A message on the topic of the Iron Age. Copper, Bronze, Iron Age – Knowledge Hypermarket

Iron Age

an era in the primitive and early class history of mankind, characterized by the spread of iron metallurgy and the production iron tools. The idea of ​​three centuries: stone, bronze and iron - arose in the ancient world (Titus Lucretius Carus). The term "J. V." was introduced into science around the mid-19th century. Danish archaeologist K. J. Thomsen om. The most important studies, initial classification and dating of monuments of the Jewish century. in Western Europe were made by the Austrian scientist M. Görnes, the Swedish - O. Montelius and O. Oberg, the German - O. Tischler and P. Reinecke, the French - J. Dechelet, the Czech - I. Pic and the Polish - J. Kostrzewski; in Eastern Europe - Russian and Soviet scientists V. A. Gorodtsov, A. A. Spitsyn, Yu. V. Gauthier, P. N. Tretyakov, A. P. Smirnov, H. A. Moora, M. I. Artamonov, B. N. Grakov and others; in Siberia - S. A. Teploukhov, S. V. Kiselev, S. I. Rudenko and others; in the Caucasus - B. A. Kuftin, A. A. Jessen, B. B. Piotrovsky, E. I. Krupnov and others; in Central Asia - S.P. Tolstov, A.N. Bernshtam, A.I. Terenozhkin and others.

The period of initial spread of the iron industry was experienced by all countries in different times, however, by J. century. usually include only the cultures of primitive tribes that lived outside the territories of ancient slave-owning civilizations that arose in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, India, China, etc.). J.v. compared to previous archaeological eras (Stone and Bronze Ages) is very short. Its chronological boundaries: from 9-7 centuries. BC e., when many primitive tribes of Europe and Asia developed their own iron metallurgy, and before the emergence of class society and the state among these tribes. Some modern foreign scientists, who consider the end of primitive history to be the time of the appearance of written sources, attribute the end of the Jewish century. Western Europe to the 1st century BC e., when Roman written sources appear containing information about Western European tribes. Since to this day iron remains the most important metal from whose alloys tools are made, the term “early iron century” is also used for the archaeological periodization of primitive history. On the territory of Western Europe, early life century. only its beginning is called (the so-called Hallstatt culture). Initially, meteorite iron became known to humanity. Individual objects made of iron (mainly jewelry) from the 1st half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. found in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The method of obtaining iron from ore was discovered in the 2nd millennium BC. e. According to one of the most likely assumptions, the cheese-making process (see below) was first used by tribes subordinate to the Hittites living in the mountains of Armenia (Antitaurus) in the 15th century. BC e. However, for a long time iron remained a rare and very valuable metal. Only after the 11th century. BC e. fairly widespread production began iron weapons and tools in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, and India. At the same time, iron became famous in southern Europe. In the 11th-10th centuries. BC e. individual iron objects penetrated into the region lying north of the Alps and were found in the steppes of the south of the European part of the modern territory of the USSR, but iron tools began to predominate in these areas only from the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. In the 8th century. BC e. iron products are widely distributed in Mesopotamia, Iran and somewhat later in Central Asia. The first news of iron in China dates back to the 8th century. BC e., but it spreads only from the 5th century. BC e. In Indochina and Indonesia, iron predominates at the turn of the Common Era. Apparently, since ancient times, iron metallurgy was known to various tribes of Africa. Undoubtedly, already in the 6th century. BC e. iron was produced in Nubia, Sudan, and Libya. In the 2nd century. BC e. J.v. occurred in the central region of Africa. Some African tribes moved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, bypassing the Bronze Age. In America, Australia and most of the Pacific Islands, iron (except meteorite) became known only in the 16th and 17th centuries. n. e. with the arrival of Europeans in these areas.

In contrast to the relatively rare deposits of copper and especially tin, iron ores, although most often low-grade (brown iron ores), are found almost everywhere. But it is much more difficult to obtain iron from ores than copper. Melting iron was inaccessible to ancient metallurgists. Iron was obtained in a dough-like state using the cheese-blowing process (See Cheese-blowing process) , which consisted in the reduction of iron ore at a temperature of about 900-1350 ° C in special furnaces - forges with air blown by forge bellows through a nozzle. A kritsa formed at the bottom of the furnace - a lump of porous iron weighing 1-5 kg, which had to be forged to compact it, as well as to remove slag from it. Raw iron is a very soft metal; tools and weapons made of pure iron had low mechanical qualities. Only with the discovery in the 9-7 centuries. BC e. With the development of methods for making steel from iron and its heat treatment, the new material began to become widespread. The higher mechanical qualities of iron and steel, as well as the general availability of iron ores and the low cost of the new metal, ensured that they replaced bronze, as well as stone, which remained an important material for the production of tools in the Bronze Age. This did not happen right away. In Europe, only in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. e. iron and steel began to play a truly significant role as materials for the manufacture of tools and weapons. The technical revolution caused by the spread of iron and steel greatly expanded man's power over nature: it became possible to clear large forest areas for crops, expand and improve irrigation and reclamation structures, and generally improve land cultivation. The development of crafts, especially blacksmithing and weapons, is accelerating. Wood processing is being improved for the purposes of house construction and production. vehicles(ships, chariots, etc.), making various utensils. Craftsmen, from shoemakers and masons to miners, also received better tools. By the beginning of our era, all the main types of handicraft and agricultural. hand tools (except for screws and hinged scissors), used in the Middle Ages, and partly in modern times, were already in use. The construction of roads became easier, military equipment improved, exchange expanded, and metal coins became widespread as a means of circulation.

The development of productive forces associated with the spread of iron, over time, led to the transformation of all social life. As a result of the growth in labor productivity, the surplus product increased, which, in turn, served as an economic prerequisite for the emergence of exploitation of man by man and the collapse of the tribal primitive communal system. One of the sources of the accumulation of values ​​and the growth of property inequality was the expansion in the era of housing. exchange. The possibility of enrichment through exploitation gave rise to wars for the purpose of robbery and enslavement. At the beginning of the Zh. century. fortifications are widespread. During the era of housing. The tribes of Europe and Asia were experiencing the stage of collapse of the primitive communal system and were on the eve of the emergence of class society and the state. The transition of some means of production into the private ownership of the ruling minority, the emergence of slavery, the increased stratification of society and the separation of the tribal aristocracy from the bulk of the population are already features typical of early class societies. For many tribes, the social structure of this transition period took the political form of the so-called. military democracy (See Military democracy).

J.v. on the territory of the USSR. On the modern territory of the USSR, iron first appeared at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Transcaucasia (Samtavrsky burial ground) and in the southern European part of the USSR. The development of iron in Racha (Western Georgia) dates back to ancient times. The Mossinoiks and Khalibs, who lived in the neighborhood of the Colchians, were famous as metallurgists. However, the widespread use of iron metallurgy in the USSR dates back to the 1st millennium BC. e. A number of archaeological cultures of the late Bronze Age are known in Transcaucasia, the flourishing of which dates back to the early Bronze Age: the Central Transcaucasian culture with local centers in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the Kyzyl-Vank culture (see Kyzyl-Vank), Colchis culture , Urartian culture (see Urartu). In the North Caucasus: Koban culture, Kayakent-Khorochoev culture and Kuban culture. In the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region in the 7th century. BC e. - first centuries AD e. lived by Scythian tribes, who created the most developed culture of the early Western century. on the territory of the USSR. Iron products were found in abundance in settlements and burial mounds of the Scythian period. Signs of metallurgical production were discovered during excavations of a number of Scythian settlements. Largest quantity the remains of ironworking and blacksmithing were found at the Kamensky settlement (See Kamenskoye settlement) (5-3 centuries BC) near Nikopol, which was apparently the center of a specialized metallurgical region of ancient Scythia (see Scythians). Iron tools contributed to the widespread development of all kinds of crafts and the spread of arable farming among the local tribes of the Scythian period. The next period after the Scythian period was the early Zh. century. in the steppes of the Black Sea region it is represented by the Sarmatian culture (see Sarmatians), which dominated here from the 2nd century. BC e. up to 4 c. n. e. In previous times, from the 7th century. BC e. Sarmatians (or Sauromatians) lived between the Don and the Urals. In the first centuries A.D. e. one of the Sarmatian tribes - Alans - began to play a significant historical role and gradually the very name of the Sarmatians was supplanted by the name of the Alans. At the same time, when the Sarmatian tribes dominated the Northern Black Sea region, the cultures of “burial fields” (Zarubinets culture, Chernyakhov culture, etc.) spread in the western regions of the Northern Black Sea region, the Upper and Middle Dnieper and Transnistria. These cultures belonged to agricultural tribes who knew iron metallurgy, among which, according to some scientists, were the ancestors of the Slavs. The tribes living in the central and northern forest regions of the European part of the USSR were familiar with iron metallurgy from the 6th to 5th centuries. BC e. In the 8th-3rd centuries. BC e. In the Kama region, the Ananyinskaya culture was widespread, which was characterized by the coexistence of bronze and iron tools, with the undoubted superiority of the latter at the end of it. The Ananino culture on the Kama was replaced by the Pyanobor culture (end of the 1st millennium BC - 1st half of the 1st millennium AD).

In the Upper Volga region and in the regions of the Volga-Oka interfluve towards the Zh. century. include the settlements of the Dyakovo culture (See Dyakovo culture) (mid-1st millennium BC - mid-1st millennium AD), and in the territory to the south of the middle reaches of the Oka, to the west of Volga, in the basin of the river. Tsna and Moksha are settlements of the Gorodets culture (See Gorodets culture) (7th century BC - 5th century AD), which belonged to the ancient Finno-Ugric tribes. Numerous 6th century settlements are known in the Upper Dnieper region. BC e. - 7th century n. e., belonging to the ancient Eastern Baltic tribes, later absorbed by the Slavs. The settlements of the same tribes are known in the south-eastern Baltic, where, along with them, there are also cultural remains that belonged to the ancestors of the ancient Estonian (Chud) tribes.

IN Southern Siberia and in Altai, due to the abundance of copper and tin, the bronze industry developed strongly, for a long time successfully competed with iron. Although iron products apparently appeared already in the early Mayemirian time (Altai; 7th century BC), iron became widespread only in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. (Tagar culture on the Yenisei, Pazyryk mounds in Altai, etc.). Cultures Zh. v. are also represented in other parts of Siberia and on Far East. On the territory of Central Asia and Kazakhstan until the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. tools and weapons were also made of bronze. The appearance of iron products both in agricultural oases and in the pastoral steppe can be dated back to the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Throughout the 1st millennium BC. e. and in the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD. e. The steppes of Central Asia and Kazakhstan were inhabited by numerous Sak-Usun tribes, in whose culture iron became widespread from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In agricultural oases, the time of the appearance of iron coincides with the emergence of the first slave states (Bactria, Sogd, Khorezm).

