The Thraco-Cimmerican Horizon in Temperate Europe (900-750BC)
...), mounted on horseback and driving ox-carts begin to appear in settlements areas of Romania and eastern Hungary during this period. They brought with them more sophisticated metallurgical skills, along with the practice of burying their dead in circular mounds that still dot the landscape today. But perhaps their most enduring contribution to west Central European societies which were beginning to develop during the early centuries of the second millennium BC was bridle equipment and clay models of spoked wheels, which give evidence of the early use of the two-wheeled chariot. But it is not until the Hallstatt C period that we begin to see a dramatic change from Bronze to Iron Age bit forms being introduced into Western and Eastern Hallstatt zones. For example, it has been observed that a substantial amount of European and Greek Early Iron Age bits are direct descendants or off-shoots of “North Caucasian-Cimmerian” types, which spread into large portions of Europe. These various types of ‘Thraco-Cimmerian’ bits have been the focus of several detailed regional studies carried out by such authors as A. A. Jessen, Gallus and Horváth, G. Kossack, V. Podborský and W. Schüle (Fig. 50). For instance, Jessen’s I and II type bits, along with Szentes-Vekerzug horse bits have been found in many parts of Western Europe, as well as in the Iberian Peninsula. Cimmerian or pre-Scythian inspiration and oriental influences are present in many Italian horse bit types as well, which have been investigated by v. Hase. But unique Villonovan/Etruscan, as well as other Italic bit forms, which are often richly decorated with highly stylized figures of horses and birds, also appear in the Early Iron Age in northern Italy. However, some Villanovan cheek-pieces (c. 900-700 BC) are highly reminiscent of Luristan (Iran) models and exhibit Greek geometric features as well (see Part IV.6.3, pp. 339, Fig. 67 of this study). While eastern horse bit types reflect stronger ties with the north Caucasus area, we find in the western parts of Central Europe more modified forms of bits, but still exhibiting features that can be traced back to ‘Thraco-Cimmerian’ models (such as Kossack Ib and Ic type bits; see Fig. 50). Furthermore, horse bit forms found in the Iberian Peninsula also share some common features with Central European Late Urnfield/Early Hallstatt type bits which have been documented by Kossack and Hüttel. Other aspects of Caucasian influence can be seen in various weapon types which are scattered in burials all throughout the Balkans and Carpathian Basin (iron battle-axes, cross-hilted swords and daggers, arrow points and spearheads). The superiority of Caucasian weapons were soon copied by the Chernoles people, as well as by other neighbouring groups beyond the middle Dnieper, and where there was opportunity for raiding and plunder all these groups, along with Thracians joined in. Evidence of the impact that pre-Scythian raiders from the east, as well as East Thracians had upon various Thracian groups living north of the South Carpathians can be seen in a series of fortresses that were built between the 10th and 8th centuries BC in such places as Sãrãþel between the upper Mureº and Someº, Voivodeni on the upper Mureº, Satu Mare, Tuºnad-Bãi, Cernatu de Sus, Bodoc and Braºov, which were all erected to defend the vulnerable east Transylvania passes. Further evidence of the presence of Cimmerian or pre-Scythian mounted warriors can be seen in a couple of horse-rider graves at Endje and Belogradets, in north-east Bulgaria, as well as secondary interments in Yamnaya tumuli. The horse-rider burial at Endje contained such items as a skeleton of a warrior laying in a supine position, along with a bronze snaffle bit, fragments of an iron dagger and scabbard, an iron spearhead, a gold diadem, along with 52 bronze arrowheads and several vessels. The horse-rider grave at Belogradets contained among other things several bronze arrowheads, a Cimmerian iron dagger and an amber-encrusted gold sheath. In Hungary new types of harness equipment of Koban style begin to appear around 900 BC. Another result of Cimmerian or pre-Scythian mounted raids was the introduction of Caucasian animal art into parts of central and south-east Europe. From a period covering the 10th to 7th centuries BC most of the animal types that are more clearly represented are those of cattle, sheep and goats, but as we approach the 6th and 5th centuries BC artifacts in the form of Olbian and Oguzin tetraskele horsehead bridle ornaments begin to appear not only in the forest steppe, but also in the Carpatho-Balkan area. Although the Celtic culture of western Europe was more strongly influenced by Villanovan-Etruscan connections, as well as Greek material culture, however, the influence of Thracian art can be seen in a 4th century copy of a horsehead tetraskele from Magdalenska Gora in Slovenia (Fig. 51). It does not exhibit the traditional Thracian hatching, with its central hole, but instead appears to be more like a garment appliqué rather than a bridle ornament. A couple of striking examples of