CENTRAL EUROPE AND MEDITERRANEAN
IN THE 4th AND 3rd CENTURIES BC
THE CELTS IN ITALY
Central Europe
LTB–CarchaeologyinCentralEurope
LT B-LT C1 Celtic flat cemeteries
-a lot of LT A stuff is no more…
-depopulation of some regions (southern Bohemia)
-end of the „princely graves“
-no more proofs of interregional exchange
-abandomnent of central places
-decline of advanced technologies (wheel-thrown pottery)
-the new world
-occupation only in the most fertile regions
-the settlements are almost unknown (and those that are known are not that exciting)
-small communities (cemeteries of mostly few dozens indivituals)
-flat (= no tumulus) inhumations (cremations are rare and specific to only some regions
and periods)
-almost no burial differentiation
LTB–CarchaeologyinCentralEurope
- Relatively uniform
archaeological picture
thourgout Europe with
variations according to
broader or narrower
geographical areas
LTB–CarchaeologyinCentralEurope
Münsingen (Bern)
-with 218 burials the largest LT flat
cemetery
-but spanning LT A–LT C2 (250
years)
It in reality includes 10 generations
of a single family (as confirmetd by
anthropological studies)
=> Variations in the „richness“ of
grave goods has nothing to do with
the status of the buried
-a 1960s/1970s way of treating flat burials is to classify
the grave goods into classes of „richness“ and to order
them into social classes from „warrior elite“ to serfs“
BUT !!!
=> Arrangement of grave goods
(mainly jewellery) is more relevant to
considerations concerning regional
costume and regional ritual habits
(but don‘t exagerate it either…)
LTB–CarchaeologyinCentralEurope
LTC1 – archeologically
visible burials disapear
in most of transalpine
Europe (with the
exception of a few
regions – Mosel-Rhine
region, the Swiss
plateau, Eastern Alps,
Northern Italy etc.)
 in mid-3rd–1st c. BC
we have only vague
ideas as to what they
did with the bodies…
LTB–CarchaeologyinCentralEurope
V BC IV BC III BC II–I BC
Between the 5th and the 1st
century, the La Tène culture
spreads (and shrinks)
through most of transalpine
Europe
450 450
400 400
350 350
300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
LT A
LT B1
LT B2
LT C1
LT C 2
LT D
-PRINCELY BURIALS
-SOUTHERN IMPORTS
-CELTIC EXPANSION
-FLAT BURIALS
-END OF BURIALS
-AGLOMERATIONS
-TECHNOLOGIES AND COINS
-OPPIDA
-objective artefactual
chronology is based mainly
on the evolution of
brooches – the foot (freestanding,
attached to the
bow or enclosed)
distinguishes Early, Middle,
and late La Tène period
-the problem is that the
artefactual chronology
does not correspond with
the significant
transformations of the rest
of archaeological picture
(settlement pattern, burial
rite, social structure)
=> The artefactual
chronology is valid and
objective but only useful
for purely chronological
discussion
LTChronology
450 450
400 400
350 350
300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
LT A
LT B1
LT B2
LT C1
LT C 2
LT D
EARLY STYLE
=
PREMIER STYLE
WALDALGESHEIM STYLE
=
STYLE VÉGÉTAL CONTINU
SWORD STYLE
PLASTIC
STYLE
LATE
STYLES
-in order to further
complicate things,
some scholars use
parallel chronologies
based on
development of LT
art (more on it later
on) which does not
overlap with either
the artefactual or the
social phases
LTChronology
450 450
400 400
350 350
300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
LT A
LT B1
LT B2
LT C1
LT C 2
LT D
-… and so we are left with
three various ways to
approach LT chronology (and
in each of them, the various
scholar of course have very
different ideas about the
specific dates)
-if we forget about art (which
is a fringy amusement of a
few archaeologists… like me)
there are two sets of meaning
of the same terms….