J.v. on the territory of Western Europe is usually divided into 2 periods - Hallstatt (900-400 BC), which was also called the early, or first Zh. century, and La Tène (400 BC - beginning of AD) , which is called late, or second. The Hallstatt culture was widespread in the territory of modern Austria, Yugoslavia, Northern Italy, partly in Czechoslovakia, where it was created by the ancient Illyrians, and on the territory of modern Germany and the Rhine departments of France, where Celtic tribes lived. Cultures close to the Hallstatt period date back to the same time: the Thracian tribes in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, the Etruscan, Ligurian, Italic and other tribes on the Apennine Peninsula, and the cultures of the beginning of the African century. Iberian Peninsula (Iberians, Turdetans, Lusitanians, etc.) and the late Lusatian culture in the river basins. Oder and Vistula. The early Hallstatt period was characterized by the coexistence of bronze and iron tools and weapons and the gradual displacement of bronze. Economically, this era is characterized by the growth of agriculture, and socially, by the collapse of clan relations. In the north of modern East Germany and Germany, Scandinavia, Western France, and England, the Bronze Age still existed at that time. From the beginning of the 5th century. The La Tène culture spreads, characterized by a genuine flourishing of the iron industry. The La Tène culture existed before the Roman conquest of Gaul (1st century BC), the area of ​​distribution of the La Tène culture was the land to the west from the Rhine to Atlantic Ocean along the middle course of the Danube and to the north of it. La Tène culture is associated with the Celtic tribes, who had large fortified cities that were centers of tribes and places of concentration of various crafts. During this era, the Celts gradually created a class slave-owning society. Bronze tools are no longer found, but iron became most widespread in Europe during the period of the Roman conquests. At the beginning of our era, in the areas conquered by Rome, the La Tène culture was replaced by the so-called. provincial Roman culture. Iron spread to northern Europe almost 300 years later than to the south. By the end of the European century. refers to the culture of Germanic tribes that lived in the territory between North Sea and pp. the Rhine, Danube and Elbe, as well as in the southern Scandinavian Peninsula, and archaeological cultures, the bearers of which are considered the ancestors of the Slavs. In the northern countries, the complete dominance of iron came only at the beginning of our era.

Lit.: Engels F., The origin of the family, private property and the state, Marx K. and Engels F., Works, 2nd ed., vol. 21; Avdusin D. A., Archeology of the USSR, [M.], 1967; Artsikhovsky A.V., Introduction to Archeology, 3rd ed., M., 1947; World history, vol. 1-2, M., 1955-56; Gauthier Yu. V., The Iron Age in Eastern Europe, M. - L., 1930; Grakov B.N., The oldest finds of iron objects in the European part of the USSR, “Soviet Archaeology”, 1958, No. 4; Zagorulsky E.M., Archeology of Belarus, Minsk, 1965; History of the USSR from ancient times to the present day, vol. 1, M., 1966; Kiselev S. V., Ancient history Southern Siberia, M., 1951; Clark D.G.D., Prehistoric Europe. Economic essay, trans. from English, M., 1953; Krupnov E.I., Ancient history North Caucasus, M., 1960; Mongait A.L., Archeology in the USSR, M., 1955; Niederle L., Slavic Antiquities, trans. from Czech., M., 1956; Piotrovsky B.B., Archeology of Transcaucasia from ancient times to 1 thousand BC. e., L., 1949; Tolstov S.P., On the ancient deltas of Oxus and Jaxartes, M., 1962; Shovkoplyas I. G., Archaeological research in Ukraine (1917-1957), K., 1957; Aitchison L., A history of metals, t. 1-2, L., 1960; CLark G., World prehistory, Camb., 1961; Forbes R. J., Studies in ancient technology, v. 8, Leiden, 1964; Johannsen O., Geschichte des Eisens, Düsseldorf, 1953; Laet S. J. de, La préhistoire de l’Europe, P. - Brux., 1967; Moora H., Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr., 1-2, Tartu (Dorpat), 1929-38; Piggott S., Ancient Europe, Edinburgh, 1965; Pleiner R., Stare europske kovářství, Prague, 1962; Tulecote R. F., Metallurgy in archaeology, L., 1962.

L. L. Mongait.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what “Iron Age” is in other dictionaries:

IRON AGE, a period in the development of mankind associated with the development of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools. It was replaced by the Bronze Age, and in some regions by the Stone Age. In the North Caucasus, iron tools were created from the 9th to 6th centuries. BC e. under... ...Russian history

IRON AGE, a historical period that began with the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools and weapons. Replaced by the Bronze Age at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC... Modern encyclopedia

An era of human history, identified on the basis of archaeological data and characterized by the leading role of iron products and its derivatives.

As usual, J. v. came to replace the bronze age. At the beginning of life. in different regions from-no-sit to different times, and yes-ti-rov-ki of this process-sa-closer- z-tel-ny. After-the-beginning of life. there is a regular use of ores for the production of tools and weapons, ras-pro-stra -non-ferrous metallurgy and blacksmithing; The massive use of iron products means a special stage of development already within the framework of iron and steel, not -something cul-tu-rah from-de-linen from the na-cha-la Zh. several hundred years. The end of the life. they often consider it a technical position. era-hi, associated with industrial. re-in-ro-that, or prolong it until the present time.

Wide-ranging out-of-drainage has made it possible to produce mass series of labor tools, which from- ra-zi-elk on the improvement and further development of the land (especially in forest areas, on heavy for soil cultivation, etc.), progress in construction. de-le, re-me-slah (in part-st-no-sti, pi-lys appeared, on-pil-ni-ki, shar-nir-nye in-st-ru-men-you etc.), production of metals and other raw materials, from the production of wheeled transport ports, etc. Development This pro-from-water-st-va and trans-port led to the expansion of trade, apparently you can-not. The use of mass-so-in-go iron-no-go vo-ru-zhe-niya su-s-st-ven-but affected the progress in the military de-le. In many societies, all this is a way of developing the first but-ve-nu-go-su-dar-st-ven-no-sti, inclusion in the circle of ci-vi-li-za-tions, the oldest of which are many -th senior J. century. and had a level of development, superior to the ascending plural. society of the per-rio-yes.

Are there early and late living centuries? For plural cultural tour, before all the Europeans, gra-ni-tsu between no-mi, as a rule, from-to-epoch the collapse of the an-tic-ci-vi-li-za-tion and the on-stu-p-le-niya of the Middle-ne-ve-ko-vya; a number of ar-heo-logs co-ot-no-sit fi-nal ran-ne-go Zh. with the beginning of the influence of Rome. cult-tu-ry in plural. on-ro-dy of Europe in the 1st century. BC e. - 1st century n. e. In addition, different regions have their own internal. per-rio-di-za-tion of iron-le-no-go-ve-ka.

Po-nya-tie “J. V." everything is used for the study of primitive societies. Processes associated with the st-nov-le-ni-em and development of go-su-dar-st-ven-no-sti, for-mi-ro-va -no modern na-ro-dov, as a rule, ras-smat-ri-va-yut is not so much within the framework of ar-heo-lo-gich. cultural tour and “centuries”, how many in the context of the history of the ancient states and ethnic groups. It is with them that many people co-operate. ar-heo-lo-gich. cultures of the late J. century.

Distribution of black metal-lur-gy and metal-lo-work-bot-ki. The oldest center of metal-lur-gyi zhe-le-za was the region of Asia Minor, East. Middle-earth-no-sea, Trans-Caucasus (2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC). Information about the wide use of the same-le-za appears in texts from the middle. 2nd thousand. By-ka-za-tel-but-sla-nie of the Hittite king Fa-rao-nu Ram-se-su II with co-ob-society about from -right ko-rab-lya, na-gro-zhen-no-go-le-zom (late 14th - early 13th centuries). Means. the number of metals from de-liy nay-de-but on ar-heo-lo-gich. memory-ni-kah 14-12 centuries. But in the Hittite kingdom, steel was made in Pa-le-sti-ne from the 12th century, in Cyprus - from the 10th century. One of the oldest on-ho-dok metal-lur-gi-che-mountain from-no-sit-to the ru-be-zhu of the 2nd and 1st thousand (Kve-mo-Bol-ni-si, territory of modern Georgia), went - in the layers of the ar-hai-che-skogo period-da Mi -le-ta. On the ruble 2 - 1st thousand. century. on-stepped in Me-so-po-ta-mii and Iran; so, during the excavations of the palace of Sar-go-na II in Khor-sa-ba-de (4th quarter of the 8th century) about-on-ru-but approx. 160 t-le-za, basically. in the form of krits (ve-ro-yat-but, tribute from sub-government territories). Perhaps, from Iran to the beginning. In the 1st thousand, black metallurgy spread to India (where it was first used niya-le-za dates back to the 8th or 7/6th centuries), in the 8th century. - on Wed. Asia. In the steppes of Asia, the same-le-zo-lu-chi-lo-shi-ro-some race-country no earlier than the 6th/5th centuries.

Through the Greek. the cities of Malaya Asia, the iron-de-la-tel-nye on-you, have spread out into the end. 2nd thousand to the Aegean Islands and approx. 10th century to mainland Greece, where from that time on we know of to-var-kri-tsy, iron-swords in gre-be-ni-yah. In the West and Center. Euro-pe J. century. on-stu-dil in the 8th-7th centuries, in the South-West. Ev-ro-pe - in the 7-6 centuries, in Bri-ta-nii - in the 5-4 centuries, in Scan-di-na-vii - fact-ti-che-ski in ru-be-same era .

In North At the Black Sea, in the North. Kav-ka-ze and in the southern Vol-go-Kamye pe-ri-od of the first-vich-no-go os-voy-niya of the same-le-za-completed -Xia in the 9th-8th centuries; along with things, from-go-to-len-ny-mi in the local tradition, here-known from-de-lia, created -nye in the Trans-Caucasian tradition on-lu-che-niya st-li (tse-men-ta-tion). Na-cha-lo own-st-ven-but Zh. v. in the regions indicated and tested by their influence in the East. Europe dates back to the 8th-7th centuries. Then, when there was an increase in the number of iron objects, we received them from the preparation of equipment. ga-ti-lis on-you-m-form-forging (with the help of special clamps and stamps), lap welding and me-to-dom pa-ke-ti-ro-va-niya. In the Urals and in the Siberian Bi-ri J. century. earliest of all (by the middle of the 1st millennium BC) he stepped into the steppe, forest-steppe and mountain-forest regions. In the taiga and in the Far East and in the 2nd half. 1st millennium BC e. the Bronze Age actually lasted, but it was still closely connected with the culture of J. V. (except the northern part of tai-gi and tun-d-ru).

In China, the development of black metallurgy proceeded separately. Because of your high level of armor, it is produced from the waters of the Zh. started here not earlier than sir. 1st millennium BC e., although the ore forest was known a long time before that. Whale. mas-te-ra per-you-mi-on-cha-li tse-le-on-right-len-but to produce cast iron and, using it, easily melts bone, from-go-tov-la-li pl. from-de-lya is not forged, but poured. In China, it was practically -niya ug-le-ro-da. In Korea J. c. on-sto-drank in the 2nd floor. 1st millennium BC e., in Japan - approx. 3-2 centuries, in In-do-ki-tai and In-do-ne-zia - to the Ru-be-zhu era or a little later.

In Africa J. c. earliest of all, it was established in the Middle-earth-no-sea region (by the 6th century). In mid. 1st millennium BC e. it began on the territory of Nu-bia and Su-da-na, in a number of Western regions. Af-ri-ki; in the East - on the ru-be-same er; in South - closer to the middle. 1st millennium AD e. In a number of areas in Africa, America, Australia and on the islands of Tiho-go approx. J.v. came to the door with the arrival of the Europeans.

The most important cults of the early iron-no-century behind the pre-de-la-mi tsi-vi-li-za-tions

As a result of the wide distribution of countries and the comparative ease of development of iron ores and bronze -li-te-nye centers in-step-pen-but ut-ra-chi-va-li can-but-po-lyu on the production of metal. Many previously old regions began to understand the technology. and so-ci-al-no-eco-no-mich. level old cultural centers. So-from-vet-st-ven-but from-me-moose paradise-they-ro-va-nie oh-ku-men. If for the era of early metal an important cultural factor was belonging to metal -Lur-gi-che-province or to the zone of its influence, then in Zh. century. in for-mi-ro-va-nii kul-tur-no-is-to-rich. The role of et-noya-zy-ko-vyh, host-st-ven-no-cultural and other connections has intensified in the community. Wide-spread distribution of effective military equipment made of iron can be used -nu pl. communities in gra-bi-tel-skie and grab-nich. wars, co-pro-in-the-dav-shie mass-so-you-mi-gra-tion-mi. All this led to the cardinal iz-me-ne-ni-yam et-no-kul-tur-noy and military-po-li-tich. pa-no-ra-we.

