Overview of theHallstatt and La Tène cultures. The core Hallstatt territory (800 BC) is shown in solid yellow, the area of influence by 500 BC in light yellow. The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) is shown in solid green, the area of La Tène influence by 50 BC in light green. The territories of some majorCeltic tribes are labelled. Map drawn afterAtlas of the Celtic World, by John Haywood (2001: 30–37).
Centered on ancientGaul, the culture became very widespread, and encompasses a wide variety of local differences. It is often distinguished from earlier and neighbouring cultures mainly by the La Tène style ofCeltic art, characterized by curving "swirly" decoration, especially of metalwork.[10]
In the popular understanding, La Tène describes the culture and art of the ancientCelts, a term that is firmly entrenched in the popular understanding, but it is considered controversial by modern scholarship.[12]
Extensive contacts throughtrade are recognized in foreign objects deposited in elite burials; stylistic influences on La Tène material culture can be recognized inEtruscan,Italic,Greek,Dacian andScythian sources. Datable Greek pottery and analysis employing scientific techniques such asdendrochronology andthermoluminescence help provide date ranges for an absolute chronology at some La Tène sites.
La Tène history was originally divided into "early", "middle" and "late" stages based on the typology of the metal finds (Otto Tischler 1885), with the Roman occupation greatly disrupting the culture, although many elements remain inGallo-Roman andRomano-British culture.[13] A broad cultural unity was not paralleled by overarching social-political unifying structures, and the extent to which the material culture can be linguistically linked is debated. Theart history of La Tène culture has various schemes of periodization.[14]
The archaeological period is now mostly divided into four sub-periods, followingPaul Reinecke.[15]
The preceding final phase of theHallstatt culture, HaD, c. 650–450 BC, was also widespread acrossCentral Europe, and the transition over this area was gradual, being mainly detected through La Tène style elite artefacts, which first appear on the western edge of the old Hallstatt region.
Though there is no agreement on the precise region in which La Tène culture first developed, there is a broad consensus that the centre of the culture lay on the northwest edges ofHallstatt culture, north of theAlps, within the region between in the West the valleys of theMarne andMoselle, and the part of theRhineland nearby. In the east the western end of the old Hallstatt core area in modernBavaria, theCzech Republic,Austria andSwitzerland formed a somewhat separate "eastern style Province" in the early La Tène, joining with the western area inAlsace.[16] In 1994 a prototypical ensemble of elite grave sites of the early 5th century BCE was excavated atGlauberg inHesse, northeast ofFrankfurt-am-Main, in a region that had formerly been considered peripheral to the La Tène sphere.[17] The site at La Tène itself was therefore near the southern edge of the original "core" area (as is also the case for the Hallstatt site for its core).
The establishment of a Greek colony, soon very successful, atMassalia (modern Marseilles) on theMediterranean coast of France led to great trade with the Hallstatt areas up theRhône andSaône river systems, and early La Tène elite burials like theVix Grave inBurgundy contain imported luxury goods along with artifacts produced locally. Most areas were probably controlled by tribal chiefs living inhilltop forts, while the bulk of the population lived in small villages or farmsteads in the countryside.[18]
By 500 BCE theEtruscans expanded to borderCelts in north Italy, and trade across theAlps began to overhaul trade with the Greeks, and theRhône route declined. Booming areas included the middleRhine, with large iron ore deposits, theMarne andChampagne regions, and alsoBohemia, although here trade with the Mediterranean area was much less important. Trading connections and wealth no doubt played a part in the origin of the La Tène style, though how large a part remains much discussed; specific Mediterranean-derivedmotifs are evident, but the new style does not depend on them.[19]
Barry Cunliffe notes localization of La Tène culture during the 5th century BCE when there arose "two zones of power and innovation: a Marne – Moselle zone in the west with trading links to thePo Valley via the central Alpine passes and theGolasecca culture, and aBohemian zone in the east with separate links to theAdriatic via the easternAlpine routes and theVenetic culture".[20]
Swords and helmets fromHallein, Austria, 4th century BC
From their homeland, La Tène culture expanded in the 4th century BCE to more of modern France, Germany, andCentral Europe, and beyond toHispania, northern and centralItaly, theBalkans, and even as far asAsia Minor, in the course of several major migrations. La Tène style artefacts start to appear inBritain around the same time,[21] andIreland rather later. The style of "Insular La Tène" art is somewhat different and the artefacts are initially found in some parts of the islands but not others. Migratory movements seem at best only partly responsible for the diffusion of La Tène culture there, and perhaps other parts of Europe.[22]
By about 400 BCE, the evidence for Mediterranean trade becomes sparse; this may be because the expanding Celtic populations began to migrate south and west, coming into violent conflict with the established populations, including theEtruscans and Romans. The settled life in much of the La Tène homelands also seems to have become much more unstable and prone to wars. In about 387 BCE, the Celts underBrennusdefeated the Romans and then sacked Rome, establishing themselves as the most prominent threats to the Roman homeland, a status they would retain through a series ofRoman-Gallic wars untilJulius Caesar's finalconquest of Gaul in 58–50 BCE. The Romans prevented the Celts from reaching very far south of Rome, but on the other side of theAdriatic Sea groups passed through theBalkans to reachGreece, whereDelphi was attacked and sacked in 279 BCE, and Asia, whereGalatia was established as a Celtic area ofAnatolia. By this time, the La Tène style was spreading to theBritish Isles, though apparently without any significant movements in population.[23]
After about 275 BCE, Roman expansion into the La Tène area began with the conquest ofGallia Cisalpina. The conquest ofGallia Celtica followed in 121 BCE and was complete with theGallic Wars of the 50s BCE. Gaulish culture quickly assimilated to Roman culture, giving rise to the hybridGallo-Roman culture ofRoman Gaul.
