 | |
| Geographical range | Continental Europe |
|---|---|
| Period | Late Bronze Age,Early Iron Age |
| Dates | 1200 – 450 BC Hallstatt A (1200 – 1050 BC); Hallstatt B (1050 – 800 BC); Hallstatt C (800 – 650 BC); Hallstatt D (620 – 450 BC) |
| Type site | Hallstatt |
| Preceded by | Urnfield culture |
| Followed by | La Tène culture |
TheHallstatt culture was the predominantWestern andCentral Europeanarchaeological culture of the LateBronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and EarlyIron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, developing out of theUrnfield culture of the 12th century BC (Late Bronze Age) and followed in much of its area by theLa Tène culture. It is commonly associated withProto-Celtic speaking populations.
It is named for itstype site,Hallstatt, a lakeside village in theAustrianSalzkammergut southeast ofSalzburg, where there was a rich salt mine, and some 1,300 burials are known, many with fine artifacts. Material from Hallstatt has been classified into four periods, designated "Hallstatt A" to "D". Hallstatt A and B are regarded as Late Bronze Age and the terms used for wider areas, such as "Hallstatt culture", or "period", "style" and so on, relate to the Iron Age Hallstatt C and D.
By the 6th century BC, it had expanded to include wide territories, falling into two zones, east and west, between them covering much of western and central Europe down to theAlps, and extending into northernItaly. Parts ofBritain andIberia are included in the ultimate expansion of the culture.
The culture was based on farming, butmetal-working was considerably advanced, and by the end of the period long-range trade within the area and withMediterranean cultures was economically significant. Social distinctions became increasingly important, with emerging elite classes of chieftains and warriors, and perhaps those with other skills. Society is thought to have been organized on atribal basis, though very little is known about this. Settlement size was generally small, although a few of the largest settlements, likeHeuneburg in the south ofGermany, evolved into towns rather than villages by modern standards. However, at the end of the period these seem to have been overthrown or abandoned.
According toPaul Reinecke's time-scheme from 1902,[1] the end of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age were divided into four periods:
| Bronze Age Central Europe[2] | |
|---|---|
| Bell Beaker | 2600–2200 BC |
| Bz A | 2200–1600 BC |
| Bz B | 1600–1500 BC |
| Bz C | 1500–1300 BC |
| Bz D | 1300–1200 BC |
| Ha A | 1200–1050 BC |
| Ha B | 1050–800 BC |
| Iron Age Central Europe | |
| Hallstatt | |
| Ha C | 800–620 BC |
| Ha D | 620–450 BC |
| La Tène | |
| LT A | 450–380 BC |
| LT B | 380–250 BC |
| LT C | 250–150 BC |
| LT D | 150–1 BC |
| Roman period[3] | |
| B | AD 1–150 |
| C | AD 150–375 |
Bronze Age Urnfield culture:
Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture:
Paul Reinecke based his chronological divisions on finds from the south of Germany.
By 1881Otto Tischler had made analogies to the Iron Age in the Northern Alps based on finds of brooches from graves in the south of Germany.[5]
It has proven difficult to useradiocarbon dating for the Early Iron Age due to the so-called"Hallstatt-Plateau", a phenomenon where radiocarbon dates cannot be distinguished between 750 and 400 BC. There are workarounds however, such as thewiggle matching technique. Therefore, dating in this time-period has been based mainly onDendrochronology andrelative dating.
For the beginning ofHaC, wood pieces from the Cart Grave ofWehringen (Landkreis Augsburg) deliver a solid dating in 778 ± 5 BC (Grave Barrow 8).[6]
Despite missing an older Dendro-date forHaC, the convention remains that the Hallstatt period begins together with the arrival of the iron ore processing technology around 800 BC.
HaC is dated according to the presence of Mindelheim-type swords, binocular brooches, harp brooches, and arched brooches.
Based on the quickly changing fashions of brooches, it was possible to divideHaD into three stages (D1-D3). InHaD1 snake brooches are predominant, while inHaD2 drum brooches appear more often, and inHaD3 the double-drum and embellished foot brooches.
