Introduction
What I hope to show in this work is a metaphorical day in the life of a culture, which I break into three parts, Dawn, Day and Dusk, beginning with first contact between the Celts, Greeks and Etruscans and closing with the re-emergence and dominance of an indigenous culture. I will treat on the possible reasons for the introduction of trade with the classical world, the influences received from Mediterranean cultures, how these continually transform Celtic society and likewise how Celtic society adapts these influences to fit its own beliefs.
I will stray from the vine to vignettes on the status of women in Celtic society at this time and the significance of the Hallstatt Wagon. I will go on to deal with the halcyon days of the Hallstatt D period and its eventual decline in favour of a more radical element of society at which point I shall discuss the rise of the La Tène culture and art. Finally I will conclude with a triplett focussing on the many forms of La Tène art and on its many and varied elements, the significance of weapons in the Hallstatt and La Tène periods and finally a passage on the possible migrations of the Celts to the British Isles.
Dawn
Wine, Women & Wagons
Prior to the foundation of Massalia around 600BC the Hallstatt culture had a complex stable economy producing just what was required at the time without need of surplus (Cunliffe 1988, 24) “…the overall impression given is of a high degree of cultural stability. The society was producing what it needed to maintain an equilibrium, but little more” (Ibid). The lack of luxury goods at this time meant that there was a distinct absence of the acquisition of status symbols or at least of interring them with leading members of the community. “Since prestige was not at this stage equated with the ability to dispense goods on a lavish scale there was little need to produce unnecessary surplus”(Ibid). The trade of exotic goods with wine at its core may have started by way of the intervention of the Greeks and Etruscans in search of raw materials to fuel their own economies. “The Greek and Etruscan prospectors who visited this area were probably in quest of the copper and tin ore of the Montagne Noire.” (Hatt 1970, 89). In a remarkably short period of time what was then a trickle of trade flowing to the Hallstatt chiefdoms soon became a flood, as can be deduced from tombs dated to this time.
If we take Vix near Mont Lassois, for example, excavations in 1953 revealed a community with strong trade connections with both the Greeks and Etruscans. (James 1993, 23) “…the chamber was filled with wine drinking gear, including an Etruscan flagon and Attic cups.” (James 1993, 23). Wine, however, was at the forefront of trade with the Mediterranean, and the Hallstatt chieftains in many ways wished to emulate the elite in the Greek and Etruscan empires. “…the ruling groups added the wine, the special vessels and perhaps also the furniture and ceremony of the Greek drinking-party or symposion.”(James 1993, 24) Referring to the number of the remains of drinking horns in the tomb of the Hochdorf Chieftain (eight fitments of animal horns and one of iron) “Nine was the ideal number for the Greek symposion, or drinking party”(James 1993, 27). Similar numerical significance is visible on the iron horn which exhibits nine gold bands of similar width.
While it is difficult to ascertain the position of women in Hallstatt society we have been left with some tantalising if ambiguous clues in the tombs of Hohmichele of the late 6th Century BC and the later Vix burial. However, did the female motifs on Greek and Etruscan imports such as the Krater Gorgon or black figure maidens in some way influence and enhance the position of women in this society, or were Mediterranean merchants simply exploiting an existing niche in the market? (James 1993, 25) Wagons, superficially at least, do not seem to owe anything to Greek or Etruscan influences, that is until one concentrates on the wheels. They seem far too delicate and slender to be used, even as a ceremonial vehicle, in an area that has no evidence of an ordered road structure, and while the body of the wagon contains symbols indigenous to the region such as the solar symbolism of the eight spoked wheel surrounded by 16 small circles the wheels of the wagon remain more Hellenic than Hallstatt.