Bronze chariot fitting fromRoissy, France, 3rd century BC[24]
The bearers of the La Tène culture were the people known asCelts orGauls to ancient ethnographers. Ancient Celtic culture had no written literature of its own, but rare examples ofepigraphy in the Greek or Latin alphabets exist allowing the fragmentary reconstruction ofContinental Celtic.
Current knowledge of this cultural area is derived from three sources comprising archaeological evidence, Greek and Latin literary records, and ethnographical evidence suggesting some La Tène artistic and cultural survivals in traditionally Celtic regions of far western Europe. Some of the societies that are archaeologically identified with La Tène material culture were identified by Greek and Roman authors from the 5th century onwards asKeltoi ("Celts") andGalli ("Gauls").Herodotus (iv.49) correctly placedKeltoi at the source of theIster/Danube, in the heartland of La Tène material culture: "The Ister flows right across Europe, rising in the country of the Celts".[25]
Whether the usage of classical sources means that the whole of La Tène culture can be attributed to a unifiedCeltic people is difficult to assess; archaeologists have repeatedly concluded that language, material culture, and political affiliation do not necessarily run parallel. Frey (2004) notes that in the 5th century, "burial customs in the Celtic world were not uniform; rather, localised groups had their own beliefs, which, in consequence, also gave rise to distinct artistic expressions".
The archaeologistMiranda Aldhouse-Green describes the material culture of the La Tène period as "thefloruit of Celtic civilisation". Ancient literary sources, archaeological evidence and (to a lesser extent) language, all combine to present "a picture of a Celtic world which, in its heyday (the later first millennium BC), stretched from Ireland and Spain in the west and Scotland in the north to Czechoslovakia in the east and northern Italy in the south, and even beyond Europe to Asia Minor."[26]
Artefacts typical of the La Tène culture have been discovered in stray finds as far afield as Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Poland and in the Balkans. It is therefore common to also talk of the "La Tène period" in the context of those regions even though they were never part of the La Tène culture proper, but connected to its core area via trade.
