Wessex culture , Wessex culture is the dominant archaeological culture of central and southern prehistoric Britain during the early Bronze Age . The first to introduce the term and offer a definition of culture was the British archaeologist Stuart Piggott in 1938. [1] This culture should not be confused with the later Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex .
Content
Origin
The origin of the culture is associated with the mounds from Armorica in northern France [2] , the prototypes of which, in turn, are in the Central Rhine culture group of bell-shaped goblets .
Timeline
Chronologically, culture is divided into phases of Wessex I (2000–1650 BC) and Wessex II (1650–1400). Wessex Phase I is associated with the completion and use of Stonehenge in the final stages of its existence.
Burials
The Wessex people buried their deceased under the mounds , first using a burial in the ground, then cremation. Often in the burial were rich funeral gifts.
Relations with other cultures
A treasure with artifacts characteristic of Wessex culture was discovered in Germany, on the territory of Adlerberg culture . Also, artifacts of the Wessex culture had features characteristic of the cultures of neighboring Brittany (north-west coast of France).
Apparently, the culture had developed trade relations with continental Europe, imported amber from the Baltic , jewelry from Germany, gold from Brittany , as well as daggers and beads from Mycenaean Greece . Revenues from such trade, apparently, allowed the Wessex to build the second and third stages of Stonehenge ; in addition, such trade indicates a developed social organization.
Debatable term
When the term “Wessex culture” first appeared, studies of the prehistoric period of Britain were still in its infancy, so the unusually rich and well-documented burial sites of Wessex were constantly mentioned in the Bronze Age literature. In the XX century, a large number of new burials of the Bronze Age were discovered, and therefore the ideas about the early and middle Bronze Age changed significantly. Since the end of the 20th century, it has become customary among archaeologists to consider Wessex culture as a more limited social layer than as a separate cultural group, specifically related to about a hundred especially rich burials in Wiltshire and in the surrounding territories. The term Wessex culture, however, is clearly tied to one of the goblet groups in Ireland. [3]
Notes
- ↑ [1] The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archeology - Timothy Darvill, 2002, Wessex culture, p.464, Oxford University Press, ISBN 019-211649-5
- ↑ The Armorican Tumuli of the Early Bronze Age, A Statistic Analysis for Calling the Two Series into Question -Mareva Gabillot et al.
- ↑ Ancient Ireland, Life before the Celts - Laurence Flanagan, 1998, p. 83, Gil & Mac Millan, ISBN 0-7171-2433-9
See also
- Amesbury Archer
Literature
- Piggott, S 1938. The Early Bronze Age in Wessex, Proc. Prehist. Soc. 4, 52-106.
- Piggott, S 1973. The Wessex culture of the Early Bronze Age, Victoria County History Wiltshire I (ii), 352-75.
- Coles, JM and J Taylor 1971. The Wessex Culture, a minimal view, Antiquity 45, 6-14.