The Beginning of the Iron Age in Macedonia - Dragi Mitrevski

The Beginning of the Iron Age in Macedonia Dragi Mitrevski There are various chronologies for the Iron Age in Macedonia. It is possible to indicate the beginning of the period as a Transitional Period from Bronze to Iron Age, since at that time Bronze Аge development was interrupted and new criteria were established.

In the Vardar valley the local Ulanci culture from the Late Bronze Age was researched. It is well presented in the settlement of Vardarski Rid and Stolot–Ulanci. In the latter site a necropolis has been excavated and dated 14th to 12th century BC. In 12th century BC up to the beginning of the 11th century this culture was interrupted, and the main reason were several successive waves of migrations moving from North to South. New necropolises and new burial methods with urn cremation appeared as well as many new elements from the Northern and Central Balkan’s origin.

The new necropoleis are concentrated along the main routes. These events caused the final interruption of the Bronze Age cultural development. However they did not cause significant demographic changes in Macedonia and with the establishment of the new Iron Age culture the old burial customs with inhumation in cist graves again emerged.

The situation in the regions outside of the Vardar Valley is somewhat different and many of the Late Bronze Age elements still developed during the Transitional period and in the Early Iron Age. Towards the end of the 11th century BC, the outside influences introduce a new cultural elements from the Hallstatt culture. We might expect that the bearers of the customs of burial under the tumuli carried these elements to Macedonia. Thus, at the genesis of the Iron Age culture in Macedonia at the end of the 11th century BC, these are the decisive elements.

Началото на Желязната Епоха в Македония Драги Митревски За периода на Желязната епоха на Македония са в употреба различни хронологически схеми. Възможно е началото на периода да се обозначи като своеобразен преходен период (от бронзовата към желязната епоха), тъй като по това време развитието на местната култура, тази на бронзовата епоха, е прекъснато и на тяхно място са се образувани нови. В долината на Вардар от края на бронзовата епоха ни е известна култура Уланци, добре представена в селищата Вардарски Рид и Столот-Уланци. Към последния обект е проучен и некропол, датиран в рамките на 14–12 в. пр. Хр. През 12 в. пр. Хр. и началото на 11 в. пр. Хр. развитието на тази култура е прекъснато, като главната причина за това са били няколкото последователни миграционни вълни, движещи се от север на юг. Тагава се появяват и нови некрополи с нов начин на погребване (кремация в урни), както и много други елементи със северен и централнобалкански произход. Те са концентрирани по главните маршрути. Тези събития са причинили финалното прекъсване на развитието на културите през късната бронзова епоха. Въпреки това те не са донесли значителни демографски промени в Македония, и с установяването на новата желязна епоха стария начин на погребване с инхумация в цистови гробове отново се завръща. Ситуацията в районите извън долината на Вардар е доста различна, и много от елементите от късната бронзова епоха продължават и през преходния период и през желязната епохи. Към края на 11 в. пр. Хр. външни влияния въвеждат нови културни елементи от халщатските култури. Може да се очаква, че носителите на обичая на погребване под могилен насип донасят тези елементи в Македония. Така, в създаването на културата на желязната епоха в Македония към края на 11 в.пр.Хр., тези елементи са решаващи.

The Iron Age in Macedonia has special features, which are not possible to put under neither the Aegean nor the Balkan criteria. Depending on the point of view – if it is from the southern or northern side, there are still various chronologies, or different divisions of the stages in the Iron Age development. However, during the last 20 years the quantity of archaeological finds has rapidly increased, which already makes it possible to give a much clearer picture about Iron Age. In that way, the evidence for the last two centuries of the II Millennia BC is The Struma/Strymon River Valley in Prehistory

also increased. It is of special significance for answering many questions about the beginning of the Iron Age in this part of the Balkans. Now it is completely possible to separate this period as a Transitional Period, from Bronze to Iron Age in which the Bronze Age development was interrupted and the new Iron Age criteria were established (MITREVSKI 1997, 26–70).

In any case, to make more complete evaluation about the beginnings of the Iron Age we must go a step back and answer many questions connected to the end of the Bronze Age and

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Dragi Mitrevski 1 Kastanas; 2 Vardaroftsa; 3 Vardino; 4 Chautchitsa; 5 Kilindir; 6 Kofilak; 7 Vardarski Rid; 8 Vardarski Rid; 9 Demir Kapija; 10 TremnikNegotino; 11 Tremnik-Negotino; 12 Vodovrati; 13 Ulanci; 14 Stolot-Ulanci; 15 Stobi; 16 Caska; 17 Krivi Dol; 18 Fortuna-Stip; 19 Beli-Kocani; 20 Strnovac-Kumanovo; 21 Govrlevo; 22 Dolno Sonje; 23 Gradiste-Dolno Sonje; 24 Varos-Prilep; 25 VisoiBeranci

Fig.1 Sites disposition of the „Ulanci Cultural Group of the Late Bronze Age“.