In a number of cases, based on the given links and letters. is-precisely possible to talk about do-mi-ni-ro-va-nii in the framework of op-re-de-l-nyh cultural-tour-but-is-to rich. communities Zh. v. one or a group of nations close in language, sometimes even linking a group of ar-heo-logich. remember-ni-kov with a specific na-ro-house. However, written sources for plurals. regions are scarce or sparse, but not for all communities it is possible to obtain data, I allow who co-operate them with the Lin-gwis-ti-che-class-si-fi-ka-tsi-ey na-ro-dov. It should be kept in mind that no-si-te-li is plural. languages, perhaps, even entire families of languages, not just direct languages, but in some way their relation to the well-known et-but-ya-zy-ko-vym communities of gi-po-te-tich-but.

South, West, Central Europe and the south of the Baltic region. After the collapse of the Kri-to-mi-ken-ci-vi-li-za-tion, the beginning of the life cycle. in Ancient Greece coincided with the temporary decline of the “Dark Ages”. Subsequently, a wide-ranging out-dre-nie of the same spo-sob-st-vo-va-lo but-in-mu-up-e-co-no-mi-ki and society, with -leading to the formation of an-tic-ci-vi-li-za-tion. On the territory of Italy for na-cha-la Zh. you-de-la-yut many ar-heo-lo-gich. cults (some of them were formed in the bronze age): in the north of the pas-de-deux - Go- la-sec-ka, co-from-no-si-mu with part of the li-gu-rows; on average the same river. By - Ter-ra-mar, on se-ve-ro-vo-to-ke - Es-te, with-pos-tav-lya-mu with ve-not-that-mi; in the north and center. in parts of the Apennine Peninsula - Vil-la-no-va and others, in Kam-pa-nia and Ka-lab-ria - “pits in the graves” , remember-ni-ki Apu-lia is connected with me-sa-na-mi (close to il-li-riy-tsam). In Si-tsi-lia from-west-na kul-tu-ra Pan-ta-li-ka and others, in Sar-di-nii and Kor-si-ke - well-rag.

On the Pi-re-ney peninsula there are large centers of non-ferrous metals, which lead to long-lasting pre-ob-la-da-nie from bronze (culture of Tar-tess, etc.). In the early J. century. here fi-si-ru-yut-sya are different in ha-rak-te-ru and in-ten-siv-no-sti waves of mi-gra-tions, appear-la-yut-sya pa -mint-ki, from-ra-zha-sting local and priv-not-syon-nye traditions. On the basis of these tra-di-tions of the sfor-mi-ro-va-la kul-tu-ra of the Iber-men tribes. To the greatest extent, their own traditions were preserved in the at-lan-ti-che-regions (“kul -tu-ra go-ro-disch”, etc.).

For the development of a cultural tour in the Middle-Earth-no-Marya, there is a strong influence of the eye-behind the Phi-Niki-skaya and the Greek. co-lo-ni-za-tion, color-color of culture and ex-pan-sia of et-ru-skovs, invasion of the Celts; later, the Middle Earth became internal to Rome. empire (see Ancient Rome).

On the sign. parts Zap. and Center. Euro-py transition to Zh. century. pro-is-ho-dil in the era-hu Gal-stat. The Gal-Stat cultural region is divided into many. cultural groups and cultural groups. Some of them are in the east. zo-not with-from-but-syat with groups of Il-li-riy-tsev, in the west - with kel-ta-mi. In one of the regions of the west. zones sfor-mi-ro-va-la kul-tu-ra La-ten, then spread-pro-strat-niv-shaya on a huge territory in the ho -de ex-pan-sii and the influence of the Celts. Their achievements in metal-lur-gy and metal-lo-about-work-bot-ke, behind them-st-vo-van-nye sowing. and east with-se-dy-mi, about-us-lo-vi-li the state-dominance of iron-works. Epo-ha La-ten op-re-de-la-et special period of Europe. is-to-rii (c. 5-1st centuries BC), its fi-nal is associated with the ex-pan-si-ey of Ri-ma (for ter-ri-to-rii to se- I believe from the culture of La-Ten this era is also called “pre-Roman”, “early iron age”, etc. p.).

On Bal-ka-nakh, to the east of the Il-li-riy-tsev, and in the north to the Dne-st-ra, there were cult-tu-ry, ties- vye-my with the Fra-ki-tsa-mi (their influence reaches the Dnieper, the Northern Black Sea region, right up to the Bos-por-go state va). To denote at the end of the Bronze Age and at the beginning of the Zh. century. The communities of these cultures use the term “Francian Gal-State”. OK. ser. 1st millennium BC e. strengthen your own image of the “Fra-Kiean” cultural tour of the north. zones where the warehouses of the Ge-tov, then Da-kov, in the south. zo-not ple-me-na Fra-ki-tsev entered into close contacts with the Greeks, move-woof-shi-mi-sya here-da group pa-mi of the Scythians, Celts, etc., and then would have joined us to Rome. im-peri-rii.

At the end of the Bronze Age in the South. Scan-di-na-vii and sometimes to the south fi-si-ru-yut the decline of cultures, and the new rise is associated with the races -stra-ne-ne-em and shi-ro-kim is-pol-zo-va-ni-e-le-za. Many cultures of Zh. century. to the north of the Celts it is impossible to communicate with well-known groups of people; more reliably co-posting the formation of the Germans or a significant part of them with the clear-peat culture -Roy. To the east from its area and the upper reaches of El-ba to the basin on the Vistula there is a crossing to the Zh. took place within the framework of the Lu-zhits-koy cult-tu-ry, in the later stages this smell of something strengthened its own cal groups. On the basis of one of them, a maritime culture was formed, spreading into the gray. 1st millennium BC e. at a significant part of the Lu-zhits-ko-go-area. Closer to the end of the era of La Ten in Poland. Along the seashore there was an Ok-syv-skaya kul-tu-ra, to the south - a Pshe-Vor-skaya kul-tu-ra. In the new era (within the 1st-4th centuries AD), a better name. “Roman imperial”, “pro-vin-tsi-al-no-roman influences”, etc., to the north-east of the gra- prostrate to the Empire's leading power, sta-but-vyat-sya different. unification of the Germans.

From the Ma-zur Po-lake region, parts of Ma-zo-vii and Pod-la-shya to the lower-zo-vii Pre-go-li in La-Ten-time, you de-la-yut so-called kul-tu-ru of the Western Baltic chickens. Its co-ordination with subsequent cultures is debatable for a number of regions. To Rome time here fi-si-ru-yut-sya cult-tu-ry, connected with na-ro-da-mi, from-no-si-we-mi to bal-tam, in number of which - ga-lin-dy (see Bo-ga-chev-skaya kul-tu-ra), su-da-you (su-di-ny), es-tii, so- post-tab-lya-my with the Sam-bi-sko-na-Tang-kul-tu-roy, etc., but the formation of a large-shin-st-va from the West nykh na-ro-dov zap. and eastern (“le-to-li-tov-skih”) bal-tov from-no-sit-sya already by the 2nd half. 1st millennium AD e., i.e. late century.

Steppes of Europe, forest zone and tun-d-ra of Eastern Europe and Siberia. To the beginning of Zh. century. in the steppe belt of Eurasia, extending from Wed. Blowing to Mon-go-lia, a s-q-w-water-station has developed. Mo-bility and or-ga-ni-zo-vanity, along with the mass of effectiveness (including iron- but-th) weapons and equipment, the status of the military-en.-po-li-tich. meaning a large number of nomads who often spread power to the neighboring settled tribes me and the former serious threat to states from the Middle-Earth to the Far East.

In Europe steppe with gray or con. 9 to start 7th centuries BC e. do-mi-ni-ro-va-la community, with which, in my opinion, a number of studies are connected with kim-me- riy-tsy. We walked with her in close con-tact-so-ple-me-na le-so-step-pi (black-forest kul-tu-ra, bon-da-ri- Khin-skaya kul-tu-ra, etc.).

By the 7th century. BC e. from Pri-du-na-vya to Mon-go-lia with for-mi-ro-val-sya “ski-fo-si-bir-skiy world”, within the framework of which you de -la-yut Scythian ar-heo-lo-gi-che-kul-tu-ru, Sav-ro-mat-skaya ar-heo-lo-gi-che-kul-tu-ru, sa- ko-mas-sa-get-sko-go kru-ga kul-tu-ry, pa-zy-ryk-skaya kul-tu-ru, uyuk-skaya kul-tu-ru, ta-gar-ku-ku-tu -ru (single-vein, co-preserving the production of high-quality bronze-vein items) and others, in different degrees, co-from-no-si-my with ski-fa-mi and na-ro-da-mi “ge-ro-to-howl” of Scy-fii , sav-ro-ma-ta-mi, sa-ka-mi, mas-sa-ge-ta-mi, yuech-zha-mi, usu-nya-mi, etc. Pre-sta-vi-te-li this community would have been before them. euro-peo-i-dy, ver-ro-yat-but, that means. some of them speak in Iranian languages.

In close contact with the “Kim-meri-skaya” and “Scythian-skaya” there were common people in the Crimea and from-li-chav- neck-high-level-of-metal-about-work-bot-ki on-se-le-nie North. Kav-ka-za, south-no-ta-ezh-no-go Vol-go-Ka-mya (ki-zil-ko-bin-kul-tu-ra, me-ot-skaya ar-heo-lo -gi-che-skaya kul-tu-ra, Ko-ban-skaya kul-tu-ra, Anan-in-skaya kul-tu-ra). Significant influence of the “Kim-meri” and Scythian culture on the village of the Middle and Lower Po-du-na -vya. This is why you use the “Kim-meri-skaya” (aka “pre-Scythian”) and “Scythian” eras when researching not only the cultural steppe.

In the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. in the steppes of Europe, Kazakh-sta-na and South. Beyond the Ura-lya, the Scythian and Sav-ro-ma-tskaya are being replaced by the Sar-mat-ar-heo-lo-gi-che-kul-tu-ry, op-re -dividing eras, divided into early, middle, late periods and lasting until the 4th century. n. e. Means. the influence of Sarmatian cultural tours is traced in the North. Kav-ka-ze, which ra-zha-et both the re-se-le-nie part of the steppe on-se-le-niya, and the trans-formation under its influence on local cultures. Sar-ma-you about-no-ka-li and yes-le-ko to the forest-steppe regions - from the Dnieper-river to the North. Ka-zakh-sta-na, in different forms, interacting with the local na-se-le-ni-em. Large stationary villages and industrial centers to the east of Sr. Du-naya are connected with sar-ma-ta-mi Al-fel-da. From time to time, the continuing tradition of the previous era, which means. step-pe-ni sar-ma-ti-zi-ro-van-naya and el-li-ni-zi-ro-van-naya, so-called. Late Scythian culture was preserved in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and in the Crimea, where a kingdom with a hundred tsey in Neapo-le Scythian, part of the Scythians, according to the letters. is-exactly-no-kam, skon-cen-tri-ro-va-la on the Lower Danube; to the “late-non-Scythian” a number of studies from-no-syat and some groups of monuments of the eastern-ev- rop. le-so-step-pi.

