After the downfall of the Hittite Empire during the Bronze Age collapse, knowledge of ironworking has been gradually passed on across the Mediterranean, into other parts of Europe.

Beside the craft of iron metallurgy, iron age is marked by two more phenomena: burial under large tumuli and dignitaries interred with lavish goods. All these customs made their way from the east into Central Europe, where the Hallstatt culture prospered and remained deeply rooted in the preceding Urnfield Culture.

The Urnfield Culture covered a vast part of Europe during the Late Bronze Age. It was less a political structure, than an external way of expressing religious beliefs. Different regions and societies of the Urnfield culture had their own languages and other customs.

The Greek Geometric period at the start of the Iron Age can be considered as a local variant of the Urnfield culture and Iron Age Italic peoples of the Apennine peninsula, along with Etruscans and Rhaetinas, can be archaeologically traced without interruption all the way back to the Urnfield culture period.

Inland Europe developed gradually while importing new innovations from the east, which was plagued with cultural shifts and interruptions.

An example of this transition are the recovered swords of the same designed, but made from iron, instead of bronze. The Iron sword was found in a river bed, probably a consequence of a votive offering characteristic of the Bronze age.


Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/1mnK9tpEvz9UgeVWuUh8fPF…

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Learn more about the history in the heart of Europe:    • History in the heart of Europe  

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