"In the final phases of the Iron Age, before the expansion of the Roman empire northwards in the first century BC, major changes are apparent in the economy and society of temperate Europe from central France to the Black Sea. The settlement pattern was transformed by the growth of large sites which functioned as towns, and new centres of industrial production distributed standardized wares over larger distances. At the same time, political power was becoming increasingly centralized … Coinage was introduced… The use of writing was known, at least for keeping official records. Thus even before the Roman conquest, large parts of Europe were occupied by literate societies with a high degree of social, economic and political development."[28]
Distribution of fortifiedoppida, 2nd-1st century BC
Initially La Tène people lived in open settlements that were dominated by the chieftains' hill forts. The development of walled towns and cities—known asoppida—appears during the mid-La Tène culture in the 2nd century BC. The name ofoppida (singularoppidum) was given byJulius Caesar to the Celtic towns and cities that he encountered during the conquest of Gaul, some of which he explicitly described asurbs (cities).[29][30] Oppida were characterized by very large surface areas (up to hundreds of hectares) and were defended by often massive ramparts and walls.[31] They are often described as 'the first cities north of the Alps', though this description has also been applied to earlier settlements of theHallstatt andUrnfield periods.[32] Oppida served as centres of craft production and commerce and were also important political and religious centres, with major oppida functioning as the capitals of Celtic states.[33]
Partly reconstructed fortification walls at theoppidum of Bibracte, central France
Oppida appeared more or less simultaneously from the Atlantic to central Europe in the second century BC.[34] More than 180 oppida are known today, stretching from France in the west to Hungary in the east, including oppida in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Oppida-like settlements are also known from Britain and northern Spain.[35][36]
Many oppida had planned layouts and some had standardised building designs, indicating a high level of central organization.[37][38] At theoppidum of Manching in Germany all the buildings were constructed with the same standardised measurements, and a metal measuring rod conforming to this standard was found within the settlement.[39][40] Similar standards have been identified at multiple other oppida.[41] The layout and structure of oppidum buildings demonstrates a knowledge of geometric principles that suggests the role of specialized craftsmen, surveyors or master builders in their construction.[41] Large buildings inside the oppida included temples, assembly spaces and other public buildings.[42][43] At the oppidum ofBibracte a monumental stone basin was constructed in the centre of the oppidum based on a precise geometric design with an astronomical alignment.[44][45][46][47]
La Tène buildings were typically built of wood, though stone was used in massive quantities for the construction of oppida walls, known asMurus Gallicus.[48] Some oppida walls were several kilometres long.[49] The construction and effectiveness of these walls was described byJulius Caesar in his account of theGallic Wars.[50]
Major oppida were connected by a network of roads.[51][52][53] Wooden bridges andcauseways are also known from archaeological remains and historical accounts.[52][54]
1884 illustration of Celtic people, withDruids depicted on the right
Celtic society in the La Tène period was hierarchically structured with different classes including nobles, a priestly class known asDruids, merchants, artisans and craftsmen, and farmers.[57][58] Status within society was partly based on birth and partly on individual achievement.[59] Celtic peoples were divided into tribes usually ruled by kings, with some tribes having dominion over other tribes or patron-client relations with them.[60]Sacral kingship, in which the roles of ruler and priest are combined, may have existed in some cases.[59] War leaders could also be appointed to command alliances of tribes in the face of a common enemy, such asVercingetorix during the war against Rome, who was chosen as supreme leader by an assembly of Gauls who gathered atBibracte from all over the country.[61] Women were able to attain the highest ranks in Celtic society (including rulership as queens, particularly inBritain) and some of the richest graves in central Europe are those of women.[59] Slavery and the trade in slaves also existed within Celtic society at this time.[62]
In his account of the Gallic War, Julius Caesar refers to Celtic societies ascivitates orstates with three main classes: knights, Druids and commoners.[64][65] Caesar further describes Celtic societies as being divided into 'parties', headed by individuals with authority recognised by and derived from the people they led and represented:
In Gaul, not only in every state and every canton and district, but almost in each several household, there are parties; and the leaders of the parties are men who in the judgment of their fellows are deemed to have the highest authority, men to whose decision and judgment the supreme issue of all cases and counsels may be referred. And this seems to have been an ordinance from ancient days, to the end that no man of the people should lack assistance against a more powerful neighbour; for each man refuses to allow his own folk to be oppressed and defrauded, since otherwise he has no authority among them.[66]
By the time of Caesar's account of Celtic society (c. 50 BC), government byelectedmagistrates (known asVergobrets) had replaced kingship among certain tribes, similar to theconsuls andsenate of Rome.[67][68] Caesar refers to Vergobrets with the Latin termsprinceps,civitatis,principatus, andmagistratus.[69] He also refers to ruling councils or governments of various Gaulish states as 'senates' and their members as 'senators', such asDiviciacus of theAedui, who was both a noble, a war leader and a Druid.[70]
Among all the Gallic peoples, generally speaking, there are three sets of men who are held in exceptional honour; the Bards, the Vates and the Druids. The Bards are singers and poets; the Vates, diviners and natural philosophers; while the Druids, in addition to natural philosophy, study also moral philosophy.[80]
