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Vix

(152 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] A 5th- to 1st-cent. BC Celtic necropolis at the village of V. near Châtillon-sur-Seine (in Burgundy). The best-known grave is that of the 'Princess of V.' in a tumulus with a voluminous wooden chamber; this early 5th-cent. BC princess's tomb (Prince's tomb) is richly furnished with imported Greek and Etruscan goods ( bronze krater, silver phiale/ patera , Greek pottery) and a gold torque (Torques) and a state carriage. Attached to the necropolis was a fortified settlement as a princely seat on the neighbouring Mont La…

Celtic Archaeology

(1,524 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] A. General Celtic archaeology (CA) investigates the material legacy of groups of the population from the Iron Age, mostly in southern and south-western Central Europe, in addition to the  Germanic archaeology, which borders onto it to the north and north-east. This concerns the  Hallstatt culture of the early and the  La Tène culture of the late Iron Age. The equating of this archaeologically knowable cultures with the ethnicity of the  Celts is not constantly and unambiguously poss…

Lathe

(157 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] There is indirect evidence through rotary tracks of the lathe in the early Celtic period (6th/5th cents. BC), in the Hallstatt Culture, in bronze knobs, amber beads, rings made of sapropelite, etc. On the Heuneburg works waste from a turner's workshop is preserved. In the 6th cent. BC, turned wooden vessels are also known (lathe works). The lathe itself can only be inferred from ancient or medieval representations and sources; it probably came over the Alps from the Greek-Etrus…

Princely graves, Princely seats

(1,684 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] A. General points In most periods of ancient and early European history- as also in other ancient cultures (e.g. Mycenae, Anatolia, Etruria) - some burials can be identified as standing out particularly from the mass of 'normal graves', and these are mainly described as 'princely graves' (PG) [5; 14; 22]. Right through to the early Middle Ages, there is no direct information available about the actual status of these dead, so that PG is only a useful label. Accordingly, other descrip…

Hirschlanden

(122 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] H.-Ditzingen, district of Ludwigsburg: finding-place of a stone statue of a warrior from the late  Hallstatt culture (6th/5th cents. BC). The ‘Stele of H.’, which is approximately life-size (extant H 1.50 m) and totally three-dimensional, represents the naked figure of a man with a conical hat or  helmet, mask (?), neck ring ( Torques),  belt and a typical Hallstatt dagger. It was lying at the edge of the encirclement wall of a burial mound from the late Hallstatt culture that it originally crowned. Its design shows both Graeco-Etruscan and local Celtic elements. …

Dwellings on flood resistant mounds

(248 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] These mound dwellings (German: Wurte) originated as individual farms in the marshes between Denmark and the Netherlands (where they are called terpen) in the Germanic settlement area along the southern North Sea coast in the 2nd/1st cents. BC during regression phases of the North Sea. In the course of subsequent cents., these locations were deliberately elevated into settlement mounds because of the rise in sea level and increasing numbers of storm floods. Mounds of several meters height that could co…

Enamel

(128 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Coloured molten glass decoration applied to metal (mostly bronze). The Celtic  La Tène Culture (late 5th-1st cent. BC) was the heyday for enamel in Central Europe, the knowledge for it possibly originating in the Achaemenid East. The Celts used almost only red enamel (‘blood-enamel’), probably because of its similarity to  Coral.  Jewellery (fibulae, necklaces, parts of belts etc.), bronze vessels, and  weapons (helmets, swords) etc. were decorated with enamel. Workshops for enamel were found in   oppida in particular ( Bibracte). Ename…

Glauberg

(566 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Princely graves, Princely seats The G. is an early Celtic (5th cent. BC) princely seat with a princely grave ( Princes, tombs and residences of; s. also the map) that lies a good 30 km north of Frankfurt/Main on the eastern edge of Wetterau in Hesse. The G. rises as a high plateau c. 150 m over the plain; it comprises an area of c. 8 ha. Initial excavations took place already in the 1930s and were continued in the 1980s and 1990s, only then truly shedding light on the importance of the place. The G. was a…

