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Iron Age Art in Europe

Dates, artifacts, artists,
Celtic culture, Britain, Ireland

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What Exactly is the Iron Age?

The Iron Age is the third and final phase of the traditional lopsided chronology of human life on Earth.

The first phase, lasting for roughly 3.3 million years, is known as the Stone Age. This is subdivided into Paleolthic, Mesolithic and Neolithic perods. See also: Stone Age Culture.

The second phase, lasting about 2,000 years, is called the Bronze Age.

While dates for the Stone Age are pretty much the same for all regions of the world, the Bronze and Iron Ages vary region by region, according to their development of bronze and iron metallurgy.

The three-age timeline was first used by the Danish Antiquarian Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (1788-1865) in an archaeological context, during the first half of the 19th century, to reflect the three different materials from which tools were made: stone, bronze, and iron.

When Did the Iron Age Start?

The exact date of the Iron Age varies by geographical region.

Basically, the Iron Age begins when a region's use of bronze - in the manufacture of tools, weapons and other implements - is superceded by the use of iron and steel.

In the Middle East, this transition occurred during the 12th century BC, and quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean region and to Southern Asia. During the period 1,100 and 450 BC, the Iron Age spread to Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Central, and Northern Europe.

When Did the Iron Age End?

The end of the Iron Age is equally variable. In the Middle East, for instance, it is said to end with the establishment of the Persian Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great, about 550 BC.

For details of early Iron Age cultures in the Middle East between 4,000 and 539 BC, see:

However, in Central and Western Europe, the end of the Iron Age is said to coincide with the victorious Roman campaigns of the 1st century BC, while in Scandinavia, the Iron Age coincides with the beginning of the Viking Age, around 800 AD.

Digging Up Our Past

For a short guide to studying the ancient world, see: Archaeology: Prehistoric & Ancient. For an explanation of terms used, see: Archaeology Glossary.

Art in the Iron Age (1200-200 BC)

In this article, we briefly outline the main trends and styles of ancient art, between 1,200 and 200 BC, which also includes post-Iron Age works in some areas.

Please note that art created during the Iron Age was rarely connected to the metal 'iron'. After all, bronze was far more decorative and visual material. As a rule, the artistic use of iron was limited to the embellishment of weapons and horse tack.

Related Articles

Ancient Greece & Etruria

By contrast with the Stone Age and Bronze Age, development during the Iron Age was faster and more visible. It included the widespread proliferation of iron and steel tools, resulting in a huge increase in demand for metals and metalworkers, notably around the eastern Mediterranean.

Some nations, however, responded better than others. The heyday of Ancient Egyptian architecture had passed - the quality of Egyptian pyramids, for example, had slumped, although Egyptian temples continued to flourish, and Ancient Egyptian Art was copied everywhere.

In addition, the Minoan civilization on Crete had collapsed, and the rival Mycenean civilization was also in decline.

But from about 900 BC the cultures of mainland Greece - especially those of Athens and Corinth - began to thrive.

Ancient Greek pottery, Greek sculpture and Greek architecture, were the first Iron Age arts to really impress, although painting retained its status as the highest form of art. Sadly, almost no Greek painting has survived, apart from a range of murals.

Etruscan art also appeared, but it was the style and quality of Hellenic culture which dominated the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant, along with Egyptian and Persian art.

It was only after Greece began to lose its power from 200 BC onwards, that Roman art emerged, and this was created largely by Greek artists in the Hellenic style.

In the history of art, the civilization of Classical Antiquity is divided into several periods. These include:

During the Dark Ages, the Greek world was disrupted by external pressures, including invasion. The smaller, poorer kingdoms and city-states which emerged, could not afford the arts and culture that had flourished in the Bronze Age palaces of the Minoan and Mycenaean empires.

As a result, the arts declined. Fortunately, by 900 BC, Athens managed to reassert itself, and art forms like ancient pottery regained their former importance.

During the Geometric Period, for instance, ceramic objects were decorated with geometric patterns, while during the Orientalist Period, vases depicted heroic scenes from Greek history.

During the Archaic phase, historical motifs were initially superceded by animal or human figures, although by 500 BC more complex mythological scenes had returned.

Throughout the first four periods of the Iron Age, monumental art - in the form of architectural painting and decoration - also appeared. For example, temples, shrines and other public buildings were decorated with friezes and murals.

Classical Period

The highpoint of Greek art occurred during the so-called 'Classical' period, just as the Iron Age was coming to a close in the region.

