Brozne Age in Europe

(in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy

(in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy

Ranging from the turn of the secomnd millennium to the second quarter of the first millennium BC. The Middle Bronze Age in Europe bridges the gap between Europe’s Stone Age Prehistoric background and the 2 and Europe´s dynamic Introduction into the History during the Iron Age. With the introduction of bronze metallurgy Europe is interconnected with a a vast communication and exchange network managed emerging elites and specialists and it is a time of dynamic religious developments affecting burial and sacrificial practices.

At the turn of the second millennium BC. The introduction of Bronze metallurgy i.e. amalgamating copper and tin, led to the mass production of an effective new material with which a vast array of tools, weapons and ornaments were formed. This would however make a crucial impact not only on methods of production but on the structure society as a whole. The fact that both copper ore and the rarer element tin are found in specific regions with are often located far apart from each other and the fact that large parts of Europe, including Poland and Scandinavia had nor ores at all made the existence and maintenance of communication and exchange networks imperative. Moreover, the specialist craftsmanship which bronze metallurgy demanded, i.e. prospectors, minors, metalworkers and traders led to the emergence of a social cast not involved in primary food production. This social stratification was enhanced by the emergence of a weapon bearing elite whose power resulted from controlling, storing and distributing this new indestructible resource. The emergence of ostentatious and monumental burial practices in different parts of Europe in the Early Bronze Age, but also the votive hoarding of metals as well as the appearance of strongholds are symptoms of the reactions to this new culture of metallurgy. Another leitmotif of the Bronze age is the core/periphery interactions between the emerging Mediterranean civilizations and the transalpine world as well as intensive communication between the metal rich Alpine and Carpathian Zones and the Metal hungry north. Finally, the late Bronze Age sees the emergence of a unified “Urnfield” culture which homogenized foodways, burial and sacrificial practices over most of the continent.

Student activity / workload in hours:

Participation in lectures: 30 hours

Preparation for lectures and exam: 60 hours

Total hours: 90 hours = 3 ECTS

Kaczanowski Piotr. 1998. Epoka brązu – pomiędzy centrami cywilizacyjnymi Bałkanów i Alp a Skandynawią In: Piotr Kaczanowski, Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski - Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.) (Oldest history of Polish lands (until the 7th century,) Kraków.

Hensel, Witold (ed.). 1979. Prahistoria ziem polskich, t. 4, Od środkowej epoki brązu do środkowego okresu lateńskiego, Wrocław.

Harding Anthony and Fokkens Harry. 2013. The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age.

Harding, Anthony. 2000. European Societies in the Bronze Age, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coles John and Harding Anthony. 2014. The Bronze Age in Europe: An Introduction to the Prehistory of Europe C.2000-700 B.C. London: Routkege.

Schofield Louise. 2006. The Mycenaeans. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum.

-

(in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy

obligatory

(in Polish) nie dotyczy

Ranging from the turn of the secomnd millennium to the second quarter of the first millennium BC. The Middle Bronze Age in Europe bridges the gap between Europe’s Stone Age Prehistoric background and the 2 and Europe´s dynamic Introduction into the History during the Iron Age. With the introduction of bronze metallurgy Europe is interconnected with a a vast communication and exchange network managed emerging elites and specialists and it is a time of dynamic religious developments affecting burial and sacrificial practices.

At the turn of the second millennium BC. The introduction of Bronze metallurgy i.e. amalgamating copper and tin, led to the mass production of an effective new material with which a vast array of tools, weapons and ornaments were formed. This would however make a crucial impact not only on methods of production but on the structure society as a whole. The fact that both copper ore and the rarer element tin are found in specific regions with are often located far apart from each other and the fact that large parts of Europe, including Poland and Scandinavia had nor ores at all made the existence and maintenance of communication and exchange networks imperative. Moreover, the specialist craftsmanship which bronze metallurgy demanded, i.e. prospectors, minors, metalworkers and traders led to the emergence of a social cast not involved in primary food production. This social stratification was enhanced by the emergence of a weapon bearing elite whose power resulted from controlling, storing and distributing this new indestructible resource. The emergence of ostentatious and monumental burial practices in different parts of Europe in the Early Bronze Age, but also the votive hoarding of metals as well as the appearance of strongholds are symptoms of the reactions to this new culture of metallurgy. Another leitmotif of the Bronze age is the core/periphery interactions between the emerging Mediterranean civilizations and the transalpine world as well as intensive communication between the metal rich Alpine and Carpathian Zones and the Metal hungry north. Finally, the late Bronze Age sees the emergence of a unified “Urnfield” culture which homogenized foodways, burial and sacrificial practices over most of the continent.

Student activity / workload in hours:

Participation in lectures: 30 hours

Preparation for lectures and exam: 60 hours

Total hours: 90 hours = 3 ECTS

Kaczanowski Piotr. 1998. Epoka brązu – pomiędzy centrami cywilizacyjnymi Bałkanów i Alp a Skandynawią In: Piotr Kaczanowski, Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski - Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.) (Oldest history of Polish lands (until the 7th century,) Kraków.

Hensel, Witold (ed.). 1979. Prahistoria ziem polskich, t. 4, Od środkowej epoki brązu do środkowego okresu lateńskiego, Wrocław.

Harding Anthony and Fokkens Harry. 2013. The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age.

Harding, Anthony. 2000. European Societies in the Bronze Age, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coles John and Harding Anthony. 2014. The Bronze Age in Europe: An Introduction to the Prehistory of Europe C.2000-700 B.C. London: Routkege.

Schofield Louise. 2006. The Mycenaeans. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum.

-