The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age was a profoundly significant period in human development.
People discovered the secret of making bronze. It reached deep into their lives and brought sweeping changes to society. They began to specialise: some grew crops and raised cattle, others made goods, still others traded, and a few ruled. A propertied class emerged, and alongside it a priestly one.
What was life like in the early Bronze Age in the territory of present-day Slovakia? What did people value, how did they live and work, how did they dress and adorn themselves, what were their dwellings like, what did they eat and what did they make? These are among the questions this three-part documentary sets out to answer, drawing on archaeological research.
The first part, The Discovery of a Prehistoric Settlement, follows the archaeologists’ path to uncovering a major settlement in Slovakia. That discovery also opens a window onto Bronze Age life, revealing how people made their living, the crops they grew, what they ate and the state of their health.
The second part, Crafts, looks at how everyday tools were made from stone, antler and bone, along with pottery, weaving and clothes-making. It also uncovers the secret of smelting bronze and the magical power that brought such marked changes to the society of the day.
The third part, Spiritual Life and Rituals, draws us into the funerary rites of the period, shamanism, medicine, the sun cult and sacrificial rituals. Bronze Age spiritual life was growing richer as people advanced in their understanding of the empirical sciences, architecture, astronomy and medicine. Religious life shifted markedly towards higher forms, full of intricate formalities and ceremony.
The distinctive atmosphere of this distant era is evoked by mystical music played on original instruments made of bone, tree trunks, hide, horn and other natural materials.
Credits
- Screenplay
- Stanislav Manca
- Script editor
- Samo Trnka
- Music
- Miro ŽiariSlav Švický a Miro Masica
- Make-up
- Martin Blizniak
- Props
- Renáta Sládková, Daniela Augustínová, František Jánoš, Dagmar Mancová, Martin Petrakovič
- Animation
- Andrej Ruman, Jozef Koháry, Martin Haľama
- Sound engineer
- Norbert Bóka
- Editing
- Milan Cmarko
- Narration
- Přemysl Boublík, Martin Kákoš, Juraj Kákoš
- Cinematography
- Laco Gažo, Stanislav Manca, Ján Hronský
- Producer
- ARS ARETE
- Produced in collaboration with
- štúdio RedHill, štúdio Dolina
- Screenplay, text and direction
- Stanislav Manca
Academic supervisors
- Prof. PhDr. Jozef Bátora, DrSc., vedúci Katedry archeológie FiF UK Bratislava Slovakia, archeológ v Archeologickom ústave SAV Nitra Slovakia
- Mgr. Peter Tóth, PhD., Katedra archeológie FiF UK Bratislava Slovakia
- Doc. Mgr. Mária Hajnalová, PhD., Katedra archeológie FiF UKF Nitra Slovakia
- Mgr. Pavol Jelínek, PhD., SAHI Bratislava Slovakia
- prom. hist. Bibiana Hromadová CSc., Archeologický ústav SAV Nitra Slovakia
- Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. nat. Michael Schultz, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Germany
- RNDr. Jan Nováček, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Germany
- M.A. Kristina Scheelen, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Germany
- MUDr. Andrej Sitár, Banícke bratstvo Herrengrund Špania Dolina Slovakia
- Mgr. Peter Demján, Katedra archeológie FiF UK Bratislava, Slovakia
- Mgr. Martin Bača, Katedra archeológie FiF UK Bratislava Slovakia
- Mgr. Martin Neumann, Katedra archeológie FiF UK Bratislava Slovakia
- Mgr. Jana Mellnerová Šuteková, PhD., Katedra archeológie FiF UK Bratislava
- Mgr. Peter Barta, PhD., Katedra archeológie FiF UK Bratislava, Slovakia
- MSc. M.A. Emília Pásztor, PhD., Türr István Múzeum Kiskunhalas Hungary
- M.A. Johannes Kalmbach, DAI Frankfurt am Main Germany
- M.A. Kai Radloff, DAI, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Laurent Klaric, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France
- Selected academic supervisors are supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract no. APVV-14-0550 and by VEGA grant no. 2/0036/13.
- The film was made in close collaboration with leading archaeologists from the Department of Archaeology at Comenius University in Bratislava, the Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Nitra, the Department of Archaeology at UKF in Nitra, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in Germany, the MAMUZ museum in Austria and SAHI Bratislava.
With thanks for help during filming
- Muzeum MAMUZ Schloss Asparn/Zaya Rakúsko
- Farma Abeland, Lozorno Slovensko
- Banícke bratstvo Herrengrund, Špania Dolina Slovensko
- Mobilita s.r.o., Slovensko
- Ľudmila Várossová, František Jánoš, Miroslav Nemček, Marián Bačík, Valéria Martinkovičová, Alena Martinkovičová, Marek Martinkovič, Kristína Griačová, Alojz Halás, Pavol Roháč, Pavol Martinkovič, Štefan Mundok, Martin Haľama, Peter Nagy, Kamil Bernáth, Juraj Lauko, František Rehák, Vladimír Skoruša, Anna Kubíčková, Roman Sasko, Silvester Barat, Ivan Kapusta, Dezider Gerhát, Július Kráľ
- Jana Krpčôniková, Zdenka Krpčôniková, Mária Barnišinová, Martina Mašlárová, Branislav Nemček, Peter Nemček, Andrej Ruman, Peter Kováč, Lívia Macková, Matúš Gonda, Jakub Soldan, Alžbetka Soldanová, Riško Martinkovič, Šimon Ábel, Eliška Ábelová, Tamarka Ábelová, Andrej Sitár, Peter Dráb, Pavol Dráb
Public screenings of “The Bronze Age”
- Film Europe cinema – film premiere, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Broadcast on Slovak television TA3, 2018
- 12th Night of Museums and Galleries, Bratislava, Slovakia
- AGON International Archaeological Film Festival 2016, 10th edition, Athens, Greece
- ETNOFILM Čadca International Film Festival 2016, Slovakia
- Evening screening for friends of archaeology, 11 Nov 2016 at 18:00, Archaeological Museum, Žižkova street, Bratislava, Slovakia
- ARKAIOS International Archaeological Film Festival 2016, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA
- History Friends Club, Záhorie Cultural Centre Senica, Slovakia
- International Archaeological Film Festival, Archaeological Legacy Institute, 4147 E. Amazon Dr. Eugene, OR 97405, USA
- 18th International Archaeological Film Review, National Museum in Belgrade, Serbia
- National Museum Archaeological Film Review, Leskovac 2017, Serbia
- International Archaeological Film Festival, Rassegna Internazionale del Cinema Archeologico, Fondazione Museo Civico, Borgo Santa Caterina 41, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
- International Archaeological Film Festival, CINARCHEA Archaeomediale, 14776 Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany
Support
The film was supported by:
- Anka Danišová, Dušan Daniš
- Ladislav Procházka, Ivan Ujček, Olman Segura Bejarano, Jozef Galdun, Renata Ďuríková, Ivona Nemčeková, Miroslav Nemček, Pavol Roháč, Jana Krpčôniková, Ľudka Várossová, Zuzka Martinkovičová, Drahomír Marenčík, Ján Hronský, Jozef Manca, Marián Manca, Milena Brídová, Milan Brída, Tatiana Škopeková, Gustáv Škopek, Peter Procházka, Dagmar Mancová, Bernadeta Gönczölová