To the Center Asia and South Si-bi-ri the end of the era-hi “ski-fo-si-bir-sko-go-go-ra” is associated with the rise-high-she-ni-em volume-e-di-ne-niya hun - Well, to the end. 3rd century BC e. under Mao-du-ne. Ho-cha in the middle. 1st century BC e. it has spread out, south. hun-well po-pa-li in or-bi-tu whale. influence, and the north. hun-well, there would have been a window-cha-tel-but the thunder-le-ny to the gray. 2nd century n. e., the “Hunnic” era lasts until the middle. 1st millennium AD e. Pa-myat-ni-ki, so-ot-no-si-mye with hun-nu (hun-nu), from-vest-ny to mean-chit. parts of Za-bai-ka-lya (for example, Ivol-ginsky ar-kheo-lo-gi-che-sky complex, Il-mo-vaya pad), Mongo-lia, steppe Noah Manchu-ria and evidence about the complex et-no-cultural tour of this entity. On-rya-du with pro-nik-no-ve-ni-hun-well, in the South. The Si-Bri continued to develop local traditions [in Tu-ve - Shum-Rak-kul-tu-ra, in Kha-ka-siya - Te-Sin type (or stage) and Tash-tyk culture, etc.]. Et-nich. and military-en.-po-li-tich. History Center. Asia in J. century. is largely based on the new whales. letters is-exactly-ni-kov. It is possible to track the movement of one or several nomadic groups across different countries - their power over vast areas of countries, their collapse, the engulfment of the next ones, etc. (dong-hu, tab-ga- chi, zhu-zha-ne, etc.). The complexity of the composition of these volumes, the poor study of a number of regions Center. Asia, labor-sti-da-ti-rov-ki, etc. de-la-ut their comparison with ar-heo-log-gich. remember-ni-ka-mi is very gi-po-te-tich-ny-mi.

The next era is the is-to-rii of the steppes of Asia and Europe connected with the do-mi-ni-ro-va-ni-em no-si-te-ley Turk - languages, formed by the Turkic ka-ga-na-ta, which replaced it with other Middle Ages. military-en.-po-li-tich. ob-e-di-ne-niy and states.

Kul-tu-ry settled on-se-le-niya le-so-step-pi East. Euro-py, Ura-la, Si-bi-ri often enter into “Ski-fo-si-bir-sky”, “Sar-mat-sky”, “Hun-sky” » “worlds”, but could they form cultural communities with forests, ple-me-na-mi, or create their own. cultural areas.

In the forest zone of Verkh-ne-go Po-ne-ma-nya and Pod-vy-nya, Po-Dnep-ro-vya and Po-ochya traditions of the bronze-zo-vo-go ve -ka pro-dol-zha-la shtri-ho-van-noy ke-ra-mi-ki kul-tu-ra, on the basis of pre-im. local cultural tours have developed in the Dnieper-Dvina culture, Dya-kovskaya culture. In the early days, this smelt of their development was the same, although it was spread across the country, but it did not become a source of raw materials. -yom; remember-ni-ki of this circle ar-heo-log-gi according to the masses on-the-go-kam of the kos-ty-ty-nyh from-de-liy on the basis. ob-ek-tah ras-ko-pok - go-ro-di-shah ha-rak-te-ri-zo-va-li as “kos-te-nos-nye go-ro-di-sha”. The mass use of the same here is ok. con. 1st millennium BC e., when they come from the region and in other areas of culture, from the mi-gra-tions. For this reason, for example, in the ot-no-she-nii kul-tur shtri-ho-van-noy ke-ra-mi-ki and Dya-kov-skaya research-do-va-te- Do you see how different cultures co-create “early” and “late” cultures?

According to the origin and location of the early Dyakov culture, it is close to the eastern city -det-kaya kul-tu-ra. To the ru-be-zhu er there is a real expansion of its area to the south and north, to the same regions in the speech of Vet-lu-gi. Near the ru-be-zha er in her are-al pro-moves to the se-le-nie because of the Vol-ga; from Su-ra to Ryazan-skogo Po-o-ochya cultural groups associated with the tradition of An-d- re-ev-sko-go-kur-ga-na. On their basis, the cultures of the late Jewish century were formed, associated with the no-si-te-la-mi Finnish-Volga languages -kov.

South zone forest-no-go Po-Dnep-ro-vya behind-ni-ma-li mi-lo-grad-skaya kul-tu-ra and Yukh-novskaya kul-tu-ra, in which trace-va- that means. the influence of the Scythian culture and La-te-na. Several waves of mi-gra-tions from the Vistula-Oder-region led to the appearance in Vo-ly-ni along the sea and pshe-vor- skoy cultural tour, for-mi-ro-va-niu on the b. part of the south forest-no-go and forest-so-step-no-go Po-Dnep-ro-vya beyond-ru-bi-nets-koy kul-tu-ry. Her, next to Ok-ksyv-skaya, Pshe-vor-skaya, singing-nesh-ti-lu-ka-shev-skaya kul-tu-ry, you de-la-yut in the circle “la -te-ni-zi-ro-van-nykh”, from the special influence of the La-ten culture. In the 1st century n. e. for-ru-bi-nets-kul-tu-ra per-re-zhi-la disintegration, but on the basis of its traditions, with the participation of more sowing. on-se-le-nia, for-mi-ru-ut-sya remember-ni-ki late-not-across-ru-bi-nets-ko-go-ri-zon-ta, light-shie in the os-no-wu of the Ki-ev-skaya kul-tu-ry, op-re-de-lyav-shay kul-tur-ny image of the forest-no-go and part of the forest-so-steppe of the Dnieper River in the 3rd-4th centuries. n. e. Based on the Vo-Lyn monuments of the Pshe-vor culture in the 1st century. n. e. for-mi-ru-et-sya tooth-rec-kaya kul-tu-ra. With kul-tu-ra-mi, having re-accepted-shi-mi com-on-nen-you according to the sea culture, before everything according to the so-called. for-ru-bi-nets-line, research-to-va-te-whether the for-mi-ro-va-nie of the Slavs is connected.

In mid. 3rd century n. e. from the Lower Danube to the North Don, the Cher-nya-Khovskaya culture was formed, in which a significant role played la Vel-bar-kul-tu-ra, the spread of which to the south-east is associated with the mi-gra-tion of the ready-to-go-to and ge -pi-dov. The collapse of society. structure, correlated with the Cher-nya-khov culture, under the blows of the guns in the con. 4th century n. e. marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Europe - the great re-se-le-tion of the people.

In the north-ve-ro-east-ke of Ev-ro-py na-cha-lo Zh. connected with the Anan-in-skaya kul-tu-r-no-historical. region. In the territory of the north-west. Russia and parts of Finland are home to cultures, in which some of the Anan-Indian and tech-styles noy ke-ra-mi-ki kul-tur pe-re-ple-ta-yut-sya with me-st-ny-mi (luu-kon-sa-ri-ku-do-ma, late kar- Go-Polish kul-tu-ra, late-not-white-sea, etc.). In the basins of the rivers Pe-cho-ry, Vy-che-gdy, Me-ze-ni, Sev. Movements appear to be a memory, in which the development of the gree-ben-cha continued -that or-na-mental tradition associated with the Le-byazh-skaya culture, while the new ornamental mo-ti- you indicate interaction with the Kama and trans-Ural groups in the village.

By the 3rd century. BC e. on the basis of the Anan-in-skaya warehouse of the community of drinking-no-bor-skaya culture and glya-de-novskaya culture (see .Look-but-in). The upper border of the kul-tour of the drinking-but-bor-sko-th circle a number of is-sled-to-va-te-leys count-ta-yut ser. 1st millennium AD e., others you de la for the 3rd-5th centuries. Ma-zu-nin-skul-tu-ru, Az-lin-skaya kul-tu-ru, etc. A new stage of is-to-rich. development is associated with a number of mi-gra-tions, incl. leading to the formation of the Middle Ages. cultural tour associated with modern no-si-te-la-mi. Permian languages.

In the mountain forest and ta-hedgehog regions of Ura-la and West. CBC in the early J. century. were there cross-country ke-ra-mi-ki kul-tu-ra, it-kul-skaya kul-tu-ra, gre-ben-cha-to-yamoch -noy ke-ra-mi-ki kul-tu-ra for the west-no-si-bir-sko-go circle, Ust-Po-Lui-skaya kul-tu-ra, Ku-lay-skaya kul -tu-ra, be-lo-yar-skaya, no-vo-che-kin-skaya, bo-go-chanovskaya, etc.; in the 4th century BC e. here the ori-en-ta-tion on non-ferrous metal-lo-o-work-bot-ku was preserved (the center, supply -zhav-shiy many regions, including steppe, raw materials and from-de-li-mi from copper), in some cultural cultures -about the development of black metallurgy from no-sit to the 3rd third of the 1st millennium BC. e. This cultural circle is connected with the ancestors of modern times. Ugric languages ​​and Samodic languages.

To the south there was a region of forest-steppe cultures of the West. CBC, sev. per-ri-fer-rii of the world of Ko-chev-ni-kov, connecting-zy-vae-may with the south. vet-view Ug-ry (Vo-rob-ev-skaya and no-si-lov-sko-bai-tov-skaya cult-tu-ry; they were replaced by sar-gat-skaya cult-tu-ra , go-ro-khov-skaya kul-tu-ra). In the forest-steppe Ob region in the 2nd half. 1st millennium BC e. Ki-zhi-rov-skaya, Star-ro-alei-skaya, Ka-men-skaya cult-tu-ry, which are sometimes ob-e-di- they come together into one community. Part of the forest-so-step-no-go on-se-le-niya was in-vle-che-na in the mi-gra-tion of the ser. 1st millennium AD e., the other part along the Ir-ty-shu moved to the north (pot-che-your-kul-tu-ra). Along the Ob River to the south, right up to Al-tai, there was a spread of the Ku-lay culture (upper-non-Ob culture). Remaining in the village, associated with the traditions of Sar-Gat and Ka-men culture, in the Middle Ages -ve-ko-vya was-lo tyur-ki-zi-ro-va-no.

In the forest cults of the East. Si-bi-ri (late Ymy-yakh-takh-kul-tu-ra, Pya-sin-skaya, Tse-pan-skaya, Ust-Mil-skaya, etc.) from-de-lia from bron -there are not many numbers, please. im-port-nye, the processing of iron-iron-appears not earlier. 1st millennium BC e. from Pri-Amur and Pri-Mo-Rya. These cults are the remains of the vizh-ny groups of hunters and fishermen - the ancestors of the Yuka-Gir, sowing. some of the Tun-gu-so-man-chur peoples, Chuk-chey, Ko-rya-kov, etc.

Eastern regions of Asia. He grew up in culture. Far away from China, north of China and Korea, the Bronze Age is not as bright as in China. bi-ri or in more south. districts, but already in the 2-1st millennium BC. e. here the establishment of iron began in the framework of the Uril culture and the Yankov culture, and then replaced them Ta-la-kan-skaya, Ol-gin-skaya, Pol-tsevskaya culture and other cultures close to them from the territory of China (wan-yan- he, gun-tu-lin, feng-lin) and Ko-rei. Some of these cultures are connected with the ancestors of the south. parts of the Tun-gu-so-man-chur peoples. More north memory-ni-ki (Lakh-tin-skaya, Okhotsk-skaya, Ust-bel-skaya and other cults) are from the branches-le-niy-mi- yah-tah-skoy cult-tu-ry, which are in the middle. 1st millennium BC e. dos-ti-ga-yut Chu-cat-ki and, interacting with pa-leo-es-ki-mo-sa-mi, teach-st-vu-yut in form-mi- ro-va-nii of the ancient-ne-be-rin-go-sea culture. About the presence of iron incisors, evidence is given before everything is done with their help in the mouth -n-on-n-n-ch-n-ki bone gar-pu-nov.