The transition to the La Tène period is often connected with the emergence of the first animal-shaped brooches, withCertosa-type and withMarzabotto-type brooches.
The community atHallstatt was untypical of the wider, mainly agricultural, culture, as its booming economy exploited thesalt mines in the area. These had been worked from time to time since theNeolithic period, and in this period were extensively mined with a peak from the 8th to 5th centuries BC. The style and decoration of the grave goods found in the cemetery are very distinctive, and artifacts made in this style are widespread in Europe. In the mine workings themselves, the salt has preserved many organic materials such as textiles, wood and leather, and many abandoned artifacts such as shoes, pieces of cloth, and tools including miner's backpacks, have survived in good condition.[7]
In 1846,Johann Georg Ramsauer (1795–1874) discovered a largeprehistoric cemetery nearHallstatt,Austria (47°33′40″N13°38′31″E / 47.561°N 13.642°E /47.561; 13.642), which he excavated during the second half of the 19th century. Eventually the excavation would yield 1,045 burials, although no settlement has yet been found. This may be covered by the later village, which has long occupied the whole narrow strip between the steep hillsides and the lake. Some 1,300 burials have been found, including around 2,000 individuals, with women and children but few infants.[8] Nor is there a "princely" burial, as often found near large settlements. Instead, there are a large number of burials varying considerably in the number and richness of the grave goods, but with a high proportion containing goods suggesting a life well above subsistence level. It is now thought that at least most of these were not miners themselves, but from a richer class controlling the mines.[citation needed]
Finds at Hallstatt extend from about 1200 BC until around 500 BC, and are divided by archaeologists into four phases:
Hallstatt A–B (1200–800 BC) are part of theBronze AgeUrnfield culture. In this period, people were cremated and buried in simple graves. In phase B,tumulus (barrow orkurgan) burial becomes common, andcremation predominates. The "Hallstatt period" proper is restricted to HaC and HaD (800–450 BC), corresponding to the earlyEuropean Iron Age. Hallstatt lies in the area where the western and eastern zones of the Hallstatt culture meet, which is reflected in the finds from there.[9] Hallstatt D is succeeded by theLa Tène culture.
Hallstatt C is characterized by the first appearance of iron swords mixed amongst the bronze ones.Inhumation and cremation co-occur. For the final phase, Hallstatt D, daggers, almost to the exclusion of swords, are found in western zone graves ranging fromc. 600–500 BC.[10] There are also differences in the pottery andbrooches. Burials were mostly inhumations. Halstatt D has been further divided into the sub-phases D1–D3, relating only to the western zone, and mainly based on the form of brooches.[10]
Major activity at the site appears to have finished about 500 BC, for reasons that are unclear. Many Hallstatt graves were robbed, probably at this time. There was widespread disruption throughout the western Hallstatt zone, and the salt workings had by then become very deep.[11] By then the focus of salt mining had shifted to the nearbyHallein Salt Mine, with graves atDürrnberg nearby where there are significant finds from the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods, until the mid-4th century BC, when a major landslide destroyed the mineshafts and ended mining activity.[12]
Much of the material from early excavations was dispersed,[8] and is now found in many collections, especially German and Austrian museums, but theHallstatt Museum in the town has the largest collection.
![Preserved wood stairs from the Hallstatt salt mine, 1344 BC[13]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aA-Hallstatt-salzw-treppe.jpg)
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![Sword hilt inlaid with ivory and amber.[14]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAlice_Schumacher_PA_NHM_Wien_Abb_Salz-Reich_2008_Seite_131_1.jpg)
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It is probable that some if not all of the diffusion of Hallstatt culture took place in aCeltic-speaking context.[18][19][20][21] In northern Italy theGolasecca culture developed with continuity from theCanegrate culture.[22][23] Canegrate represented a completely new cultural dynamic to the area expressed in pottery and bronzework, making it a typical western example of the western Hallstatt culture.[22][23]
Older assumptions of the early 20th century ofIllyrians having been the bearers of especially the Eastern Hallstatt culture are indefensible and archeologically unsubstantiated.[24][25]
Trade withGreece is attested by finds ofAtticblack-figure pottery in the elite graves of the late Hallstatt period. It was probably imported via Massilia (Marseille).[26] Other imported luxuries includeamber,ivory (as found at theGrafenbühl Tomb) and probablywine. Redkermes dye was imported from the south as well; it was found atHochdorf. Notable individual imports include the GreekVix krater (the largest known metal vessel from Western classical antiquity), the Etruscanlebes fromSainte-Colombe-sur-Seine, the Greekhydria fromGrächwil, the Greek cauldron fromHochdorf and the Greek or Etruscan cauldron fromLavau.
