Some European history from 3000-2000BC

Beaker Burial from England

This post will look at European history for the period from around 3000-2000BC. Due to the lack of sources we will have no written records to rely upon and the time period is too distant for ancient legends to be of much use. This means that to look at history for this place and time, we have to rely on the archaeological record. This is fine and useful, but like all methods of looking at history it has its flaws and caution must be used. The dates in particular must be treated with caution. Some of the issues with dating have been dealt with in the previous post on European history.

In the previous post looking at European history for the previous millennium we have seen Europe gradually move into the later stages of the Neolithic period, with farming becoming ever more established, megalithic architecture becoming more prevalent, possible Indo-European influence from the east and the increasing use of small quantities of copper that were used by the Neolithic farmers for decoration and occasionally to augment their stone tools. These trends would continue during this millennium. When the millennium began it is estimated that the world population was between 15 and 65 million people. By comparison 65 million people today live in the UK alone, making this a sparsely populated planet.

Cucuteni Figurines

To recap, around 3000BC, the Maykop culture in the Caucasus and the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture in Romania, came to an end. These may have been affected by the expanding Yamna culture from the northeast. The step pyramid site in Sardinia, Monte d’Accoddi, was also burned or destroyed around this time. Around this time larger Neolithic/Chalcolithic settlements appear on Crete.

In England, the large megalithic complex of Avebury was begun around this period but would not have reached its present form until later. Later generations would add more stone circles, alignments and banks of earth to the site until it reached the impressive proportions that it has today.

Around 2900 a new culture appears in Europe, sometimes referred to as the Beaker culture. This shows up in the archaeological record as a new style of burial, with a particular type of pottery often placed in the grave. The graves were usually single burials and with weapons, whereas previously collective graves were quite common in many parts of Europe.

It is unclear where the culture came from and it has been tentatively identified as being part of the Indo-European spread. But it could also have come from the Iberian Peninsula. It’s also unclear if this was a new people group who had migrated to the region, or if this was merely a style that was spreading and being adopted by pre-existing cultures. The answer is probably both, but if one had to choose, I believe that it is more likely that it was a style rather than a major population shift. As the style became more prevalent throughout Europe it was adopted by existing cultures in Ireland who took some elements of it but not others. But there probably was a mix of cultural diffusion and actual migration of peoples. The spread of Beaker culture took place over the next millennium and would continue until about 1800BC.

Baden culture axe

Around 2800 the Baden culture, a possibly Indo-European culture associated with the Corded Ware/Globular Amphora culture and the Yamna culture, in Central Europe, comes to an end. This culture had used wheels to possibly make ox-driven carts, but this is not entirely certain.

On Sardinia, the pyramidal temple of Monte d’Accoddi was rebuilt in something like its current form. Meanwhile in Spain the settlement of Los Millares, complete with fortifications, possibly had up to one thousand inhabitants around this time. Towns in Europe were not large at this point however.

It would perhaps be useful to talk about the pyramid of Monte d’Accoddi. Firstly, it is not quite a pyramid. Its current form is of a roughly square platform of earth, faced with mortarless stonework to prevent the earth from moving outwards, with a smaller platform atop it. Some believe that the smaller platform contained a building atop it that would have been roofed. Others believe that the current reconstruction is wrong and that the second platform was part of earthworks slanting upwards to a small flat space at the top, leading it to resemble the Bent Pyramid of Dahshur. Leading up to the first level of the pyramid is a gently sloping ramp. This ramp makes the structure closer to a ziggurat than a pyramid and it certainly is very unusual for the Mediterranean region.

Temple of Monte d'Accoddi in Sardinia

To the right, as one ascends the ramp, are two spherical stones, one much larger than the other, which may have been moved from their original position. There is also a large flat table of stone to the right of the causeway, around 10m², which may once have served for sacrifices. There do not appear to have been burials associated with this site. The ramp is on the southern end of the site, which is roughly oriented to the north, but this orientation is not exact. To the southeast of the structure are two menhirs, which have been speculated to be tied to astronomy. The menhirs appear to be tied to the cycles of Venus and the rising of the star Sirius but this is conjectural. This is merely the roughest guide to the site of Monte d’Accoddi, but it is too easy to simply mention a site and then neglect to describe what makes it interesting.

In Crete the First Early Minoan phase ended and the Second Early Minoan Phase begins. However, the Minoan culture as we know it was not yet present on the island, merely the precursors to it. The Early Helladic culture began on mainland Greece, with settlements at Manika and Thebes that reached considerable size. Overall the Bronze Age can be said to have begun in Greece, Central Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. The Balkans had had bronze technology for some time but the Greek islands were probably at least as influenced by the Near East as the Balkans.