On the territory of Ko-rei, from-go-to-le-tion of guns made of stone is pre-ob-la-da-lo on the pro-heavy-same-bron-zo-vo- th century and na-cha-la Zh. century, from metal-la de-la-li in the main. weapons, certain types of Ukrainian weapons, etc. Distribution from the same to the gray. 1st millennium BC e., when there were warehouses here for the Cho-son association; More recent history of these cultures is connected with China. for wars, for-mi-ro-va-ni-em and development of local states (Ko-gu-ryo, etc.). On the Japanese islands, the same elk appeared and a lot of races appeared during the development of Yayoi cultures, within the framework of something swarm in the 2nd century. n. e. tribal unions were formed, and then the state. ob-ra-zo-va-nie Yama. To the South-East. Asia na-cha-lo J. century. the formation of the first states is coming to the era.

Africa. In the middle-earth-sea regions, that means. part of the basin on the Nile, near the Krasno-go metro station Zh. v. pro-is-ho-di-lo on the os-no-ve cult-tour of the bronze-zo-vo-go-ka, within the framework of the qi-vi-li-za-tion (Egypt Ancient, Me-roe), in connection with the appearance of co-lo-nii from Phi-nikia, the color of Kar-fa-ge-na; to the end 1st millennium BC e. Middle-earth Africa has become part of Rome. im-peri-rii.

Particularly beneficial development is more south. the culture is from the day of the Bronze Age. Pro-nik-no-ve-nie metal-lur-giya zhe-le-za to the south of Sa-kha-ra, part of the research is connected with influence -no-em Me-roe. More and more ar-gu-men speak out in favor of other points of view, according to which an important role in this game is played -rez Sa-haru. So-you-could-have-been “do-ro-gi ko-les-nits”, re-con-st-rui-ru-my on the rock-image-bra-zhe-ni-pits , they could have passed through Fetz-tsan, as well as where the ancient state of Ga-na was formed, etc. In a number of cases Cha-ev pro-iz-le-za could-have-to-be-in-specialty-li-zir. districts, you can live in them, and the blacksmiths can create locks with -society; communities of different eco-no-mich. specialization and level of development with-sed-st-vo-va-li. All this, as well as a weak ar-heo-lo-gich. the study of the con-ti-nen-ta de-la-yut our idea of ​​the development of life here. very gi-po-te-tic.

In the West Af-ri-ke ancient sv-de-tel-st-va about-from-water-st-va-iron-de-li-de-li (2nd half of the 1st millennium BC AD) are connected with the culture of Nok, its connection with synchronic and later cults It’s not clear in many ways, but not later than the 1st floor. 1st millennium AD e. the same thing was known throughout the West. Af-ri-ke. One-on-one, even on the memorials associated with the state. ob-ra-zo-va-niya-mi kon. 1st thousand - 1st half. 2nd millennium AD e. (Ig-bo-Uk-wu, Ife, Ben-nin, etc.), from-de-liy from the same-le-for not-much, in a co-lo-ni-al-ny per-ri- It was one of the imported items.

To the east on-be-re-zhie Af-ri-ki to Zh. from the cult-tu-ry of Aza-niy, and in their from-no-she-niy there is information about them-from-the-same-le-za. An important stage in the history of the region is associated with the development of trade villages with the participation of immigrants from the south zap. Asia, first of all mu-sul-man (such as Kil-va, Mo-ga-di-sho, etc.); centers for pro-iz-vo-st-vu same-le-za-ves-ny for this time-me-nor by letters. and ar-heo-lo-gich. is-exactly-no-cam.

In Bas-sey-not Kon-go, ext. district Vost. Af-ri-ki and the southern races are connected with the cult-tu-ra-mi, at-over-le-zha-schi-mi tra-di-tion “ke-ra-mi-ki with a curved bottom” (“pit-koy at the bottom”, etc.) and tra-di-tion-mi close to it. Na-cha-lo metal-lur-gyi in the department. the places of these regions are from different places in the 1st half. (not later than se-re-di-ny) 1st millennium AD e. Mi-gran-you from these lands, pro-yat-but, for the first time brought the same le-zo to the South. Af-ri-ku. A number of “empires” in the basin of the Zam-bezi and Kon-go rivers (Zim-bab-ve, Ki-ta-ra, etc.) were connected we are with the ex-port of gold, layered bones, etc.

A new stage in the history of Af-ri-ki south of Sa-kha-ra is associated with the appearance of Europeans. co-lo-niy.

Further reading:

Mon-gait A.L. Archeo-logia of Western Europe. M., 1973-1974. Book 1-2;

Coghlan H. H. Notes on prehistoric and early iron in the Old World. Oxf., 1977;

Waldbaum J. C. From bronze to iron. Gott., 1978;

The coming of the age of iron. New Haven; L., 1980;

Iron Age of Africa. M., 1982;

Archeo-logia of Trans-Russian Asia. M., 1986;

The steppe of the European part of the USSR in the ski-fo-sar-mat-time. M., 1989;

Tylecote R. F. A history of metallurgy. 2nd ed. L., 1992;

Steppe in the Asian part of the USSR in ski-fo-sar-mat-time. M., 1992;

Shchu-kin M. B. On the ru-be-same er. St. Petersburg, 1994;

Essays on the history of ancient le-zo-o-ra-bot-ki in Eastern Europe. M., 1997;

Collis J. The European Iron Age. 2nd ed. L., 1998;

Yal-cin Ü. Early iron metallurgy in Anatolia // Anatolian Studies. 1999. Vol. 49;

Kan-to-ro-vich A. R., Kuz-mi-nykh S. V. Early Iron Age // BRE. M., 2004. T.: Russia; Tro-its-kaya T. N., No-vi-kov A. V. Archeo-logy of the Western Siberian Plain. No-vo-Sib., 2004.

Illustrations:

Iron knives from a burial near Mount Olympus. 11th-8th centuries BC e. Ar-heo-lo-gi-che-sky museum (Di-on, Greece). BRE Archive;

BRE Archive;

BRE Archive;

A sword in a sheath with an anthropomorphic hilt. Iron, bronze. La Tène culture (2nd half of the 1st millennium BC). Met-ro-po-li-ten-mu-zey (New York). BRE Archive;

Pa-rad-ny battle-howl from Kur-ga-na Ke-ler-mes-1 (Ku-ban). Zhe-le-zo, gold-lo-something. Con. 7 - beginning 6th centuries BC e. Er-mi-tazh (St. Petersburg). BRE Archive;

Iron-on-tip-of-arrow, in-cru-sti-ro-van-ny gold-lo-tom and silver-rum, from Kur-ga-na Ar-zhan-2 (Tuva). 7th century BC e. Er-mi-tazh (St. Petersburg). BRE Archive;

Iron-de-lia from Mo-gil-ni-ka Bar-sov-sky III (Sur-gut-Ob region). 6-2/1 centuries BC e. (according to V.A. Bor-zu-no-vu, Yu. P. Che-mya-ki-nu). BRE Archive.

Early iron age - the archaeological era from which the use of objects made from iron ore began. The earliest iron-making furnaces, dating back to the 1st half. II millennium BC discovered in Western Georgia. In Eastern Europe and the Eurasian steppe and forest-steppe, the beginning of the era coincides with the time of the formation of early nomadic formations of the Scythian and Saka types (approximately VIII-VII centuries BC). In Africa it came immediately after the Stone Age (there is no Bronze Age). In America, the beginning of the Iron Age is associated with European colonization. It began in Asia and Europe almost simultaneously. Often, only the first stage of the Iron Age is called the Early Iron Age, the boundary of which is the final stages of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples (IV-VI centuries AD). In general, the Iron Age includes the entire Middle Ages, and based on the definition, this era continues to this day. Archaeologists use the term “Iron Age” to refer to that period of human history during which iron became a commonly used material for the manufacture of tools and weapons. Meteoric iron was used in small quantities for a very long time - even in pre-dynastic Egypt - but the end of the Bronze Age in the economy became possible only with the development of iron ore smelting. Iron was probably first accidentally smelted in kilns used to fire high-quality pottery - and, indeed, pieces of smelted iron have been found on sites in Syria and Iraq dating back to no later than 2700 BC. But only twelve or thirteen centuries later did blacksmiths learn to impart elasticity to metal by alternating hot forging with water hardening. It is almost certain that this discovery was made in Eastern Anatolia, which is particularly rich in iron ore. The Hittites kept it secret for about two hundred years, but after the fall of their state ca. 1200 BC the technology spread and critical iron became a publicly available material. One of the oldest finds indicating the use of iron for the manufacture of tools for everyday use was made in Gerar near Gaza (Palestine), where in a layer dating back to ca. 1200 BC, smelting forges were excavated and iron hoes, sickles and openers were discovered. Iron processing spread throughout Western Asia, and from there to Greece, Italy and the rest of Europe, but in each of these regions the transition from the previous way of life, based on bronze processing, took place differently. In Egypt, this process extended almost until the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, while outside those areas of the ancient world where bronze was widely used, the iron craft established itself relatively quickly. From Egypt it gradually spread across almost the entire African continent, and in most areas directly replaced the Stone Age; The practice of iron smelting penetrated to Australia and Oceania, as well as to the New World, with the discovery of these regions by Europeans. Early iron products were made only from cast iron, since the casting of this metal was not widespread until its introduction in the 14th century. forges with bellows driven by water. However, the development of cast iron gave rise to a number of technical innovations - for example, articulated pliers, lathes and planing machines, a mill with rotating millstones - the introduction of which, by facilitating the clearing of forested lands and providing a leap in the development of agriculture, laid the foundations of modern civilization.

IRON AGE, an era of human history, identified on the basis of archaeological data and characterized by the leading role of products made of iron and its derivatives (cast iron and steel). As a rule, the Iron Age replaced the Bronze Age. The beginning of the Iron Age in different regions dates back to different times, and the dating of this process is approximate. An indicator of the beginning of the Iron Age is the regular use of ore iron for the manufacture of tools and weapons, the spread of ferrous metallurgy and blacksmithing; the massive use of iron products signifies a special stage of development already within the Iron Age, in some cultures separated from the beginning of the Iron Age by several centuries. The end of the Iron Age is often considered the onset of the technological era associated with the industrial revolution, or it is extended until modern times.

The widespread introduction of iron made it possible to produce mass series of labor tools, which was reflected in the improvement and further spread of agriculture (especially in forest areas, on difficult-to-cultivate soils, etc.), progress in construction, crafts (in particular, the appearance of saws, files, hinged tools, etc.), mining of metals and other raw materials, manufacturing of wheeled vehicles, etc. The development of production and transport led to the expansion of trade and the appearance of coins. The use of massive iron weapons had a significant impact on progress in military affairs. In many societies, all this contributed to the decomposition of primitive relations, the emergence of statehood, and inclusion in the circle of civilizations, the oldest of which are much older than the Iron Age and had a level of development that surpassed many societies of the Iron Age period.

There are early and late Iron Ages. For many cultures, primarily European, the border between them is usually attributed to the era of the collapse of ancient civilization and the onset of the Middle Ages; a number of archaeologists correlate the end of the Early Iron Age with the beginning of the influence of Roman culture on many peoples of Europe in the 1st century BC - 1st century AD. In addition, different regions have their own internal periodization of the Iron Age.

