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The Únětice culture, Aunjetitz culture, or Unetician culture (, , , ) is an archaeological culture at the start of the Bronze Age, dated roughly to about 2300–1600BC. The eponymous site for this culture, the village of Únětice (), is located in the central Czech Republic, northwest of Prague. There are about 1,400 documented Únětice culture sites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and 550 in Poland, with about 500 further sites and loose-finds locations in Germany.Zich B. 1996, Studien zur regionalen und chronologischen Gliederung der nördlichen Aunjetitzer Kultur, Berlin, p. 5–19 The Únětice culture is also known from northeastern Austria (in association with the so-called Böheimkirchen group) and from western Ukraine.
In Germany, a princely grave in Leubingen had already been excavated in 1877 by F.Klopfleisch; however, he incorrectly dated the monument to the Hallstatt during the Iron Age. In subsequent years, a main cluster of Úněticean sites in Central Germany were identified at Baalberge, Helmsdorf, Nienstedt, Körner, Leubingen, Halberstadt, Klein Quenstedt, Wernigerode, Blankenburg, and Quedlinburg. At the same time, Adlerberg and Straubing groups were defined in 1918 by Schumacher.
In Silesia, the first archaeologist associated with the discovery and identification of the Únětice culture was Hans Seger (1864–1943). Seger not only discovered several Úněticean sites and supervised pioneering excavations in locations in Silesia, now in Poland as Przecławice, but he also linked Bohemian European Bronze Age (EBA) materials with similar assemblages in Lower Silesia. In Greater Poland, the first excavations at the royal Úněticean necropolis of Łęki Małe were undertaken by Józef Kostrzewski in 1931, but major archaeological discoveries at this site were made only years later, in 1953 and 1955.Kowiańska-Piaszykowa M. (ed.) 2008, Cmentarzysko kurhanowe z wczesnej epoki brązu w Łękach Małych w Wielkopolsce, Poznań In 1935, Kostrzewski published the first data and findings of the Iwno culture, another Bronze Age culture contemporaneous with the Únětice EBA, from western Poland. In 1960, Wanda Sarnowska (1911–1989) began excavations in Szczepankowice, near Wrocław, southwest Poland, where a new group of barrows was unearthed. In 1969, she published a new monograph on the Únětice culture, in which she cataloged, analysed, and described assemblages deriving from 373 known EBA Úněticean sites in Poland.Sarnowska W. 1975, Kultura unietycka w Polsce, vol. 2, Wrocław
The first unified chronological system (relative chronology) based on a typology of ceramics and metal artefacts for the Únětice culture in Bohemia was introduced by Václav Moucha in 1963.Moucha V. 1963, Die Periodisierung der Úněticer Kultur in Böhmen, Sborník ČSSA 3, p. 9–60 This chronological system, consisting of six sub-phases, was considered valid for the Bohemian groups of the Únětice culture, and it was later adapted in PolandMachnik J. 1977, Frühbronzezeit Polens (Übersicht über die Kulturen und Kulturgruppen), Wrocław and in Germany.Müller J. 1999, Radiocarbonchronologie-Keramiktechnologie-Osteologie-Anthropologie-Raumanalysen. Beiträge zum Neolithikum und zur Frühbronzezeit im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet, Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 80, p. 28–211
More recently, the Únětice culture has been cited as a pan-European cultural phenomenon whose influence covered large areas due to intensive exchange, with Únětice pottery and bronze artefacts found from Ireland to Scandinavia, the Italian Peninsula, and the Balkans. As such, it is a candidate for a community connecting a continuum of already scattered, late Indo-European languages ancestral to the Italo-Celtic, Germanic, and perhaps Balto–Slavic groups, between which words were frequently exchanged, and a common lexicon, as well as regional were shared.Gamkrelidze, T. V., and V. V. Ivanov. 1995. Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture. Part I: The Structure of Proto-Indo-European. Part II: Semantic Dictionary of Proto-IndoEuropean Language. Vol. 80. Walter de Gruyter, 1995. Edited by W. Winter. Vol. 80. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter
| + Relative chronology of the Únětice culture in Czechia and Slovakia ! Period ! Reinecke 1924Reinecke, P. 1924, Zur chronologischen Gliederung der süddeutschen Bronzezeit, Germania 8, p. 40–44 ! Moucha 1963 ! Pleinerová 1967Pleinerová I. 1967, Únetická kultura v oblasti Krušných hor a jejím sousedství II, Památky archeologické 58, p. 1–36 ! colspan="2" | Bartelheim 1998Bartelheim M. 1998, Studien zur böhmischen Aunjetitzer Kultur: Chronologie und chronologische Untersuchungen, vols. 1–2, Bonn ! Absolute dating | |||||
| Late Eneolithic | (A0) | 1. Proto-Únětice | Ia Ib | Older Únětice | 1 | 2300–2000 BC |
| 2. Old Únětice | ||||||
| 3. Middle Únětice | II | 2 | ||||
| 4. Pre-classical Únětice | ||||||
| Older Bronze Age | A1 | 5. Classic Únětice | III | Younger Únětice | 3 | 2000–1800 BC |