The largest settlements were mostly fortified, situated on hilltops, and frequently included the workshops of bronze, silver and gold smiths. Major settlements are known as 'princely seats' (orFürstensitze in German), and are characterized by elite residences, rich burials, monumental buildings and fortifications. Some of these central sites are described as urban or proto-urban,[27][28][29] and as "the first cities north of the Alps".[30][31] Typical sites of this type are theHeuneburg on the upperDanube surrounded by nine very large grave tumuli, andMont Lassois in eastern France nearChâtillon-sur-Seine with, at its foot, the very rich grave atVix.[17][32] The Heuneburg is thought to correspond to the Celtic city of 'Pyrene' mentioned byHerodotus in 450 BC.[33][34][35]
Other important sites include theGlauberg,Hohenasperg andIpf in Germany, theBurgstallkogel in Austria andMolpír inSlovakia. However, most settlements were much smaller villages. The large monumental site ofAlte Burg may have had a religious or ceremonial function, and possibly served as a location for games and competitions.[36][37]
At the end of the Hallstatt period many major centres were abandoned and there was a return to a more decentralized settlement pattern. Urban centres later re-emerged across temperate Europe in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC during theLa Tène period.[30]
The burials at Hallstatt itself show a movement over the period fromcremation toinhumation, with grave goods at all times (see above).
In the central Hallstatt regions toward the end of the period (Ha D), very rich graves of high-status individuals under largetumuli are found near the remains of fortified hilltop settlements. Tumuli graves had a chamber, rather large in some cases, lined with timber and with the body and grave goods set about the room. There are somechariot or wagon burials, includingBýčí Skála[39] and Brno-Holásky[40] in the Czech Republic,Vix,Sainte-Colombe-sur-Seine andLavau in France,Hochdorf,Hohmichele andGrafenbühl in Germany, andMitterkirchen in Austria.[41]
A model of a chariot made from lead has been found inFrög,Carinthia, and clay models of horses with riders are also found. Wooden "funerary carts", presumably used ashearses and then buried, are sometimes found in the grandest graves. Pottery and bronze vessels, weapons, elaborate jewellery made ofbronze andgold, as well as a few stonestelae (especially the famousWarrior of Hirschlanden) are found at such burials.[42] The daggers that largely replaced swords in chief's graves in the west were probably not serious weapons, but badges of rank, and used at the table.[10]
The material culture of Western Hallstatt culture was apparently sufficient to provide a stable social and economic equilibrium. The founding ofMarseille and the penetration byGreek andEtruscan culture afterc. 600 BC, resulted in long-range trade relationships up the Rhone valley which triggered social and cultural transformations in the Hallstatt settlements north of the Alps. Powerful local chiefdoms emerged which controlled the redistribution of luxury goods from the Mediterranean world that is also characteristic of theLa Tène culture.