By the Iron Age, trade operated intensively and extensively throughout Europe. Trade within Celtic lands involved raw materials and manufactured goods, with a large increase in the trade of manufactured goods occurring in the last two centuries BC. Goods were mass produced within theoppida by specialist industrial workers and craftsmen and distributed to surrounding areas. Items such as pottery, iron weapons, bronze vessels and glass jewellery were produced for export. Goods were transported by merchants with packhorses, wagons and on freight boats along rivers, and tolls were charged on trade routes by local rulers or states. Weighing balances and coins are found in both small and large settlements.[81] Ships of Celtic design were used for trade with the British Isles and along the Atlantic coast.[82] Metal production, mining and textile production were noted by the Greek authorStrabo, who writes: "among the Petrocorii there are fine iron-works, and also among the Bituriges Cubi; among the Cadurci, linen factories; among the Ruteni, silver mines; and the Gabales, also, have silver mines."[83] Exports from La Tène cultural areas to the Mediterranean cultures includedsalt,tin,copper,amber,wool,leather,furs andgold, whilst wine, luxury products and materials such ascoral were imported northwards from the Mediterranean region.[84]
Some Celtic-language inscriptions are known from this period, written inLepontic, Greek and Latin scripts. Writing appears on Celtic coins (such as the names of Celtic rulers or peoples), and writing equipment in the form of wax tablets andstyli has also been found within settlements.[85][86] Markings on pottery have been interpreted as a possible distinct 'La Tène alphabet'.[87] Historical accounts by Greek and Roman authors provide descriptions of the use of writing by Celtic peoples at this time, such as the keeping of public records.[88][89]
Gold coin of theParisii, France, with a stylised depiction of a horse on the reverse side (right)
Celtic coinage originated in the late 4th century BC in a period of intensified contact with Greek states through trade and the employment of Celticmercenaries in Greek armies.[90][91] Coins were minted by individual Celtic rulers or states and are found in large quantities in settlements and hoards throughout Europe.[92] Designs on coins include stylized portraits, abstract symbols, mythological imagery (including motifs such as thesolar boat), and possibly starconstellations such as thePleiades.[93][94] Coins were made from gold, silver and bronze and were used for official payments, taxes, tribute, fines, religious offerings, dowries and other customary payments.[95]
The La Tène period saw a vast increase in iron production, with huge quantities and varieties of iron objects becoming common on all types of settlements.[96][97] According to Collis (2010), "iron industry and coin use were more advanced than in the Mediterranean, and indicate indigenous changes."[98] By the second century BC, 200 distinct types of iron tools were in common use, serving a wide range of purposes.[99] Iron nails used in the production ofMurus Gallicus were mass-produced in enormous quantities. Theoppidum of Manching is estimated to have used many tons of nails just in the construction of its outer wall.[100] The production ofhigh-carbon steel is also attested from c. 500 BC.[101][102][103] By the 1st century BCNoric steel was famous for its quality and was sought after by theRoman military.[104]
Technological developments by Celtic craftsmen in this period include the invention of shrunk-oniron tyres for wagons and chariots,[105][106] the creation of wagons withfront-axel steering, and the incorporation ofroller-bearings within wheel hubs.[107][108] Chariots are thought to have incorporated suspension systems made from tightened ropes or leather straps to reduce vibrations during movement on uneven ground.[109] In the 1st century BC the Greek historianDiodorus Siculus noted that "In their journeyings and when they go into battle the Gauls use chariots drawn by two horses."[110] Chariots were used in warfare until the later La Tène period, continuing in use in Britain until the late 1st century BC.[111]
According to Julius Caesar trade with theBritish Isles was dominated by theVeneti fromArmorica,[82] who commanded "a very great number of ships", which he described as follows:
The ships were built wholly of oak, and designed to endure any force and violence whatever; the benches which were made of planks a foot in breadth, were fastened by iron spikes of the thickness of a man's thumb; the anchors were secured fast by iron chains instead of cables, and for sails they used skins and thin dressed leather.[112]
Close similarities have been noted between Caesar's description and shipwrecks discovered atBlackfriars inLondon (dating from the 2nd century AD) and atSt Peter Port inGuernsey (dating from the 3rd century AD), which are described as indigenousRomano-Celtic ships built according to a native Celtic tradition, distinct from that of the Mediterranean.[82][113][114][115] McGrail (1995) suggests that the frame-first construction process of these ships represents a specific Celtic ship-building innovation.[116]
Woodenbarrels bound with metal hoops were also invented by Celtic craftsmen during the La Tène period[117] and gradually replaced the use ofamphorae within the Roman empire from the 2nd century AD.[118]
The 3rd century BC saw the development of ironchain mail, the invention of which is credited to Celtic armourers by the Roman authorVarro.[119][120] Celtic helmet designs also served as the basis for the design of Romanimperial helmets following Caesar's campaigns in Gaul.[121][122] Thespatha, a long sword of Celtic design, was introduced to the Romans byCeltic mercenaries andauxilaries, gradually becoming a standardheavy infantry weapon within the Roman army by the 2nd century AD and replacing the earliergladius.[123]
At the site of theoppidum of Paule [fr] inBrittany the remains of a wooden structure thought to be a 'machine for drawing water' incorporating acrank and connecting-rod mechanism were discovered at the bottom of a well, dating from 68-27 BC.[127][128][129] This is the earliest known evidence for such a mechanism, which is also known from later Roman machines.[130] In his account of the siege ofAvaricum Julius Caesar provides a brief glimpse of other devices used by the Gauls:
To the extraordinary valor of our soldiers, devices of every sort were opposed by the Gauls; since they are a nation of consummate ingenuity, and most skillful in imitating and making those things which are imparted by any one; for they turned aside the hooks with nooses, and when they had caught hold of them firmly, drew them on by means of engines, and undermined the mound the more skillfully on this account, because there are in their territories extensive iron mines, and consequently every description of mining operations is known and practiced by them.[131]
La Tènemetalwork in bronze, iron and gold, developing technologically out ofHallstatt culture, is stylistically characterized by inscribed and inlaid intricate spirals and interlace, on fine bronze vessels, helmets and shields,horse trappings, and elite jewelry, especially the neck rings calledtorcs and elaborate clasps calledfibulae. It is characterized by elegant, stylized curvilinear animal and vegetal forms, allied with the Hallstatt traditions of geometric patterning.
