La Tene (C2-D) was an Iron Age culture in Europe named after an archaeological site at Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland that ran from approximately 175-27 BCE.
[1]
The territory centered on ancient Gaul and at its height spanned areas in modern day France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, Czechia, parts of Northern Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, western Romania, and western Ukraine.
Settlements during this period included fortified urban settlements, larger towns, villages and farmsteads spread throughout their territories.
[2]
During this period tribes became urbanised and more centralized but although they formed alliances with other tribes, they did not join together within a unified centralized polity.
[3]
Each tribe had their own fortified urban settlements and there was no capital city.
Production of goods at many of the larger sites included glass jewellery, leather-working, bronze-casting and coin minting.
[4]
The population is estimated at around 70,000-80,000, and much of the information we have about the population (and other aspects of La Tene life during this period) comes from the time of Caesar’s invasion of Gaul.
[5]
[6]
[1]: (Collis 2003, 172, 217-218)
[2]: (Wells 1999, 45-47)
[3]: (Kruta 2004, 105)
[4]: (Wells 1999, 49-54
[5]: (Wells 1984:171)
[6]: (Patterson 1995, 136)
| 31 U |
| La Tene C2-D |
| None (Absent Capital) |
| Late La Tene | |
| La Tene Gaul | |
| Celtic Gaul | |
| Gaul | |
| Iron Age Gaul | |
| Celtic Empire | |
| La Tene | |
| La Tene culture | |
| Galli |
| alliance with [---] |
| La Tene |
| Late Roman Republic |
| continuity |
| Preceding: La Tene B2-C1 (fr_la_tene_b2_c1) [continuity] |
| nominal | |
| confederated state |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| unknown |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| unknown |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| Year Range | La Tene C2-D (fr_la_tene_c2_d) was in: |
|---|---|
| (174 BCE 27 BCE) | Paris Basin |
No capitals. Each tribe had their own fortified urban settlements. Largest oppidum close to Paris Basin region were Sandouville (150ha) of the Veliocasses, Chatres (170ha) of the Carnutes, Saint Desir (170ha) of the Lexovii, Villeneuve-sur-Yonne (140ha) of the Senones and Alesia of the Mandubii.
[1]
[1]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
After 200 BCE greater Roman influence in Gaul. High point perhaps 150 BCE the date when Rome sought a formal treaty with the powerful King of the Averni.
[1]
By c120 BCE Rome had established the province of Gallia Narbonensis in Southern Gaul.
[2]
This set the stage for Gaul to be conquered by the Romans in the mid-first century.
[1]: (Collis 2003, 170)
[2]: (Wells 1999, 48)
Urbanised and centralized with strong economic and cultural ties, but did not join together within a unified centralized polity ruled from one power-centre/capital.
Confederations of tribes joined together for battles
[1]
and "federal" institutions are known from one such instance - a site for war trophies.
[2]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 105)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 186)
Urbanised and centralized with strong economic and cultural ties, but did not join together within a unified centralized polity ruled from one power-centre/capital.
Confederations of tribes joined together for battles
[1]
and "federal" institutions are known from one such instance - a site for war trophies.
[2]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 105)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 186)
Bibracte, city of the Aedui at its height in the 1st Century BCE.
200 hectares Double ramparts enclosed 200 hectares.
[1]
Bibracte had perhaps 10,000 inhabitants: "Some, such as Bibracte in France, Manching in Germany, and Stradonice and Stare Hradisko in the Czech Republic, have dense occupation remains showing large numbers of inhabitants, intensive industrial activity, and extensive trade. The populations of those major sites was probably in the several thousands, perhaps approaching ten thousand."
[2]
Largest oppidum close to Paris Basin region were Sandouville (150ha) of the Veliocasses, Chatres (170ha) of the Carnutes, Saint Desir (170ha) of the Lexovii, Villeneuve-sur-Yonne (140ha) of the Senones and Alesia of the Mandubii.
[3]
c150 BCE oppida settlements emerge in La Tene regions. Bigger than the Early Iron Age settlements. Often 50-100 hectares. Manching 380 ha, Kelheim almost 600 ha.
[4]
10,000
late Iron Age.
[5]
Oppida excavated Manching, Bavaria - Late Iron Age (2nd-3rd centuries BCE)
Earth wall 7 KM length enclosed 380 ha
[6]
Except for 500m wide just inside enclosing wall all parts of the site showed evidence of dense human occupation
[7]
Evidence from onsite battle indicates date 3rd-2nd centuries BCE.