The apparently largely peaceful and prosperous life of Hallstatt D culture was disrupted, perhaps even collapsed, right at the end of the period. There has been much speculation as to the causes of this, which remain uncertain. Large settlements such as Heuneburg and theBurgstallkogel were destroyed or abandoned, richtumulus burials ended, and old ones were looted. There was probably a significant movement of population westwards, and the succeeding La Tène culture developed new centres to the west and north, their growth perhaps overlapping with the final years of the Hallstatt culture.[11]
Occasional iron artefacts had been appearing in central and western Europe for some centuries before 800 BC (an iron knife or sickle from Ganovce in Slovakia, dating to the 18th century BC, is possibly the earliest evidence of smelted iron in Central Europe).[43] By the later Urnfield (Hallstatt B) phase, some swords were already being made and embellished in iron in eastern Central Europe, and occasionally much further west.[44][43]
Initially iron was rather exotic and expensive, and sometimes used as a prestige material for jewellery.[45] Iron swords became more common afterc. 800 BC,[46] and steel was also produced from 800 BC as part of the production of swords.[47] The production of high-carbon steel is attested in Britain afterc. 490 BC.[48]
The remarkable uniformity of spoked-wheel wagons from across the Hallstatt region indicates a certain standardisation of production methods, which included techniques such aslathe-turning.[49] Iron tyres were developed and refined in this period, leading to the invention of shrunk-on tyres in the La Tène period.[49] Thepotter's wheel also appeared in the Hallstatt period.[50]
The extensive use of planking and massive squared beams indicates the use of long saw blades and possibly two-man sawing.[51] The planks of theHohmichele burial chamber (6th c. BC), which were over 6m long and 35 cm wide, appear to have been sawn by a large timber-yard saw.[52] The construction of monumental buildings such as theVix palace further demonstrates a "mastery of geometry and carpentry capable of freeing up vast interior spaces."[53]
Analysis of building remains inSilesia has found evidence for the use of a standardunit of length (equivalent to 0.785 m). Remarkably, this is almost identical to the length of a measuring stick found atBorum Eshøj in Denmark (0.7855 m) dating from theBronze Age (c. 1350 BC).[54]Pythagorean triangles were likely used in building construction to createright angles, and some buildings had ground plans with dimensions corresponding to Pythagorean rectangles.[54]
![Cuirasses and helmet from Kleinklein, Austria, 6th-7th centuries BC.[55]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHallstatt_culture_Kleinklein_-_muscle_cuirasses_%2526_double_ridge_helmet.jpg)
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![Cult wagon from La Côte-Saint-André, France.[56]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aChar-gaulois-d-apparat.jpg)
![Burial goods from Oss, Netherlands[57]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aVorstengraf_Oss_-_bronzen_situla_met_inhoud_en_zwaard_-_700_v_Chr_-_RMO.png)
At least the later periods of Hallstatt art from the western zone are generally agreed to form the early period ofCeltic art.[58] Decoration is mostly geometric and linear, and best seen on fine metalwork finds from graves (see above). Styles differ, especially between the west and east, with more human figures and some narrative elements in the latter. Animals, with waterfowl a particular favourite, are often included as part of other objects, more often than humans, and in the west there is almost no narrative content such as scenes of combat depicted. These characteristics were continued into the succeeding La Tène style.[59]
Imported luxury art is sometimes found in rich elite graves in the later phases, and certainly had some influence on local styles. The most spectacular objects, such as theStrettweg Cult Wagon,[60] theWarrior of Hirschlanden and the bronze couch supported by "unicyclists" from theHochdorf Chieftain's Grave are one of a kind in finds from the Hallstatt period, though they can be related to objects from other periods.[61]
More common objects include weapons, in Ha D often with hilts terminating in curving forks ("antenna hilts").[10] Jewellery in metal includesfibulae, often with a row of disks hanging down on chains, armlets and sometorcs. This is mostly in bronze, but "princely" burials include items in gold.
