Draft:Knowiska culture
 | This is a draft article. It is a work in progress open to editing by anyone. Please ensure core content policies are met before publishing it as a live Wikipedia article. Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL Last edited by HitroMilanese (talk | contribs) 10 hours ago. (Update)
Finished drafting? or |
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Knowiska culture (cz. knovízská kultura) – an archaeological culture of the Middle and Early Bronze Age . It is strongly associated with the Urnfield culture circle. Its eponym is the village of Knovíz u Slany in the Central Bohemian Region, where an archaeological site of this culture was discovered.
Genesis
[edit]The Knowiska culture emerged from a local group from the Tumulus cultures. It mixed features of the Czech-Palatinate group and the Middle Danubian Tumulus culture. According to Marek Gedl, the contribution of the old traditions still existing in this area, related to the Únetic culture from the early Bronze Age, must have had some significance. A popular theory, although now rejected, was once that the Knowiska culture emerged under the influence of the Lusatian culture, which was supposed to be indicated by the ceramic inventory.
Chronology and area of occurrence
[edit]The cultural unit in question developed from the Bronze Age D to the Hallstatt Age B2-3, according to the chronological division made by Paul Reinecke. This falls in the years calibrated to the period 1300–750 BC. In its development, we can distinguish two stages and several phases:
- the proper stage of the Knowiska culture, divided into:
- Phase I – Bronze D and the beginning of the Hallstatt A1 period (1300–1200 BC);
- phase II – Hallstatt A1 (1200–1100 BC);
- phase III – Hallstatt A2 (1100–1050/1020 BC);
- the Štitary stage (from the village of Štitary ), divided into:
- Štitary I – Hallstatt B1 phase (1050/1020–950/920 BC);
- Štitara II phase – Hallstatt B2-3 (950/920–800 BC).
The Knowiska culture developed mainly in the Czech Basin, in central and western Bohemia. Its influence reached further, however, to the area of southern Bohemia, northern Bavaria and Thuringia, where the Unstruck culture developed.
Economy
[edit]The basis of the economy of the Knowiska culture population was farming. Most of the cereals grown on our lands were already known, while the most popular were wheat and millet, the grains of which are found in archaeological sites. In addition, they were also involved in animal breeding.
Settlement and construction
[edit]The settlements of the Knowiska culture were open, although it is assumed that defensive settlements appeared towards the end of the taxonomic unit. The settlements were located near rivers and other bodies of water. Above-ground buildings were erected in a post-and-beam construction, while large half-timbered houses are also known from the Shtitar phase. In addition, there are many circular or oval pits in the settlements of the Knowiska culture.
Cult centers
[edit]In the Knowiska culture, from the Hallstatt A period, two objects are known, which have been identified by researchers as having a cult function. The first of these objects is known from a settlement in Mutějovice near Rakovník. It had a diameter of 10 meters and was surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped ditch. The second, from the Čakovice district in Prague, had a diameter of 17–18 meters and was also surrounded by a ditch, inside which there was a stele made of sandstone.
Funeral rite
[edit]The discussed cultural unit is known primarily for the small size of cremation cemeteries, however, there are single skeletal burials within the settlements. In these graves, the bodies were laid on their sides in a contracted position. In addition, double burials are also found, most often of mothers with children. A separate group are skeletal burials with an unusual arrangement of the skeleton. In some cases, two bodies were laid directly on top of each other or across. Some of the skeletons were positioned facing the ground, while others were in a sitting position. Partial burials, cases when several bones from another were added to one skeleton, as well as group burials and group burials of quartered bodies are also characteristic. These atypical, mainly male graves are associated with phase III of the proper stage and with the shtitary stage.
Cannibalism
[edit]In the Knowiska culture, human bones are found scattered in cultural layers and waste pits in many of its settlements, similarly to animal bones. This indicates that the people of the Knowiska culture practiced cannibalism. The number of such finds indicates that cannibalism was practiced in the culture in question on a much larger scale than in neighboring groups, where it was probably mainly ritual in nature.
Inventory
[edit]The most characteristic vessels for the pottery of this culture were the so-called tiered vessels, consisting of several "tiers", which creates the impression of one vessel being placed on top of another. They are most numerous in Phase II. In addition, the ceramic inventory includes vase-shaped vessels with a separate neck, equipped with two handles at its base, as well as various bowls and ladles. There are numerous references in the pottery to the Lusatian culture. The metal inventory refers primarily to the southern German Urnfield culture.
Bibliography
[edit]- Marek Gedl , Primary and Early Medieval Archaeology , Part III The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Europe , Jagiellonian University Printing House, Kraków 1985.
- Historical Encyclopedia of the World , Volume I, Prehistory , edited by Janusz Krzysztof Kozlowski, Agencja Publicystyczno-Wydawnicza Oppress, Kraków 1999.
References
[edit]