pre-Scythian horsemen can be seen on bronze cloak-pins (Figs. 52) from the Koban in North Caucasus and dating to about 1000 BC. The westward movement of pre-Scythian groups seems to repeat a recurrent migratory process in nomadic history, starting in the Neolithic period on the western steppe – instigated perhaps by climatic and environmental conditions, such as drought or disease, or due to struggles for dominance between warring groups. The prehistory of the steppes no doubt consists of a repetition of collisions between nomadic warriors and more civilized peoples as they encountered one another across the great expanse of the open steppe and as mounted pre-Scythian warriors moved further and further to the West. In time a cultural divide of sorts was formed, with the cultural line of demarcation stopping at the River Tisza. From this point various cultural elements (mainly in the form of horse bits and harness ornaments) of material culture spread westwards into northern Europe and Scandinavia, and southwards into the Balkans, Greece and Italy by way of a complex network of exchange, especially as it relates to the horse/wagon complex. Some elements of this pre-Scythian cultural complex, are reflected most specifically in the appearance of bronze artifacts in burials being traced further to the northwest along the Danube and into Moravia, before finally reaching as far west as Austria. This process reflects as well, the westward expansion of warrior groups into these areas before finally being assimilated into other cultural niches. East of the River Tisza there was a clean break with the older Urnfield tradition of cremating dead and placing them in urns, which is now replaced by the adoption of inhumation burial practices. These new cultural groups are also distinguishable by their practice of animal sacrifice and the hoarding of horse gear. Wheeled vehicles and horse riding represent long traditions that can be traced back to the Urnfield period and earlier throughout Europe. One of the most important features of chiefly burials in the Ha C period in the western Hallstatt region (Hallstatt) was the disposition of wagons, which become a prominent feature in larger wooden chambers, and is predominantly associated with concepts of prestige and ritual (burial) processions. This is also reflected in Situla art of the eastern Hallstatt zone (Slovenia/Vaèe), where clay and bronze models of wagons have been found. Kossack suggests that Ha C wagons were the culmination of new specialist skills that were introduced by the ‘Thraco-Cimmerian’ complex, but had its roots in Assyrian/Elamite workshop traditions. In parallel with the horse/wagon ideology coming into the western Hallstatt zone via Hungary, we see the same technology appearing in Italy during the 7th century BC and coming from Etruscan wagon burials. Thus, the same technology seems to have traveled overseas through the Mediterranean area/Italy, as well as overland through eastern Europe, via Thrace, Romania, Hungary and finally into the western Hallstatt region. What divorces pre-Scythian (Thraco-Cimmerian) influences from the older Urnfield tradition is the emphasis on new social and military hierarchies that play themselves out with an integration of older and newer elements of religious myth and ritual. These religious and military elements manifest themselves most visibly through the technological and economic implications introduced by means of innovations in horse and wagon components. The most striking implications of this new influence is best exemplified by the replacement of the older, more rigid Urnfield bit-types, which were more suitable for traction, with new two-piece bit-types, which were more applicable for riding and less severe on the horse’s mouth. As well, new innovations in metal cheek-pieces helped to ensure that the horse could not work the bit out of its mouth as easily. Other features which separate the older Urnfield forms from the new Thraco-Cimmerian bits would include the width, which in the case of the Urnfield bit, usually carried a width of approximately 7 cm, as opposed to the new types, which measured between 10 and 11 cm, suggesting larger breeds of horse. Added to this is the more complex technology visibly apparent in wagon and wheel designs. As we have seen Cimmerians or pre-Scythian nomadic mounted warriors raided several regions in the eastern part of Central Europe in the 9th and 8th centuries BC, before finally settling in the Hungarian plain, where over the course of a couple of centuries they were assimilated into the agricultural population. Like the Huns, and Tartars that would follow in their tracks, the raids of pre-Scythian groups and their influence spread even further westwards than the Hungarian plain and they were responsible for the introduction of a more sophisticated level of horsemanship, which in turn lead to the development of many cultural elements that would later appear in Hallstatt society in Central Europe. Although there destructive force certainly contributed to the break down of the Urnfield culture, they also offered strong models of male behaviour, which most potent...