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Articles

• Dimitriadis, George

Bronze Age societies were technologically complex. The impressive production of metal artefactsembodies clearly their astronomical culture and cosmological viewpoint. Same ascertainment is validalso for rock art. In fact, around the European landscape were discovered several cliffs engraved withsolar ships, deer and charts. How one could be interpret them ? Which is the hidden mentality? Fromthe end of 3rd millennium-early 2nd millennium B. C. deep technological transformations are madeby metals. New inventions such metal extraction for weapon production, horse pulling chariot usedfor war and the bull pulling one used for trade may shorten the culture and material distances betweenCentral Europe and South Mediterranean area. Indeed, taphonomic studies indicate a specific modificationof the human body mortuary traditional disposition (orientated to significant astronomical targets)below a substantial transformation of mortuary apparatus with spot evidence of weapons (halberds,swords, knifes) and ornaments (double spiral, lunar shape pectorals). The famous TrundholdSolar chart, the 2nd millennium terracotta chart form Dupljaja, the solar boats petroglyph in Bohuslandand the horse rider carved on Philippi's cliffs were conceived by the same mentality: communionwith the divinity. Culture expressions as communicate manifestation attested in rock art were producedby the same mentality presented in Bronze Age art-crafts such as, 1. Culture epidemiologic patternsdispersion took place through out iconographie motives, and, 2. Animals can play a double facefunction inside an analogical-mythological system: a. animal-reüex; b. animal-agent. The question is:Could such petroglyphs help us to "read" archaeoastronomical properly in an archaeological site?

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

Bronze Age, Cosmology, European landscape, Prehistoric mentality, Rock art