigeons. A Late Bronze Age III date
has been put forward for this hoard. This raises the question of the symbolic meaning of the various animal figurines,
either birds or quadrupeds, decorating flesh-hooks and articulated roasting spits from the Late Atlantic Bronze Age as
a possible ethnic or lineage identity marker

2022, rapport nr.: Humanistdag-boken 20

Samhällsklimatet i Bertolt Brechts balettexter Esbjörn Nyström, fil. dr i tyska Det är ett hårt samhällsklimat som författaren Bertolt Brecht skildrar i sina texter för balettscenen. Den som engagerar sig mot orätt råkar illa ut. Men... more

2022, Krieg. Eine archäologische Spurensuche

wir DANKeN UNSereN FörDererN UND UNTerSTÜTZerN bunDESpRoGRAMM »invEStitionEn füR nAtionALE kuLtuREinRicHtunGEn in oStDEutScHLAnD« StiftunG zuR föRDERunG DER ARcHäoLoGiE in SAcHSEn-AnHALt MittELDEutScHE bRAunkoHLEnGESELLScHAft MbH (MibRAG)... more

2022, Zborník Slovenského národného múzea – Archeológia

Archeological evidence suggests that there was a strong, widespread and long-lasting close association of the Sun with death in Central Europe and its neighbouring regions during the Bronze Age. We interpret it based on etymological, phraseological, motivic, and narrative correspondences of Indo-European traditions that point towards an ancient Indo-European belief about the souls of the blessed dead “going to the Sun”, most likely to an island in the sea which the Sun deity visits during the night. In contrast to ancient Near-Eastern and Egyptian beliefs, this Indo-European Sun deity did not descend into a subterranean realm of the dead and was not associated with rebirth. Based on iconographic and other archaeological evidence, we conclude that there was a belief in a solar deity envisioned in an anthropomorphic feminine form with a Sun (symbol) on the lower part of her abdomen during the Bronze Age in Central and Northern Europe. She was the central character of an important mythic narrative about the diurnal voyage of the Sun, along with its helpers and foes, that has been concurrently reconstructed using material culture or comparative mythology. In Central Europe, this solar cycle has been linked to portrayals of pairs of bird protomes connected to a Sun symbol, interpreted as (Sun-)bird-barges. However, this interpretation was based on a superficial resemblance and does not take into account the cultural and artistic context. Accounting for artistic conventions of the Urnfield culture, we propose that the supposed (Sun-)bird-barges actually often represent pairs of birds directly pulling the Sun, similar to Scandinavian depictions of the Sun pulled directly by a horse (or several horses). Therefore, these depictions portray the day part of the solar cycle and not the nocturnal sailing in the waters of the Netherworld.

2022

L’estudi de les cavitats de la zona de Cala Anguila a Manacor (Gràcia et al., 2001d; Gràcia et al., 2003a i b) ha permès constatar la importància remarcable de la cova Genovesa o cova d’en Bessó. L’exploració subaquàtica i l’aixecament topogràfic han fet possible avaluar les característiques i dimensions d’aquesta cavitat que es localitza a les calcàries miocèniques del llevant de Mallorca. L’espeleogènesi (formació i evolució de la cavitat), la presència d’espeleotemes freàtics (indicadors geològics d’antics nivells de la mar), els sediments, la hidrografia (l’estudi de les aigües subterrànies), l’estudi faunístic, l’arqueologia, la paleontologia, juntament amb l’anàlisi de l’impacte ambiental han estat objecte d’estudi.

2022, MEET

The Bronze Age is a new stage in the prehistory, which brings many novelties. The cultural reach of the Bronze Age communities has been increased to a new level. One of the many reasons for that is the contacts they have made with the more developed and advanced regions. Although, this period is relatively poor with the level of research in our country, the Kumanovo region with its outstanding sites, provides really important data, which greatly contribute to the cognition and study of the Bronze Age cultures in this part of our country. This region, closely connected with the Vranje-Bujanovac valley, exchanges the contacts with the northern areas. On the other hand, along the immediate close Axios river, float the influences from the flourishing south. In the following article, a chronological survey of the Bronze Age sites in the Kumanovo region is made, along with the contacts made by their bearers with other cultures, by observing the mobile material and determining its closer and (or) more distant analogies.