Day
Golden Shoes, Grapes & Toadstools
Along with the growth in trade, prestige goods, for the most part connected with the procurement, transport or drinking of wine, became more available (Cunliffe 1997, 53). Not only were luxury items being imported along with the precious wine, they were now being made on site by skilled artisans who competently imitated both Greek and Etruscan styles “The point was most convincingly made at Hochdorf, where by meticulous excavation, archaeologists were able to show that the elaborately decorated gold facings covering the dead man’s dagger and shoes had actually been manufactured at the burial site as the preparations for interment were underway.”(Chadwick 1997, 38)
Such was the insatiable appetite for prestige goods in the home region of Hallstatt peoples that it created great demands on local produce and materials to trade for such items. “…there had to be a consistent supply of raw materials and manpower to offer for southern luxuries”(Chadwick 1997, 39). It appears, noting the evidence uncovered at the Hochdorf burial, that the fascination with the Mediterranean born in the early Hallstatt not only continued but grew in elaboration. So began the expansion toward the latter stages of the Hallstatt era. “…quite suddenly, in the Hunsrück-Eifel region, an area which had previously been sparsely settled.”(Cunliffe 1988, 33) The suggestion is that they were looking to exploit iron ore and other metals (Ibid). However, the Hallstatt chiefdoms had a love-hate relationship with trade with the Mediterranean world, that is not all benefited all the time, and not all chiefdoms were eager or able to hop on the proverbial ‘band wagon’ (James 1993, 25). “…but a more detailed study of the chronology of the aristocratic graves shows, as one might expect fluctuations in the fortunes of the individual domains.” (Cunliffe 1988, 32)
Throughout this time, about 500BC, Massalia had been consolidating its power due to trade with the Hallstatt chiefdoms, “Massalia was still part of an extensive Mediterranean network” (Cunliffe 1997, 53) and had introduced wine growing, (Cunliffe 1988, 22) possibly as a means to ensure a constant supply to trade during times of political strife with the Etruscans and Carthaginians (Cunliffe 1988, 17;Chadwick 1997, 34). It is possible that some of the wine growing technology migrated north to favourable fertile valleys right in, dare I say it, the ‘Celtic heartland’, which in turn could have contributed to the shift in power within the Hallstatt chiefdoms to the Moselle (Cunliffe 1997 65), Rhine and Neckar Valleys (Ibid, 34) and Bohemia (Ibid, 66), areas which are still synonymous with wine growing today.
Along with noted tangible Mediterranean imports such as black and red figure ware, the Hallstatt region was undergoing a Hellenification of a more visible and dramatic nature. The Heuneburg is possibly the clearest example of the importation of a concept of construction. The manufacture of the sun dried bricks, synonymous with Greece, and the construction schematics of the Heuneburg itself were executed so precisely that many believe the project utilized the services of bona fide Greek architects and artisans (Cunliffe 1988, 29-31). Cunliffe paints a vivid picture replete with a mythical undertone of the Hallstatt society toward the end of this particular phase. “It might be suggested that the power to command long distance trade shifted north during the fifth century BC from the core to the periphery, rather like the outward growth of a toadstool ring, the old core decaying whilst vigorous growth continued along its perimeter”(Cunliffe 1988, 33). Cunliffe’s metaphor remains in a more succinct format nine years later (Cunliffe 1997, 66). With mushrooms came the inevitable rot, and this would come in two ways: firstly the increasing emulation of the classical world and the commitment of resources to do so (Chadwick 1997, 36)- one thinks of the Etruscan style bronze bier of Hochdorf (Cunliffe 1997, 61) and what would have been required for its manufacture (Cunliffe 1988, 29)- and secondly the increasingly popular and unsustainable deposition or conspicuous consumption of much needed wealth as a symbol of one’s place at the apex of society(Chadwick 1997, 39). The rapidly diminishing wealth of the region in a prestige goods economy would have given rise to greater conflict amongst rival chiefdoms and would have contributed to an unstable society (Ibid). Could the image on the back of the bronze bier (James 1993, 27) reflect a famous scene from Greek legend, or might it portray a conflict closer to home, a snap shot, if you will, on a turbulent time of change possibly even the very end of a way of life? (Chadwick 1997, 39) One thing is certain, the northern tribal chiefdoms would never again have the comfort of reclining on their successes.