Transitional period.

What was the local culture of the Late Bronze Age? When and how it was interrupted? What was the character of the events and their bearers, which provoke the interruption of the Late Bronze Age culture? What elements from the Bronze Age and Transitional period took part in the genesis of the new Iron Age culture and when it was completely established and stabilized?

We will try to answer these questions, based on the archaeological finds from the R. of Macedonia, mainly from the sites along the Vardar Valley.

The Late Bronze Age in Macedonia is marked by the breakthrough and spreading of Mycenaean elements. Along the Vardar valley, this is the period when all the characteristic values of a local and very strong culture of the Late Bronze Age were formed. It is called the „Vardar or Ulanci Group of the Late Bronze Age“, according to the main site, necropolis and settlement in the village of Ulanci near Gradsko in the Middle Vardar Valley (MITREVSKI 2003, 46–52, T.V, T.VI).

There are many sites of this culture, disposed mostly along the Vardar River and its tributaries, up to the Skopje-Kumanovo region at north, Pelagonia region to the west and in the Struma Valley to the East (Fig.1).

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The settlement life is known mostly on the basis of the Late Bronze Age layers in the famous Lower Vardar multilayer settlements on the Greek territory, which belong to this group (HEURTLEY 1939; HOCHSTETTER 1982; HÄNSEL 1989; PAPAEFTIMIU-PILALI 1997). Also, some more northern, in the so far excavated settlements such as Vardarski Rid–Gevgelia (MITREVSKI 2001) and Stolot–Ulanci (MITREVSKI 1997:44–45), corresponding layers have been discovered. However, most of the new excavated sites in this group are necropolises, mainly from the territory of R. Macedonia.

As the best illustration we could take the necropolis in Ulanci. There, an extensive and well-organized necropolis have been excavated, with material which does not get out of the frame of 14th to 12th century BC. Up to now, 90 graves have been explored. The other similar necropolises only prove the manifestations discovered in Ulanci (MITREVSKI 2003, 46–52, T.V). The main marks of these necropolises are the crouched inhumations in cysts graves and very unified burial customs and grave goods.

Important role have the elements of the Aegean Late Bronze Age, incorporated and adopted to the local criteria’s and needs. These elements are most visible on the pottery, where beside the local monochrome vases; the significant place is occupied by the high quality matt painted pot-

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Fig. 2 Necropolis in Ulanci. Local matt painted pottery and a piece of Mycenaean imported vessel.

Fig. 3 Necropolis in Ulanci.

Local monochromic pottery.

tery (Fig. 2). This pottery means introduction of hitherto completely unknown techniques inspired by the Late Mycenaean pottery. In our group, the appearing of this matt painted pottery is very evident as local reaction on the Mycenaean pottery. The vessel shapes are of local origin and they are very popular in the local monochrome production (Fig. 3). Local copies of Mycenaean vessel types are also presented (MITREVSKI 2003, T.V–7, T.VI–1) .

In the same way, some of the famous metal objects from the Aegean Bronze Age are fre-

quent grave goods. Bronze knifes, razors and especially miniature double axes take special place. Very interesting is the fact that the double axes are in a shape of complex ritual objects in some special female graves (Fig. 4). It will be one of the main cult object during the Early Iron Age in Macedonia.

According this we could easily mark that the „Ulanci group“ had a character of a stable and deeply canonized culture of the Late Bronze Age. It means that the local communities from the end of the Bronze Age were not so involved

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Dragi Mitrevski Gravะต 80

Gravะต 54

Fig.4 Necropolis in Ulanci. The Graves 80 (above) and 54 (below), with the belts of double axes and the belt of the Grave 54.

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Fig. 5. Hipodrom-Skopje. The graves 3 (left) and 7 (right) in different stages of excavation. in the First waves of the so called Great Aegean Migrations. Consequently, after the fall of the Mycenaean civilization in the South, many of its cultural acquisitions went on to exist and maintained and grown at the North, in Macedonia.

Some of them will be important elements in the genesis of the new Iron Age culture. However, during the 12th, up to the beginning of the 11th century BC this culture was interrupted.

Doubtlessly, the main reason for it was several successive waves of migrations and destructive process, moving from North to South. The burned layers in the Lower Vardar settlements of Kastanas, Vardaroftsa Vardino and so on record them. The settlement of the Ulanci Necropolis was also burned and no more rebuild.