2022, Current Swedish Archaeology

The article focuses on representations or indications of water and fire in the late Bronze Age imagery, primarily on one figurative theme that occurs in rock art and that composes the single and dominant motif on hanging-vessels. It is argued that this theme represents the act of creation. The cosmological functions of water and ftre are seen as complementary actants that play different roles in space and cosmology as they are related to other archaeological materials and elements.

2021

The article focuses on representations or indications ofwater and fire in the late Bronze Age imagery, primarily on one figurative theme that occurs in rock art and that composes the single and dominant motif on hangingvessels. It is argued that this theme represents the act of creation. The cosmological functions ofwater and ftre are seen as complementary actants that play different roles in space and cosmology as they are related to other archaeological materials and elements.

2021

Western civilization has been the single most war-ridden, wardominated, and militaristic civilization in all human history. Robert Nisbet [Mycenaean] society was not the society of a sacred city, but that afa military aristocracy. It is the heroic society of the Homeric epic, and in Homer's world there is no room for citizen or priest or merchant, but only for the knight and his retainers, for the nobles and the Zeus born kings, 'the sackers of cities. ' Christopher Dawson [T]he Greek knows the artist only in personal struggle... What, for example, is of particular importance in Plato's dialogues is mostly the result of a contest with the art of orators, the Sophists, the dramatists of his time, invented for the purpose of his finally being able to say: 'Look: I, too, can do what my great rivals can do; yes, I can do it better than them. No Protagoras has written myths as beautiful as mine. No dramatist has written such a lively and fascinating whole as the Sympo...

2021

Adoranten 2014 Interpretation background A review of how different authors have presented religious interpretations of Rock Art (RA) was partly presented in Kristian Kristiansens article (Adoranten 2012). To this group of more culture-historical oriented authors were Oscar Almgren who during the late 1920:s presented, to some extent, a revolutionary interpretation where he saw direct links between Babylonian and Egyptian traditions with Nordic RA, which he explained as a result of the expansion of agriculture and its cultural impact that was connected to this activity. Almgren claimed that people used different myths, which involved certain gods, in their daily life and the rituals, many of which were connected to fertility, were depicted on the rock panels. Another aspect of interpretation that has been focused during more modern times is that the panels are connected to some sort of belief that was based upon travels to the world of death. Based upon the actual rock carvings that ...

2021, Endins: publicació d'espeleologia

Es presenta el registre fossil de vertebrats i de gasteropodes terrestres obtingut al jaciment del Pleistoce superior de la Cova den Jaume Orat (Sant Antoni de Portmany, Eivissa). Aquest jaciment no ha lliurat mamífers terrestres. Hydrobates pelagicus, Columba palumbus, un pupíldid indeterminat i Allognathus n.sp. són nous per al registre pleistoce eivissenc. La fauna ornítica obtinguda és similar a la provinent d'Es Pouas. El conjunt de gasteropodes, pero, és diferent, suggerint que per a aquest grup en el passat, talment com a I'actualitat, ja existien diferencies faunístiques locals.