Keros-Syros artwork
from the Cyclades

Around 2700 the Keros-Syros culture (also known as Early Cycladic II) in the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea began. This was a culture that produced beautiful abstract statuary (that may have originally been painted). Unfortunately this statuary has been seen as highly valuable by art collectors, so much of this culture’s work has been stolen or looted and less is known about these people than we would like.

In what is now Portugal there was a large settlement at Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro, more usually referred to as VNSP, which started around this time. It was contemporary with the settlement at Los Millares and shows the continuing complexity of the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age cultures on the Iberian Peninsula. Also around this time, the Beaker culture reached Britain. While there does seem to have been some population movement associated with this culture, it seems to have been relatively peaceful rather than an invasion. The reason for this is that, despite the presence of the Beaker people, large monumental constructions, of the same type as had gone before, continued.

Around 2600 the Yamna culture (north of the Caspian Sea, which arguably is not strictly speaking in Europe, but is interesting to us regardless) came to an end. It was succeeded by the Poltavka culture. This was probably an evolution of the Yamna culture, as the two cultures are archaeologically very similar.

Ring of Brodgar

Around 2500 the Ring of Brodgar, a large and impressive Neolithic stone circle was completed in the Orkney Islands in Scotland. This was corresponding to more development at the nearby Neolithic village of Skara Brae. Also around this time in Britain, bronze working appears in the archaeological record, so some count this as the beginning of the Bronze Age in Britain, while others date it to a few centuries later when it became more wide-spread.

In Malta the Tarxien temple building phase came to an end and evolved into the Tarxien Cemetery Phase. This phase saw the end of the large megalithic structures and the beginning of smaller dolmens and tombs being built in their stead. We have a tendency to think of massive building works as a sign of civilisation, but the later Neolithic seems to see a move away from huge building works and the beginning of the Bronze Age has few works to match the previous millennium. Why there was this change away from monumental construction we do not know.

However, there were still giant construction projects happening elsewhere in Europe. Around 2400 construction ended in Avebury, which was a gigantic construction of ditches and megalithic stones, with causeways marked with menhirs leading away from the site. Around this time the nearby Silbury Hill was constructed as an artificial hill of chalk, which may have been a fortification of sorts, but would have certainly glowed in the sunlight with the white soil.

To correspond with the building phase at Avebury, the nearby site of Stonehenge saw the iconic sarsens set in place at this time. This is possibly the most iconic piece of Stone Age architecture and still the quintessential Stone Age monument in the public imagination today.

West Kennet Avenue at Avebury

Avebury and Stonehenge deserve some further description, as they are respectively the largest and perhaps the most complex stone circles in the world. Avebury is a huge henge (earthen bank and ditch), roughly circular, with a circumference of around 1000m. The original ditch may have been as deep as 9m and the material from the ditch was used to create the outer bank. Inside the ditch is a large array of megalithic stones, not capped as in the case of Stonehenge, merely single stones arrayed in a circle. The henge had four openings with a main opening to the south. Inside the main stone circle were two other circles beside each other.

Running to the south is a causeway lined with menhirs that links the Avebury circle with the nearby monument of the West Kennet Long Barrow and a now destroyed monument known as the Sanctuary. West Kennet Long Barrow is a megalithic tomb that has preserved a number of bodies until modern times. There were probably originally four causeways that radiated outwards like spokes from the hub of a wheel. The Sanctuary was probably an unroofed henge made of wood, but with a stone circle interlinked within the wooden structure. This seems to have had human remains associated with it and may have had bodies exposed throughout the year, before disposal after a ceremony, perhaps at the winter solstice.

Silbury Hill, Avebury

Nearby was the huge artificial mound of Silbury Hill, constructed in a series of phases, but eventually becoming a nearly conical mound. Now it is covered in grass but even today one can see traces of the white chalk underneath the greenery. Nearby is the ancient track of the Ridgeway, one of the earliest roadways in Britain. It was a track that avoided any marshy ground by winding along the tops of hills through the Chalk Downs in the south of England.

About forty miles to the south lies the monument of Stonehenge. It is inconceivable that the builders of Stonehenge and Avebury were unaware of each other and very odd that there would be two cultures with the populations needed to build such monuments within a twenty mile radius of each other’s sites. So I imagine that the builders of Avebury were probably also the builders of Stonehenge, or closely associated with them. Stonehenge is a circle of large stones, some of which were quarried in Wales and transported overland to Stonehenge, which is a remarkable feat. Inside the circle are two rings of smaller stones and five sets of arches (two huge stones supporting a lintel). Surrounding the entire affair is a bank and ditch. A number of postholes have been found, indicating that there were wooden posts placed there.

