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Ave!

Bronze Age, Wheel, Hallstatt Culture, c. 8th-6th Cent. BC, Rare!

Copper alloy; 36mm/11.5gm

Con/ One wheel spoke broken, otherwise, As Cast. Dark gray patina, cleaned and waxed.

Seller's Note/ This is not just any wheel! As noted below, the Hallstatt Culture featured master smiths who created mind-boggling miniature carts, many whimsical and other for cult purposes. For instance, in the accompanying photo, is the Cult Wagon of Strettweg,a bronze cult wagon from ca. 600 BC, which was found as part of a princely grave of the Hallstatt culture in Strettweg near Judenburg, Austria in 1851. Besides the wagon, other grave goods, like jewelry, bronze amphorae, iron weapons, and tack and harness gear were found.

The wagon consists of a square-shaped, open-worked base plate with four spoke wheels. A female figure approx. 32 cm high holding a bowl-shaped object in upraised hands stands in the center of the wagon. The bowl is also held on the sides by two scissor-shaped supports. Recent restoration work and examination by experts has concluded that the bowl attributed to the wagon up to now cannot be conclusively proven to originally have been part of the cult wagon. In addition to the kettle bearer, numerous other figures in the form of both standing and mounted people as well as animals similar to deer and to horses are present on the wagon. The depicted scene is interpreted as a sacrifice. The wagon presumably served as a cult object for the consumption of a libation.

From a small hoard of axes, sword hilts and spear points found near the Danube River. Such hoards were often deposited near rivers and wet places like swamps. As these spots were often quite inaccessible, they most probably represent gifts to the gods. The reason that this 3000-year-old wheel is in such fantastic condition is due to the lack of oxygen, which inhibits corrosion, in the muddy area where it was found.

The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture in Early Iron Age Europe from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC (Late Bronze Age) and followed in much of its area by the La Tène culture. It is commonly associated with Proto-Celtic and Celtic populations in the Western Hallstatt zone and with (pre-) Illyrians in the eastern Hallstatt zone.

The culture was based on farming, but metal-working was considerably advanced, and by the end of the period long-range trade within the area and with Mediterranean cultures was economically significant. Social distinctions became increasingly important, with emerging elite classes of chieftains and warriors, and perhaps those with other skills. Society was organized on a tribal basis, though very little is known about this. Only a few of the largest settlements, like Heuneburg in the south of Germany, were towns rather than villages by modern standards.

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