Knovíz culture

Knovíz culture
Geographical rangeCentral Europe
PeriodBronze Age Europe
Dates1300–1025 BC (Knovíz), 1025–750 BC (Štítary)
Type siteKnovíz
Major sitesKnovíz, Obory, Plešivec
Preceded byTumulus culture
Followed byHallstatt culture

The Knovíz culture (Czech: Knovízská kultura) was an upper Danubian subgroup of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture, located mainly in Bohemia, Thuringia, and Bavaria. The eponymous type site for this culture, in the Czech village of Knovíz, is located near Prague. The Knovíz culture was similar to the neighbouring Milavce culture, except for the funerary rites, which featured occasional skeletal burials as well as cremations.

The Knovíz culture featured a distinctive type of horse, which may have been the predecessor of the so-called 'Celtic' or 'Germanic' pony. Archaeological and genetic evidence tentatively suggests that the people of the Knovíz culture may have been ethnically Celtic.