Dusk
The Birth of a New Art
The close of the Hallstatt period and the beginning of the La Tène appears to be delineated by numerous changes to the relevant societies present (James 1993, 29). During this period, in which the Hallstatt and La Tène overlapped considerably for a period of about 50 years, trade with Massalia diminishes (Cunliffe 1988, 32) and Massalia itself withers somewhat due to a political shift in the western Mediterranean (James 1993, 29).
The colony long since under pressure, having to trade primarily with the barbarian tribes to the north, suddenly found demand for their principal product wine drop sharply (Cunliffe 1988, 32); however, the various amphorae and drinking sets that were imported along with it, for the most part, seemed to continue in popularity with red figure ware replacing black (James 1993, 29). Although there are many suppositions as to why this occurred using human nature as a guide it is hard to imagine the northern chiefdoms growing tired of the consumption of alcohol, that being the case it leaves us with, in my opinion, three plausible explanations. They developed an indigenous wine industry by way of Massalia (Cunliffe 1988, 22). The wine drinking culture was disassociated with funerary rituals owing to the greater availability of indigenous wine. Alternatively, the wine drinking culture along with all the paraphernalia played a lesser role in society due in part to a decrease in the elite aspect of wine or because the northern tribes wished to reassert an independent culture juxtaposed to the Graecophile Hallstatt period.
The Celtic ‘grá’ for human figural representations did not seem to translate to indigenous artefacts, instead artisans opted for Etruscan style animal sculptures to decorate their flagons e.g. the Basse-Yutz Flagon (Frey 1964, 43). To complicate matters further, the northern tribes appear to have adopted an expansionist policy culminating in large-scale attacks (Cunliffe 1988, 36) and were no longer satisfied to acquire goods in a classical trading context (Ibid). It appears there were new kids on the block, and this apparent warrior-based society was not about to follow the same path as their Hallstatt cousins.
…that way madness lies
Artistic motifs, which were so meticulously imitated up to this point including three dimensional animal motifs such as the Greek Pegasus (James 1993, 23), the replacement lion as found on the Hochdorf cauldron (James 1993, 26) and two dimensional palmette, comma leaf and spiral (Cunliffe 1997, 120) were now vigorously altered as if a point needed to be proved by breaking away from the strict linear designs as seen on the Waldalgesheim spouted flagon, Reinheim flagon and amphora. Gone was the symbolic four-wheeled wagon found at such locations as Vix and Hochdorf (James 1993, 23), replaced by a more austere chariot again discovered at Waldalgesheim (Frey 1964, 42).
The symbolism through artistic expression, which so often occurs in Hallstatt art, remains somewhat in the La Tène, but just as the art itself has found a new form, the symbolism may also have changed or may have been forgotten altogether giving the art of the La Tène a life of its own. Up to this point the La Tène period had produced two distinct art styles, ‘Early La Tène’ (Cunliffe 1997, 111) and ‘Waldalgesheim’ or ‘Vegetal Style’ (Ibid, 119) but soon they would be joined by two more, the ‘Plastic Style’ and ‘Sword Style’. The ‘Vegetal Style’ in particular owes its existence to the dramatic shift in power following the demise of the Greek trade routes and the subsequently increasing influences of the Etruscans via the Po valley (Frey 1964, 42), and it is the enigmatic swirls and tendrils found in this style which draw so much speculation as to its origin and meaning (Collis 2003, 217). However, without a frame of reference for the “living culture” at that time any attempt to interpret the flamboyant artistic motifs may well be contaminated by the enduring deductions of certain well-meaning 19th century antiquarians (Ibid).