LTChronology
450 450
400 400
350 350
300 300
250 250
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
LT A
LT B1
LT B2
LT C1
LT C 2
LT D
EARLY
LA TÈNE
PERIOD
MIDDLE
LA TÈNE
PERIOD
LATE
LA TÈNE
PERIOD
„RECENT
LA TÈNE PERIOD“
Social terminology Artefactual terminology
= early LT brooch horizon
= middle LT brooch horizon
= late LT brooch horizon
EARLY
LA TÈNE
PERIOD
= initial phase of the LT culture
= the flat graves period
= the oppida period
= the pre-oppida period
LATE
LA TÈNE PERIOD
MIDDLE
LA TÈNE
PERIOD
[I tend to use this system even though I am
aware of the confusion it makes]
pre-Duchcov
Duchcov Münsingen
middle LT
construction
broochesAquickoverviewofLTB–C1artefacts
AquickoverviewofLTB–C1artefacts
weaponry
Characteristically LT weapon
typesand weapon sets
-swords in metallic scabbard of
precisely defined size categories
-sword suspension systems (ring
sets or chain belts)
-spearheads
-shield-bosses
LA TÈNE
ART
IV – III BC
P. JACOBSTAHL (1880–1957)
O.-H. FREY (*1929)
V. KRU TA (*1939)
-La Tène art remains one of the
defining traits of the La Tène
culture showing that the
communities shared not only
material culture but also
intellectual values and
ideologies
V. MEGAW
(*1934)
https://www.academia.edu/39772542/the_Celts_2018_2019_-_La_T%C3%A8ne_Art
LTart
-the LT art of the IV–III century develops
directly from the V century Early style
(which we have already seen)
-friezes of chained geometrical elements
-figural features combined in surreal
combinations – plurality of views
LTart
WALDALGESHEIM
-the last princely burial in the Rhineland
-female burial showing all features of LT A princely graves
(imported metal vessel, gold jewellery, a wagon, a
keimeilion)… only it dates to late IV century => two or
three generations after the last LT A burial
-a late IV century
Macedonian situla-a LT A spouted jug with the
body engraved in Early style
=> Several generations
earlier than the burial
-set of gold jewellery (bracelets and a torc) decorated in an
art style called‚ the Waldalgesheim style‘ or ‚Vegetal style‘
LTart
LTart
Waldalgesheim style = style végetal continu
-instead of chained elements of the Early style, the friezes are continuous
often of vegetal character and with elements like palmettes
-huge vogue of hidden faces (more on them later)
LTart
Besançon
Berru
Clear precursors already on
some artefacts dated to LT A
LTart
Filottrano, I
Casalecchio, I
Moscano
di Fabriano,I
Comacchio, I
Münsingen, CH
Litér, HU
LTart
-identical solutions appear from NW France, through the Rhineland to central Italy..
By chance? By imitation? And who imitated whom?
LTart
‚Cheshire style‘
-the tendrils often include hidden human or
monstrous faces of possible mythological and
surely apotropaic meaning
Santa Paolina di Filottrano, I
Oploty, CZ
LTart
‚…and I wish you wouldn‘t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly, said Alice. „You
make one quite giddy.
‚All right,‘ said the cat and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of
the tail and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
‚Well! I‘ve often seen cats without a grin,‘ thought Alice; ‚but I have never seen a grin
without a cat! It‘s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!‘
‚Cheshire style‘
The ‚Cheshire style‘ is
Jacobsthal‘s term
derived from the
Cheshire cat scene in
Alice in Wonderland ...
LTart
„Brennus, the king of the Gauls, on entering a temple came […] upon images of stone and wood he
laughed at them, to think that men, believing that gods have human form, should set up their images in
wood and stone.“
Diod. Sic. XXII, 9.4
-(visual) polymorphism and semantic plurality and fluidity (cf. mask brooches of LT A a hidden faces of
Cheshire style) may have been a very characteristic feature of LT intellectual world
LTart
Plastic style IV/III–2/2 III BC
-the decorative principe remains the same – based on geometrical forms – but
the decoration becomes central rather than linear and grows three-dimensional
LTart
Mezek, BG
Paris region
„the Disney style“ (after Megaw)
-in the 3rd century, the Plastic style often looses its
abstract quality and is applied to
representation of creatures or parts thereof
-still, the depictions are always based on the
geometrical principles valid from the Early style
Manching, DE
LTart
the Swords style (contemporary with the plastic style)
-the Swiss sword style the Hungarian sword style
-two-dimensional development of
scrollwork instead of the the third
dimensions of the plastic style
-central compositions unlike the
linearity of the Waldalgesheim linearity
-discovery of asymmetry
LTart
(Hungaran) sword style
LTart
335 aC
280 aC
279 aC
278 aC
CELTIC
MIGRATIONS
-throughout the IV
and III BC, Greek and
Roman sources
mention a series of
Celtic incursion to
Italy, Thrace, Greece,
and Asia Minor
-all other Celtic
migrations you may
hear about (from Gaul
to Central Europe,
from Greece back to
Gaul) are just
conjectures, don‘t
care about them
THE CELTS IN ITALY
TheCeltsinItaly
V. KrutaD. Vitali
TheCeltsinItaly
Hallstatt brooches in northern Italy
Ha D2
Ha D3
TheCeltsinItaly–thebeginings
-systematic presence of
Ha and LT A artefacts in
northern Italy (which we
have seen before) shows
pre-existing contacts
between Italy and the
Transalpine world
TheCeltsinItaly–thebegginings
-systematic presence of
Ha and LT A artefacts in
northern Italy (which we
have seen before) shows
pre-existing contacts
between Italy and the
Transalpine world
Vergiate
(VR)
VI–V BC
Prestino (CO) 480/450 BC
uvamoKozis : Plialeθu : uvlTiauioPos : ariuonePos : siTeś : TeTu
"Vamogotsis Blialedu ha posto (questa) stele per gli Uvltiauio- Ariuo-“
pelkui:pruiam:teu:karite:iṣ́ọs:kal
ite:palaṃ[
"Deuhaposto(?)latomba(?)per
Belgos;lostessohaerettolastele" Casteletto Ticino (NO) late VII BC
Lepontic
inscriptions
-series of inscriptions in the
territory of the Golasecca
culture
-written in script derived
from the Etruscan
alphabet but in a language
akin to ‚Celtic‘ languages
of Gaul
=> The Golasecca culture
was linguistically ‚Celtic‘
which is for some people
important…
I never understood why….
