From 1881 to 1890, in locations including modern Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a number of very similar bronze bird figurines dating to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages (ca. 1300–500 B.C.) were unearthed. For more than a century, it remained unclear how these artifacts were used, but their similarity was seen as evidence of shared cultural practices and beliefs across a large swath of Europe at this time. Now, a team studying a recently discovered bronze waterbird, perhaps a swan, from the site of Liptovský Hrádok in northern Slovakia, has determined that the artifact, and likely the other similar examples as well, was originally attached to a small chariot, filled with animal fat or vegetable oil and used as a lamp during burial rituals and ceremonial activities. These objects had not only a practical use but also great symbolic value, says archaeologist Filip Ondrkál of Charles University. This is especially the case in light of the emphasis members of these cultures placed on birds—particularly waterfowl—as conduits between water, soil, and air, making them central to prehistoric cosmology. To read more about birds in archaeology, clck here.
Swan Songs
SHARE:
Recommended Articles
Artifacts July/August 2024
Etruscan Oil Lamp
(Courtesy Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona; © DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY)
Features January/February 2024
In the Time of the Copper Kings
Some 3,500 years ago, prosperous merchants on Cyprus controlled the world’s most valuable commodity
Digs & Discoveries September/October 2023
A Sword for the Ages
(Archäologie-Büro Dr. Woidich/Sergiu Tifui)
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2023
(Un)following the Recipe
(© The Trustees of the British Museum)
-
Artifacts May/June 2021
Magdalenian Wind Instrument
(Courtesy Carole Fritz et al. 2021/CNRS – the French National Centre for Scientific Research) -
Around the World May/June 2021
NEW ZEALAND
(Nelson Parker) -
Digs & Discoveries May/June 2021
You Are How You Cook
(loraks/iStock) -
Features May/June 2021
Last Stand of the Hunter-Gatherers?
The 11,000-year-old stone circles of Göbekli Tepe in modern Turkey may have been monuments to a vanishing way of life
(Vincent J. Musi)