The concept of “Iron Age” is used primarily for the study of primitive societies. Processes associated with the formation and development of statehood, the formation of modern peoples, as a rule, are considered not so much within the framework of archaeological cultures and “centuries”, but in the context of the history of the corresponding states and ethnic groups. It is with them that many archaeological cultures of the late Iron Age correlate

Distribution of ferrous metallurgy and metalworking. The most ancient center of iron metallurgy was the region of Asia Minor, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Transcaucasia (2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC). Evidence of the widespread use of iron appears in texts from the mid-2nd millennium. The message of the Hittite king to Pharaoh Ramesses II with a message about the dispatch of a ship loaded with iron (late 14th - early 13th century) is indicative. A significant number of iron products were found at archaeological sites of the 14-12th century of the New Hittite Kingdom; steel has been known in Palestine since the 12th century, in Cyprus - since the 10th century. One of the oldest finds of a metallurgical forge dates back to the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia (Kvemo-Bolnisi, the territory of modern Georgia), slag - in the layers of the archaic period of Miletus. At the turn of the 2nd - 1st millennia, the Iron Age began in Mesopotamia and Iran; Thus, during excavations of the palace of Sargon II in Khorsabad (4th quarter of the 8th century), about 160 tons of iron were discovered, mainly in the form of krits (probably tribute from subject territories). Perhaps from Iran at the beginning of the 1st millennium, ferrous metallurgy spread to India (where the widespread use of iron dates back to the 8th or 7th/6th centuries), and in the 8th century to Central Asia. In the steppes of Asia, iron became widespread no earlier than the 6th/5th century.

Through the Greek cities of Asia Minor, ironworking skills spread at the end of the 2nd millennium to the Aegean Islands and around the 10th century to mainland Greece, where trade krits and iron swords in burials have been known since that time. In Western and Central Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th-7th centuries, in Southwestern Europe - in the 7th-6th centuries, in Britain - in the 5th-4th centuries, in Scandinavia - actually at the turn of eras.

In the Northern Black Sea region, the Northern Caucasus and the southern taiga Volga-Kama region, the period of primary iron development ended in the 9th-8th centuries; Along with things made in the local tradition, products created in the Transcaucasian tradition of steel production (cementation) are known here. The beginning of the Iron Age proper in the regions indicated and influenced by them Eastern Europe date back to the 8th-7th centuries. Then the number of iron objects increased significantly, the methods of their production were enriched with the skills of molding forging (with the help of special crimpers and dies), lap welding and the stacking method. In the Urals and Siberia, the Iron Age came earliest (by the middle of the 1st millennium BC) in the steppe, forest-steppe and mountain forest regions. In the taiga and the Far East and in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC, the Bronze Age actually continued, but the population was closely associated with Iron Age cultures (excluding the northern part of the taiga and tundra).

In China, the development of ferrous metallurgy proceeded separately. Due to the high level of bronze foundry production, the Iron Age did not begin here until the mid-1st millennium BC, although iron ore was known long before that. Chinese craftsmen were the first to begin purposefully producing cast iron and, using its fusibility, produced many products not by forging, but by casting. In China, the practice of producing malleable iron from cast iron by reducing the carbon content arose. In Korea, the Iron Age began in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC, in Japan - around the 3rd-2nd century, in Indochina and Indonesia - at the turn of the era or a little later.

In Africa, the Iron Age was established first in the Mediterranean (by the 6th century). In the middle of the 1st millennium BC it began in Nubia and Sudan, in several areas of West Africa; in the East - at the turn of eras; in the South - closer to the middle of the 1st millennium AD. In several areas of Africa, America, Australia and the Pacific Islands, the Iron Age began with the arrival of Europeans.

The most important cultures of the early Iron Age beyond civilizations

Due to the widespread use and relative ease of mining iron ores, bronze foundry centers gradually lost their monopoly on metal production. Many previously backward regions began to catch up with the old cultural centers in terms of technological and socio-economic level. The zoning of the ecumene changed accordingly. If for the early metal era an important culture-forming factor was belonging to a metallurgical province or to a zone of its influence, then in the Iron Age the role of ethnolinguistic, economic, cultural and other ties intensified in the formation of cultural and historical communities. The widespread distribution of effective iron weapons contributed to the involvement of many communities in predatory and conquest wars, accompanied by mass migrations. All this led to fundamental changes in the ethnocultural and military-political landscape.

In some cases, based on linguistic data and written sources, we can talk about the dominance within certain cultural and historical communities of the Iron Age of one or a group of peoples with similar languages, sometimes even linking a group of archaeological sites with a specific people. However, written sources for many regions are scarce or absent, and not for all communities it is possible to obtain data that allows them to be correlated with the linguistic classification of peoples. It should be borne in mind that the speakers of many languages, perhaps even entire families of languages, did not leave direct linguistic descendants, and therefore their relationship to known ethnolinguistic communities is hypothetical.

Southern, Western, Central Europe and the southern Baltic region. After the collapse of the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization, the beginning of the Iron Age in Ancient Greece coincided with the temporary decline of the “Dark Ages”. Subsequently, the widespread introduction of iron contributed to a new rise in the economy and society, leading to the formation of ancient civilization. On the territory of Italy, at the beginning of the Iron Age, many archaeological cultures are distinguished (some of them formed in the Bronze Age); in the north-west - Golasecca, correlated with part of the Ligurians; in the middle reaches of the Po River - Terramar, in the northeast - Este, comparable to the Veneti; in the northern and central parts of the Apennine Peninsula - Villanova and others, in Campania and Calabria - “pit burials”, the monuments of Apulia are associated with the Mesans (close to the Illyrians). In Sicily the culture of Pantalica and others is known, in Sardinia and Corsica - Nuraghe.

On the Iberian Peninsula there were major centers mining of non-ferrous metals, which led to the long-term predominance of bronze products (Tartessus culture, etc.). In the early Iron Age, waves of migrations of different nature and intensity were recorded here, and monuments appeared that reflected local and introduced traditions. Based on some of these traditions, the culture of the Iberian tribes was formed. The originality of traditions was preserved to the greatest extent in the Atlantic regions (“fortification culture”, etc.).

The development of Mediterranean cultures was strongly influenced by Phoenician and Greek colonization, the flowering of culture and expansion of the Etruscans, and the invasions of the Celts; later the Mediterranean Sea became internal to the Roman Empire (see Ancient Rome).

In large parts of Western and Central Europe, the transition to the Iron Age took place during the Hallstatt era. The Hallstatt cultural area is divided into many cultures and cultural groups. Some of them in the eastern zone are correlated with groups of Illyrians, in the western zone - with the Celts. In one of the areas western zone The La Tène culture was formed, which then spread over a vast territory during the expansion and influence of the Celts. Their achievements in metallurgy and metalworking, borrowed by their northern and eastern neighbors, determined the dominance of iron products. The La Tène era defines a special period European history(about 5-1 centuries BC), its finale is associated with the expansion of Rome (for the territories north of the La Tène culture, this era is also called “pre-Roman”, “early Iron Age”, etc.).

A sword in a sheath with an anthropomorphic hilt. Iron, bronze. La Tène culture (2nd half of the 1st millennium BC). Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).

In the Balkans, east of the Illyrians, and north to the Dniester, there were cultures associated with the Thracians (their influence reached the Dnieper, the Northern Black Sea region, up to the Bosporan state). To designate the community of these cultures at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, the term “Thracian Hallstatt” is used. Around the middle of the 1st millennium BC, the originality of the “Thracian” cultures of the northern zone intensified, where associations of the Getae, then the Dacians, formed in southern zone Thracian tribes came into close contact with the Greeks, groups of Scythians, Celts, and others who moved here, and then were annexed to the Roman Empire.

At the end of the Bronze Age in Southern Scandinavia and partly to the south, a decline in culture was recorded, and a new rise was associated with the spread and widespread use of iron. Many Iron Age cultures north of the Celts cannot be correlated with known groups of peoples; It is more reliable to compare the formation of the Germans or a significant part of them with the Jastorf culture. To the east of its area and the upper reaches of the Elbe to the Vistula basin, the transition to the Iron Age took place within the framework of the Lusatian culture, in the later stages of which the originality of local groups intensified. On the basis of one of them, the Pomeranian culture was formed, which spread in the middle of the 1st millennium BC to large parts of the Lusatian area. Towards the end of the La Tène era, the Oksyw culture was formed in Polish Pomerania, and to the south - the Przeworsk culture. In the new era (within the 1st-4th centuries AD), called the “Roman Imperial”, “provincial Roman influences”, etc., to the northeast of the borders of the Empire, various associations of Germans became the leading force.

From the Masurian Lake District, parts of Mazovia and Podlasie to the lower reaches of the Pregolia, the so-called Western Baltic mound culture is distinguished in the La Tène period. Its relationship with subsequent crops for a number of regions is controversial. In Roman times, cultures associated with peoples classified as Balts were recorded here, including the Galindas (see Bogachev culture), Sudavians (Sudins), Estii, compared with the Sambian-Natang culture, etc., but the formation of most of the known peoples of the Western and the eastern (“Summer-Lithuanian”) Balts already dates back to the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD, that is, the late Iron Age.

Steppes of Eurasia, forest zone and tundra of Eastern Europe and Siberia. By the beginning of the Iron Age, nomadic cattle breeding had developed in the steppe belt of Eurasia, stretching from the Middle Danube to Mongolia. Mobility and organization, along with the mass availability of effective (including iron) weapons and equipment, became the reason for the military-political significance of nomadic associations, which often extended power to neighboring settled tribes and were a serious threat to states from the Mediterranean to the Far East.

The European steppes from the middle or late 9th to the early 7th century BC were dominated by a community with which, according to some researchers, the Cimmerians are associated. The forest-steppe tribes (Chernolesskaya culture, Bondarikha culture, etc.) were in close contact with it.

By the 7th century BC, from the Danube region to Mongolia, the “Scythian-Siberian world” was formed, within which the Scythian archaeological culture, the Sauromatian archaeological culture, the Sako-Massaget culture circle, the Pazyryk culture, the Uyuk culture, the Tagar culture (the only one that preserved the production of high-quality bronze items) and others, to varying degrees correlated with the Scythians and the peoples of “Herodotus” Scythia, Sauromatians, Sakas, Massagetae, Yuezhi, Wusuns, etc. Representatives of this community were predominantly Caucasians, probably a significant part of them spoke Iranian languages.

In close contact with the “Cimmerian” and “Scythian” communities were the tribes of the Crimea and the population of the North Caucasus and the southern taiga Volga-Kama region, distinguished by a high level of metalworking (Kizilkoba culture, Meotian archaeological culture, Koban culture, Ananyin culture). The influence of the “Cimmerian” and Scythian cultures on the population of the Middle and Lower Danube is significant. Therefore, the distinguished “Cimmerian” (aka “Pre-Scythian”) and “Scythian” eras are used in the study of not only steppe cultures.

Iron arrowhead inlaid with gold and silver, from the Arzhan-2 mound (Tuva). 7th century BC. Hermitage (St. Petersburg).

In the 4th-3rd centuries BC in the steppes of Europe, Kazakhstan and the Southern Trans-Urals, the Scythian and Sauromatian ones were replaced by Sarmatian archaeological cultures, defining the era, divided into early, middle, late periods and lasting until the 4th century AD. A significant influence of Sarmatian cultures can be traced in the North Caucasus, which reflects both the resettlement of part of the steppe population and the transformation of local cultures under its influence. The Sarmatians penetrated far into the forest-steppe regions - from the Dnieper region to Northern Kazakhstan, contacting the local population in various forms. Large stationary settlements and craft centers east of the Middle Danube are associated with the Sarmatians of the Alföld. Partly continuing the traditions of the previous era, largely Sarmatized and Hellenized, the so-called Late Scythian culture was preserved in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and in the Crimea, where a kingdom arose with its capital in Scythian Naples; part of the Scythians, according to written sources, concentrated on the Lower Danube; A number of researchers also classify some groups of monuments in the Eastern European forest-steppe as “Late Scythian”.