2021, EXARC Journal Issue 2021/2

This article presents data from an international experimental study on the reconstruction of the “compound” bow of Sintashta culture of bronze age South Ural, Russia. The project is carried out by a collective of researchers from Greece... more

2021

From being an exotic small religion that has existed at a fading presence in southern Iraq and Iran mandeism has moved to the West and Sweden. As more and more Mandaeans encounter a new culture and a new society in Sweden it affects not only them as individuals but also their religion mandeism. In this essay, I have begun to examine how Mandaeans think about their identity and religion. I have taken my starting point in a broad theoretical discussion of identity, religion and secularisation. Mandeism is a gnostic religion that probably has its roots in today's Israel / Palestine and sees John the Baptist as the last prophet. Baptism is the Mandaeans most important ritual and Mandaeans also have several sacred writings, in which the Ginza is considered the one that has most authority. The clergy is important for the performance of rituals and communication of religious knowledge, today there are only about thirty priests left in the global community and these are spread from Sweden to Australia. Among the Mandaeans who answered my questions, the most are relatively secular, only a few see themselves as religious. But they all feel that their Mandaean identity is important, baptism, ceremonies, family, and the Mandaean community is important as factors to keep their Mandaean identity alive. Several Mandaeans in Sweden is experiencing a difficulty to practice their religion in a traditional way due to the cold climate that makes it difficult to perform baptism, the lack of priests and mandi (temple there baptisms can be performed). These factors along with the meeting with a secular Western society and that it has gone from being a relatively geographically cohesive group to be scattered all over the world have led to increased secularisation. This has led to a debate within the Mandaean community how to meet the new situation, such as how to relate to the Mandaeans who marries non Mandaeans, which previously had not been accepted and is very rare even today.

2021, B. Baragli, A. Dietz, Zs. J. Földi, P. Heindl, P. Lohmann & S. P. Schlüter (eds.), Distant Worlds and Beyond. Special Issue Dedicated to the Graduate School Distant Worlds (2012-2021). Distant Worlds Journal Special Issue 3, Heidelberg, Propylaeum

This article reconsiders the use and meaning of chariots in the 2 nd millennium BCE during the Bronze Age in the Carpathian lands. Up to now, evidence for the use of chariots with four-spoked wheels in this region, has been dated to the 14 th to 12 th c. BCE, based on pictorial representations and artefacts from hoard finds. A new find from western Ukraine of a double burial of bridled horses dating to the first half of the 2 nd millennium BCE, makes it probable that chariots were used within the Carpathian Basin at an even earlier date since the horse gear in this burial is of Carpathian type. This find also makes it likely that the custom of horse burials as a substitute for chariots was inspired by the Sintashta-Petrovka cultural complex in the Ural region and Kazakhstan. I argue that the use of chariots conveyed a highly symbolic meaning and was not primarily used in warfare. The lack of evidence for the use of chariots in the Bronze-Age in central and western Europe supports this argument. Finally, it is suggested that the custom of horse burials and the presence of two-wheeled vehicles in the eastern Carpathian Basin in the Iron Age may represent an aspect of long durée cultural memory and revival of a probably religiously connoted custom.

2021

U Indoeurópanov patrila obeta koňa k najvyšším náboženským praktikám, spájaným s kráľovskou mocou. Môže s ňou súvisieť pozoruhodný nález z Nitry? Niektoré archeologické nálezy sa dajú interpretovať pomerne ľahko. Týka sa to napríklad... more

2021, slovenská archeológia – Supplementum 1

The Bronze Age solar cult of the Carpathian Basin represents autochtonous central-European development with Indo-European roots. It was centered on a deity perceived in anthropomorphic, probably feminine form. We stress the complementarity of archeology and Indo-European comparative mythology in the pursuit to better understand its cult. We also argue that its potential approximation – the Proto-Indo-Europan solar deity, in contrast to its Middle-Eastern counterparts, did not enter a subterranean underworld and was not associated with rebirth, but most likely with the desired destination in the afterlife, which may lead to different interpretations of some cult-related archeological finds.

2021, Re-imagening periphery. Archaeology and Text in Northern Europe from Iron Ages to Viking and Early Medieval Periods

This chapter approaches Text and Transition through a comparative analysis of poetry and picturing in a deep historical setting. It draws on epic poetry, from the Rig Veda, the Edda and the Bible, in order to explore the grand iconographic styles of the Scandinavian past. The aim is to demonstrate how these imges embody a cognitive dimension of current society by exploring picture-making and poetry as integral - and mutually dependent - parts of human life and being.