| A2 | 6. Post-classical Únětice | 1800–1700 BC | ||||
| Middle Bronze Age | B2 | Tumulus culture (west), Trzciniec culture (east) | ||||
A typical Úněticean cemetery was situated near a settlement, usually on a hill or , and in the vicinity of a creek or river. The distance between the cemetery and the adjacent settlement very rarely exceeded . Cemeteries were usually spatially organized, with symmetrical rows or alleys.Butent-Stefaniak B. 1997, Z badań nad stosunkami kulturowymi w dorzeczu górnej i środkowej Odry we wczesnym okresie epoki brązu, Prace Komisji Archeologicznej 12, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków Burials were orientated according to stars and the relative position of the sun on the horizon during the year, which may indicate advanced prehistoric astronomical observations.Romanow J., Wachowski K., Miszkiewicz B. 1973, Tomice, pow. Dzierżoniów. Wielokulturowe stanowisko archeologiczne, WrocławPokutta D 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg, p. 71–74
The largest concentrations of Úněticean barrows, also known in archaeological literature as "princely graves", can be found:
The size of the tombs varies, with the largest originally being the Bornhöck burial mound (the largest Bronze Age burial mound in Central Europe), dating from . The mound belonged to a ruler or "prince" who was likely associated with the Nebra sky disc. It was originally around 65 metres in diameter and 15 metres in height, but it was mostly destroyed in the late 19th century. The mound was originally covered with white limestone (chalk)—a very unusual practice in Central Europe but common in contemporary Bronze Age Britain. A 'brotlaibidol
The largest surviving burial mound is Barrow No.4 at Łęki Małe, associated with the Kościan Group of the Únětice Culture—which is 50 metres in diameter and 5–6 metres in height today. In the classic phase, a typical "princely grave" was approximately 25 metres in diameter and 5 metres in height.
One of the most prominent characteristics is the position of the body in the grave pit. The deceased were always buried in a north–south alignment, with the head south and facing east. The body was usually placed in the grave in a slightly contracted position. Exceptions from this rule are sporadic.
In the classic phase (approximately 1850–1750 BC), the Úněticean burial rite displays strong uniformity, regardless of the sex or age of the deceased. Men and women were buried in the same north–south position. The grave goods consisted of ceramic vessels (usually 1–5), bronze items (jewellery and private belongings, rings, hair clips, pins, etc.), bone artefacts (amulets and tools, including needles), occasionally flint tools (the burial of Archer from Nowa Wieś Wrocławska, for example, was buried with colour flint arrowheads).Pokutta D. 2013, Population Dynamics, Diet and Migrations of the Únětice culture in Poland, Gothenburg, p. 81 A body deposited within a grave might have been protected with mats made from plant materials or in a coffin, but in the majority of cases, there was no additional coverage of the corpse. A well-known example of wicker-made coffin inhumation derives from the Bruszczewo fortified settlement, near Poznań in Greater Poland.Müller, J., Czebreszuk, J., Kneisel, J. (eds.) 2010, Bruszczewo II. Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in einer prähistorischen Siedlungskammer Grosspolens. Badania mikroregionu osadniczego z terenu Wielkopolski, vols. 1–2, Bonn, p. 724–730 In approximately 20% of burials, stone settings were found. Erection of a full stone setting or just a partial one (a few stones in the corners of the grave) seems to be quite a common practice observed in all phases of the EBA in Central Europe. Wooden coffins were discovered at several sites such as in Lower Silesia. Únětice culture coffin burials can be divided into two types, according to their construction: coffins of the stretcher type, and coffins of the canoe type. Coffins were made of a single block of wood. The most prominent example of a rich cemetery containing many such inhumations is in Przecławice,Lasak I. 1988, Cmentarzysko ludności kultury unietyckiej w Przecławicach, Studia Archeologiczne 18, Wrocław near Wrocław. Coffin burials appear in Central Europe during the Neolithic and are well known from Bell Beaker and Corded Ware cultures in Moravia.Lasak I. 1982, Pochówki w trumnach drewnianych jako forma obrządku grzebalnego we wczesnym okresie epoki brązu w świetle badań w Przecławicach, woj. Wrocław, Silesia Antiqua 24, p. 89–108
At the large Early Bronze Age cemetery of Franzhausen in Lower Austria, social hierarchy is indicated by differing grave depths, the use of oak log coffins, and different quantities and qualities of grave goods. These included animal remains, ceramic vessels, bronze weapons and tools, and jewellery made from bronze, gold, amber, and glass. Some elite women were buried with elaborate bronze headdresses. The cemetery has also provided the earliest preserved fragments of striped fabric clothing in central Europe.