Aylesford

(124 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Celts Late Celtic burial ground in Kent which gave its name to the A. culture in south-eastern England; cremation burials of the period between 50 BC and AD 50 are typical, and the burial gifts (Celtic lathe-turned ceramics and fibulae) demonstrate the existence of close connections with the Continent, which are possibly an indication of immigration of the  Belgae. The more sumptuous graves (e.g. Lexden) also contained ornamental bronze vessel fittings decorated in the Celtic style, amphorae and silver goblets. …

Nienburg Group

(107 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Prehistoric finds assemblage of the 5th to 3rd cents. BC in central Lower Saxony, named after burial mounds near Nienburg on the river Weser (Germanic archaeology, map). It is the westernmost group of the Jastorf culture. Typical elements of the NG are cremation burials in mounds, certain types of pottery and adornments (earrings). Occasionally Celtic imports occur; there is also evidence for iron working. Celtic archaeology; Funerary architecture III.G; Iron; Jewellery Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography H.-J. Hässler, Ur- und Frühgeschichte in Niedersa…

Bog bodies

(199 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Term for bodies or body parts of dead humans found in bogs, which ended up there for various, usually unclear reasons (e.g. sacrifice, punishment, burial, accident, battle). Most of the several hundred cases are from the bogs of northern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands and date - in as far as can be determined (by carbon dating, pollen analysis) - predominantly to the later Iron Age (from c. 500 BC) and the Roman Imperial period of the centuries around the birth of Christ. Because of the mostly well-preserved state of the organic substances …

Preist construction

(207 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Method of constructing fortifications from wood, stones and soil widespread through Central Europe during the Iron Age, in which the dry-stone wall fronts had vertical gaps positioned at regular intervals. Basically two types can be distinguished according to their construction: one in which the rear of the wall was similar, and layers of crossbeams were incorporated in the body of the wall, linking the two surfaces (Altkönig-Preist type), and another in which a raised earth ramp …

Viereckschanze

(201 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Square or rectangular enclosure of sides about 80-100 m long with circumvallation and occasionally palisade walls. The interpretation of these structures, found in the Celtic settlement area from France to Bohemia, is still disputed. For the most part they are regarded as 3rd-1st cent. BC Celtic sanctuaries, with shafts for sacrifices and wooden cult buildings. Rich sacrificial finds from recent excavations in France (cf. [1]) - including evidence of animal and human sacrifice, e.…

Jevenstedt

(76 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] in the county of Rendsburg (Schleswig-Holstein). Burial ground of the Germanic pre-Roman Iron Age (6th-4th cents. BC) furnished with painted pottery vessels and iron slag, which indicates a privileged position within the  Jastorf culture and points to early iron production through contacts with the  Hallstatt culture. The presence of iron ore and slag mounds in the area is known, but cannot definitely be assigned.  Germanic archaeology;  Iron Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography H. Hingst, Jevenstedt, 1974.

Votive offerings in springs

(141 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] In Celtic and Germanic cultures, as in the Graeco-Roman sphere, a special significance is attached to spring offerings as well as offerings in water and bogs. The primary archaeological evidence of this are late 4th-cent. BC Celtic finds from a hot spring at Duchov in northern Bohemia and 1st- to 4th-cent. BC Germanic finds from a mineral spring at Bad Pyrmont in Lower Saxony. In both complexes hundreds of examples of fibulae

Arras Culture

(79 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Later Iron Age culture (4th-1st cents. BC), named after a site in eastern Yorkshire (England) and recognized primarily by grave mounds with rectangular enclosures ( Funeral architecture;  Burial). In rich warrior graves  war chariots are typical burial goods. Besides contacts with Celtic cultures on the continent ( Celtic archaeology), emphasis is increasingly placed on strong indigenous traditions. Pingel, Volker (B…

Großromstedt

(158 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] (district of Apolda/Thüringen). Germanic burial site of the pre-Roman Iron Age that was excavated between 1907 and 1913. It comprises over 600 graves containing cremation burials from the 2nd half of the last pre-Christian cent. and the time of Christ as well as some graves from the 2nd/3rd cents. AD. The graves contain typical ceramics ( Situla, wheelmade pottery), weapons ( Sword,  Shield and lance) as well as  fibulae that are taken to be stereotypes for the subdivision of this…