The population of the Late Bronze Age settlement in Vardarski Rid, in Gevgelija, during that period moved to the more safety position at the nearby hill „Kofilak“.

The Struma/Strymon River Valley in Prehistory

On the other hand, the burials in all of the mentioned necropolises through the Middle and Northern Vardar Valley has ended, more exactly, it was interrupted.

The new necropolises and a new way of burring with urn cremation appeared. Among the archaeological finds connected to these necropolises many elements from the Northern and Central Balkan origin appeared.

The best illustration of those time and events we have in Kastanas, and in its 12, 11 layers, but also in the relatively new discovered necropolises with cremation, from Hippodrome, near Skopje up to the Genykokastro, near Kilkis (MITREVSKI 1994; SAVOPOULU 1987; SAVOPOULU 1988). Many of them are still unpublished (Oresani-Skopje, Caska-Veles, Stobi and so on), and on this occasion we are not able to pay more attention to them. In any case, what is more important, the necropolises of this type are concentrated along

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Fig.6 Hipodrom-Skopje. Some leading types of pottery (left) and remains of Mycenaean helmet.

the main communications especially through the Vardar Valley and they just prove the impact of the new northern population.

Many of the new elements especially in the pottery are new phenomenon not just in the Vardar Valley but also at north, in the frame of the neighbouring, so called Donja Brnjica culture. So these events was surely happened in the frame of some general movements. In this occasion the spreading of the Donja Brnjica and other Central Balkan elements in Macedonia has occurred.

The penetration of these cultural manifestations can be easily traced, from Danube through the Morava and Vardar Valley until Peloponnese. There, over the ruins of a already destroyed Mycenaean settlements and into the new protogeometric necropolis are manifested either as introduction of a new way of burying with cremation or as foreign, so called north or barbarian pottery, terracotta’s and so on (GARAŠANIN 1953; BOUZEK 1967; STEFANOVICH 1973; DIAMOND 1988).

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Some of the findings from HippodromSkopje, especially the incrusted goblet and the Mycenaean helmet (Fig. 6), are the best illustrations for the mobile character of this culture or for the direct contacts either with the Northern or with the Southern parts of the Balkan.

However, these events had many consequences for the future development. In addition to everything else, they caused the final interruption of the Bronze Age cultural development, especially in the regions along the main communication ways. In the Vardar Valley, at the expense of the previous contact with the Aegean, the link with the central and northern Balkan cultures was promoted. So, in the establishing of the Iron Age Culture in Macedonia the contacts with the north will have also very important role (MITREVSKI 1994a).

However, in spite of all the cultural changes these events did not cause some significant demographic changes in Macedonia. For example, the burial way with cremation as a foreign element without deeper routs on this territory did

The Begining of the Iron Age In Macedonia not last so long. With the establishment of the new Iron Age culture the old burial customs with inhumation in cist graves again emerged as a unique way of burring. Only, as a consequence of these events, during the Early Iron Age, a cultural decadence decreased economical power and certain depopulation or reduced intensity of living along the valley of Vardar is very evident.

Even by the end of 8th century BC, in this region a full cultural stabilization will take place.

The situation in the other regions, outside of the Vardar Valley, is different. In the West, in the Ohrid–Prespa and Pelagonija Region, many of the late bronze elements continued to be developed during the Transitional period and the Early Iron Age. But towards the end of the 11th century, the outside influences introduce new cultural elements from the so-called Hallstatt cultural environments into these regions.

These elements, from the eastern Alps or West Balkans Region, started spreading towards south, mainly by the naval route, along Eastern Adriatic cost. It might expect that the same bearers who spread the customs of burr-

449 ing under the tumuli carried these elements in Macedonia. In any way, this process continued further to the East by the route of the later Roman Via Egnatia. Even in the following centuries of the Iron Age some of these manifestations become more dispersed, accepted and produced in the wider Macedonian area. So, the most popular Hallstatt forms, mainly jewellery: fibulae, torches, faleras, bracelets and so on, become very frequent forms in the local Iron Age culture (VASIĆ 1987). Thus, at the genesis of the Iron Age culture in Macedonia, these elements denote the ultimate constitutional element. Even then the new culture of the Iron Age in Macedonia was finally shaped, somewhere in the end of the 11 century BC. In conclusion we can say that the Iron Age in Macedonia is a mixture of different elements that were involved on this territory from different cultural surroundings, in different times and selectively accepted by the local population making a unique physiognomy of the local Iron Age. Of course, all these elements were based on the heritage from the Local Bronze Age.

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