The ingots are found in that can contain over six hundred pieces. Axe-hoards are common as well: the hoard of Dieskau (Saxony-Anhalt) contained 293 flanged axes. Thus, axes might have served as ingots as well. These hoards have formerly been interpreted as a type of storage by itinerant bronze-founders or as riches hidden because of enemy action. They have also been interpreted as evidence for the existence of organized groups of warriors or 'armies'. Hoards containing mainly jewellery are typical for the Adlerberg group.
After 2000 BC, a major expansion of bronze production took place, with tin bronzes becoming dominant. Ring ingots were exchanged widely. Special weapons and ornaments were produced as status symbols for high-ranking individuals.
Gold processing and forging is attested at the fortified settlement of Bruszczewo in Poland from 2300 to 1800 BC.
The famous Nebra sky disk is associated with the Central Germany groups of the Únětice culture. Gold and tin used to make the Nebra disc was imported from Cornwall in southern England, whilst the copper was imported from Austria. The same source of gold was used to make important objects from the early Bronze Age in Britain, such as artefacts from the elite Bush Barrow burial near Stonehenge. According to the archaeologist Sabine Gerloff, the gold plating (or inlay) technique used on the disc originated in Britain.Sabine Gerloff (2026). 9783939414285, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). . ISBN 9783939414285 A similar gold inlay technique is seen on the contemporary Thun-Renzenbühl axe from Switzerland, which has also been connected to Mycenaean Greece.Sabine Gerloff (2026). 9783939414285, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). . ISBN 9783939414285
One of the most characteristic features associated with settlements are storage pits. They were located beneath the houses and were deep and spacious, with a cylindrical or slightly conical neck, arched walls, and a relatively flat bottom. These pits often served as granaries.
The vast majority of settlements consisted of several houses congregated in the communal space of the village or hamlet. Larger fortified villages, with ramparts and wooden fortifications, have been discovered as well, in, for example Bruszczewo in Greater PolandMüller, J., Czebreszuk, J., Kneisel, J. (eds.) 2010, Bruszczewo II. Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in einer prähistorischen Siedlungskammer Grosspolens. Badania mikroregionu osad¬niczego z terenu Wielkopolski, vols. 1–2, Bonn. and Radłowice in Silesia.Lasak, I., Furmanek, M. 2008, Bemerkungen zum vermutlichen Wehrobjekt der Aunjetitzer Kultur in Radłowice in Schlesien, In: Müller, J., Czebreszuk, J., Kadrow, S. (eds.), Defensive Structures from Central Europe to the Aegean in the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C, Studia nad pradziejami Europy Środkowej, vol. 5, Poznań–Bonn, p. 123–134 These larger villages played a role as local political centres, possibly also market places, facilitating the flow of goods and supplies. The 'proto-urban' fortified settlement of Fidvár in Slovakia was an important centre for the exploitation of nearby gold and tin deposits. Hillforts are known from the Late Únětice period, such as Cezavy in the Czech Republic, which featured stone fortification walls. The large fortified settlement of Nitriansky Hrádok in Slovakia was built in the latter part of the Únětice period and continued to be used into the subsequent Mad'arovce culture.