Sanzeno

(119 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Site (in Nonsberg - Val di Non near Trento/South Tyrol) which gave its name to an archaic group of finds (group 'Fritzens-S.') from the Early Iron Age (5th-1st cents. BC); S. was a fortified settlement rich in material finds revealing local South Alpine and Etruscan elements (the adorned bronze containers of the 'Situla Circle,' ceramic forms) as well as Celtic influences (iron gear, weapons). S. and the corresponding group of finds is believed to have belonged to the Raetian population of the central Alpine region.…

Hochdorf

(361 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)

Marne culture

(298 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Celtic cultural group in the early La Tène period (5th cent. BC) in the catchment area of the rivers Marne, Seine and Aisne (Champagne). French scholars also call it ‘Aisne-Marne culture’; already in the 19th cent., it was called ‘Marnia’ on the basis of numerous grave finds (over a hundred necropoleis with several thousand graves), being an independent group at the northwest edge of the early La Tène culture. Typical are especially the full body burials in shallow grave ne…

Sapropelite

(114 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] A dark-brown raw material of organic sapropel carbon with a dull shine, similar to jet or lignite, occurring in Bohemia and Moravia; it was worked, primarily by the Celts (6th-1st cents. BC), for jewel rings. Unworked and half-worked pieces in workshop finds, e.g. on the Heuneburg (6th cent.) and in the oppidum of Manching (2nd/1st cents. BC) show that jewellery was produced by cutting and carving and by turning on a lathe. Crafts, trade; Celtic archaeology; Jewellery Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography O. Rochna, Zur Herkunft der Manchinger Sap…

Murus Gallicus

(201 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Building technique for defensive walls of Gaulish oppida (Oppidum), described in Caes. B Gall. 7,23 and regarded as particularly resistant to siege engines. There is archaeological evidence for muri Gallici in several places in Gaul (Basilia/Basel), but they occur only sporadically east of the Rhine in late Celtic oppida (e.g. Manching). They consist of horizontal beams laid lengthwise and across, which were built up to form a timber-framed structure (cf. fig.). The lower beams were firmly joined with large i…

Jastorf Culture

(87 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Term for culture groups of the pre-Roman Iron Age in North Germany ( Germanic archaeology, with map), derived from the urnfields of Jastorf, in the district of Ülzen (Lower Saxony). The burial complexes and furnishings with jewellery, pottery, and occasionally also weapons and equipment, are typical of the Germanic Jastorf culture. It is the first iron-working culture in the nordic area.  Iron;  Jevenstedt Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography H-J. Häßler (ed.), Ur-und Frühgesch. in Niedersachsen, 1991, 380 G. Schwantes, Die Urnenfriedhöfe in Niedersachs…

Hunsrück-Eifel culture

(224 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Special group from the Celtic Iron Age in the western highlands area between Luxembourg, the Rhine, the high Eifel and the Nahe Valley. The Hunsrück Eifel culture (HEC) is part of both the late  Hallstatt culture and the early  La Tène culture (6th to the middle of the 3rd cent. BC). It is primarily characterized by continuously attested burial mound fields with body burials. Additional peculiarities are special pottery shapes as well as its own grave furnishings (a lot of ring je…

Urnfield culture

(176 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] …

Joldelund

(136 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] in the district of North Friesland. A Germanic centre of iron production - surveyed in modern times - from the period of the late Roman Empire and early barbarian invasions ( c. AD 350-450). In the area of a village settlement with several peasant farms, specialized smelting of bog iron ores that occur locally took place in several hundred bloomery furnaces that were found distributed over c. 8 hectares. The raw iron that was extracted was further worked on site at several smithing locations. The necessary charcoal was produced in J. in at least…

Heuneburg

(378 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Etrusci, Etruria | Princely graves, Princely seats Near Herbertingen-Hundersingen, in the district of Sigmaringen: fortified settlement of the late  Hallstatt culture (6th/5th cents. BC), situated on the upper Danube (ford?), with an open outer settlement and associated burial mounds, some richly fitted out. The H. is one of the most important centres of power ( Prince's seat) of the earlier Hallstatt period in central Europe. Excavation…

