New data for the Early Bronze Age Balkans-Anatolian interrelations: the axes from the Edirne Museum (Turkiye)

Abstract

Metal shaft-hole axes were an important status tool for the Balkan Bronze Age societies. These axes are spread over a wide geographical area and are divided into many different subclasses. One of these subclasses is the Veselinovo group. Several bronze axes were donated to the Edirne Museum in 2020, five of which were of Veselinovo I type. It was recorded that these axes were found in a field near the Uzunköprü district of Edirne province. The geographical area where this type of axe is most frequently found is northern Greece, Thrace, the Carpathians, the steppe and forest-steppe regions of Ukraine, the Caucasus and Anatolia. These artefacts provide important information about the distribution routes of similar axes that spread in these regions in the Bronze Age. Two axes with similar form have been recorded in Anatolia. One comes from northeastern Anatolia, close to the Caucasus Region, and the other is from inner western Anatolia. It is known that western Anatolia was in contact with the cultures of the Thracian region during the Bronze Age. The bronze axes in the Edirne Museum shed new light on this communication network. There is a very strong possibility that the Vesselinovo I type axes from central western Anatolia were brought to the region from Thrace. It is noteworthy that the Uzunköprü-Keşan valley line in Eastern Thrace was decisive in the transport of this axe type from Thrace to Anatolia.

Keywords

• Bronze axes
• Veselinovo I type
• Bronze Age
• Thrace
• the Balkans
• Anatolia