In Central Asia and Southern Siberia, the end of the era of the "Scythian-Siberian world" is associated with the rise of the Xiongnu unification at the end of the 3rd century BC under Maodun. Although it collapsed in the mid-1st century BC, the southern Xiongnu fell into the orbit of Chinese influence, and the northern Xiongnu were finally defeated by the mid-2nd century AD, the “Xiongnu” era was extended until the mid-1st millennium AD. Monuments associated with the Xiongnu (Xiongnu) are known in a significant part of Transbaikalia (for example, the Ivolginsky archaeological complex, Ilmovaya Pad), Mongolia, and steppe Manchuria and indicate the complex ethnocultural composition of this association. Along with the penetration of the Xiongnu, the development of local traditions continued in Southern Siberia [in Tuva - Shumrak culture, in Khakassia - Tesin type (or stage) and Tashtyk culture, etc.]. The ethnic and military-political history of Central Asia in the Iron Age is largely based on information from Chinese written sources. One can trace the rise of one or several associations of nomads that extended power over vast areas, their disintegration, absorption by subsequent ones, etc. (Donghu, Tabgachi, Jurans, etc.). The complexity of the composition of these associations, poor knowledge of a number of regions of Central Asia, dating difficulties, etc. make their comparison with archaeological sites still very hypothetical.

The next era in the history of the steppes of Asia and Europe is associated with the dominance of speakers of Turkic languages, the formation of the Turkic Khaganate, and other medieval military-political associations and states that replaced it.

The cultures of the settled population of the forest-steppe of Eastern Europe, the Urals, and Siberia were often included in the “Scythian-Siberian,” “Sarmatian,” “Hunnic” “worlds,” but could form cultural communities with forest tribes or form their own cultural areas.

In the forest zone of the Upper Poneman and Podvina, Dnieper and Poochye traditions of the Bronze Age, the culture of hatched ceramics continued; on the basis of predominantly local cultures, the Dnieper-Dvina culture and the Dyakovo culture were formed. In the early stages of their development, iron, although common, did not become the dominant raw material; The monuments of this circle were characterized by archaeologists as “bone-bearing fortifications” based on the massive finds of bone artifacts at the main excavation sites - fortifications. The massive use of iron here begins around the end of the 1st millennium BC, when changes occur in other areas of culture and migrations are noted. Therefore, for example, in relation to the Hatched Pottery and Dyakovo cultures, researchers distinguish the corresponding “early” and “late” cultures as different formations.

In origin and appearance, the early Dyakovo culture is close to the Gorodets culture adjacent to the east. By the turn of the era, there is a significant expansion of its range to the south and north, to the taiga regions of the Vetluga River. Around the turn of the era, the population moved into its range from beyond the Volga; From Sura to Ryazan Poochye, cultural groups associated with the tradition of St. Andrew's Kurgan are formed. On their basis, the cultures of the late Iron Age, associated with speakers of the Finno-Volgian languages, developed.

The southern zone of the forest Dnieper region was occupied by the Milograd culture and the Yukhnov culture, in which a significant influence of the Scythian culture and La Tene can be traced. Several waves of migrations from the Vistula-Oder region led to the appearance of the Pomeranian and Przeworsk cultures in Volyn, and the formation of the Zarubintsy culture in most of the south of the forest and forest-steppe Dnieper region. It, along with the Oksyw, Przeworsk, Pojanesti-Lukaszew culture, is singled out in the circle of “Latenized” ones, noting the special influence of the Laten culture. In the 1st century AD, the Zarubintsy culture experienced a collapse, but on the basis of its traditions, with the participation of the more northern population, monuments of the late Zarubintsy horizon were formed, which formed the basis of the Kyiv culture, which determined the cultural appearance of the forest and part of the forest-steppe Dnieper region in the 3-4 centuries AD. Based on the Volyn monuments of the Przeworsk culture, the Zubretsk culture was formed in the 1st century AD.

Researchers associate the formation of the Slavs with cultures that adopted the components of the Pomeranian culture, primarily along the so-called Zarubinets line.

In the middle of the 3rd century AD, the Chernyakhov culture developed from the Lower Danube to the Seversky Donets, in which the Wielbar culture played a significant role, the spread of which to the southeast is associated with the migrations of the Goths and Gepids. The collapse of socio-political structures correlated with the Chernyakhov culture under the blows of the Huns at the end of the 4th century AD marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Europe - the Great Migration.

In northeastern Europe, the beginning of the Iron Age is associated with the Ananyino cultural and historical region. In the territory of northwestern Russia and part of Finland, cultures are widespread in which the components of Ananyino and textile ceramics cultures are intertwined with local ones (Luukonsari-Kudoma, late Kargopol culture, late White Sea culture, etc.). In the basins of the Pechora, Vychegda, Mezen, and Northern Dvina rivers, monuments appeared in the ceramics of which the development of the comb ornamental tradition associated with the Lebyazh culture continued, while new ornamental motifs indicate interaction with the Kama and Trans-Ural population groups.

By the 3rd century BC, on the basis of the Ananino culture, the communities of the Pyanobor culture and the Glyadenovo culture took shape (see Glyadenovo). A number of researchers consider the middle of the 1st millennium AD to be the upper limit of the cultures of the Pyanobor circle, others highlight the Mazunin culture, Azelin culture, etc. for the 3-5 centuries. The new stage of historical development is associated with a number of migrations, including the appearance of monuments of the Harino circle, which led to the formation of medieval cultures associated with speakers of modern Permian languages.

In the mountain forest and taiga regions of the Urals and Western Siberia in the early Iron Age, the cross ceramics culture, the Itkul culture, the comb-pit ceramics culture of the West Siberian circle, the Ust-Poluy culture, the Kulai culture, the Beloyarsk, Novochekinsk, Bogochanovsk, etc. were widespread; in the 4th century BC, the focus on non-ferrous metalworking remained here (a center was associated with the Itkul culture, supplying many areas, including the steppe, with raw materials and copper products); in some cultures, the spread of ferrous metallurgy dates back to the 3rd third of the 1st century millennium BC. This cultural circle is associated with the ancestors of the speakers of part of the modern Ugric languages ​​and Samoyed languages.

Iron items from the Barsovsky III burial ground (Surgut Ob region). 6-2/1 centuries BC (according to V. A. Borzunov, Yu. P. Chemyakin).

To the south was the region of forest-steppe cultures of Western Siberia, the northern periphery of the world of nomads, associated with the southern branch of the Ugrians (Vorobievskaya and Nosilovsko-Baitovskaya cultures; they were replaced by the Sargatskaya culture, Gorokhovskaya culture). In the forest-steppe Ob region in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC, the Kizhirovskaya, Staroaleiskaya, Kamenskaya cultures spread, which are sometimes combined into one community. Part of the forest-steppe population was involved in migrations in the mid-1st millennium AD, while another part moved north along the Irtysh (Potchevash culture). Along the Ob River to the south, all the way to Altai, the Kulai culture (Upper Ob culture) spread. The remaining population, associated with the traditions of the Sargat and Kamensk cultures, was Turkified during the Middle Ages.

In forest crops Eastern Siberia(late Ymyyakhtakh culture, Pyasinskaya, Tsepanskaya, Ust-Milskaya, etc.) bronze products are few in number, mostly imported; iron processing appears no earlier than the end of the 1st millennium BC from the Amur region and Primorye. These cultures were left behind by mobile groups of hunters and fishermen - the ancestors of the Yukagir, the northern part of the Tungus-Manchu peoples, the Chukchi, the Koryaks, etc.

Eastern regions of Asia. In the cultures of the Russian Far East, northeast China and Korea, the Bronze Age is not as pronounced as in Siberia or in more southern regions, but already at the turn of the 2nd-1st millennia BC, the development of iron began here within the framework of the Uril culture and Yankovskaya culture, and then the Talakan, Olginskaya, Poltsevskaya culture and other cultures close to them from the territory of China (Wanyanhe, Guntulin, Fenglin) and Korea. Some of these cultures are associated with the ancestors of the southern part of the Tungus-Manchu peoples. More northern monuments (Lakhta, Okhotsk, Ust-Belsk and other cultures) are branches of the Ymyyakhtakh culture, which in the middle of the 1st millennium BC reached Chukotka and, interacting with the Paleo-Eskimos, participated in the formation of the ancient Bering Sea culture. The presence of iron incisors is evidenced, first of all, by the rotating tips of bone harpoons made with their help.

On the territory of Korea, the manufacture of tools from stone prevailed throughout the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age; metal was used mainly to make weapons, some types of jewelry, etc. The spread of iron dates back to the middle of the 1st millennium BC, when the Joseon unification took shape here; the later history of these cultures is connected with the Chinese conquests, the formation and development of local states (Koguryo, etc.). On the Japanese islands, iron appeared and became widespread during the development of the Yayoi culture, within which tribal unions formed in the 2nd century AD, and then the state formation of Yamato. In Southeast Asia, the beginning of the Iron Age coincided with the formation of the first states.

Africa. In the Mediterranean regions, significant parts of the Nile basin, near the Red Sea, the formation of the Iron Age took place on the basis of Bronze Age cultures, within the framework of civilizations (Ancient Egypt, Meroe), in connection with the emergence of colonies from Phenicia, the rise of Carthage; by the end of the 1st millennium BC, Mediterranean Africa became part of the Roman Empire.

A feature of the development of more southern cultures is the absence of the Bronze Age. Some researchers associate the penetration of iron metallurgy south of the Sahara with the influence of Meroe. More and more arguments are being made in favor of another point of view, according to which the routes through the Sahara played an important role in this. These could be “chariot roads” reconstructed from rock carvings; they could pass through Fezzan, as well as where the ancient state of Ghana arose, etc. In some cases, iron production could be concentrated in specialized areas, monopolized by their residents, and blacksmiths could form closed communities; communities of different economic specializations and levels of development coexisted. All this, as well as the poor archaeological knowledge of the continent, make our idea of ​​​​the development of the Iron Age here very hypothetical.

In West Africa, the oldest evidence of the production of iron products (2nd half of the 1st millennium BC) is associated with the Nok culture, its relationship with synchronous and later cultures is largely unclear, but no later than the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD iron was known throughout West Africa. However, even on monuments associated with state formations of the late 1st millennium - 1st half of the 2nd millennium AD (Igbo-Ukwu, Ife, Benin, etc.), there are few iron products; during the colonial period it was one of import items.

On the east coast of Africa, the Azanian cultures date back to the Iron Age, and there is evidence of iron imports for them. An important stage in the history of the region is associated with the development of trading settlements with the participation of people from southwest Asia, primarily Muslims (such as Kilwa, Mogadishu, etc.); iron production centers are known for this time from written and archaeological sources.

In the Congo Basin, the interior of East Africa and further south, the spread of iron is associated with cultures belonging to the tradition of “pottery with a concave bottom” (“a hole in the bottom”, etc.) and traditions close to it. The beginning of metallurgy in certain places of these regions is attributed to different segments of the 1st half (no later than the middle) of the 1st millennium AD. Migrants from these lands probably brought iron to South Africa for the first time. A number of emerging “empires” in the Zambezi and Congo river basins (Zimbabwe, Kitara, etc.) were associated with the export of gold, ivory, etc.

A new stage in the history of sub-Saharan Africa is associated with the emergence of European colonies.