[7]
Est. 3,000-10,000 people
[8]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 12)
[2]: (Wells 2002, 366-367)
[3]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
[4]: (Wells 1999, 49-54)
[5]: (McIntosh 2009, 349)
[6]: (Wells 1999, 28)
[7]: (Wells 1999, 30)
[8]: (Wells 1999, 31)
in squared kilometers Around 100 BCE, politically independent polities in the northern alpine region (which includes central France
[1]
) had a radius of about 70 km, which gives an area of about 15,394 sq kilometers.
[2]
[2]
In Central Gaul, there were even bigger political units. They might have had 4 tiers, and a scale going over 20,000 sq kilometers. These political units are the ones that Caesar called civitates. "En Gaule centrale, existaient des entités politiques plus vastes encore. Celles-ci semblent bien avoir possédé quatre niveaux d’intégration avec une échelle dépassant Ies 20 000 km2. Ces entités politiques sont celles que César a nommées civitates."
[3]
[1]: (Brun 2007, 380)
[2]: (Brun 2007, 381)
[3]: (Brun 2007, 382)
368,000/5 = 73,600
"Diodorus Siculus estimated 50,000-200,000 persons for tribes in Gaul; Caesar’s estimates ranged from the Helvetii at 263,000 to the Latovici at 14,000."
[1]
[2]
Caesar might have been prone to exaggeration.
Some idea for scale of tribal populations comes from Caesar at the time of his invasion of Gaul. Helvetii, Tulingi, Latobrigi, Rauraci and Boii wanted to move from Switzerland to South West Gaul. According to Caesar (c50 BCE) there were 368,000 in total. Another tribe, the Suebi numbered 120,000 people.
[3]
[1]: (Wells 1984:171)
[2]: (Patterson 1995, 136)
[3]: (Collis 2003, 107)
levels.
1. Oppida fortified urban settlement
from 150 BCE
[1]
Made use of strategic locations: communication routes; market places; staging posts; valley entrances; on hills; spurs; plateaus. On plains defences were entirely man-made.
[2]
"Small fortified cities became common in the fourth and third centuries BC."
[3]
2. HillfortSW France, Champagne
[4]
or
2. TownSeveral hundred inhabitants.
[5]
3. Hamlets and villagesVast majority of population in temperate Europe. 20-100 people
[5]
Hamlets < 50 population
[6]
4. Farmstead"Agricultural complexes inhabited by single extended families (up to perhaps fifteen people)"
[5]
[1]: (Wells 1999, 49-54)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 102)
[3]: (Brun 1995, 16)
[4]: (Collis 2003, 145)
[5]: (Wells 1999, 57)
[6]: (Wells 1999, 45)
levels.
1. Supreme Druid
[1]
2. DruidsIntellectual elite
[2]
Did not have day-day role running the temples.
[3]
Tax and military service exempt (according to Caesar)
[1]
Responsible for education (according to Caesar)
[1]
Judges (according to Caesar)
[1]
3. PriestsThere were local priests who maintained local religions. At time of Roman conquest (c50 BCE) there was no unified Celtic religion.
[4]
In the Roman era they were called gutuateres.
[3]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 185)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 16)
[3]: (Collis 2003, 215)
[4]: (Collis 2003, 214)
levels.
1. King
In battle, confederations of tribes.
[1]
2. Celtic generalsbecame mercenaries for Carthage, Rome, Greece.
[2]
Urban aristocrats formed and maintained a standing cavalry corps.
[3]
This would have had a leader.
3. Chieftainspaid in gold staters or silver pieces.
[4]
Are these people the same as the "generals"?
4. Individual soldier
Military: "Deployment would probably have been by tribal contingents. Within these contingents, clans would deploy as separate bodies ... To identify each grouping in the battle line and to act as rallying points, the guardian deities of tribe and clan were carried into battle as standards topped with carved or cast figures of their animal forms."
[5]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 105)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 85)
[3]: (Kruta 2004, 110)
[4]: (Kruta 2004, 100)
[5]: (Allen 2007, 123)
levels.
1. King
2. Decision-making councilOppida fortified urban settlements from 150 BCE
[1]
Caesar c50 BCE referred to the "Gaullish council" of the Parisii
[2]
Magistrate had the power to issue coins
Common political and religious institutions
[3]
Centralised government
[4]
Effective political and administrative system that was equal to Rome
[4]
3. PagiPagus (Clan) / Family group
[5]
Chiefs of tribes?