The inimitable Stonehenge

The site was used for cremations with some of the post holes containing cremated human remains. Nearby are a large number of small burial mounds, known as barrows, as well as a causeway lined with earthen banks leading towards the nearby River Avon. To the north-east of the site lies the site of Woodhenge and Durrington Walls. Woodhenge was a multi-ringed monument, similar in design to Stonehenge but built with timber circles rather than stone circles. Just beside it is a large village called Durrington Walls. This is a confused site as it was both ritual, but also a dwelling space and when dwellings were removed, ceremonial structures sometimes replaced them. This village may have had up to four thousand inhabitants at its peak.

Finally, there is the nearby spring of Blick Mead, which has shown traces of human activity since the Mesolithic period. This is a spring that never freezes and which has unusual algae living in the water. When stones are taken out of the water, they turn red upon exposure to oxygen. This may have been seen as magical.

I would not like to try and put meaning on these landscapes. Many have tried and there is yet no definitive answer. Future archaeological explorations will doubtless show us more. But I wanted to give an idea of the scale and complexity of at least some of these sites that I have been mentioning.

Close by, in Ireland, this era sees the beginning of copper use in the south of Ireland (with archaeological attestation at Ross Island) and copper mines at Mount Gabriel, which may have been for export to Britain and the continent.

Walls of Los Millares in Spain

Around 2300 the Keros-Syros culture on the Cycladic islands evolved into the Phylakopi culture (which is also known as Early Cycladic III). Around this time the fortified settlement of Los Millares in the southern Iberian Peninsula was abandoned.

The Unetice culture, named after a type site in what is now the Czech Republic, began around this time and covered much of what is now the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland.

Also in this century, the body of the man known as the Amesbury Archer was buried not far from Stonehenge in what is now England. This burial was a Beaker culture burial. There were many artefacts buried with him and analysis on his skeleton suggests that he may have been originally from Central Europe. He had suffered from an abscess in his jaw and had a missing kneecap. The quality and number of his grave goods suggest that he was a person of some importance and possibly also a copper smith. Some have suggested that this burial and other similar ones, are the burials of those who had come to the site of Stonehenge on a healing pilgrimage. This is possible, but it is risky to overstate the case.

Around 2200 the 4.2 kiloyear event occurred. I really dislike the naming of this, but effectively it was a major climate disruption event that affected all the civilisations from Egypt all the way to India. Europe would have been affected but does not seem to have suffered in a major way from this. In fact it may actually have helped the inhabitants of Crete, as the Third Early Minoan Phase begins around this time, which sees the beginning of large settlements and palaces being constructed.

In the southeastern portion of the Iberian Peninsula the Argaric culture, named after the type-site of El Argar, arose around this time. This was a Bronze Age civilisation whose inhabitants traded across Iberia but also across the sea. They left behind large quantities of bronze artefacts and also built fortified settlements across their lands.

Around 2100 the Poltavka culture north of the Caspian, was succeeded by the Sintashta culture. This is seen by some as the culture of the Indo-Iranian speakers. They had mastered the horse, as had the cultures before them, and were now effectively some of the first chariot warriors in the world.

Giant's Church in Finland

The Polada culture began to flourish in what is now northern Italy. This seems to be a culture that probably included immigrants or inspiration or both from the Unetice culture north of the Alps. They built houses on the edges of lakes or in marshes and their houses often had stilts to prevent them from being affected by flooding.

In Crete the earliest forms of Minoan writing were being used during this century. These are known as Cretan Hieroglyphs. Sadly they cannot be read. We can make some guesses as to their sound content but the language that they preserve is lost to us. While there are some other symbols that have survived, which some have suspected as being proto-writing, the Cretan Hieroglyphs of this time are the first definite writing that has been discovered in Europe.

Phylakopi artwork from the Cyclades islands

In the century around 2000BC Newgrange was abandoned, although the site of Knowth would see ritual use by other later cultures. In Finland large megalithic monuments known as Giant’s Churches were built.

In Greece, the Phylakopi culture came to an end on the Cycladic islands and the Middle Helladic began on mainland Greece. On Crete however the palace of Knossos began to be built, which would be the focal point of the first indisputable civilisation in Europe.

So, this millennium in Europe has seen the continued westwards migration of Indo-European speakers, who merged and mingled with pre-existing populations. The use of copper and bronze spread across much of the continent, even while the building of huge megalithic structures became less common. Finally we see the beginning of a major civilisation in the south of Europe in what will become known as Minoan Crete.

Related Blog Posts:
Some European history from 4000-3000BC
Some European history from 3000-2000BC
Some European History from 2000-1500BC
Some European History from 1500-1000BC
Some European History from 1000-750BC
Some European History from 750-500BC