The Nordic Bronze Age of c. 1750 - 500 BCE sweeps through cultures of Scandinavia, the North Sea, Netherlands and Baltic regions. Appearing after its southern counterpart, the Nordic Bronze Age lays the groundwork for the rise of the Vikings a thousand years later.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
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The Nordic Bronze Age evolves from the Battle Axe Culture who arose from earlier migrations in the south. The early Bronze Age follows the Chalcolithic or Copper Age, as metalsmiths discover the formula of bronze at 88% copper and 12% tin.
Other materials can be used instead of, or mixed with tin, including arsenic and lead. Arsenic was used for a harder form of bronze. Its toxic effects could cause permanent disability and death in metal workers such as blacksmiths.
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People import bronze objects to Scandinavia by 2000 BCE. Through a network of routes by land and sea the people of the North interact as far as the Myceneans of Greece. They bring back secrets of metallurgy and trade the coveted Baltic amber.
The catalyst for change from the Chalcolithic Battle Axe culture to the Nordic Bronze Age comes from local experiments with metallurgy and a wave from Central Europe. The Unetice culture in parts of the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria and Germany plies a strong influence.
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Even during the Copper Age in the North, the climate is warmer than it is now. Grapes are growing in Scandinavia. During the Copper and subsequent Bronze Ages farming and forage-gathering are profitable.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Rye (Secale), emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), spelt (Triticum spelta) naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum) are among the northern crops. Others include einkorn (Triticum monococcum), gold-of-pleasure (Camelina sativa), and millet (Paniceae).
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The Nordic Bronze Age culture has a strong maritime focus. Ships and ship building references appear in Nordic art. Ships are represented in countless numbers. They have an uncanny resemblance to those used by the Vikings over a thousand years later.
Another sign of progress working its way into Nordic culture c. 1800 BCE is domestication of a wild horse species, the Norwegian Fjord horse, which has just arrived on the land. Horses become an important part of society, signifying industrious work and wealth.
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In the Nordic Bronze Age, nature worship is the dominant religion. A Sun Cult celebrates the journey of the Sun Goddess across the sky. Other deific figures such as Divine Twins go back hundreds of years to Proto-Indo-European roots on the Ponti-Caspian Steppe.
People also pay homage to the Mother Goddess Nerthe (Nerthus, Erde, Earth). She also appears as an elemental goddess in southern European mythology.
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The Earth Goddess is one of the deities worshipped cross-culturally. She's found in Neolithic, Greek, Celtic and early tribal lore, and in the mythologies of those who came after and before.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Sacrifice is common practice in cultures world-wide. Sacrificial rites and holy ceremonies are often held near bodies of water such as bogs, ponds, streams, rivers and lakes. Besides grave contents and stone carvings, many artifacts are found in locations of sacrifice.
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Housing and settlements rise to new heights by c. 1350 BCE. Habitations are often single farmsteads. Each farmstead has a longhouse and four-post built structures or helms.
Longhouses evolve from two aisles to a more complex three-aisle structure. Some are up to about 500 m2 (5400 sq ft) in area, described as chiefly halls, to compare with the size of a megaron in Mycenean palaces. The influence of the southern trading partners is clear.
In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, larger settlements include fortified sites. They specialize in workshops for metal and ceramic production, and cult houses dedicated to specific deities or religious figures.
In today's northern Germany, the 12th century BCE habitation of Hünenburg bei Watenstedt was an important center of trade and commerce during the Nordic Bronze Age.
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Graves and burials grow more elaborate. Nordic Bronze Age settlements include burial cairns, mounds and cemeteries. Burials are in coffins of oak, or urn burials. Rock carvings and wetland bronze hoards indicate active settlement with more emphasis on permanence.
During the Bronze Age oxen are used as draft animals. Horses are rarer and generally belonged to the elite. Fishing and hunting supplemented farm-grown food with shellfish, deer and Norwegian elk (aka moose).
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Bronze Age traders bring the "gold of the north", amber, to Egypt, Greece and other flourishing centers of civilization. Routes from the north go back as early as c. 3000 BCE, but trade especially in amber intensifies by 1900 BCE.
Baltic amber is among the gems in the 14th century BCE tomb of King Tut. Amber is found after storms in the raging northern seas, which cast pieces to shore in raw chunks or polished by the water. Nuggets are picked up on rocky coast.
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Due to its rarity, strange origins and golden beauty amber is considered a precious gem during the Nordic Bronze Age. In the 1st century CE Roman naturalist and writer Pliny the Elder finally identifies it as a type of resin.
From the growing trade routes, exchange includes amber, tin, salt from central Europe, fur, wax, wool, wheat, leather, spices, dye and weapons. At this time the Iron Age is approaching and trade in iron ore steps up.
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Nonetheless iron is considered inferior to bronze, until metal masters discover the secrets of steel. Evidence of steel comes as far back as c. 1800 BCE. The first dedicated steelworks open in Turkey in 1324 BCE, at least a century before the advent of the Iron Age.
Scandinavia has the most plentiful Bronze Age rock carvings of any region. Carvings feature scenes from everyday life, chariots, the sun, plows, birds and mammals. Boats and human figures are most popular themes.
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The Nordic Bronze age culture is based on admiration of warrior qualities. Numerous weapons of bronze, stone or iron occupy grave burials now. Plate bronze armor is also found.
Weapons and tools include axes, swords, daggers, spear and arrowheads, knives and maces. Vessels such as pots, vases and bowls show period use.
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Wagons are a common form of transportation, often pulled by oxen. The spoked wheel first appears c. 2000 BCE. Chariots of the Nordic Bronze Age are earlier than those of the Greeks. Many cultural attributes of the Nordic people are derived from travel and trade.
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