Cantons (according to Caesar)
[6]
4. Headmen?according to Caesar there was a sub-division below Pagi/Canton
[6]
Galatians, who migrated to Asia minor 279 BCE, also provide a possible insight into Gaulish social structure as they were closely observed by the Greeks. Chieftains (called a tetrach by the Greeks) lead each of the tribes each of which were divided into clans. Supra-tribal level of cooperation: the clans of all the tribes together appointed 300 senators "to attend an annual assembly at a shrine." However they were rarely unified and eventually the chieftains became kings. The chieftains "were assisted by three military advisers and a judge."
[7]
[1]: (Wells 1999, 49-54)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 88)
[3]: (Kruta 2004)
[4]: (Kruta 2004, 115)
[5]: (Collis 2003, 195)
[6]: (Kruta 2004, 185)
[7]: (Allen 2007, 79-80)
Mints at oppida close to Paris Basin region: Villeneuve-Saint Germaine, Boviolles, Sainte-Germaine, and Pommiers. [1]
[1]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
Customary law?
Honour price was "the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon custom of wergild, the amount payable by a third party in the event of unlawful injury or death." "The concept of honour price was fundamental to the legal system of the Celts. It dictated the conduct of all judicial cases, since the value of an individual’s oath or evidence was determined by his honour price. To bring a lawsuit against someone with a higher honour price required the intervention of a patron of higher rank, creating an environment in which the support of the richest and most influential members of the elite was constantly sought after."
[1]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 65)
previous code: inferred present | primitive irrigation system known from Beaker culture. "Silo" present during this time period.
[1]
Does this refer to food storage? Surplus production might also indicate irrigation systems. DH: is there evidence or reason to believe Beaker irrigation, if existed, remained?
Cities organised in network of oppida (fortified urban settlements) which were linked by well-defined routes." [1] Network of streets at Vertault, and road network at Villeneuve-Saint-Germain. Paved road at Caudebec-en-Caux. [2]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 115)
[2]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
Not mentioned by sources for this period. Stone circle known in region close to Paris Basin dating to 475-400 BCE. [1]
Coinage universal from 3rd century BCE: "the first indigenous coins in temperate Europe were minted during the third century B.C., and the designs were based on Greek prototypes." [1] ; Idea of coinage introduced by mercenaries returning from Greece. [1] ; Original usage may have been to pay mercenaries. Cheiftains were paid in gold staters or silver pieces; Design of coin decided in each locale. Magistrates had power to issue coins. [2] ; Gold coin found - origin Mediomatrices of NW Gaul? [3] ; Gold stater from Gaulish city of Parisii [4] ; Oppida excavated Manching, Bavaria, 3rd-2nd centuries BCE, evidence of monetary economy. Minted gold, silver and bronze coins. [5] ; Each oppidum minted distinctive types of coins. [6] Present. [7]
[1]: (Wells 1999, 54)
[2]: (Kruta 2004, 100)
[3]: (Kruta 2004, 186)
[4]: (Kruta 2004, 185)
[5]: (Wells 1999, 30)
[6]: (Wells 1999, 49-54)
Level of development high enough to mint coins, likely high enough for full-time messengers.
Present close to the Paris Basin region. [1]
Not until the 75-27 BCE period anywhere close to the Paris Basin region, although previously present close to this same area between 560-475 BCE. [1]
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
Moat known at Vertault. [1]
[1]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
Some oppida are fortified camps. cf Bibracte, in central France.
[1] Oppida excavated Manching, Bavaria - Late Iron Age. Earth wall 7 KM length enclosed 380 ha [2] At Sainte-Germain: "Delimiting the citadel fortification consists of a triple system of embankments and ditches." [3] At Sandouville outer rampart almost one kilometer long, is preserved as an embankment 6 m high, preceded by a ditch 3 m deep. At Bracquemont there was a 12m high embankment wall. [3]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 102)
[2]: (Wells 1999, 28)
[3]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
At Sainte-Germain: "Delimiting the citadel fortification consists of a triple system of embankments and ditches." Ditches also known at Saint-Mihiel, Vouziers, Saint-Pierre-de-Varengeville, Saint-Samson-de-la-Roque, Sandouville and Lion-devant-Dun. [1]
[1]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
Oppida settlement at Manching near Ingolstadt in Bavaria had double ring of dry-stone wall ramparts filled with earth. [1] At Sainte-Germain: "Delimiting the citadel fortification consists of a triple system of embankments and ditches." [2]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 102)
[2]: (http://www.oppida.org/page.php?lg=fr&rub=00&id_oppidum=168)
"The Hallstatt civilisation knew case-hardening only, but the Celts had various methods of ’steeling’ such as the false-damascening which consisted in welding harder and weaker strips together. Some of the natural steel quite free of of sulphur and phosphorus must have been difficult to forge as it was liable to form cracks." [1] "The general impression of the Celtic swords, here covering a period from roughly 650 to 100 B.C., is that the blade was normally manufactured from a single iron bar of no particularly good quality. The same material could as well have been utilized for nails. ... Common to all the Celtic swords is the extensive coldwork that has taken place. ... evidently the finishing part of the blacksmith’s usual hotwork, only that he continued hammering in the temperature range 800-600C ... Significant coldwork at room temperature must also have taken place, since the metal is work-hardened to high hardness and displays slip lines and Neumann bands. ... The 24 swords do not show any metallurgical development with time, except for one, the oldest, from Hallstatt. That one seems to be a rather mediocre sword based on an improper ore and an inexperienced blacksmith. ... three of them ... of superior quality, being pearlitic-ferritic and probably representing the famous Noric steel. If this argument, based on slag composition and structure - and an inscription on No. 510 - holds true, the manufacture of Noric steel began as early as 300 B.C." [2] "Almost all the Celtic swords here examined were of good quality and would undoubtedly have yielded good service." [3] Not sure of the reason for the contradiction between "no particularly good quality" and "of good quality" but we have the 300 BCE date for Noric steel.