Manching

(836 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)

Waldalgesheim

(145 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Celts The tomb of a Celtic 'princess' from the second half of the 4th century BC was discovered in 1869 at W. (in the district of Mainz-Bingen); originally, it was probably covered by a large tumulus which has not survived. Of the rich surviving furnishing, ornate gold neck, arm and leg jewellery, parts of ornate belts, a Celtic bronze jug, a bronze bucket from Campania and parts of a two-wheeled war chariot are remarkable. The Celtic ornamentation of some of the objects is named '…

Hemmoor

(82 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] (Cuxhaven district). Cremation burial fields of the early Imperial era (2nd/3rd cents. AD) with bronze or brass vessels that were used as urns. The finding-place gave its name to the typical Hemmoor buckets, some of which have richly decorated rims and attachments; They come from Roman workshops in the Rhineland.  Germanic archaeology;  Urna Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography M. Erdrich, Zu den Messingeimern vom Hemmoorer Typ, in: R. Busch (ed.), Rom…

Bad Nauheim

(149 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)

Thorsberg Moor

(217 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)

Dürrnberg

(135 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)

La Tène Culture

(575 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] Named after the archaeological site La Tène (field name) at Thielle on Lake Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel Canton, Switzerland. Soon after the discovery in the mid 19th cent., the La Tène Culture (LTC)/La Tène Period was recognized as typical of the later Iron Age in much of Central Europe and neighbouring areas. The site itself is, however, not particularly typical of the LTC, firstly because it offers a cross-section of finds (above all weapons and iron implements, wooden parts, etc.) tha…

Oberdorla

(164 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] O. is a bog in the district of Mühlhausen (Germany) where sacrifices were made. It was completely excavated 1957-1964, but published only in parts until now. It is a Germanic cult site that was used from the 6th cent. BC to the 4th cent. AD and which shows strong Celtic influences in the pre-Christian period. In the bog, various cultic areas were demarcated by stones or poles. Numerous animal bones (especially from cows and horses) and remains of sacrificial meals show that the si…

Hallstatt Cul­ture

(996 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] The early Iron Age in central Europe is called the Hallstatt Culture (HC), after the town of Hallstatt in the Austrian Salzkammergut. In the middle of the 19th cent., a large cemetery (over 1,000 burials) was found there with extensive find material, which was viewed as typical and led to the definition of the HC in the 19th cent. The find site has a very special significance, because there is a salt mine there which was already extensively worked in the Bronze Age [5; 11. 67-79]. The HC includes the period from the middle of the 8th cent. to the middle of the 5…

Celtic/Germanic archaeology

(2,366 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
Pingel, Volker (Bochum) [German version] A. Definition (CT) Celtic/Germanic Archaeology (CGA) is a part of prehistoric archaeology (= prehistory, early prehistory and protohistory). Based on archaeological evidence (finds, monuments), the largely non-written history and culture of the Celts and the Germani are investigated using  archaeological methods. Its scholarly and scientific…

Gundestrup

(239 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] On the G. moor, Ålborg district in northern Jutland, a large dismantled cauldron made of 13 partially gilded silver plates and a frame rack was found in 1891 (diameter almost 70 cm, weight c. 9 kg). The plates in repoussé technique show depictions of gods, scenes of sacrifice, my…

Germanic archaeology

(1,197 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] A. General Germanic archeology (GA) seeks to study the evolution, development and organization of the tribes and ethnicities of the  Germani by drawing on archaeological sources and methods [5; 7; 8]. Thereby, historical and linguistic knowledge about the Germani can be supplemented and extended. Presently, GA is focussing on two aspects: a) the evolution of the Germani in the undocumented pre-Roman period; b) analysis of archaeological sources on patterns of settlem…