The origin of the narrative scenes of the eastern zone, from Hallstatt C onwards, is generally traced to influence from theSitula art of northern Italy and the northern Adriatic, where these bronze buckets began to be decorated in bands with figures in provincial Etruscan centres influenced by Etruscan and Greek art. The fashion for decorated situlae spread north across neighbouring cultures including the eastern Hallstatt zone, beginning around 600 BC and surviving until about 400 BC; theVače situla is aSlovenian example from near the final period. The style is also found on bronze belt plates, and some of the vocabulary ofmotifs spread to influence the emerging La Tène style.[62]
According to Ruth andVincent Megaw, "Situla art depicts life as seen from a masculine viewpoint, in which women are servants or sex objects; most of the scenes which include humans are of the feasts in which the situlae themselves figure, of the hunt or of war".[63] Similar scenes are found on other vessel shapes, as well as bronze belt-plaques.[64] The processions of animals, typical of earlier examples, or humans derive from the Near East and Mediterranean.[65]
Except for the ItalianBenvenuti Situla, men are hairless, with "funny hats, dumpy bodies and big heads", though often shown looking cheerful in an engaging way. The Benevenuti Situla is also unusual in that it seems to show a specific story.[66]
TheStrettweg cult wagon from Austria (c. 600 BC) has been interpreted as representing a deer goddess or 'Great Nature Goddess' similar toArtemis.[67]
Hallstatt culture musical instruments includedharps,lyres,zithers, woodwinds,panpipes, horns, drums and rattles.[68][69]
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![Bull from Býčí skála Cave, Czech Republic[39]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNHM_-_Byci_Skala_Stier.jpg)
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A small number of inscriptions have been recovered from Hallstatt culture sites. Markings or symbols inscribed on iron tools from Austria dating from the early Iron Age (Ha C, 800-650 BC) show continuity with symbols from the Bronze AgeUrnfield culture, and are thought to be related to mining and the metal trade.[72] Inscriptions engraved on situlas or cauldrons from the Hallstatt cemetery in Austria, dating from c. 800-500 BC, have been interpreted as numerals, letters and words, possibly related toEtruscan orOld Italic scripts.[71][73] Weights from Bavaria dating from the 7th to early 6th century BC bear signs possibly resembling Greek or Etruscan letters.[74] A single-word inscription (possibly a name) on a locally produced ceramic sherd fromMontmorot in eastern France, dating from the late 7th to mid-6th century BC, has been identified as eitherGaulish orLepontic, written in either a 'proto-Lepontic' or Etruscan alphabet.[75][76] A fragment of an inscription painted on local pottery has also been recovered from the late Hallstatt site ofBragny-sur-Saône in eastern France, dating from the 5th century BC.[77][78] A letter inscribed on a gold cup was deposited in a princely tomb atApremont in eastern France, dating from c. 500 BC.[77]
Another fragmentary inscription on pottery was found in a princely burial nearBergères-les-Vertus in north-eastern France, dating from late 5th century BC (at the beginning of La Tène A). The inscription has been identified as the Celtic word for "king", written in the Lepontic alphabet. According to Olivier (2010), "this graffito represents one of the earliest attested occurrences of the wordrîx which designates the "king" in the Celtic languages. ... It would also seem to represent the first co-occurrence in the Celtic world of a funerary archaeological context and a contemporaneous linguistic qualification as 'royal'."[79] According to Verger (1998) the 7th-6th century BC inscription from Montmorot "is at the beginning of a still limited series of documents attesting to the use of alphabetic signs and the use of writing in Eastern Gaul during the entire period characterised by the appearance, development and end of the Hallstattian 'princely phenomenon'. ... The first transmission of the alphabet north of the Alps, at the end of the 7th or in the first half of the 6th century, seems to be only the beginning of a process that was regularly renewed until the second half of the fifth century."[80]