A word on weapons
One of the clear differences between the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures lies in the inclusion of weapons with regard to funerary depositions (Frey 1964, 42). It has long been considered that the numerous finds of weapons in La Tène sites signify that this period was far more unsettled and tumultuous-a warrior society, if you will (Cunliffe 1988 33)-than the sober Hallstatt, portrayed by some as a Celtic classical age (Ibid, 24). I, however, believe that the opposite was the case when considering the same evidence. Given the amount of wealth one needs to procure weapons either by manufacture or import I find it highly unlikely that in a period of extreme flux and violence a society would be so suicidal as to dispose of their weapons right at the moment they need them most. Similarly, the lack of substantial weapon finds in the Hallstatt period gives it an illusion of a culture engaged in placid trade and acquisition (Ibid). The flowering of ‘Sword Style’ art may also indicate that at least swords for the most part had, at this point, acquired a symbolic stature rather than a military purpose.
Migrants or Merchants
The discovery of certain metal items including the Battersea shield (Cunliffe 1997, 68) found in the Thames, London and the flagon found at Basse-Yutz, France (Ibid, 116) was enough in the world of early archaeology to forge a link between the Celtic world and a migratory pattern toward Britain as they depicted a society on the move, a society that by all accounts even encompassed the peripheral islands of Europe. The application of the all too familiar vigorous La Tène art styles on these objects seems to carry as much weight as a cultural fingerprint, e.g. ‘head culture’ (Collis 2003, 216). Even though the Celtic invasion theory has over time lost its credibility, Celtic migrations to the British Isles remained somewhat of an archaeological ‘holy cow’, and much of the evidence found had to fit around or actively encourage this precept (Ibid, 223).
The suggestion that displaced chieftains found themselves in the British Isles as a result of overpopulation of their region of the homeland and a collapse of Greek trade routes is a plausible one (Frey 1964, 46). It is easy to imagine these people bringing with them the trappings and the suits of Celts and generally making themselves at home. It is also easy to imagine them residing in familiar constructions and continuing much as they had done. The trouble is it is too easy. One could postulate that just as the chiefdoms of the North were quick to assimilate Greek art and Etruscan customs into their culture the Iron Age inhabitants of Britain may have done similar with the chiefdoms of Europe. They may have acquired prestige goods and the knowledge to manufacture them from merchants operating to and fro Celtic demesnes through established trade routes.
This supposition is reinforced by the haphazard pick and mix attitude towards the acquisition of prestige goods and customs as exemplified by the eclectic artefacts found in Britain from this time, such as from the site of the Wetwang burial, Yorkshire. Here we see the familiar two wheeled chariot or cart but used in a very different way, upturned and covering the body, also a notable absence in prestige grave goods (Cunliffe 1997, 161). This may well indicate that there was a different method of proving one’s worth in society other than ritual depositions. So if the Celts never made it as far as Britain, whether by a lack of resources or the fact that the land was already occupied by native chiefdoms, it presents us with a predicament, a mirror image of the situation in which the Greeks found themselves when referring to the ‘Keltoi’. Where the Greeks used the word Keltoi as a way of distancing themselves from what they considered a barbaric culture, a term possibly used in a pejorative sense, some modern British archaeologists have employed the confusing appellation ‘Ancient Briton’ (Pryor 2003, part.2) when referring to the culture formally known as Celts as a means of superimposing a much later national identity.
In summarizing we have seen how the northern tribal chiefdoms became greatly affected by the onset of Mediterranean trade and their taste for the finer things in life including wine and prestige objects and how quickly the Celtic tribes absorbed these influences and engaged in indigenous manufacture of their own prestige items. We dealt with a culture whose tentative flirtations with trade with the classical world soon became an obsession in a temporarily stable but ultimately flawed economy.
Conclusion
We saw a society awash with prestige goods catastrophically combined with the tradition of conspicuous consumption and a seemingly stable society of the Hallstatt giving way to the fresh assertiveness of the La Tène period. We looked at the various forms of the art at this time and the futility of trying to find meaning within them. After a brief insight into the significance, if any, of the presence of weapons in Hallstatt and La Tène sites we concluded with a word on migrations to the British Isles and a sobering reminder of the time when history and archaeology collided, comparing perceptions then and now.
David Martin Byrne
Bibliography
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