During the Classical Period, Greek art became more dignified. Painting depicted military successes.

Noted painters included Apollodorus (invented skiagraphia or shadow-painting), Apelles, Micon, Parrhasius, Polygnotus, and Zeuxis. Linear-style as well as more subtle shading styles were developed.

Relief, pedimental and free-standing sculpture proliferated during the three phases of classical Greek art: Early Classical, High Classical and Late Classical.

Famous Greek sculptors included: included: Kalamis (fl. 470-440 BC), Pythagoras (fl.440-420), Phidias (488-431), Kresilas (480-410), Myron (fl. 480-444), Polykleitos (fl.450-430), Callimachus (fl. 432-408), Skopas (fl. 395-350), Lysippos (fl.395-305), Praxiteles (fl. 375-335), and Leochares (fl. 340-320).

The Parthenon (447-438 BC) and other temples on the Athenian acropolis, contained a wide variety of stone, marble and chryselephantine sculpture of the High and Late Classical periods.

Famous examples of classical Greek sculptures include:

Hellenistic Period

The Hellenistic Period, which traditionally begins upon the death of Alexander the Great, witnessed more developments in Greek painting and sculpture.

Artists were employed by rulers who utilized their talents to champion their secular image. At the same time, as Rome gained in military power, art in Etruria began to improve. For example, Etruscan tomb painting begins to employ a sophisticated form of chiaroscuro.

Famous examples of Hellenistic Greek sculptures include:

Roman sculpture and painting remained forever in the shadow of Greek styles and craftsmanship. Only Roman architecture rivalled that of Ancient Greece, due to the Roman expertise in engineering and the use of new materials like concrete.

Northern/Central Europe

No secure cities emerged in Northern or Central Europe during this time. As a result, there were fewer resources or opportunities for painting, sculpture or architecture.

Only painted pottery continued to be made, as one would expect from a region that created some of the world's earliest ceramic art at Vela Spila (15,500 BC).

Apart from this, art was limited mostly to personal adornments, cooking or drinking vessels, as well as the ornamentation of weaponry, horse tack, boats and other functional items.

Not surprisingly, therefore, Iron Age art in Northern and Central Europe was dominated by the Celts, whose ironsmiths and blacksmiths were the finest in the region.

The most famous Celtic styles of central Europe were the Hallstatt culture (800-450 BC) and La Tène culture (450-50 BC) culture.

Examples of famous Celtic smithery include the Basse-Yutz Flagons (450 BC), made from copper alloy, coral, glass and resin, found in France; the gold and bronze Oak Tree of Manching (350-50 BC), found in Germany, and the silver Gundestrup Cauldron (100 BC), found in Denmark.

Celtic Ireland and Britain

By 1100 BC, the Celts - a collection of Indo-European tribes - had established themselves astride the main trading routes along the main European waterways, including the Rhone, the Rhine and the Danube.

During the period 1,100 and 700 BC, they became the first non-Mediterranean people to practice iron metallurgy, which gave them a significant technological advantage over their neighbours throughout the Continent.

Following intermittent contacts between themselves and the indigenous population of Britain and Ireland during the Stone and Bronze ages, the first wave of iron-using Celts arrived in Britain and Ireland around 500 BC.

This group belonged to the Hallstatt culture. Two centuries later, Celts of the La Tène culture arrived.

As a result, within a few hundred years Ireland's Bronze Age culture became almost completely dominated by Celtic art and culture.

The earliest Irish Iron Age artifacts (Hallstat culture) of this period included: ceremonial drinking vessels, necklaces, hair pins, weapons and other Celtic metalwork. Later La Tène artifacts included several items of great delicate beauty, including:

In addition, Celtic influence can be seen in Irish monumental pagan sculpture, like the granite Turoe Stone (150-250 BC).

Celtic Iron Age treasures found in Britain. include: the bronze Battersea Shield (350 BC); the bronze Witham Shield (4th century BC); and the gold alloy Snettisham Great Torc (100-75 BC).

References

(1) Collis, John. The European Iron Age. London: B.T. Batsford, 1984.
(2) Cunliffe, Barry W. Iron Age Britain. Rev. ed. London: Batsford, 2004.
(3) Medvedskaia, I. N. Iran: Iron Age I. Oxford: B.A.R., 1982.
(4) Waldbaum, Jane C. From Bronze to Iron: The Transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean. Göteborg: P. Aström, 1978.

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