[1]: (Forbes 1950, 464) Robert James Forbes. 1950. Metallurgy in Antiquity: A Notebook for Archaeologists and Technologists. E J BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Buchwald 2005, 122-124) Vagn Fabritius Buchwald. 2005. Iron and steel in ancient times. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.
[3]: (Buchwald 2005, 125-127) Vagn Fabritius Buchwald. 2005. Iron and steel in ancient times. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.
Diodorus Siculus mentions iron breastplates. [1] "In the Halstatt and early La Tene periods, helmets were made of bronze. Iron helmets first appeared in the 4th century BC and gradually replaced the softer alloy, possibly in response to the development of the long slashing sword." [2]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 115)
[2]: (Allen 2007, 119)
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
Inferred from previous and subsequent (quasi)polities.
[1] "The basic equipment of the Celtic warrior was spear and shield. To this could be added a sword, a helmet and a mailshirt." [2] "The Greek writer Strabo commented that the Celtic warrior carried two types of spear: a larger, heavier one for thrusting, and a smaller, lighter javelin that could be thrown and used at close quarters." [3]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 58)
[2]: (Allen 2007, 115)
[3]: (Allen 2007, 116)
Inferred from previous and subsequent (quasi)polities.
Hache / axe. [1]
"There seems no trace of the use of donkeys and mules before contact with the Italian peninsula." [1] Does this source say when this contact considered to have begun? My guess of the meaning is the Roman invasion but I don’t know the context the sentence was written in.
[1]: (Ellis 1998, 109) Peter Berresford Ellis. 1998. The ancient world of the Celts. Constable.
The only mention of armour is chainmail. "Diodorus also mentions that some warriors wear iron breast plates of chain mail. Seated figures of stone from the sanctuary of Roquepertuse (Fig.163) and a stone statue of a Gaul from Vachères (Basse-Alpes) (Pl. VI), dating to the late first century BC, are shown wearing chain mail, and actual examples have been found in a few burials, including that of the warrior provided with the bird-crested helmet, who was buried at Ciumesti. One of the features of Celtic warfare which impressed itself upon the Classical mind was the fact that some warriors fought naked except for the sword belt and a gold neck torc." [1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2000, 98-99)
The only mention of armour is chainmail. "Diodorus also mentions that some warriors wear iron breast plates of chain mail. Seated figures of stone from the sanctuary of Roquepertuse (Fig.163) and a stone statue of a Gaul from Vachères (Basse-Alpes) (Pl. VI), dating to the late first century BC, are shown wearing chain mail, and actual examples have been found in a few burials, including that of the warrior provided with the bird-crested helmet, who was buried at Ciumesti. One of the features of Celtic warfare which impressed itself upon the Classical mind was the fact that some warriors fought naked except for the sword belt and a gold neck torc." [1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2000, 98-99)
The only mention of armour is chainmail. "Diodorus also mentions that some warriors wear iron breast plates of chain mail. Seated figures of stone from the sanctuary of Roquepertuse (Fig.163) and a stone statue of a Gaul from Vachères (Basse-Alpes) (Pl. VI), dating to the late first century BC, are shown wearing chain mail, and actual examples have been found in a few burials, including that of the warrior provided with the bird-crested helmet, who was buried at Ciumesti. One of the features of Celtic warfare which impressed itself upon the Classical mind was the fact that some warriors fought naked except for the sword belt and a gold neck torc." [1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2000, 98-99)
Not mentioned in the literature RA.
Not mentioned in the literature RA.