Cor­al

(293 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
(Hellenistic κοράλ(λ)ιον ( korállion), κουράλ(λ)ιον ( kourállion), Latin curalium, corallium). [German version] A. General comments The fact that coral does not consist of plants but of the calcareous skeletons of minuscule anthozoan coelenterates has only been known since the 19th cent. Theophrastus (De lapidibus …

Oppidum

(1,377 words)

Author(s): Volkmann, Hans (Cologne) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. Italo-Roman An o ppidum (plural oppida) was originally the fortress of an Italian tribe, the principal settlement of a civitas (A.) or pagus , which was fortified with earthworks. The aborigines lived in the mountains "without walls in villages and scattered" (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,9,2). Oenotrus, a mythical founder of cities, colonized small towns ( póleis mikrás, Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,12,1) in the mountains - namely oppida. Cato [1] knew of 34 oppida among the gentes of the Euganei (Plin. HN 3,133). Remains of such fortified oppida have been discovered in the m…

Bibracte

(176 words)

Author(s): Lafond, Yves (Bochum) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Caesar | Caesar | Celts | Oppidum Oppidum of the Haedui in Gallia Celtica, later Lugdunensis (modern Mont-Beuvray), located on a hilltop, separated by valleys from the rest of the Morvan massif. In 58 BC, B. was the location of Caesar's victory over the Helvetii (Caes. B Gall. 1,23; 7,55; 7,63). Excavations particularly since 1984. …

Torques

(475 words)

Author(s): Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
('torque'; Lat. also torquis; Gr. στρεπτόν/ streptón, 'twisted'). [German version] I. Classical Antiquity Helically twisted collar of bronze, gold or silver with open but almost touching ends, which were thickened or figure-shaped and could sometimes be turned outwards. Torques are known from the Bronze Age onwards and numerous examples survive. The Greeks learned of torques from the Medes and Persians, where they were worn by people of high status (Hdt. 8,113,1; 9,80,4; Xen. Cyr. 1,3,2-3; cf. Curt. 3,3,13),…

Helmet

(1,468 words)

Author(s): Maaß, Michael (Karlsruhe) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] A. General Helmets protect and impress. Their design therefore mostly went beyond purely purposeful weapon engineering ( Weapon…

Pottery, production of

(2,347 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld)
[German version] I. Celtic-Germanic civilizations …

Sword

(862 words)

Author(s): Le Bohec, Yann (Lyon) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. Classical Antiquity The sword used in Rome's early period is referred to as ensis or gladius in the transmission (Verg. Aen. 7,743; 9,431; 12,458; Liv. 1,43,2). According to Livy, the soldiers of the first three classes ('divisions') in the Servian order of centuriae were equipped with swords (Liv. 1,43,2). The Gallic sword was longer and had no pointed tip, the Hispa…

Lock, Key

(835 words)

Author(s): Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. Classical antiquity (Lock: κλεῖθρον/ kleîthron or κλεῖστρον/ kleîstron, βαλανάγρα/ balanágra; cf. Lat. claustrum/ claustra; bolt: μοχλός/

Hoard finds

(754 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Kohler, Christoph (Bad Krozingen)
[German version] I. Celto-Germanic area In central Europe from the Byzantine period onwards, hoard finds (HF; storage, treasure, safekeeping, mass, hidden finds, etc.) primarily of metal objects (copper, bronze, iron, precious metals) are an important archaeological group of finds. The diversity of terms reflects the breadth of the discussion of the importance of the HF. The various contexts of the finds, e.g. solid ground, moors, rivers, special places (rocks, crevices, caves, transport routes, etc.…

Belts

(719 words)

Author(s): Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)
[German version] I. Celtic-Germanic There has generally been evidence of belts since the end of the Neolithic Age (3rd millennium BC) as part of archaeological discoveries in Central Europe (mostly burial objects). The belts themselves were made of organic materials (leather, etc.) and have not been preserved, but the (metal) fittings, such as clasps (belt hooks/ rings) or decorations (metal plates) have been. Belt hooks made of bone are known from the early phase (end of the 3rd millennium BC). Dur…

Ingots

(684 words)