The Early Style of La Tène art and culture mainly featured static, geometric decoration, while the transition to the Developed Style constituted a shift to movement-based forms, such astriskeles. Some subsets within the Developed Style contain more specific design trends, such as the recurrentserpentine scroll of the Waldalgesheim Style.[132]
La Tène objects frequently feature complex designs based on geometric principles and precisely laid out with the use ofcompasses, displaying a sophisticated knowledge ofgeometry as well as other aspects of mathematics.[133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140] A similar knowledge of geometry is displayed in the design of the monumental stone basin ofBibracte, which has been described as a 'Druidic monument'.[141][142]
Mythological themes are also depicted in La Tène art, often in a highly stylized, abstracted or decorative form.[143][144]
Evidence for music in this period includes sculptures oflyre players, thought to beBards (e.g. at theoppidum of Paule in Brittany, France), and fragmentary remains of string instruments.[145] Large metal horns known asCarnyxes have been found in various locations, as well as artistic depictions of horn players such as on theGunderstrup cauldron. The Greek historianDiodorus Siculus gave a brief description of Celtic Bards in his 1st century BC account of the Gauls:
Among them are also to be found lyric poets whom they call Bards. These men sing to the accompaniment of instruments which are like lyres, and their songs may be either of praise or of obloquy.[146]
Burial sites included weapons, chariots, and both elite and household goods, evoking a strong continuity with anafterlife.[147]
La Tène peoples also dug ritual shafts, in whichvotive offerings and even human sacrifices were cast. Severed heads (particularly of defeated enemies) appear to have held great power and were often represented in carvings.[148] Ritual depositions of were also made into lakes and rivers, such as theLa Tène site in Switzerland.
Left: Lake depositions atLa Tène. Right: Reconstructed bridge at the La Tène site, Switzerland
TheLa Tènetype site is on the northern shore ofLake Neuchâtel,Switzerland, where the small riverThielle, connecting to another lake, enters the Lake Neuchâtel.[149] In 1857, prolongeddrought lowered the waters of the lake by about 2 m (6 ft 7 in). On the northernmost tip of the lake, between the river and a point south of the village ofEpagnier (47°00′16″N7°00′58″E / 47.0045°N 7.016°E /47.0045; 7.016), Hansli Kopp, looking for antiquities for Colonel Frédéric Schwab, discovered several rows of wooden piles that still reached up about 50 cm (20 in) into the water. From among these, Kopp collected about forty iron swords.
The Swiss archaeologistFerdinand Keller published his findings in 1868 in his influential first report on the Swisspile dwellings (Pfahlbaubericht). In 1863 he interpreted the remains as a Celtic village built on piles.Eduard Desor, a geologist fromNeuchâtel, started excavations on the lakeshore soon afterwards. He interpreted the site as an armory, erected on platforms on piles over the lake and later destroyed by enemy action. Another interpretation accounting for the presence of cast iron swords that had not been sharpened, was of a site for ritual depositions.
With the firstsystematic lowering of the Swiss lakes from 1868 to 1883, the site fell completely dry. In 1880, Emile Vouga, a teacher from Marin-Epagnier, uncovered the wooden remains of two bridges (designated "Pont Desor" and "Pont Vouga") originally over 100 m (330 ft) long, that crossed the little Thielle River (today a nature reserve) and the remains of five houses on the shore. After Vouga had finished, F. Borel, curator of the Marin museum, began to excavate as well. In 1885 thecanton asked the Société d'Histoire of Neuchâtel to continue the excavations, the results of which were published by Vouga in the same year.