The monumental burial mounds atGlauberg andMagdalenenberg in Germany featured structures aligned with the point of themajor lunar standstill, which occurs every 18.6 years. At Glauberg this took the form of a 'processional avenue' lined by large ditches,[81] whilst at Magdalenenberg the alignment was marked with a large timber palisade.[82] The knowledge required to create these alignments would have required long-term observation of the skies, possibly over several generations.[81] At Glauberg other ditches and postholes associated with the mound may have been used to observe astronomical phenomena such as thesolstices, with the whole ensemble functioning as acalendar.[83][84][85] According to the archaeologist Allard Mees, the numerous burials within the Magdalenenberg mound were positioned to mirror theconstellations as they appeared at the time of the summer solstice in 618 BC.[82] Mees argues that the Magdalenenberg represented alunar calendar and that knowledge of the 18.6 year lunar standstill cycle would have enabled the prediction oflunar eclipses.[86][87] According to Mees many other burial mounds in this period were also aligned with lunar phenomena.[87] An analysis of Hallstatt period burials by Müller-Scheeßel (2005) similarly suggested that they were oriented towards specific constellations.[88] According to Gaspani (1998) the diagonals of the rectangularHochdorf burial chamber were also aligned with the major lunar standstill.[89][90]
Further evidence for knowledge of lunar eclipse cycles in this period comes fromFiskerton in England, where an analysis of a wooden causeway used to make ritual depositions into theWitham river found that the causeway timbers were felled at intervals corresponding toSaros lunar eclipse cycles, indicating that the builders were able to predict these cycles in advance.[91][92] According to the archaeologists who studied this site, similar evidence can be found at other locations in the British Isles and Central Europe dating from the Late Bronze Age through to the Late Iron Age, suggesting that knowledge of lunar eclipse cycles may have been widespread in this period.[91] Knowledge of Saros cycles may also be numerically encoded on the Late Bronze AgeBerlin Gold Hat.[93][94]
The mountain peaks around Hallstatt may have also functioned as a largesundial and visual calendar.[95][96] A similar system is thought to have existed in theVosges mountains during the Iron Age (theBelchen system) which incorporated dates associated with majorCeltic festivals such asBeltane.[97]
Kruta (2010) interprets a large decoratedbrooch from Hallstatt, dating from the 6th century BC, as representing a 'symbolic summary of the course of the year'. Depictions on the brooch ofwaterfowl (representing night and winter) and horses (representing day and summer) are placed above asolar boat (representing the sun's journey from one winter solstice to the next), whilst twelve circular pendants represent the lunar months.[98]
According to Garrett Olmsted (2001) the CelticColigny calendar, dating from the 1st-2nd centuries AD, has origins dating back to the Hallstatt period or Late Bronze Age, indicating that calendrical knowledge was transmitted through a longoral tradition.[99]
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Two culturally distinct areas, an eastern and a western zone are generally recognised.[100] There are distinctions in burial rites, the types ofgrave goods, and in artistic style. In the western zone, members of the elite were buried with sword (HaC) or dagger (HaD), in the eastern zone with an axe.[58] The western zone haschariot burials. In the eastern zone, warriors are frequently buried withhelmet and aplate armour breastplate.[55] Artistic subjects with a narrative component are only found in the east, in both pottery and metalwork.[101] In the east the settlements and cemeteries can be larger than in the west.[58]
The approximate division line between the two subcultures runs from north to south through centralBohemia andLower Austria at about 14 to 15 degrees eastern longitude, and then traces the eastern and southern rim of the Alps to Eastern and SouthernTyrol.[citation needed]
Taken at its most generous extent, the western Hallstatt zone includes:
West Hallstatt influence is also later perceptible in the rest ofFrance, inEngland andIreland, innorthern Italy and in central, northern and westernIberia.
While Hallstatt is regarded as the dominant settlement of the western zone, a settlement at theBurgstallkogel in the centralSulm valley (southernStyria, west ofLeibnitz, Austria) was a major centre during the Hallstatt C period. Parts of the hugenecropolis (which originally consisted of more than 1,100tumuli) surrounding this settlement can be seen today nearGleinstätten, and the chieftain's mounds were on the other side of the hill, nearKleinklein. The finds are mostly in theLandesmuseum Joanneum atGraz, which also holds theStrettweg Cult Wagon.
The eastern Hallstatt zone includes:
Trade, cultural diffusion, and some population movements spread the Hallstatt cultural complex (western form) intoBritain, andIreland.
