Europe: 700 to 601 b.c.  (Page 2/2)

The Etruscans seemed to particularly like the painted pots and vases brought from Corinth in Greece and were soon imitating them on a massive scale. Near the end of this century, due to the acquisition of more metal resources, perhaps at the expense of Tarquinii, the city-state of Caere became enormously wealthy, covered about 375 acres and had a population of about 25,000. Saleable copper and iron allowed them to acquire massive quantities of gold from the Greek markets of Pithecusae and Cumae. There is a strong possibility that the Etruscan alphabet, an adaptation of Greek letters in use in the Greek markets, was introduced to Etruria by way of Caere.

At about this same time the city-state of Vetulonia apparently became another prominent Etruscan community, lying just northwest of Vulci and characterized archeologically by great mound tombs, some of which reached a height of nearly fifty feet. Large stone sculptures have been found in these tombs, consisting of both male and female figurines and apparently adaptations from Syrian originals. Bronze horse-buckles indicate much horse traffic. Jewel works with a special granulation process of applying tiny grains of gold were typical. Village amalgamation into a single city perhaps occurred just at the end of the century. (Ref. 75 )

There were Greek cities in Sicily and on the southern tip of Italy. In particular, there was Sybaris, a city of renowned wealth, situated in the toe of the Italian boot. Its inhabitants delighted in luxury and pleasures, features which gave rise to the term "sybarite", still in our vocabulary. It has only recently been located, now buried twenty feet deep in water soaked soil. The Carthaginians had a trading post at Motya in western Sicily, just after 700 B.C.

Central europe

This was an age of Celtic domination, but with gradually increasing pressure from Germanic groups descending from the north. It was the late Iron Age in Austria and people wore bracelets, anklets and decorations over their chests. Intricate designs in iron with piece interlocking with closed eyes, perfect animal figurines, etc. can be found in the collections from multiple excavations of this era. Celtic ornamentation was greatly influenced by Scythian modes and the latter also contributed a new concept of cavalry, including snaffles, two-part bits and movable side reins. (Ref. 91 )

Western europe

Spain and portugal

The Iberians in most of this area were overrun by the Urnfield Celts except in the south, where the Tarshish Culture persisted and resisted the Celtic Hallstatt and later La Tene Iron Age Cultures. Contact with Phoenicians and realization of the local mineral wealth, resulted in the development of the only really native unit in this Kingdom of Tartessos. Greeks also came to this area about 630 B.C., introducing olives

France, netherlands and belgium, and british isles

This part of western Europe was now almost entirely Celtic. The Celtic languages had two large divisions which the Welsh Sir John Rhys (1877) called the Q-Celtic and P-Celtic, with the former using Q,K or Ch of ten where the latter used P or B. The ancient representatives of the Q-Celtic speakers were the Goidels (Gaels) and probably the Celts of Spain and Portugal, with the modern descendants being the speakers of Irish and Scots Gaelic and Manx. The ancient P-Celtic speakers were the Brythonic peoples of Britain, the Gauls of central and eastern Europe and the Picts of Scotland. Their descendants are the current Bretons of Brittainy, the Cornish and the Welsh. Of interest is the fact that while the P-Celts wrote using Greek or Latin letters, the Q-Celts originally wrote in a now defunct script called "Ogam", which had an alphabet of fifteen letters, all consonants and developed from a finger sign language. Later some tribes added more consonants and vowel signs. (Ref. 65 , 91 )

Scandinavia

While Norway, Sweden and Finland remained in a Bronze Age culture, Denmark had both bronze and iron. This was a time of Germanic tribe growth, particularly in the latter country. Ty, in northern Jutland, was the alleged homeland of the Teuton tribe, while the Cimbrians are said to have originated in Himmerland. There is still no complete agreement on the relationship of the early Germanic and Celtic tribes. In ancient times they were often confused, and apparently there was not a great deal of difference physiologically. Language was supposedly the chief difference, but even with that problems arose with such tribes as the Teutones and Ambrones whose languages may have been mixtures with both Celtic and Germanic elements. (Ref. 91 )

Eastern europe

Southern Russia was dominated at this 7th century B.C. by the Scythians who finally absorbed some culture from the rising Persian civilization on one flank and the Greek cities of the western and northern shores of the Black Sea, on the other flank. Some elaborate gold sculptures of that time have been found in Scythian burial mounds. Northern Russia and the Baltic area remained as described in the last chapter. (Ref. 176 )

Forward to Europe 600 to 501 B.C.

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