Unetice and the Nordic Bronze Age
Central and northern Europe develop rich metalworking without cities or writing.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 1.1 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 100 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
The Unetice culture from around 2300 BCE and the Nordic Bronze Age from about 1700 BCE produce metalwork of remarkable quality — lurs, elaborate razors, folding stools, the Trundholm sun chariot — supported by trade in Baltic amber southward and bronze northward. There are no cities and no writing, but the burials show sharp hierarchy. It is a reminder that Bronze Age complexity does not require the state form seen in the Near East.