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![Depiction on pottery of a lyre-player, Hungary, c. 700 BC[104]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNHM_-_Keramik_Sopron_3_Musikantin.jpg)
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Damgaard et al. (2018) analyzed the remains of a male and female buried at a Hallstatt cemetery nearLitoměřice, Czech Republic between ca. 600 BC and 400 BC. The male carried paternalhaplogroup R1b and the maternal haplogroupH6a1a. The female was a carrier of the maternal haplogroupHV0. Damgaard further examined the remains of 5 individuals ascribed to either Hallstatt C or the early La Tène culture. The one male carried Y-haplogroup G2a. The five females carried mt-haplogroupsK1a2a,J1c2o,H7d,U5a1a1 andJ1c-16261.[105] The examined individuals of the Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture displayed genetic continuity with the earlierBell Beaker culture, and carried about 50%steppe-related ancestry.[106]
The next study, Fischer et al. (2022), examined 49 genomes from 27 sites in Bronze Age and Iron Age France. The study found of strong genetic continuity between the two periods, particularly in southern France. The samples from northern and southern France were highly homogenous. 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. They displayed links to contemporary samples from Great Britain and Sweden. Southern samples displaying links toCeltiberians. The Iron Age samples resembled those of modern-day populations of France, Great Britain and Spain. The evidence suggested that the Celts of the Hallstatt culture largely evolved from local Bronze Age populations.[107]
Gretzinger et al. (2024) examined 31 individuals in the context of Hallstatt culture in southern Germany, dating between 616 and 200 BC, and found that the Hallstatt Y-chromosome gene pool is dominated byR1b-M269 andG2a-P303 lineages, with subhaplogroupG2a-L497 accounting for 37% of the haplotypes in the sample.[38]
Recent excavations indicate that the Heuneburg controlled an area of over 1,000 km² with cemeteries, further hilltop settlements, hamlets, villages, roads and cult or gathering places. It was not only the Heuneburg itself that must have formed an architectonically impressive agglomeration. Consequently, thepolis Pyrene stands for this whole system, not just the hillfort of the Heuneburg.
the Ister [Danube]. That river flows from the land of the Celtae and the city of Pyrene through the very midst of Europe
Au cœur de ce dispositif urbain et au centre de l'enclos le plus vaste, se trouve le grand bâtiment à abside et à antes (prolongements des murs latéraux pour former un porche) du Hallstatt D2-D3, flanqué d'un plus petit. Le premier bâtiment affiche des dimensions exceptionnelles (35m × 22m). L'espace intérieur de 500m3 environ, est divisé en trois pièces d'inégales surfaces. Cette réalisation prouve une maîtrise de la géométrie et du charpentage capable de libérer de vastes espaces intérieurs en construisant un édifice dont las panne faîtière s'établissait à une hauteur de 15m minimum."English translation: "At the heart of this urban arrangement and in the centre of the largest enclosure is the large building with an apse and eaves (extensions of the side walls to form a porch) from Hallstatt D2-D3, flanked by a smaller building. The first building has exceptional dimensions (35 by 22 metres, 115 ft × 72 ft). The interior space of approximately 500 cubic metres (18,000 cu ft) is divided into three rooms of unequal surface area. This achievement demonstrates a mastery of geometry and carpentry capable of freeing up vast interior spaces by constructing a building whose central ceiling ridge was established at a minimum height of 15 metres (49 ft).
Im Ostalpengebiet begegnet uns in der Urnenfelderzeit auf ausgewählten Objektgruppen ein System von Marken (Abb. 5.6), das sich bis in die ältere und jüngere Eisenzeit verfolgen lässt. […] Die Betrachtung eingeritzter Marken auf eisenzeitlichen Geräten erinnert nicht nur in direkter Weise an die Gussmarken der Knopfund Zungensicheln, sie bleibt im Rahmen der eisenzeitlichen Deponierungen auch dem metallhandwerklichen und montanwirtschaftlichen Kontext der Urnenfelderzeitlichen Niederlegungen verbunden."English translation: "In the Eastern Alpine region, we encounter a system of marks (Fig. 5.6) on selected groups of objects in the Urnfield period, which can be traced into the earlier and later Iron Age. … The observation of engraved marks on Iron Age tools is not only directly reminiscent of the cast marks of the [Urnfield] sickles, it also remains connected to the metal craft and mining economic context of the Urnfield deposits in the context of Iron Age deposits.
Schon 1868 machte E. v. Sacken auf die negativen Marken auf hallstattzeitlichen Bronzegefäßen und Situlen aufmerksam. Er wies auf die Ähnlichkeit zu etruskischen und altitalienischen Schriftzeichen des norditalienischalpinen Raums hin."English translation: "As early as 1868, E. v. Sacken drew attention to the negative marks on Hallstatt bronze vessels and situlae. He pointed out the similarity to Etruscan and Old Italian characters of the northern Italian Alpine region.
