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Rhône culture
Geographical range	Eastern France, western Switzerland
Period	Early Bronze Age
Dates	c. 2200 BC-1500 BC
Preceded by	Bell Beaker culture
Followed by	Tumulus culture

The Rhône culture was an archaeological culture of the Early Bronze Age (c. 2200-1500 BC) located in eastern France and western Switzerland, centred along the Rhône river.^[1]^[2] The culture developed from the local Bell Beaker culture, possibly with further migrations from central Europe.^[3] According to Sergent (1995) the Rhône culture represents a southern variant of the Unetice culture.^[4] Rhône culture metalwork and pottery are particularly similar to those of the Straubing group in Bavaria.^[5]^[6]

Artefacts and characteristics

The Thun-Renzenbühl axe (c. 1800 BC), found near Thun and attributed to the Rhône culture, is one of the earliest examples of the use of damascening technique in the world.^[8]^[9] The gold inlay decoration on the axe may also have a numerical, astronomical meaning.^[10]

Gallery

Dress pins, 2000-1600 BC

References

^ Piccardo, Paolo (2020). "Metallographic investigation of Early Bronze Age armbands from Western Switzerland (ca. 2200–1500 BC): new highlights about early manufacturing processes". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 12 (9). doi:10.1007/s12520-020-01178-z. hdl:11567/1060650. S2CID 221183203. Archaeological studies thoroughly describe the Rhone culture that extends between Eastern France and Western Switzerland along the Rhone River during the EBA (ca. 2200–1500 BC).
^ Mordant, Claude (2013). "Chapter 32: The Bronze Age in France". In Harding, Anthony; Fokkens, Harry (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age. OUP Oxford. pp. 571–593. ISBN 978-0-19-957286-1. The Rhône culture, in its strictest sense, occupies the Franche-Comté, eastern Burgundy, the northern Alps close to the Swiss Plateau, and the Valais, but a wider definition of this entity could be said to cover the whole of the Rhône Valley, extending even beyond part of the Massif Central (Gallay 1996). The fact remains that certain types of metallurgy or particular characteristics of pottery thought of as 'Rhodanian' spread right across eastern and central France and the Rhône corridor. This highlights the significant impact of metal production, which used metal resources from the western Alps during the late part of the Early Bronze Age.
^ "Civilisation du Rhône". Dictionaire Historique de la Suisse. 2009.
^ Bernard Sergent (1995). Payot, Catherine (ed.). Les Indo-Européens. Histoire, langues, mythes. Payot. p. 416. ISBN 2-228-88956-3.
^ Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). "Rhône culture". Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Kluwer Academic. p. 479. ISBN 9780306461583. The Rhône culture is the Swiss and east French counterpart of the Early Bronze Age cultures of central Europe. The metalwork and pottery are similar to those of the Straubing group in Bavaria.
^ Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). "Straubing". Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Kluwer Academic. p. 538. ISBN 9780306461583. Straubing: Early Bronze Age regional variant of the Unetice culture in Lower Bavaria, Germany.
^ "Finds from grave no. 1 in the Renzenbühl cemetery, in the city of Thun". 2013.
^ "History Museum of Valais, Sion". Musées Cantonaux du Valais. 2013. The Rhone Culture originated from Central Valais and the Thun area ... The burial of Thun-Renzenbühl in the Bernese uplands, with its axe decorated with gold nails, allows us to draw parallels with the princely burials of Eastern Central Europe.
^ Berger, Daniel; Hunger, Katja; Bolliger-Schreyer, Sabine; Grolimund, Daniel; Hartmann, Stefan; Hovind, Jan; Müller, Felix; Lehmann, Eberhard; Vontobel, Peter; Wörle, Marie (June 2013). "New insights into early bronze age damascene technique north of the alps". The Antiquaries Journal. 93: 25–53. doi:10.1017/S0003581513000012. S2CID 129042338.
^ Kerner, M. (June 2007). "Das Randleistenbeil von Thun-Renzenbühl als Venus-Kalender". Geomatik Schweiz. 8: 392–396. doi:10.5169/seals-236442.