Lit.: Mongait A.L. Archeology of Western Europe. M., 1973-1974. Book 1-2; Coghlan N. N. Notes on prehistoric and early iron in the Old World. Oxf., 1977; Waldbaum J. S. From bronze to iron. Gott., 1978; The coming of the age of iron. New Haven; L., 1980; Iron Age Africa. M., 1982; Archeology of Foreign Asia. M., 1986; Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian period. M., 1989; Tylecote R. F. A history of metallurgy. 2nd ed. L., 1992; The steppe strip of the Asian part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time. M., 1992; Shchukin M. B. At the turn of the era. St. Petersburg, 1994; Essays on the history of ancient ironworking in Eastern Europe. M., 1997; Collis J. The European Iron age. 2nd ed. L., 1998; Yalcin Ü. Early iron metallurgy in Anatolia // Anatolian Studies. 1999. Vol. 49; Kantorovich A.R., Kuzminykh S.V. Early Iron Age // BRE. M., 2004. T.: Russia; Troitskaya T. N., Novikov A. V. Archeology West Siberian Plain. Novosibirsk, 2004; Russian Far East in antiquity and the Middle Ages; discoveries, problems, hypotheses. Vladivostok, 2005; Kuzminykh S.V. Final Bronze and Early Iron Age of the North of European Russia // II Northern Archaeological Congress. Yekaterinburg; Khanty-Mansiysk, 2006; Archeology. M., 2006; Koryakova L. N., Epimakhov A. E. The Urals and Western Siberia in the Bronze and Iron ages. Camb., 2007.

I. O. Gavritukhin, A. R. Kantorovich, S. V. Kuzminykh.

In archeology, the Early Iron Age is the period following the Bronze Age in human history, marked by the development of the method of producing iron, the beginning of the manufacture and widespread distribution of products made from it.

The transition from bronze to iron took several centuries and was far from uniform. Some peoples, for example in India and the Caucasus, knew iron in the 10th century. BC e., others (in Southern Siberia) - only in the III-II centuries. BC e. But mostly already in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. the peoples living on the territory of Russia mastered the new metal.

Chronology of the Early Iron Age - 7th century BC. e.-V century n. e. The dates are very arbitrary. The first is associated with classical Greece, the second with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages. In Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, the Early Iron Age is represented by two archaeological periods: Scythian VII-III centuries. BC e. and Hunno-Sarmatian II century. BC e - V century. n. e.

Why early Iron Age? This name for the archaeological era of Eurasian history is not accidental. The fact is that from the 1st millennium BC. e., that is, from the beginning of the Iron Age, humanity, despite a number of inventions, the development of new materials, especially plastic substitutes, light metals, alloys, continues to live in the Iron Age. Imagine, just for a moment, what the entire modern civilization would look like if iron disappeared. It is enough to note that all cars, vehicles, mechanisms, bridge structures, ships and much more are made of iron (steel), they cannot be replaced by anything. This is the Iron Age civilization. There is no other one yet. And the early Iron Age is a historical and archaeological concept. It is a period of history marked and reconstructed primarily through archaeology.

Mastering the method of obtaining and manufacturing iron products

Mastering the method of producing iron was the greatest achievement of mankind, causing a rapid growth of productive forces. The first iron objects were apparently forged from meteorite iron with a high nickel content. Almost simultaneously, iron products of earthly origin appeared. Currently, researchers are inclined to believe that the method of obtaining iron from ores was discovered in Asia Minor. Based on structural analysis data of iron blades from Aladzha-Hyuk, dated to the 2nd millennium BC. e., it was established that they were made from raw iron. However, these are isolated examples. The appearance of iron and the beginning of the Iron Age, i.e. its mass production, do not coincide in time. The fact is that the technology for producing iron is more complex and fundamentally different than the method for producing bronze. The transition from bronze to iron would have been impossible without certain prerequisites that appeared at the end of the Bronze Age - the creation of special furnaces with artificial air supply and mastering the skills of forging metal and its plastic processing.

The reason for the widespread transition to iron smelting was apparently the fact that iron is found almost everywhere in nature, but in the form of oxide and nitrous oxide. This iron in a state of rust was mainly used in ancient times.

The technology for obtaining iron is complex and labor-intensive. It consisted of a series of sequential operations aimed at reducing iron from oxide. First, it was necessary to prepare nodules in the form of pieces of rust found in sediments on birch trees in rivers and lakes, dry them, sift them out, then load the mass along with coal and additives into a special oven made of stones and clay.

To obtain iron, as a rule, cheese furnaces or forges were used, into which air was artificially pumped using bellows. The first forges, about a meter high, had a cylindrical shape and were narrowed at the top. Blowing nozzles were inserted into the lower part of the forge, with their help the air necessary for burning coal was supplied to the furnace. A fairly high temperature and a reducing atmosphere was created inside the forge as a result of the formation of carbon monoxide. Under the influence of these conditions, the mass loaded into the furnace, which consisted mainly of iron oxides and waste rock, underwent chemical transformations. One part of the oxides combined with the rock and formed a fusible slag, the other was reduced into iron. The reduced metal in the form of individual grains was welded into a loose mass (kritsa), in the voids of which there were always various impurities. To extract the kritsa, the front wall of the forge was broken out. Kritsa was a spongy sintered mass of Fe2O3, FeO iron in the form of metal grains containing slag in its voids. In fact, it was a reducing chemical process that took place under the influence of temperature and carbon monoxide (CO). The purpose of this process is the reduction of iron under the influence chemical reaction and obtaining screaming iron. Liquid iron was not obtained in ancient times.

The kritsa itself is not yet a product. With this technology it was impossible to obtain liquid metal, which could be poured into molds, as in bronze metallurgy. The kritsa, when hot, was compacted and pressed, i.e., forged. The metal became homogeneous and dense. Forged krits were the starting material for the manufacture of various items. A piece of iron obtained in this way was cut into pieces, heated on an open forge, and the necessary objects were forged from a piece of iron using a hammer and an anvil. In this fundamental difference iron production from bronze foundry metallurgy. Here the figure of the blacksmith comes to the fore, his ability to forge a product the desired shape and quality by heating, forging, cooling. The ancient process of smelting, or rather boiling, iron is widely known as the cheese-making method. It received its name later, in the 19th century, when they began to blow not raw, but hot air into blast furnaces and with its help they reached a higher temperature and obtained a liquid mass of iron. IN modern times Oxygen is used for these purposes.

The production of iron tools expanded the productive capabilities of people. The beginning of the Iron Age was associated with a revolution in material production. More productive tools - an iron plowshare, a large sickle, a scythe, an iron ax - made it possible to develop agriculture on a large scale, including in the forest zone. With the development of blacksmithing, the processing of wood, bone, and leather received a certain impetus. Finally, the use of iron made it possible to improve the types of offensive weapons - iron daggers, various arrowheads and darts, long swords with chopping action - and the warrior’s protective equipment. The Iron Age influenced all subsequent history.

The Early Iron Age in the context of world history

In the early Iron Age, most tribes and peoples developed a productive economy based on agriculture and cattle breeding. In a number of places, population growth is observed, economic ties are being established, and the role of exchange is increasing, including over long distances. A significant part of the ancient peoples at the beginning of the Iron Age was at the stage of a primitive communal system; some tribes and unions were in the process of class formation. Early states arose in a number of territories (Transcaucasia, Central Asia, steppe Eurasia).

When studying archeology in the context of world history, it is necessary to take into account that the early Iron Age of Eurasia is the heyday of civilization Ancient Greece, This classical Greece, Greek colonization, is the formation and expansion of the Persian power in the East. This is the era of the Greco-Persian wars, the aggressive campaigns of the Greco-Macedonian army to the East and the era of the Hellenistic states of Western and Central Asia.

In the western part of the Mediterranean, the Early Iron Age is the time of the formation of the Etruscan culture on the Apennine Peninsula and the rise of the Roman Empire, the time of the struggle of Rome with Carthage and the expansion of the territory of the Roman Empire to the north and east - into Gaul, Britain, Spain, Thrace and Denmark.

The Late Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age in European archeology is known as the period of the Hallstatt culture (named after a burial ground in Austria) - approximately the 11th - end of the 6th century. BC e. There are four chronological stages - A, B, C and D, of which the first two belong to the end of the Bronze Age.

Early Iron Age outside the Greco-Macedonian and Roman world from the mid-1st millennium BC. e. represented in Europe by monuments of La Tène culture of the 5th-1st centuries. BC e. The periods of development of the La Tène culture - A (500-400), B (400-300) and C (300-100) - are a whole era in development. It is known as the "second Iron Age", following the Hallstatt culture. Bronze tools are no longer found in the La Tène culture. Monuments of this culture are usually associated with the Celts. They lived in the Rhine and Laura basins, in the upper reaches of the Danube, in the territory of modern France, Germany, England, partly Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

In the middle and second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. there is a uniformity of elements of archaeological cultures (burial rites, some weapons, art) on large areas: in Central and Western Europe - Latenes, in the Balkan-Danube region - Thracians and Getadacians, in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia - the Scythian-Siberian world.

Towards the end of the archaeological period - Hallstatt D - there are archaeological sites associated with well-known ethnic groups in Europe: Germans, Slavs, Finno-Ugric and Balts, further to the east - civilization Ancient India and Ancient China of the Qin and Han dynasties (with the subjugation of Western and northern territories The formation of the ancient Chinese ethnic group and state took place within borders close to modern ones). Thus, the historical world and the archaeological world of Europe and Asia came into contact in the early Iron Age. Why then such a division? It’s very simple: in some cases, where civilization was developed and written sources allow us to imagine the course of events, we are dealing with history; in the rest of Eurasia, the main source of knowledge is archaeological materials.

This time is characterized by diversity and unevenness in the processes of historical development. But at the same time, the following main trends can be identified. The main types of civilization received their final design: sedentary agricultural and pastoral and steppe, pastoral. The relationship between the two types of civilization has historically acquired stable character. A transcontinental phenomenon called the Great Silk Road emerged. The Great Migration of Peoples and the formation of migrating ethnic groups played a significant role in the course of historical development. It should be noted that the development of productive forms of economy in the north led to the economic development of almost all territories suitable for these purposes.

In the early Iron Age, to the north of the ancient states, two large historical and geographical zones were designated: the steppes of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia (Kazakhstan, Siberia) and an equally vast forest area. These zones were different natural conditions, economic and cultural development.

In the steppes, even in the previous era, starting from the Chalcolithic, cattle breeding and agriculture developed. In forest areas, agriculture and forest cattle breeding have always been supplemented by hunting and fishing. In the Far Arctic north of Eastern Europe, in Northern and North-East Asia, a type of appropriating economy has developed. It developed in named areas of the Eurasian continent, including northern Scandinavia, Greenland and North America. The so-called circumpolar stable zone of traditional economy and culture was created.

Finally, an important event of the early Iron Age was the formation of proto-ethnic groups, which are in one way or another connected with archaeological complexes and with the modern ethnic situation. Among them are the ancient Germans, Slavs, Balts, Finno-Ugrians of the forest belt, Indo-Iranians in the south of Eurasia, Tungus-Manchus in the Far East and Paleo-Asians of the circumpolar zone.

Literature

Archeology of Hungary / Ed. V.S. Titova, I. Erdeli. M., 1986.
Bray W., Trump D. Archaeological Dictionary. M., 1990
Gernes M. Culture of the prehistoric past and the III Iron Age. M., 1914.
Grakov B.N. Early Iron Age. M., 1977.
Gumilev L.N. Rhythms of Eurasia. M., 1993.
Clark G.L. Prehistoric Europe. M., 1953.
Kukharenko Yu.V. Archeology of Poland. M., 1969.
Martynov A.I., Alekseev V.P. History and paleoanthropology of the Scythian-Siberian world: Textbook. Kemerovo, 1986.
Mongait A.L. Archeology of Western Europe. Bronze and Iron Ages. M., 1874.
Philip Y. Celtic civilization and its heritage. Prague, 1961.
Child G. Progress and Archeology. M., 1949.