Journal of Cosmology, 2010, Vol 9, IN PRESS
JournalofCosmology.com, July, 2010
Central Europe: A Prehistoric Puzzle Emília Pásztor, Ph.D.
Magistratum Studio 6000 Kecskemet, Lestar ter 1. Hungary,
Keywords: Central Europe, Carpathian Basin, Bronze Age, sky lore, celestial symbols, Near-Eastern influence, Proto-Indo European, Proto-Ural.
1. Introduction
The responsibility of an archaeologist is not only to excavate, classify and describe artefacts but to study what the ancient peoples believed and what they thought of the world around them and how they conceived its origin. The archaeastronomy, coupled with the knowledge of the motion of the celestial bodies, can help reveal the role of the sun, the moon and the stars might have played in the life of ancient peoples and their understanding of the cosmos.
Consider, Central Europe, during the Bronze Age. Megalithic monuments as three dimensional sources and rock carvings and discs are often found in this area which have cosmological significance (Fig 1).
Without written sources, archaeological finds, such as the Nebra disk, serve as essential 'foundation-stones' for studying the cosmology of ancient peoples. The orientations of special archaeological monuments or rather structures, of houses and cemeteries, of decorative motifs or symbols all can be offered as initial points to retrace cosmological understanding.
Abstract signs are characteristic of Bronze Age artefacts in the Carpathian Basin, including decorations with obvious celestial and cosmological significance. However, the meaning of a symbol cannot be 'deciphered' only from the form of the sign or its apparent similarity to something else. Therefore, its use and its role among other signs or motifs and the social and religious context should be investigated to obtain a detailed understanding. Also searching for analogies is important. The existence of an organized belief system, can be considered a resource especially if some basic elements of the ancient sky lore are included.
However, help is needed, to make the archaeological finds speak. The sources for studying the ancient cosmologies include (Pásztor 2009a):
All people have beliefs based on their interpretations of the origin and functioning of the surrounding world: the earth, the sky and natural phenomena. These conceptions vary and differ from group to group, although they have general features which are common to the mythologies of many peoples. Anthropology, ethnography and ethno-archaeology can mostly help cognitive archaeology with answering questions as to the shared vs unique nature, meaning, and foundations of these beliefs.
According to the basic rule of searching for analogies, their application first requires the careful analysis of the data. It is an essential condition that the cultures being compared should have a similar ecological background, as the natural and economical contexts are significant in the formation of cosmology (Szabó 1990). As the celestial, astronomical phenomena depend on the geographical latitude, latitude should also be a condition in studying ancient cosmologies.
The traditional worldview is influenced by personal experience, traditional and cultural interactions. Traditional people also tried to interpret the events observed in the natural world by projecting the known order of the human world onto these experiences. Thus the social structure of each society is also important in revealing the archaic cosmology.
Despite the fact that the traditional worldview is not unified, not homogeneous, not free from contradictions and always changing (Pócs 199o, p. 527-543), comparative studies have discovered some archaic features, which can be found in the mythology of many peoples, that is why they can be used as analogies for the present purpose.
A universal motif is the duality of the sky and the earth. It is also a general feature of these ancient motifs that the earth is a flat disc, covered by a cup-like solid firmament which has several layers (3, 7, 9, 12) whose numbers can have different meanings for different cultures or regions. These universal motifs are part of European peoples' mythologies such as Greek and German mythologies, but are also found in the Ural-Altai mythologies. There are many artifacts which might represent this belief. For example, concentric circles may be the symbol of the multilayered world, though some have mistaken these circles as representing the sun. The Sun with several levels is not known from any myths, thus the concentric circles cannot be symbolic of the Sun (Fig 3).
Another typical element of many cosmologies is also the mound/mount, perhaps with a world tree on its top and the sun and the moon at each side of the tree. The mound standing on the centre of the world often participates in the creation of the world. The long continuance far back in time of the sacral assemble of the mound, the tree and the female principles have been demonstrated by Central Asian oral tradition, ethnographic and archaeological artifacts (Hoppál 2009). Some archeological finds in the Carpathian Basin seem to carry this cosmological motif as well.
