THE BEAKER PEOPLE
The
first group is the Beaker People who get their name from one characteristic
artifact commonly found in their graves, a Bell Beaker, which was a drinking
vessel formed of clay. They are found in most areas of Europe, but they seem to
have been concentrated in Iberia and Central Europe North of the Alps around the
latter part of the 3rd millennium BC. They appear to be one of the earliest
warrior aristocracies in Europe, which is inferred from the grave goods buried
with their chieftains, which include archery equipment with flint tipped arrows
and a stone arm bracer to withstand the rebound of the bow string. For this
reason, they are sometimes referred to as "The Archer People." The significance
of this has to do with the type of agriculture that was practiced. Neolithic
farmers had no knowledge of fertilization techniques. Soil was worked until it
was depleted, and then the tribe had to move on to find new land. At the same
time, the population was increasing dramatically, adding to the competition for
land. As the various tribal elements bumped up against each other, enmity
between neighboring groups occurred, and this led to the emergence of tribal
leaders to organize defense and to lead forays in search of new territory. Late
Neolithic settlements show some evidence of the construction of defenses around
their perimeter. By this stage, livestock had become an important addition to
the food supply and a measure of wealth. It became increasingly important to
protect this vital resource from raiding parties within confined and defensible
positions.
One other item is found in the graves of the Beaker People,
and it is an object that speaks volumes about the centuries ahead and the
changes that were about to occur. The item in question is a small metal dagger.
The early Bronze Age was around the corner. In fact, it had already started in
the civilized world.
It shouldn't be assumed that the late Neolithic
people of temperate Europe were totally isolated from the more advanced peoples
of the Middle East and Mediterranean. On the contrary, there is evidence of
trade and contact throughout the Neolithic period between the trans-Alpine
Europeans and the civilizations of the Mediterranean rim. With the coming of the
Bronze Age, commerce between the two regions accelerated dramatically. Northern
and Western Europe had something the more developed societies to the South and
East needed - copper and tin, the basic raw materials for the production of
bronze. The primitive tribes had it in abundance in some areas, whereas the
civilized areas had very little of it. We'll come back to this point shortly as
it played an important role in the development of early European
culture.
THE BATTLE-AXE PEOPLE
A second precursor group to the
Celts emerges late in the 3rd Millennium BC in Central Europe. They are
identified by their practice of burying their dead individually, with grave
goods, in a circular barrow or earthen mound (tumulus) enclosed with a timber
mortuary house. This method of burial has been traced to the Pontic Steppes of
Southern Russia. Thus, these later settlers came into Central Europe via
migration across the Steppes, bringing new ideas and practices with them. They
appear to have introduced the first metal axe-heads of a distinctive shape with
a hole for mounting the handle. This is the origin of the name assigned to them
by archaeologists - The Battle-Axe people. It is believed that they in turn were
influenced by a people living north of the Caucasus in the area of the lower
Knieper and the Kuban and Terek rivers, near present day Kiev, where the raw
materials for making copper were plentiful. From the same trans-Caucasus people,
the Battle-Axe tribes seemed to have adopted a more grandiose and war-like
lifestyle than their new neighbors in Europe. The Beaker People adopted this new
style of axe; however, they copied it in stone, as the raw materials and
techniques for making copper had not yet arrived. The Battle-Axe folk had outrun
their supply line. Thus, among the grave goods of the two peoples, many more
examples of stone axe heads are found than copper ones.
The Battle-Axe
culture carried another important development into Europe. For the first time,
horse bones are found in grave sites from this period. The species of horse is
the tarpan, a small Eurasian breed that would have been more useful as a pack
animal than as a mount for riding. The riding horse evolved somewhat later
through selective breeding and better feeding. The point is, here we find the
horse domesticated for the first time in pre-history.
This brings us to
the point where language can be addressed. There is still some debate as to how
and when the Indo-European tongue arrived in Europe. Some philologists claim
that Indo-European based language was already established throughout the entire
continent, including Britain and Ireland, at the time of the above events.
Others claim that it came in with the Battle-Axe people. Since Indo-European has
been traced to its roots in an area north of the Black Sea, it seems reasonable
to suppose that the
Battle-Axe people, by virtue of the contiguity of their
original home lands, carried it from the Steppes into Europe. The Battle-Axe
tribes fused very quickly with the Beaker People and spread rapidly to all
corners of the continent. Wherever they went, their customs and their language
prevailed over that of the Beaker folk.
As mentioned above, the early
Bronze Age coincided with the arrival of the Battle-Axe culture in Central
Europe. The Bronze Age was well underway in the higher civilizations to the
south and east at this time, but trans-Alpine Europe was brought quickly into
the picture by virtue of having, in some areas, a large supply of the basic
materials - especially tin - for the production of bronze. Copper and tin were
relatively rare in the very
regions where metallurgic technology had
emerged.
The European tribal groups controlling the areas where the raw
materials were available quickly and greatly benefited from trade. The
importation of new tools improved agriculture; new weapons enhanced offensive and
defensive warfare; new utensils and ornaments improved the quality of life. The
impact of this on the entire population is difficult to gauge, but it certainly
would have
established a new bench mark in material culture. The influx of
material goods from the Mediterranean was part of it. The other part was the
transference of technology and ideas to the more primitive areas. Before long,
the ore producing regions had their own artisans, whether local or imported. In
time, Bronze age societies sprang up from Central Europe
through Western
Europe and into Britain. The metal workers of this time represented the first
sign of specialization to emerge in a society where all hands had previously
been turned to the production of food and shelter.
Whether it was due to
differences in climate or temperament, the Bronze Age societies of Europe
developed, not as extensions of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cultures, but as
uniquely European. It was the beginning of a distinctly European culture, a
development that was central to the emergence of
the Celts.
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