Сейминско-турбинский феномен и Фенноскандия
Engedal, Ørjan. 2010a: The Bronze Age of Northwestern Scandinavia. Thesis for degree dr. philos. University of Bergen
9.3.1 Volga-Kama and the Seima horizon
From the advent of written history it is clear that political power in Russia was linked to the
fur trade (Martin 1986). Two of the major centres in the fur trade were located at the
confluence of Volga and Kama Rivers; first Bulgar and later Kazan. These centres procured
its furs from the north mainly via Kama and Upper Volga Rivers. It is precisely along Upper
Volga, Kama and particularly their confluence that we find clusters of both Seima-Turbino
and Ananino sites.
The next horizon of eastern metals is linked to the Seima-Turbino phenomenon, and
again the northwestern end takes on an extraordinary position (cf. chapt. 4.4.11). Soapstone
moulds common on Seima burial grounds east of the Ural, disappears in the west only to
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reappear in Northern Norway and Sweden. Most researchers that have dealt with the SeimaTurbino phenomenon have seen it as indicative of extensive long distance migrations
westwards from the Altai-foothills. It introduced a range of novel features to the foreststeppe belt north of the steppe proper: cire-perdue moulding, core-moulding for socketed
axes and spearheads, tin-alloys, horse-drawn sledges, complex stone knapping techniques
and lamellar body-armour made from antler (Kohl 2007: 168; Koryakova & Epimakov
2007: 106pp.). We might thus envision swift long-distance movements of warrior-bands, on
frozen rivers by horse and sledge and a range of other ski and sledge technologies. That the
stone mould industry disappears west of the Ural, but reappears in Northern Scandinavia, as
well as the character of the Jarfjord-moulds, indicate a migration directly from Irtysj river:
e.g. from Rostovka, crossing the Urals and following Volga to Lake Onega, and here
perhaps splitting in a northern (towards Varanger) and a southern (towards Finland and
Vektarlia) branch.
I have argued for a late date of the Seima-horizon, c. 1500-1300 BC (chapt. 4.4.11). I
concluded that the two westernmost assemblages with Seima types from Galich and
Borodino pointed to Nordic BA Ib-II (1600-1300 BC), with links to the BA II hoard from
Stockhult (Galich) and spearheads with spiral-decorated sockets (Borodino) of Valsømagle,
Smørumovre, Kirke Såby, Gundeslev or Ullerslev types. Interestingly, while the large
Jarfjord mould corresponds well with the Seima type, the daggers cast in this mould seem to
be larger than those known from eastern burial grounds (Pl. 60). This increase in bladelength in the far west could be seen as influence from Nordic swords. The Kaskelouktemould, with a typical straight Seima style haft, has a complex ribbed cross-section unknown
on eastern blades (Pl. 63).
A focus on the similarity between the leg-calves on the figurines from Galich and
Stockhult opens interesting new avenues. Firstly, figurines are unknown in the steppe, the
taiga, and Central Europe at this time. Secondly, the only three figurines with a comparable
early date are Near Eastern “standing arm” figurines from Scheren, Poland and two
specimens from “Ukraine” (Bouzek 1985: 69p.). It is thus likely that both the Galich and
Stockhult figurines had a common inspiration in these Near Eastern figurines, probably
derived from the Hittites or Trojans (Pl.63). To this can be added the strangely isolated
Borodino hoard with its combination of two characteristic Seima type spearheads, nephrite
maze-heads from the Altai, a dagger with vague Mycenaean links, and a fragmented
spearhead with spiral-decorated socket reminiscent of Nordic types (cf. Hachmann 1957:
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nr.688, 170pp., Taf. 67.2-16; Lichardus & Vladar 1996: 43, taf. 22-23). It is thus possible to
gather the findings from Galich, Stockhult, Borodino, the “standing arm” figurines, the early
iron artefact from Ganovche high in Tatra mountain between the upper Vistula and Tisza
rivers (Furmanek 2000; Engedal 2002: 45p.), and postulate an eastern Baltic-Black Sea
network involving Scania, the Seima-network, and Hittites/Trojans, one that ran east of the
Carpathians Mountains. Finally, the profilation in the Seima mould from Kaskeloukte is in
fact closer to the “Tudhalyias sword” from the Hittite capital Bogazköy than to Nordic
blades (Müller-Karpe 1994:434pp., abb.3b; Kristiansen & Larsson 2005: note 11). This
sword carried an inscription celebrating King Tudhalija’s destruction of the land of
“Assuwa”, according to Müller-Karpe an event dated to c. 1420 BC (Müller-Karpe 1994:
436). The mass of imagery with Hittite analogies in southeastern Sweden (cf. Larsson 1997),
might have been the result of direct interaction with Hittites through this network, one that
bypassed the tell-cultures of Balkan and the Carpathians. The experiments with socketed
flanged axes, particularly common in Southern Sweden from 1500 BC (e.g. Old 11, 67,
1584), might have been inspired by encounters with Seima type axes (Pl.63). The origin of
the long, sometimes spiral-decorated Valsømagle type spearhead might also have been
entangled in this network. One consequence of a hypothesis of a simple linear migration
from Altai to the North Sea is an autonomous invention of both the axe and spear with cast
sockets in the Altai to the far east (cf. chapt. 4.4.11). If the origin of the Seima-Turbino
network on the other hand was entangled in Nordic and Anatolian networks along the
eastern fringe of the Carpathians c. 1550-1500 BC, this might also remove the need for
postulating separate autonomous innovations of very similar forms in the far west and the far
east. This opens for a more complex origin of the Seima-Turbino phenomenon, and that the
“Great Tin Road” from Altai to the Baltic (cf. Chernykh & Kuzminykh 1989 in Koryakova
& Epimakov 2007: 40), really was a two-way street from the beginning (cf. Pl. 60,63, Map
29).
There are only a few miles between the Seima mould from Vektarlia and the cairns
with early cremations on Frøset in the Beitstad-fjord (cf. Map 12, chapt. 8.3.1). If the Seimanetwork had reached Vektarlia by 15-1400 BC, it is worth noting that the Elbe-Kiel Bay
centre established a node not merely at the very fringe of the Nordic Zone, but also at the
northwestern gate to the Seima network. This scenario thus adds potential intentions to the
establishment of the Beitstad-link both in the case of early BA II (cf. Maps 12, 28), and late
BA II (Maps 13, 29): to access tin flowing in the Seima-Turbino network via Beitstad. There
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is thus a possibility that the Seima network contributed to the high tin-alloys of the Nordic
Zone in BA II. Although Seima-artefacts west of the Ural is generally poorer in tin-levels
(Koryakova & Epimakov 2007: 40), the reappearance of soapstone moulds in the far west,
might have been paralleled in a reappearance of high tin-alloys.
I am thus inclined to argue for a late date of the Seima-horizon, and for a scenario in
which the Nordic and the Seima networks met up at several points, at Beitstad and MälardalFinland, as well as along a southern route to the Black Sea. If we accept this and upgrade
the importance of east-west dynamics in the period 1500-1300 BC, this has consequences for
our understanding of the later developments between Volga-Kama and the Nordic Zone.