All in all, over 2500 objects, mainly made from metal, have been excavated in La Tène. Weapons predominate, there being 166swords (most without traces of wear), 270 lanceheads, and 22shield bosses, along with 385brooches, tools, and parts ofchariots. Numerous human and animal bones were found as well. The site was used from the 3rd century, with a peak of activity around 200 BCE and abandonment by about 60 BCE.[150] Interpretations of the site vary. Some scholars believe the bridge was destroyed by high water, while others see it as a place ofsacrifice after a successful battle (there are almost no female ornaments).
An exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the La Tène site opened in 2007 at the Musée Schwab inBiel/Bienne, Switzerland, thenZürich in 2008 and Mont Beuvray inBurgundy in 2009.
A genetic study published inPLOS One in December 2018 examined 45 individuals buried at a La Tène necropolis inUrville-Nacqueville, France.[161] The people buried there were identified asGauls.[162] ThemtDNA of the examined individuals belonged primarily tohaplotypes ofH andU.[163] They were found to be carrying a large amount ofsteppe ancestry, and to have been closely related to peoples of the precedingBell Beaker culture, suggesting genetic continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age France. Significant gene flow withGreat Britain andIberia was detected. The results of the study partially supported the notion thatFrench people are largely descended from the Gauls.[164]
A genetic study published in theJournal of Archaeological Science in October 2019 examined 43 maternal and 17 paternal lineages for the La Tène necropolis in Urville-Nacqueville, France, and 27 maternal and 19 paternal lineages for La Tène tumulus of Gurgy Les Noisats near modernParis, France.[165] The examined individuals displayed strong genetic resemblance to peoples of the earlierYamnaya culture,Corded Ware culture and Bell Beaker culture.[166] They carried a diverse set of maternal lineages associated with steppe ancestry.[166] The paternal lineages were on the other hand characterized by a "striking homogeneity", belonging entirely to haplogroupR andR1b, both of whom are associated with steppe ancestry.[167] The evidence suggested that the Gauls of the La Tène culture werepatrilineal andpatrilocal, which is in agreement with archaeological and literary evidence.[165]
A genetic study published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America in June 2020 examined the remains of 25 individuals ascribed to the La Tène culture. The nine examples of individual Y-DNA extracted were determined to belong to either theparagroups orsubclades of haplogroupsR1b1a1a2 (R-M269; three examples),R1b1a1a2a1a2c1a1a1a1a1 (R-M222),R1b1 (R-L278),R1b1a1a (R-P297),I1 (I-M253),E1b1b (E-M215), or other, unspecified, subclades ofhaplogroup R. The 25 samples of mtDNA extracted was determined to belong to various subclades of haplogroupH,HV,U,K,J,V andW.[168] The examined individuals of the Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture were genetically highly homogeneous and displayed continuity with the earlier Bell Beaker culture. They carried about 50% steppe-related ancestry.[169]
A genetic study published iniScience in April 2022 examined 49 genomes from 27 sites in Bronze Age and Iron Age France. The study found evidence of strong genetic continuity between the two periods, particularly in southern France. The samples from northern and southern France were highly homogeneous, with northern samples displaying links to contemporary samples form Great Britain and Sweden, and southern samples displaying links toCeltiberians. The northern French samples were distinguished from the southern ones by elevated levels of steppe-related ancestry. R1b was by far the most dominant paternal lineage, while H was the most common maternal lineage. The Iron Age samples resembled those of modern-day populations of France, Great Britain and Spain. The evidence suggested that the Gauls of the La Tène culture largely evolved from local Bronze Age populations.[170]
Laffranchi et al. 2024 examined 12 samples ofCenomaniCisalpine Gauls fromVerona who lived between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE.[171] The five examples of individual Y-DNA extracted were determined to belong to either haplogroupI2a1b1a1b1 or subclades ofR1b1a1b (R-M269). The 12 samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to various subclades of haplogroupH,T,U,K,J andX.[171]
^Venceslas Kruta,La grande storia dei Celti. La nascita, l'affermazione, la decadenza, (Newton & Compton), Roma, 2003ISBN978-88-8289-851-9, a translation ofLes Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire. Des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme, Robert Laffont, Paris, 2000, without the dictionary
^The La Tène culture was present in the southwestern part of Slovakia, bordering on or overlapping with thePúchov culture of north/central Slovakia.