Against this background, a pair of Iron Age"weights"from Oberndorf, Bavaria, is especially important [...] The larger piece measured 8.7 × 1.5cm and weighed 35.065g; both sides had a raised sign made up of crosses and curved arcs. The smaller piece measured 5.5 × 1.55cm and weighed 35.1g; one side had a raised sign made up of a zigzag, transverse lines and a curved arc or arcs, the outer edge of the sign was fringed with a row of small impressed dots. The pottery from the grave should be dated to the older or middle Hallstatt period (Ha C1b-D1), i.e. the 7th or early 6th century BC. Although signs resemble Greek or Estruscan letters, they cannot be read easily.
L'inscription de Montmorot ne peut être considérée comme le témoin d'un épisode isolé et sans lendemain. Elle se place au contraire au début d'une série encore restreinte de documents attestant l'utilisation des signes alphabétiques et l'usage de l'écriture en Gaule de l'Est pendant toute la période caractérisée par l'apparition, le développement et la fin du «phénomène princier» Hallstattien. [...] La première transmission de l'alphabet au nord des Alpes, à la fin du VIIe ou dans la première moitié du VIe siècle, ne semble être en fait que le début d'un processus régulièrement renouvelé jusque dans la seconde moitié du Ve siècle."English translation: "The inscription of Montmorot cannot be considered as the witness of an isolated episode with no future. On the contrary, it is at the beginning of a still limited series of documents attesting to the use of alphabetic signs and the use of writing in Eastern Gaul during the entire period characterised by the appearance, development and end of the Hallstattian 'princely phenomenon'. [...] The first transmission of the alphabet north of the Alps, at the end of the 7th or in the first half of the 6th century, seems to be only the beginning of a process that was regularly renewed until the second half of the fifth century.
it is clear that all these ditches have special astronomic and mathematical meaning, with the great 'Prozessionsstrasse' aiming at the point of the Southern Major Standstill of the moon's 18.61-year precession (maximum extreme of the moon setting), and other ditches aiming at the dates of the solstices. This is evidence for the implications of the whole structure as a ritual or holy place with long term calendrical meaning as well as with short-term seasonal meaning.
The analyses of Prof. Dr. B. Deiss, Institute for Theoretical Physics/Astrophysics at the University of Frankfurt, prove without a doubt that the ditches of the Glauberg "Procession Way" as well as the ditches and post positions in the area of the "Princely Tomb" together provide clear indications of the use as a calendar, which is only possible in certain geographical situations - such as that of the Glauberg. Specifically, they are aligned with the point of the great southern lunar solstice, which recurs approximately every 18.6 years. The ditches in the northwest of the burial mound and several post positions documented during the excavation form a complex, mathematically well thought-out and constructed system for observing these and other astronomical phenomena, all of which are the basis for a calendar that enables long-term observations to be made for the classification of Time phases, especially of a seasonal nature. (Translated from German)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)the remains of posts that supported an Iron Age walkway built almost 2500 years ago and used, it would appear, by the Druids of eastern England as a platform from which to consign sacrificial objects to the watery depths. [...] These old oak posts suggest that the people who built the walkway were able to predict lunar eclipses
Someone who knew how to read these ornaments would be able to calculate the shifts between the solar year and the lunar year, predict lunar eclipses, and set fixed dates for significant events.
Plinius's statement implies that the earliest Gaulish calendar originated some 1000 years before the period of the observation he recorded. The earliest of the surviving Gaulish calendrical systems had its origins clearly in the late Bronze Age. This 1000-year span of the 30-year calendar is an inevitable conclusion of Plinius's statement. The 30-year-cycle constant lunar calendar runs ahead of the moon by 1 day every 199 years. Though the months originally began on the first day of the moon, after 1000 years of operation of the calendar the months would have shifted to beginning on the sixth day of the moon. Because of its long evolutionary development with earlier stages still embedded within the later calendar, the Coligny calendar gives a unique window into the astronomical capabilities of a supposedly barbarian people, the Celts of pre-Roman Gaul.
Media related toHallstatt culture at Wikimedia Commons
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