[7][8][9][10] The Nordic Bronze Age maintained close trade links with Mycenaean Greece, with whom it shares several striking similarities.

[16][17] The people of the Nordic Bronze Age were actively engaged in the export of amber, and imported metals in return, becoming expert metalworkers.

With respect to the number and density of metal deposits, the Nordic Bronze Age became the richest culture in Europe during its existence.

[25][26][27] Oscar Montelius, who coined the term used for the period, divided it into six distinct sub-periods in his piece Om tidsbestämning inom bronsåldern med särskilt avseende på Skandinavien ("On Bronze Age dating with particular focus on Scandinavia") published in 1885, which is still in wide use.

[28][30] Larger settlements are also known (such as Hallunda and Apalle in Sweden and Voldtofte in Denmark), as well as fortified sites, specialist workshops for metalwork and ceramic production, and dedicated cult houses.

[36][37][38] The Bronze Age fortified town of Hünenburg bei Watenstedt in northern Germany (12th c. BC) has been described as a trading post for people from Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region, as well as a cult centre and seat of a ruling elite.

During Period III of the Early Bronze Age (1300-1100 BCE), cremated remains were still buried in the old tradition in elongated pits or tree/oak coffins.

With the beginning of the Later Bronze Age (Period IV, 1100-900 BCE), urn burials became established, although for a long time they were still placed in and around barrows.

These valuable metals were all imported, primarily from Central Europe, but they were often crafted locally and the craftsmanship and metallurgy of the Nordic Bronze Age was of a high standard.

During the 15th and 14th centuries BC, southern Scandinavia produced and deposited more elaborate bronzes in graves and hoards than any other region of Europe.

The engravings in the region depict everyday life, weapons, human figures, fishing nets, ships, chariots, plows, the sun, deer, bulls, horses, and birds.

[57] It is noted that the people of the Nordic Bronze Age also placed great importance on helmets of intricate design, which they put much effort into making.

Finds such as the Hjortspring boat, among others, give further credence to the theory that Bronze Age people in Scandinavia relied heavily on naval dominance of the waters surrounding their region in order to secure trade and safety.

[60] The beginning of metal production and increased exchnnage appears at around 2100 BCE, when copper was imported from Slovakia via central Germany, and tin from the British Isles.

[61][10] This triangular network is slightly older, as shown by the distribution of straight-walled cups in Denmark and central Germany/Bohemia, and Scandinavian flint axes found on the British Isles.

During the time of the Nordic Bronze Age, metals, such as copper, tin and gold, were imported into Scandinavia on a massive scale.

[66] Cheek-pieces and whip handles in Denmark dating from this time feature curvilinear 'wave-band' designs that are also found on contemporary artefacts from the Carpathian Basin and Greece, including in the elite shaft graves at Mycenae.

These designs subsequently appear on Nordic Bronze Age metalwork, including on the gold disc of the Trundholm Sun Chariot.

[67] Cheek-pieces and belt hooks adorned with horse heads are suggested to have originated from the Carpathian Basin, making their way into Scandinavia.

[69][70] A depiction of a two-wheeled vehicle with four-spoked wheels is also known from Kültepe in Central Anatolia, dating from c. 1900 BC,[71] concurrent with the appearance of steppe horses in this region.

[80] According to Kristiansen and Larsson (2005), "foreign origins were most consciously demonstrated in the formation of the Nordic Bronze Age Culture from 1500 BC onwards, basing itself on a Minoan/Mycenaean template.

Written sources are lacking, but archaeological finds draw a vague and fragmented picture of the religious practices and the nature of the religion in this period.

A pair of male twin gods are believed to have been worshiped in close conjunction with the sun goddess and were associated with objects such as lurs, horned helmets, and weapons, particularly axes and swords.

The horned helmets found in sacrificial deposits are thought to be purely ceremonial and to have no practical function, i.e. in actual warfare.

Water bodies such as bogs, ponds, streams, and lakes were often used as ceremonial and holy places for sacrifices and many artifacts have been found in such locations.

Similarities have been noted between Nordic Bronze Age imagery and the Nebra Sky Disc from central Germany associated with the Únětice culture.

These ship types may have their origin as far back as the neolithic period and they continue into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as exemplified by the Hjortspring boat.

The climate was comparable to that of present-day central Germany and northern France and permitted a fairly dense population and good opportunities for farming; for example, grapes were grown in Scandinavia at this time.

[a] In the June 2015 study, the remains of nine individuals of the Northern Bronze Age and earlier Neolithic cultures in Denmark and Sweden from ca.

Archaeologically associated with a migration of people from the north or northeast and the emergence of stone cist burials, leading to the start of the Nordic Bronze Age.