^Mócsy, András (1974). Pannonia and Upper Moesia. A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire. Translated by S. Frere. Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-7100-7714-1.
^Croatia was part of the Eastern Hallstatt zone, and theIllyrians of classical antiquity were culturally influenced both by Celtic (La Tène) and by Hellenistic culture.
^G. Kazakevich, "The La Tène culture of the Trans-Carpathian area: Is the migration model still relevant?", UDK 94(477.87:364): "The only region of the present day Ukraine where the La Tène sites are sufficiently widespread is the Trans-Carpathian area which lies south-westwards of the Carpathian mountains."
^Or just "La Tene" in English. More rarely also spelt "Latène" (especially in French adjectival forms) or "La-Tène". In GermanLatènezeit orLa-Tène-Zeit equate to "La Tène culture. "
^Almagro-Gorbea, Martin; Gran-Aymerich, Jean (January 1991). "Summary". In Almagro-Gorbea, Martin; Gran-Aymerich, Jean (eds.).El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte. pp. 239–240.
^Almagro-Gorbea, Martin (January 1991). "La orientación topoastronómica". In Almagro-Gorbea, Martin; Gran-Aymerich, Jean (eds.).El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte. pp. 283–286.
^White, Raymond (January 1991). "Determining the orientation of Le Bassin Monumentale de Bibracte". In Almagro-Gorbea, Martin; Gran-Aymerich, Jean (eds.).El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte. pp. 275–277.
^"Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book 5".penelope.uchicago.edu/. Retrieved16 April 2022.Philosophers, as we may call them, and men learned in religious affairs are unusually honoured among them and are called by them Druids. [...] the belief of Pythagoras prevails among them, that the souls of men are immortal and that after a prescribed number of years they commence upon a new life, the soul entering into another body.
^"Strabo, Geography, Book 4, chapter 4, section 4".penelope.uchicago.edu/. Retrieved16 April 2022.Among all the Gallic peoples, generally speaking, there are three sets of men who are held in exceptional honour; the Bards, the Vates and the Druids. The Bards are singers and poets; the Vates, diviners and natural philosophers; while the Druids, in addition to natural philosophy, study also moral philosophy. ... not only the Druids, but others as well, say that men's souls, and also the universe, are indestructible, although both fire and water will at some time or other prevail over them.
^"Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers".perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved16 April 2022.There are some who say that the study of philosophy had its beginning among the barbarians. They urge that the Persians have had their Magi, the Babylonians or Assyrians their Chaldaeans, and the Indians their Gymnosophists; and among the Celts and Gauls there are the people called Druids or Holy Ones, for which they cite as authorities the Magicus of Aristotle and Sotion in the twenty-third book of his Succession of Philosophers. [...] As to the Gymnosophists and Druids we are told that they uttered their philosophy in riddles, bidding men to reverence the gods, to abstain from wrongdoing, and to practise courage.
^"Pomponius Mela,Chorographia, 3.18-19". Retrieved16 April 2022.... they have both their own eloquence and their own teachers of wisdom, the Druids. These men claim to know the size and shape of the earth and of the universe, the movements of the sky and of the stars, and what the gods intend. In secret, and for a long time (twenty years), they teach many things to the noblest males among their people, and they do it in a cave or in a hidden mountain defile. One of the precepts they teach — obviously to make them better for war — has leaked into common knowledge, namely, that their souls are eternal and that there is a second life for the dead.
^"Julius Caesar, The Gallic War, Book 6, chapter 14".penelope.uchicago.edu/. Retrieved16 April 2022.The Druids usually hold aloof from war, and do not pay war‑taxes with the rest; they are excused from military service and exempt from all liabilities. Tempted by these great rewards, many young men assemble of their own motion to receive their training; many are sent by parents and relatives. Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters. ... The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but after death pass from one to another; and this belief, as the fear of death is thereby cast aside, they hold to be the greatest incentive to valour. Besides this, they have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.
^"Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman Antiquities, Book 15, chapter 9".penelope.uchicago.edu/. Retrieved16 April 2022.I think now a suitable time to describe the regions and situation of the Gauls [...] Throughout these regions men gradually grew civilised and the study of the liberal arts flourished, initiated by the Bards, the Euhages and the Druids. Now, the Bards sang to the sweet strains of the lyre the valorous deeds of famous men composed in heroic verse, but the Euhages, investigating the sublime, attempted to explain the secret laws of nature. The Druids, being loftier than the rest in intellect, and bound together in fraternal organisations, as the authority of Pythagoras determined, were elevated by their investigation of obscure and profound subjects, and scorning all things human, pronounced the soul immortal.
