Archaeological culture · c. 1300–750 BCE
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture of the Late Bronze Age spread across central Europe. Its people cremated their dead and buried the ashes in urns in large cemeteries, the 'urnfields'.
They built fortified hilltop settlements and made fine sheet-bronze metalwork. Related groups such as the Lusatian culture, which built Biskupin, are often counted within the wider Urnfield tradition. It was followed by the Hallstatt culture.
See Urnfield culture on the map in 1300 BCE
- On the map
- 1300–750 BCE
How we know
No writing existed; it is named after its cemeteries of cremation urns and dated by radiocarbon and metalwork styles.
Sites
- Biskupin built c. 747–722 BCE; lived in into the 6th century BCE