2020, Celto-Germanic and North-West Indo-European vocabulary: resonances in myth and rock art iconography

Conference. Indo-European Interfaces: Building Bridges between Mythology, Linguistics and Archaeology — Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala, October 2020 Celto-Germanic and North-West Indo-European vocabulary: resonances in... more

2020, American Journal of Archaeology

2020, Kuml

The well-known Nordic Bronze Age razor from Vestrup Mark in northern Jutland, dated to c. 1100-900 BC, is possibly the most well-published Nordic Bronze Age razor, and its motif is commonly regarded as epitomising the religious and ritual sphere of the period. The motif was reexamined in autumn 2018 and autumn 2019, and new details were revealed as a result. Using a digital Dino-Lite USB microscope, model AM4815ZTLx, with x10 x140 magnification and an inbuilt camera, detailed micrographs were taken of the ornamentation. The new analyses revealed that the published illustrations of the razor are not entirely accurate; in one case, the motif has been interpreted incorrectly and then superimposed onto a photograph without alerting the reader’s attention to this manipulation. This is problematic, as later interpretations of the symbolism and meaning behind the motif have depended on this inaccurate illustration. The current article therefore draws attention to the risk of overly relying on old illustrations and highlights the benefits of implementing new analytical methods, even when dealing with well-published objects that have been sitting in museum storerooms for over a hundred years. The low-power micrographic analysis substantiates some of the previous
interpretations of the motif on this razor, while at the same time evoking new ones. It remains evident, however, that the motif is placed firmly within the spiritual sphere of the Nordic Bronze Age and, as such, we may be getting a little closer to this aspect of Bronze Age society and life, now the motif is once again visible.

2020

Early Bronze Age skeletons of males of high stature 7 The emergence of warlike pastoral societies and the Andronovo-Catacomb (and related) cultures 11 Some anthropological features of burials found in the Mycenaean grave circles and Aigina 17 Some aspects of Indo-lranian origins and dispersals 25 A short summary of Indo-lranian advances to the East 27 Greek heroes of high stature 33 Grave circles as family graveyards of related noblemen with small sacrificial pits 42 The spread of the Catacomb culture to the west 46 The name of Meriones 49 The name of Meleagros 56 Fair-haired heroes 57 A horse-riding and horse-drawn package from the Bronze Age 58 The oar of Odysseus 60 Bone shovels 61 Shouldered blades of knife or dagger and ceremonial daggers 68 The discovery of a new type of composite bow 69 The oar of Odysseus 72 Odysseus in equus mutatus 76 Summary 80 Literature and abbreviations 85 Figures 95 5 Front cover, reconstructed head of the skeleton T58 from Grave Circle B at Mycenae. -Musgrave -Neave -Prag 1995, PI. 18,d. Back cover. Aias carrying Achilles' body (early Archaic vase painting). -Snodgrass 1997, Plate 7. Title page: stone sceptre in the shape of a horse head (from the Orenburg district). -Morgunova 1995, Fig. 76. P. 59: Figural panel on a painted vase from Ugarit. -Langdon 1989, Fig. 4. P. 84: Sealing from Beth Shean representing Ramses II shooting through 'axes'. -Morris 1997, Fig. 1 on p. 622.

2020

Marginalized Gods? Contribution to Religious Iconography in Early Bronze Age. Until recently no anthropomorphic depictions from the Early Bronze Age were known in the western part of the Carpathian Basin and Central Danube Region. The author is presenting the recognized depictions, structured into typical iconographies. It is interesting that they are depictions of women. According to the results of comparative Indo-European studies the pantheons of the Early Bronze Age religions should be headed by male deities. The author reflects on different results of archaeology and religious studies. The answer apparently lies in the holistic study of human creativity.