Author(s): Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, and Rome Unworked metal of various weights cast into various shapes which has served since the Bronze Age as raw material for further processing or as a pre-monetary method of payment. From earliest times gold, silver, and electrum occur in the eastern Mediterranean as crude lumps, small round ingots (perhaps crucible remnants), and round or shaped bars with division notches. Alloyed bronze, tin, and particularly copper appear as crude lumps, round ingo…

War chariot

(855 words)

Author(s): Hausleiter, Arnulf (Berlin) | Le Bohec, Yann (Lyon) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In both the Ancient Orient and Egypt the WC was a single-axle open chariot with spoked wheels pulled by horses. WCs were predominantly made of wood and in some cases clad in metal. The first evidence of WCs is on 2nd millennium BC seal rolls in Anatolia, and then in Syria (Seals). Their origin is disputed. In particular Hittite texts record the military significance of WCs (battle of Qadesh in 1275 BC between Muwatalli II and Ramses [2] II). There is also ev…

Castellum

(529 words)

Author(s): Herz, Peter (Regensburg) | Huß, Werner (Bamberg) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
I. Roman [German version] [I 1] According to Veg. Mil. 3,8 ( Nam a castris diminutivo vocabulo sunt nuncupata castella) the castella are relatively small camps that are probably distinguishable from the permanent auxiliary camps and tended to be established in a rather ad hoc manner to secure supplies or as part of a larger fortification (Veg. Mil. ibid.). Castella are probably comparable in size and number of garrisons with the ‘small citadels’ of the limes or the burgi (Veg. Mil. 4,10: castellum parvulum, quem burgum vocant). Herz, Peter (Regensburg) [German version] [I 2] Rural part o…

Amber

(687 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) | Wartke, Ralf-B. (Berlin) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. General The fossil resin of the conifers that gets its name in German ( Bernstein) from its combustibility or as a succinite. The magnetic power of attraction of amber was already known to Thales (A 1,24 and A 3 DK); from the Greek name ἤλεκτρον ( ḗlektron) the modern term ‘electricity’ is derived. Mentioned in Aristotle (e.g. Met. 4,10,388b19 ff.) and Theophrastus (H. plant. 9,18,2; Lapid. 3,16; 5,28 and 29 [2]), and as sucinum in Tacitus (Germ. 45). Pliny (Italian thium, German glaesum: HN 37,31-46) characterizes amber as defluens medulla pinei generis arboribus (‘t…

Mirror

(1,020 words)

Author(s): Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) | Prayon, Friedhelm (Tübingen) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
(κάτοπτρον/ kátoptron; Lat. speculum). [German version] I. Greek Circular hand mirrors made of bronze with decorated ivory handles were already known in the Mycenaean period. Then mirrors are again evident from the second half of the 8th cent. BC. Greek mirrors can be divided into hand mirrors, standing mirrors and folding mirrors. Silver mirrors from the Mycenaean period have not survived, those from later periods only in exceptional circumstances. Round hand mirrors were developed as a direct imitatio…

Monsters

(772 words)

Author(s): Green, Anthony (Berlin) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)
[German version] I. Ancient East and Egypt Monsters appear frequently in the art of the Ancient East and Egypt, with the exception of the very earliest periods.  They combine elements from two of more animals, or from animals and humans. In Egypt the gods themselves are often represented as hybrid monsters. with a great variety of forms: gods with animal heads, like Amun and Chnum (ram; Chnubis), Thot (ibis), Horus and Re (falcon), Sebek (crocodile), Anubis (dog) and Chontamenti (wolf or jackal); goddesses such as Bastet with a cat's …

Glass

(1,832 words)

Author(s): Platz-Horster, Gertrud (Berlin) | Wartke, Ralf-B. (Berlin) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
(ὕαλος; hýalos or ὕελος; hýelos, vitrum) [German version] I. Methods of Glass Production Glass is a mixture of silicic acid (silicon dioxide, quartz or quartz sand) and alkali (soda, sodium bicarbonate or potash) as flux [2; 7; 8]. Since it was apparently unknown in antiquity that alkali makes the mixture water-soluble, only glass with sufficient lime to neutralize this reaction is preserved. Producers of raw glass (ὑελέψης; hyelépsēs or ὑαλοψός; hyalopsós) knew from experience which sand (ψάμμος ὑαλικός; psámmos hyalikós) or which calcareous plant ashes made the glass durable. Up i…