Around 2300 BC, large circular enclosures were built at Pömmelte and nearby Schönebeck, in central Germany. These were important ritual sites that remained in use until 1900 BC. Pömmelte is described as a central place of importance. The largest known Early Bronze Age settlement in central Europe was built next to the Pömmelte enclosure. The remains of 130 large timber houses have been found on the site; they were typically 20 metres in length, with some up to 30.5 metres, and with floor areas ranging from 80m² to 360m².
Some Únětice buildings were exceptionally large, such as the Dermsdorf longhouse (44m x 11m) and Zwenkau longhouse (57m x 9m), both in central Germany. The Dermsdorf longhouse is estimated to have been at least 8.5 metres in height. These buildings may have been elite residences, cult buildings, meeting halls, or 'men's houses' for groups of warriors or soldiers under the command of individual rulers. The Dermsdorf longhouse was built a short distance from a settlement at Leubingen, in direct alignment with the nearby Leubingen. A large number of axes were ritually deposited together in front of the longhouse, which may have belonged to a contingent of warriors or soldiers.
Experimental reconstructions of Bronze Age longhouses indicate that the builders must have had "a complex system of numbers and data for linear measurements" to manage such house-building challenges. Construction techniques included the use of rectangular beams, planks and boards, mortise and tenon joints, , single-notched joints, slots, grooves, pivots, wooden pegs, and .
At the end of the Early Bronze Age, rings and ribs were replaced by scrap and raw metal, indicating the development of and the use of weighed metal as a means of payment. This weighing system may have emerged independently in central Europe through the serial production of bronze artefacts with perceptibly similar weights.
In 2014, the largest known hoard of copper rib-ingots was discovered in Oberding, Germany, consisting of 796 ingots, dating from 1700 BC. The find is associated with the Straubing group. Most of the ingots were tied together with Bast fibre in bundles of ten, each individual ingot weighing approximately 100 grams on average and the bundles weighing approximately 1 kilogram each. Forty of these bundles were further grouped into bundles of ten (or 100 ingots). This indicates the use of a decimal system. The use of approximately 1 kilogram of weight is also unusual, as the kilogram was first introduced as a unit of measurement in 1793.
The diameter and ground plan of the Pömmelte enclosure are almost identical to those of Stonehenge in Britain (built around 2500 BC), which was aligned with the solstices and has also been interpreted as serving a calendar function. According to excavators of the Pömmelte site, the similarities between both monuments indicate that they were built by "the same culture" (the Bell Beaker culture), with "the same view of the world". It has been suggested that the close similarity between Pömmelte and earlier earth-and-timber circular enclosures, such as the Goseck Circle in Germany ( 4900 BC) and in Britain, may indicate a continuation of traditions dating back to the Neolithic Europe.
The Nebra sky disc, described as 'the oldest concrete depiction of astronomical phenomena in the world', is thought to depict a calendar rule for harmonising the Solar calendar and Lunar calendar years, enabling the creation of a lunisolar calendar.Harald Meller (2026). 9783948618223, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale).. . ISBN 9783948618223 The cluster of stars next to the crescent moon is thought to represent the Pleiades, known from other ancient contexts as 'calendar stars', (2022). 9780714123493, British Museum Press. ISBN 9780714123493 whilst the gold arcs on the edge of the disc (one of which is now missing) represent the angle between the solstices at the latitude where the disc was found.Harald Meller (2026). 9783948618223, Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale).. . ISBN 9783948618223 This feature also appears in a different form on the Bush Barrow from Stonehenge, dating from 1900 BC, which was found at approximately the same latitude. The number of stars on the disc (32, or 33 if the sun is included) may represent the equivalence of 32 Tropical year to 33 Lunar calendar. According to the archaeologist Christoph Sommerfeld, the disc may also encode knowledge of the 19-year lunisolar Metonic cycle.
According to the archaeologist Harald Meller, the Nebra disc allowed for "an extremely accurate positing of time, including even the capacity for predicting ". As such, it represents "the establishment of a new temporal order" by elites of the Únětice culture and thereby "demonstrates their claim to state power".
The site on the Mittelberg hill where the Nebra disc was found is thought to have served as an enclosed 'sacred precinct', delimited by earthen ramparts on two sides of the hill. From this location, when the disc is aligned to the north, the upper terminus of the western gold arc points towards the Brocken, where the sun is seen to set on the summer solstice (21 June). Another distinctive marker on the horizon is the Kulpenberg hill, where the sun sets on 1 May (Beltane), a date also marked by the Pömmelte enclosure.