3. The Cosmological Notions of Communities in Cultural Interactions with the Carpathian Basin
A cultural interaction with Anatolia and the Near East can be detected in the archaeological material before the third millennium BCE. In the Neolithic and Copper Age (the period between the 5th and 3rd millennia BCE) the finds signal not only cultural interactions but migrating people as well. The invention and development of bronze casting raised the frequency of long distance trade and changed trade significantly which sped up the information exchange as well. The luxury items found in the Syrian royal tombs dated to 1340 BCE were made by local craftsmen from amber of Baltic origin (Mukherjee et al. 2008). Thus, the route later called the Amber Route which connected the Baltic region with the Mediterranean must already have existed in Bronze Age.
Amber, this northern raw material, may have travelled to the Near East and the ancient Syrian ports crossing the Carpathian Basin and the Aegean. On this route not only the trade goods but also the ideas and beliefs were migrating thus some elements of the Mesopotamian cosmology must also have reached the Carpathian Basin, although it might not be possible to prove it since the influence seen on the artifacts cannot be differentiated from the universal cosmological features. One such example is the basic assumption that besides the visible sky vault and the earth the world is divided into several layers whose number is different by time and regions as previously mentioned (Horowitz 1998).
Mesopotamian cosmology is however a generic term, as several creation myths and world interpretations existed and they do not necessarily mesh with each other. Although the creation myths belonging to different towns and regions contain many similar elements, the local variations differ from each other in several details. The remaining texts were set down in early 2nd millennium BCE, although their oral traditions go back to early 3rd millennium BCE. Most of the myths reflect the period of town states. The systematization of the cosmological components is the mixture of empirical observations and theological speculations like in the archaic world interpretations.
It is indisputable that there are some celestial symbols found in the Carpathian Basin that have clear connections with Mesopotamia. There are several late Middle Bronze Age (14-13th century BCE) pendants bearing abstract symbols whose analogies can be found among the Near Eastern astral symbols (Pásztor 2010). The crossed circle appeared during the Neolithic period in the Carpathian Basin which cannot be found in the rest of Europe except in the Balkan and the South-East Europe. During the Bronze Age this symbol became a real universal as it spread throughout the whole continent (Fig 4).
Although it is generally considered to be a solar symbol, its meaning is likely to be more complex and preferably associated with the (micro)cosmos or the sky. The other similar symbol with the addition of one dot in each quarter (Fig 4) may be the symbol of the most favorable Near Eastern goddess Ishtar/Astarte who must have been the divine representative of the bright planet Venus in the Koszider period (14-13thcentury BCE).
Although there were also female figurine pendants with astral symbols which were nearly identical with the ones of the Koszider period, this was not the case with the Carpathian Basin ones where the anthropomorphic representation is missing. The respect or worship of the transcendent forces might not have taken anthropomorphic shape, yet. As in all probability the eye-catching natural phenomena and the celestial bodies played an important role in the belief system, the symbol of the divinized Evening star was easily taken over and might have been used for same magical protective purpose.
As the other end of the trade route stopped in Northern Europe, they might have also shared beliefs with those of the Carpathian Basin. The identical sacral objects of Hasfalva (Hungary) and Bålkakra (Sweden) are clear evidence of it (Fig 5).
5. Possible Ancient Cosmologies of the Same Period
The ancestors of most of the present European people spoke such languages that belong to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) family. Their mythologies also share cosmological elements which point to a possible common cosmologies. Although the emergence of the PIE belief system in the Carpathian Basin has not yet been determined; its presence is clear by the Bronze Age. According to the most frequent myth, the world was created by the dismemberment of a divine being (Lincoln 1986) whose face and eyes might have given the sun, its mind became the moon and the firmament came from the skull. Although in the Bronze Age there is no evidence to support it, the intentional fracture of the Neolithic idols might have been caused by the introduction of this cosmological myth. According to another well-known version originating in 1700-1100 BCE the divine hero conquered the demon and tilting its lance, which becomes the world column in the middle of the world then, into the primeval mound and releases the waters enclosed. This leads to the separation of heaven and earth; the sky vault becomes supported, the sun and the moon emerge from the depths of the water, light was born, and the cardinal directions are created (Irwin 1990).
The above listed historical and anthropological results can give inspiration to launch detailed investigations to retrace prehistoric cosmological elements. These analogies are however, far from the Carpathian Basin in time or space. Without written sources the archaeological finds should be the primary material and archaeological methods should be the primary approach in recreating this ancient worldview. The first signs indicating a wide-spread evolving unified belief system possibly appear just during the Central European Urnfield culture (12-9th century BCE). If there is no common belief system or religion, no single cosmology can be expected. This argument is valid for the entirety of prehistoric Europe.