^"M. Tullius Cicero,Divination, Book 1, Section 90".www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved16 April 2022.there are indeed Druids in Gaul — for I knew one of them myself, Divitiacus, the Aeduan ... He claimed to have that knowledge of nature which the Greeks call'physiologia'.
^"Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies, XXII". Retrieved16 April 2022.the Celtic Druids investigated to the very highest point the Pythagorean philosophy, after Zamolxis, by birth a Thracian, a servant of Pythagoras, became to them the originator of this discipline. ... The Celts esteem these as prophets and seers, on account of their foretelling to them certain (events), from calculations and numbers by the Pythagorean art"
^"The Gallic War, by Julius Caesar. Book 1, chapter 29".penelope.uchicago.edu.In the camp of the Helveti were found, and brought to Caesar, records written out in Greek letters, wherein was drawn up a nominal register showing what number of them had gone out from their homeland, who were able to bear arms, and also separately children, old men, and women.
^"The Gallic War, by Julius Caesar. Book 6, chapter 14".Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters.
^Genta, Giancarlo (2014).The Motor Car: Past, Present and Future. Springer. p. 6.ISBN978-94-007-8552-6.The Dejbjerg wagon ... is the first example of a wagon with steering on the front axle, but it can be considered as an articulated vehicle made by two chariots … it incorporated other interesting features, such as wooden roller bearings in the hubs.
^Stifter, David (2009)."The Old-Irish Chariot and its Technology. A Case of Creative Transmission in Medieval Irish Literature".Proceedings of the 13th International Congress of Celtic Studies: 281.Suspension systems are also being assumed for chariots excavated on the Continent and in Britain in chariot burials dating from the La-Tène period. Although the wood has not been preserved in the archaeological record, the wooden parts are traceable in the soil as discolourations. In Continental burials, so-called ›Doppelösenstifte‹ have been regularly found, i.e. paired, rather massive metal pins with eyes, exactly at the place where the rear shafts would have projected out of the chariot-body (KARL 2003: 28). It is now widely held that in this type of supposedly Celtic two-wheeled vehicles tightened ropes or leather straps would have run from the pole backwards below the chariot-body toward the ›Doppelösenstifte‹. The chariot-body or platform would thus have been suspended on rope fittings, which helped reduce the vibrations during movement on uneven or rough ground.
^Gabriel, Richard A. (2006).Soldiers' Lives Through History - The Ancient World. Bloomsbury. p. 79.ISBN978-0-313-04199-0.The third century BC saw the introduction of iron chain mail invented by the Celts, whose iron craft was much more advanced that the Romans and probably the best in Europe. Chain mail was constructed of thousands of small iron circles linked together to form an iron mesh shirt … Once the Romans adopted the Celtic chain mail armor for their troops, the mail shirt remained the basic armor of the Roman infantryman until the first century CE.
^Harding, D. W.The Archaeology of Celtic Art. New York: Routledge, 2007; other schemes of classification are available, indeed more popular; seeVincent Megaw in Garrow
^Almagro-Gorbea, Martin; Gran-Aymerich, Jean (January 1991). "Summary". In Almagro-Gorbea, Martin; Gran-Aymerich, Jean (eds.).El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte. pp. 239–240.
^Fischer et al. 2019, pp. 4–5. "[A] striking homogeneity of the Y-chromosome lineages could be observed, all of them corresponding either to R* or R1b (M343) haplogroups... [W]e consistently found in our Iron Age samples R*/R1b paternal lineages that are linked to the massive migration from the steppes and dated to the Late Neolithic-to-Bronze Age transition (Haak et al., 2015). This migration was responsible for an impressive genetic turnover in the European populations, with Neolithic haplogroups being replaced by new paternal (R1a and R1b) lineages originating from the eastern regions..."
Kruta, Venceslas,La grande storia dei Celti. La nascita, l'affermazione, la decadenza,Newton & Compton, Roma, 2003ISBN978-88-8289-851-9 (492 pp. - a translation ofLes Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire. Des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme, Robert Laffont, Paris, 2000, without the dictionary)
James, Simon.The Atlantic Celts. London: British Museum Press, 1999.
James, Simon & Rigby, Valery.Britain and the Celtic Iron Age. London: British Museum Press, 1997.
Reginelli Servais Gianna and Béat Arnold,La Tène, un site, un mythe, Hauterive : Laténium - Parc et musée d'archéologie de Neuchâtel, 2007, Cahiers d'archéologie romande de la Bibliothèque historique vaudoise, 3 vols,ISBN9782940347353
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