Minting

(2,959 words)

Author(s): von Kaenel, Hans-Markus (Frankfurt/Main) | Klose, Dietrich (Munich) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
I. Classical Antiquity [German version] A. Coins and coinage. General Coins, a particular, developmentally late form of money, are handy, usually are round pieces of metal made of gold, electron, silver, copper or copper alloys. The metal exhibits a prescribed composition (fineness), and the coins a weight defined by the applicable standard (Coinage, standards of). Coins bear signs on their obverse and the reverse: a design and usually an inscription. Through their characteristics, coins could be recognized as the product of those authorities (society or ruler) wh…

Gold

(3,476 words)

Author(s): Riederer, Josef (Berlin) | Wartke, Ralf-B. (Berlin) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
I. General [German version] A. Gold and gold deposits Gold is a soft precious metal that can be shaped well mechanically and so can be worked easily into sheets and wires, but it has a relatively high melting point at 1063°C that makes casting difficult. It is relatively rare in nature where it is present in the form of gold aggregates in solid rock from which it is extracted through mining methods, or it is present in the form of gold particles or grains in sandy deposits of weathered primary rock, from…

Silver

(2,474 words)

Author(s): Riederer, Josef (Berlin) | Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Neudecker, Richard (Rome)
[German version] I. Definition Silver (ἀργύριον/ argýrion, ἄργυρος/ árgyros; Latin argentum) is a precious metal, which in Antiquity was extracted primarily by smelting silver-bearing ores of lead. Four different kinds occur naturally: 1. as pure silver; 2. as silver ore; 3. as a component of galena, the only economically interesting ore of lead; 4. in alloy with gold, i.e. as electrum (Elektron), in which the gold content can amount to less than 30 %. Pure silver is rare and its surface corrodes, so that…

Fortifications

(2,871 words)

Author(s): Burckhardt, Leonhard (Basle) | Miller, Martin (Berlin) | Blech, Michael (Madrid) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Baatz, Dietwulf (Bad Homburg)
[German version] I. Greece After the massive Mycenaean fortified palaces had been abandoned, several centuries passed before larger fortifications were again built in Greece. During the Geometric Period fortification construction in the motherland remained modest. Simple structures were built that left few if any remains, and the ruins of Mycenaean fortifications sufficed for protection requirements. However, citadels (acropoleis), peninsulas, and other topographically suitable locations were fortif…

Salt

(1,504 words)

Author(s): Nissen, Hans Jörg (Berlin) | Germer, Renate (Hamburg) | Giovannini, Adalberto (Geneva) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Salt (Sumerian mun; Akkadian ṭabtu; Hittite puti; Hebrew mælaḥ; Egyptian sm.t) played an important role in all ancient Near Eastern cultures and in Egypt. In often high temperatures, the supply of salt was essential to life: salt was therefore part of workers' ordinary rations in Mesopotamia and Egypt (Rations). It was esp. used to season foods and to preserve meat and fish. In medicine, too, salt was used internally and externally. Salt was an important ingredient…

Agriculture

(7,403 words)

Author(s): Hruška, Blahoslav (Prague) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Osborne, Robin (Oxford) | Schreiner, Peter (Cologne) | Et al.
I. Near East and Egypt [German version] A. Introduction In the Near Orient (particularly the southern Levant and Syria) and Egypt, a fundamental change in the history of mankind occurred 12,000 years ago: the transition from the hunter-gatherer life of paleolithic times to neolithic agrarian society. In the so-called ‘fertile crescent’ and in Egypt, agriculture almost always included livestock farming. Agriculture also encompassed the planting of fruit trees, viticulture and horticulture. The methods of food production led to increasing freedom from dependency on e…

Tumulus

(4,351 words)

