<bron182.htm> [Bronze Age Text]
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CLICK to enlarge Bell-shaped unglazed funerary urns
were introduced into the Iberian Peninsula toward the close of the European Bronze
Age, around 800 BC. Archeologists
of Spain, Portugal and France believe that these vessels were brought to
Spain by Celts of the Urnfield culture in France. They usually have an incised geometric pattern, especially
around the rim. Of the pair of urns
shown here, the one on the left was excavated from pre-Iroquois site at
Owasco, New York. The one on the
right is from Marles, near Barcelona.
Pottery of this type appears abruptly in New England sites at about
the same time as its introduction into Spain. As pottery is lacking from sites of earlier date in the
northeastern states, its sudden appearances, replacing carved soapstone
bowls, points to an influx of people with a new culture, and the style of the
vessels points to a probable origin in Iberia (Fell 1982). |