Recent research proves the high diversity of cosmological notions. A unified, organized cosmology cannot be argued for the time period of the Bronze Age, perhaps even for a single ancient European community either. The different prehistoric cultural groups (called archaeological cultures) apply different symbolic system, different house orientations, and grave orientation. The impact of the local traditions at a site often proves to be stronger than the assumed shared beliefs. The orientations of houses of many sites show preference of North – South direction in aligning the longer axes which is not the best considering environmental purposes. They must have been under the control of a belief instead, perhaps an indigenous one. If the main entrance facing east served as the guiding principle for the foundation, the Indo-European influence might have taken priority over the local heritage. The second most frequent alignment of the long axes concentrates around 140 degrees South of East, that is just a few degrees more than the direction of winter solstice sunrise at the horizon. The deceased are often laid facing the sun path in graves (east). The exchange of goods between the neighboring communities however, might cause virtually shared beliefs. These findings do not provide clear proof of a sun cult. In the Carpathian Basin certain relationship between artifacts and sites can be attributed to beliefs like animism (Pásztor 2009b).
The most characteristic find of Bronze Age in Europe is depositing things in the earth, that is burying things. The components and circumstances of the discovery of burials, depots and hoards significantly differ from each other which may mark different social expectations as well. Most experts argue that the sacred function enjoys priority, especially in the case of hoards deposited in wet places such as bogs, rivers, lakes or near them. This phenomenon seems to be universal during the whole Bronze Age and the high number of wet sites signals frequent ritual activity. This is not completely identical with those found in the Carpathian Basin as in many cases valuable hoards were found in dry places such as hill-sides, hill tops and the base of hills, the base of rocks, on arable lands, etc. and they were ritually arranged. It was common to offer weapons to gods as votives during the Bronze Age. In Central Europe this custom ended at the end of 8th century, although in North Germany and South Scandinavia it lasted 200 years more. Most of the hoards, especially the treasures, had no profane function. Thus, the artefacts that comprise the sacral depot are not everyday goods but emblems endowed with special meaning. Thus ritual hoarding always signals the importance of the sites as they were the spots where transcendental relations, exchange between the gods or spirits and the worshipper were established. Anthropological reports say that the ancient sacral places can usually be found in nature. It is characteristic of the belief system of many non-urban peoples and traditional societies that many elements of the surrounding world own a vital force similar to that of the human beings' therefore they have to be respected.
The natural forces, the transcendent powers are, however not considered fundamentally evil but that can be dangerous if they do not keep good relations with them. The sacral natural places are of power and the active part of the communal ceremonies, the cosmology and the manifestation of the sacral landscape. The depositing customs harmonize with the ethnographical cases therefore we may assume that also in the Bronze Age all geographical features had their own spirits from which the watery transcendent forces were the most respected. The sky worship can hardly be supported by hoarding sites. The hill top hoards or the golden ritual treasures might have relations to celestial powers although these are only assumptions. Anthropological research reports about different ceremonies performed at the same sites involved sky worship as well. However, the respect of spirits was not unified which might be the reason for depositing diversity.
7. Conclusion
The research on Bronze Age cosmology gives evidence of the diversity and the almost unsolvable mixture of intricate influences. Thus the Bronze Age cosmology is argued to be not homogenous, not free from contradiction and changes as time is passing. This is clearly indicated by the increasing number of the celestial symbols on prestige artefacts in the late Middle Bronze Age (14-1200 BCE) in the Carpathian Basin which might signal changes in ideology or belief system. The real, practical nature knowledge hidden in orientations and symbols is however, very scarce and consists of simple elements observed in nearby surroundings. Therefore one should beware of enthusiastic overstatements on 'deep' prehistoric knowledge of astronomy. To reveal and evaluate the astronomy or rather sky lore of an ancient community orientations and symbols are not enough. Without archaeological, religious - historical, and anthropological background knowledge they are unsubstantiated. Results of great value of prehistoric European astronomy and its application can be reached just by complex investigational methods in which archaeology must have the leading role. The surviving material remains are a tiny but essential piece of a historical puzzle which can never be fully assembled. Fig 8-9.
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