Author(s): Steimle, Christopher (Erfurt) | Hiesel, Gerhard (Freiburg) | Jung, Reinhard (Berlin) | Hülden, Oliver (Tübingen) | Naso, Alessandro (Udine) | Et al.
(Latin 'hill', 'funerary mound', pl. tumuli; Greek τύμβος/ týmbos, σῆμα/ sêma; χῶμα/ chôma). I. Definition, distribution, function [German version] A. Definition Tumulusis a general term for a mound, as a rule artificial and usually round or oval in plan, associated with a burial ('burial mounds', as opposed, e.g., to prehistoric settlement mounds). Tumulus burial (‘mound burial’) describes all burials that have been covered by a mound. Tumulus is also used in archaeology as a technical term for burial mounds outsid…

Weapons

(2,508 words)

Author(s): Hausleiter, Arnulf (Berlin) | Hiesel, Gerhard (Freiburg) | Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Blech, Michael (Madrid) | Kohler, Christoph (Bad Krozingen) | Et al.
[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Weapons were among the earliest artefacts fashioned by humans and their ancestors. Stone arrowheads and blades were the first recognizable weapons in the ancient Near East into the Neolithic Period ( c. 10000 BC). From the 4th millennium BC, weapons were depicted on roll seals and stelae in scenes of warfare or hunting. Of maces suitable for close combat, generally only the heads (of stone or metal) survive. One exception is the deposit at the Chalcolithic find site of Naḥal Mišmār in P…

Necropoleis

(7,045 words)

Author(s): Tsochos, Charalampos (Erfurt) | Nissen, Hans Jörg (Berlin) | Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Genz, Hermann (Istanbul) | Hiesel, Gerhard (Freiburg) | Et al.
[German version] I. Introduction The Greek word νεκρόπολις/ nekrópolis, ‘city of the dead’, is attested in Antiquity only in Strabo (17,1,10,14) as the name of a suburb of Alexandria [1] (Necropolis). Modern scholarship transfers the term necropolis to cemeteries of various cultures and time periods. General definitions as to shape and size do not exist. In this article, necropolis refers only to sites of a certain size and usually lying outside the settlements themselves. The size of a necropolis, the …

Pins

(3,978 words)

Author(s): Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) | Giesen, Katharina (Tübingen) | Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Prayon, Friedhelm (Tübingen) | Steimle, Christopher (Erfurt) | Et al.
[German version] I. General Pins and needles (βελόνη/ belónē, περόνη/ perónē, ῥαφίς/ rhaphís, Latin acus) were put to a variety of uses in the ancient household: they were used for hair, garments and sewing. They were also a utensil, for example, in the work of doctors (Surgical instruments), sailmakers etc. Tattoos were also done using special needles. The shape of the pin, long and thin with one sharp end, has not changed since prehistoric times. In sewing needles, the head is generally unadorned and flat; …

Crafts, Trade

(7,461 words)

Author(s): van de Mieroop, Marc (New York) | Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Bieg, Gebhard (Tübingen) | Burford-Cooper, Alison (Ann Arbor) | Et al.
[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Crafts in Egypt, in Syria-Palestine and in Mesopotamia can be best categorized by the materials employed: stone, bone and other animal products, clay and glass, metals, wood, wool and flax and leather, as well as reed and plant fibres. These were used to make objects of the most varied kinds, from cooking-pots to finely worked pieces of jewellery. For the building trade, stone, clay, reed and wood were important. For the investigation of the various forms of…

Funerary architecture

(5,482 words)

Author(s): Kammerer-Grothaus, Helke (Bremen) | Seidlmayer, Stephan Johannes (Berlin) | Hauser, Stefan R. (Berlin) | Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Prayon, Friedhelm (Tübingen) | Et al.
[German version] I. Definition Funerary architecture (FA) refers to architectonically designed structures built above the contemporary ground level for the purpose of  burial, as opposed to underground hypogea, which have rooms for the cult of the dead and hero cult. Columbaria can combine both types. Hypogea with a ground level cult room influenced the early Christian martyria above the graves. Regarding further aspects of FA, cf.  Hypogaeum;  Maussolleum;  Necropoleis. Kammerer-Grothaus, Helke (Bremen) II. Egypt and the Near East [German version] A. Egypt The Egyptian buria…
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