Other depictions of the Pleiades are known from rock carvings dating from the early Bronze Age, such as at Mont Bégo in the southern Alps and on a 'Calendar Stone' at Leodagger in Austria, which was part of a cult site associated with the Únětice culture.
The strong impact of Úněticean metallurgical centres and pottery-making traditions can be seen in other EBA groups, for example, in the Adlerberg, Straubing, Singen, Neckar-Ries, and Upper-Rhine groups in Germany and Switzerland, as well as the Unterwölbling in Austria. The Nitra group, inhabiting southern Slovakia, not only precedes the Únětice culture chronologically but is also strongly culturally related to it. All of these groups are alternatively seen as local variants of a broader Únětice culture. According to Marija Gimbutas these cultures were, in a broad sense, "one unit", with the same burial rites, economy, habitation patterns, and pottery, which she groups together as 'early Únětice'. The Veterov culture of Moravia and the Mad'arovce culture of Slovakia are sometimes considered to be subgroups within the final Únětice tradition. According to Bernard Sergent (1995), the Polada culture in northern Italy and the Rhône culture in France and Switzerland also represent southern variants of the Únětice culture. In later times, some elements of the Úněticean pottery-making traditions can be found in the Trzciniec culture as well.
examined the remains of eight individuals of the Únětice culture buried in modern-day Germany 2200–1800 BC. The three samples of [[Y-DNA]] extracted belonged to Y-haplogroups I2a2, I2c2, and I2, while the eight samples of [[mtDNA]] extracted were determined to belong to haplogroup I3a (two samples), U5a1, W3a1, U5b2a1b, H4a1a1, H3, and V. The examined Únětice individuals were found to be very closely related to peoples of the earlier [[Yamnaya|Yamnaya culture]], Bell Beaker, and Corded Ware cultures.. "The Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age Yamnaya fall closest to the central European Late Neolithic Corded Ware (CWC) and Bell Beaker groups (BBC), and in particular to samples from the early Bronze Age Únětice culture (UC). This supports a genetic contribution of eastern groups to central Europe during the Late Neolithic ~4,500 BCE, consistent with the autosomal SNP data. These results indicate that the Late Neolithic migration into central Europe was not entirely male in origin." Their amount of steppe-related ancestry is comparable to that of some modern Europeans.
examined the remains of seven individuals of the Únětice culture buried in modern-day Poland and Czechia from 2300–1800 BC. The seven samples of mtDNA extracted were determined to belong to haplogroups U4, U2e1f1, H6a1b, U5a1b1, K1a4a1, T2b, and K1b1a. An additional male from the late Corded Ware culture or early Únětice culture in Łęki Małe, Poland, of 2300–2000 BC, was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup R1b1a and the maternal haplogroup T2e. It was found that the people of the Corded Ware culture, Bell Beaker culture, Únětice culture, and Nordic Bronze Age were genetically very similar to one another and displayed a significant amount of genetic affinity with the Yamnaya culture.. "European Late Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures such as Corded Ware, Bell Beakers, Únětice, and the Scandinavian cultures are genetically very similar to each other..."
Papac et al. (2021) tested some more individuals from the Únětice burial sites: there, the Y-chromosome results (not including two by low-coverage samples) were: 1 G2a2b2a, 1 I2a1, 8 I2a2, 7 R1a-Z645, and 8 R1b-P312. The geneticists found that: "The Y-chromosomal data suggest an even larger turnover. A decrease of Y-lineage R1b-P312 from 100% (in late Bell Beaker Culture) to 20% (in preclassical Únětice) implies a minimum 80% influx of new Y-lineages at the onset of the Early Bronze Age". The autosomal results even point to a migration from the northeast, which the authors can link with the arrival of R1a-Z645, previously found in the Baltic region.
Several individuals from two burial sites in Prague were tested in 2022 (both sites were used in different cultural periods). The male Y-DNA haplogroups from individuals assigned to the Únětice period were: two R1a1a1 (Z280) and eight I2a2a (I6635); with one individual with the derived clade PF3885, a tested male, being I2a-L38; four males had the R1b-L2 haplogroup (another tested individual had the derived R1b-L20 clade); a male had the haplogroup R1b-Y153322, which is under DF27.
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