The Coming of La T ène

The Coming of La Tène The Spread of Celtic Civilization: Invention and Emigration

CARNYX

THE DYING GAUL

BATTERSEA SHIELD LONDON

Change came from the north. One of these news focuses of power was to found some 150 kms NW of the old Hallstatt regions in the valley of the Moselle close to its confluence with the Rhine. It is possible that in this early period of La Tene there were two major centres of power, one in the Neckar region (Hohenasperg) and the other on the Moselle. La Tène Culture

The Moselle region became more importandtby the end of that century (c400BC). • Throughout this period contacts were maintained with the Etruscan world to the south (Italy). • The second major area of innovation in the Early La Tene was in the Marne Valley, some 150 kms directly north of the old Hallstatt areas, egVix. La Tène Culture

During the fifith century BC occupation of the area grew, and although one grave has been found with the Hallstatt four-wheeled cart, the majority of the cart burials have two-wheels. • Characteristically the dead aristocrat was buried in a pit accompanied by the vehicle, a range of horse-trappings and a drinking set. • Some imports from Eturia and Greece also found. One Greek item dating to 420BC. La Tène Culture

Marnian culture (ie on the river Marne) plays an important part in the development of a distinctive style of Celtic art. • What was the relationship between the Moselle communities and those of the Marne? • Both shared a common warrior-dominated social system and some levels of a common material culture, based on exchange networks. La Tène Culture

Possibly though, Marne was dependant on Moselle for the importation of high status Mediteranean goods. • The fifth century (400sBC) sees the development of communication extending from the Po valley in Northern Italy, through the territory of the Veneti (Venice and the region around), along the eastern fringes of the Alps, north to Bohemia. La Tène Culture

In that area an important site developed, called Zavist south of Prague. • It was established during the Hallstatt period, and later developed during the fifth century to be a major site. La Tène Culture

It can be said that during the fifth century (early La Tene in the 400s BC), two regions can be identified as being areas of Celtic innovation: • The Marne-Moselle zone in the west with its trading links with the Po Valley in northern Italy via the central Alpine passes, and a Bohemian zone in the east with links to the Adriatic via the eastern routes around the Alps. La Tène Culture

Both these cultural zones had first begun to develop during the late Hallstatt periods. • But it is noticeable that the core of the old Hallstatt so dominant in the late sixth and early fifth centuries (500s-400sBC) had now become cultural backwaters. (Hohenasperg). • The centre had decayed, the periphery had flourished. Why? La Tène Culture

Some have argued that changes in trading pressures from the Mediterannean had caused social dislocation north of the Alps, unbalancing the prestige goods economy. • The Greek trade routes may have eventually favoured the west Mediteranean place more power in the hands of the Etruscans. La TèneCulture: what happened to Hallstatt

But the causes may have little to do with the Mediteranean, but instead the social dynamics and pressures in the northern Alpine areas. • Given the warrior nature of the peripheral society (with an emphasis on raiding) aggressive moves against the west Hallstatt may have destabilized and destroyed the old economic system. La Tène Culture

With such developments taking place, even greater changes were about to bring closer contact between the Celtic-speaking peoples of the new La Tene culture and those of the Mediterranean and neighbouring areas: • The Celtic Migrations by about 400BC. La Tène Culture

The fifth century BC is characterised by what seems to be the sudden demise of the Hallstatt civilisation. • The important hillfort of Mont Lassois and Heuneberg were abandoned, and as a result the rich burials come to an end. The End of the Hallstatt Civilisation

There may have been wars between the two vying Celtic cultures. • The Heuneberg site was burned down but it cannot be ascertained whether this was because of internal strife or attack from outside. • Some sites seem to show a continuity. Eg the Keinaspergle grave at Asperg. (This is the Hohenasperg region where Hochdorf is situated). The End of the Hallstatt Civilisation

La Tene Civilisation The Classical Celtic Period

The new era takes its name from a famous archaeological site in Switzerland. Once again it is mainly finds from cemetaries which provide us with an image of the first Celts. • There are few written sources which document this period of emergence (c450BC), so we depend on archaeology. The Formation of La Tène

Typical of this new era is a different artistic style, again subject to influences from the Mediterranean. • This time however, this was not merely imitation of Greek and Etruscan originals, but gave rise to new creations with an unmistakable and original art-style. The Formation of La Tène

Despite evidence of some continuity in the Hallstatt areas, there is considerable evidence that the areas immediately to the north (the cradle of La Tene culture) imported specific kinds of item from the north of Italy, items not found in the Hallstatt regions. • This leads to the conclusion that a new trade axis had been formed linking the Moselle chieftains directly with the Etruscan cities of northern Italy (c500-450BC). The Formation of La Tène

By the middle of the fifth century the centre of innovation in western Europe (Celtic Europe) had moved decisively away from the Burgundy-S. Germany axis (Hallstatt D), to the more northerly Marne-Moselle-Bohemia arc where the new La Tene culture flourished. The Formation of La Tène

The spread of La Tene art styles throughout Europe was a remarkable phenomenon. • It could be argued that La Tene art was the first truly pan-European art style. • Its spread to the south and the east of the Marne-Moselle region was accelerated by folk movements. • But its adoptionin the west and the north, as far as Ireland and Scotland, is a far more complex development. The Formation of La Tène

In the British Isles and Ireland, we see, rather than immigration of La Tene peoples into the area, many levels of acculturation, involving the movement of actual objects by exchange to selective immitation of La Tene motifs by local craftsmen. • The same process would have been true for much of Atlantic Europe, in western France, Spain and Portugal. The Formation of La Tène

It has been suggested that knowledge of La Tene art spread to Britain and Ireland via Brittany (Armorica). Items found in Britain can be compared with variations of La Tene styles found in Brittany. • But there is also evidence that other parts of Britain received their concepts of LT by way of the southern North Sea area, which would have impacted mainly on the East Coast of Britain. The Formation of La Tène

These ‘trade routes’ had already been extensively used in the Bronze Age period. The Formation of La Tène

The first representations of this art are found on brooches and clasps (fibulae), and later on scabbardsm swords, helmets, torques, knives, pottery, flagons, and coins. • Wild life and imaginary animals are a frequent motif. Winged animals. Animals with human faces. Horses with human faces, birds heads, animal heads. The origins of the La Tène style

The Coming of La T ène