TheCeltsinItaly–thebegginings
These plains were anciently inhabited by Etruscans, at the same period as what are called the
Phlegraean plains round Capua and Nola; which latter, however, have enjoyed the highest
reputation, because they lay in a great many people's way and so got known. In speaking
then of the history of the Etruscan Empire, we should not refer to the district occupied by
them at the present time, but to these northern plains, and to what they did when they
inhabited them. Their chief intercourse was with the Celts, because they occupied the
adjoining districts; who, envying the beauty of their lands, seized some slight pretext to
gather a great host and expel the Etruscans from the valley of the Padus, which they at once
took possession of themselves. First, the country near the source of the Padus was occupied
by the Laevi and Lebecii; after them the Insubres settled in the country, the largest tribe of
all; and next them, along the bank of the river, the Cenomani. […] South of the Padus, in the
Apennine district, first beginning from the west, the Ananes, and next them the Boii settled.
Next them, on the coast of the Adriatic, the Lingones; and south of these, still on the seacoast,
the Senones. These are the most important tribes that took possession of this part of
the country.
They lived in open villages, and without any permanent buildings. As they made their beds of
straw or leaves, and fed on meat, and followed no pursuits but those of war and agriculture,
they lived simple lives without being acquainted with any science or art whatever. Each
man's property, moreover, consisted in cattle and gold; as they were the only things that
could be easily carried with them, when they wandered from place to place, and changed
their dwelling as their fancy directed. They made a great point, however, of friendship: for
the man who had the largest number of clients or companions in his wanderings, was looked
upon as the most formidable and powerful member of the tribe.
Polybius II, 17
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
34. Concerning the migration of the Gauls into Italy we are told as follows: While Tarquinius
Priscus reigned at Rome, the Celts, who make up one of the three divisions of Gaul, were
under the domination of the Bituriges, and this tribe supplied the Celtic nation with a king.
[2] Ambigatus, [….3 t]he king, who was now an old man and wished to relieve his kingdom
of a burdensome throng, announced that he meant to send Bellovesus and Segovesus, his
sister's sons, […] to find such homes as the gods might assign to them by augury; [4] and
promised them that they should head as large a number of emigrants as they themselves
desired, so that no tribe might be able to prevent their settlement. Whereupon to Segovesus
were by lot assigned the Hercynian highlands; but to Bellovesus the gods proposed a far
pleasanter road, into Italy. [5] Taking out with him the surplus population of his tribes, the
Bituriges, Arverni, Senones, Haedui, Ambarri, Carnutes, and Aulerci, he marched with vast
numbers of infantry and cavalry […] They crossed the Alps through the Taurine passes and
the pass of the Duria; routed the Etruscans in battle near the river Ticinus, and learning that
they were encamped in what was called the country of the Insubres, who bore the same
name as an Haeduan canton, they regarded it as a place of good omen, and founded a city
there which they called Mediolanium.
Presently another band, consisting of Cenomani led by Etitovius, followed in the tracks of the
earlier emigrants; and […having] crossed the Alps by the same pass, established themselves
where the cities of Brixia and Verona are now. [2…]. Then, over the Poenine Pass, came the
Boii and Lingones, who finding everything taken up between the Po and the Alps, crossed
the Po […], and drove out not only the Etruscans, but also the Umbrians from their lands
[…3] Then the Senones, the latest to come, had their holdings from the river Utens all the
way to the Aesis. This was the tribe, I find, which came to Clusium and from thence to Rome,
but whether alone or assisted by all the peoples of Cisalpine Gaul, is uncertain.
Livy V, 34–35
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
 The incursion of the Celts to Northern Italy is dated to the times of Tarquinius Priscus (ca. 600 BC) but then
they talk about the siege of Rome in the IV century
 Some claimed that it is the arrival of the Golasecca people but it is nonsense (the Golasecca region
developed continually from the Recent Bronze Age)
 Most probably it shows it how little precise ideas Polybius and Livy had about the events they discribed
„and learning that they were encamped in what was called the country of the Insubres, who
bore the same name as an Haeduan canton, they regarded it as a place of good omen, and
founded a city there which they called Mediolanium“
=> Foundation of Milan is associated with the migrations (which is not precise since there is
occupation in Milan already in the 5th century), more interestingly, Celts obviously met Celts
in the Golasecca regions…. As they are supposed to…
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
- ‚ […] they routed the Etruscans in battle near the river Ticinus...‘
=> A depiction of a fight between an (Etruscan?) horseman and a
foot-soldier with clearly LT weaponry in a 5th/4th entury stele
(gravestone) in Bologna
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
?
INSUBRI
CENOMANI
BOII
PICENI
?
migration in waves, tribe after tribe, each of which skip over the
previous one
In reality, the names of the tribes are otherwise rarely used before the
3rd century
=> the descriptions are probably only a reconstructions in hindsight –
the stuation in the IV BC may have been much more dynamic
Senones, the latest to come, had
their holdings from the river Utens
all the way to the Aesis. This was
the tribe, I find, which came to
Clusium and from thence to Rome,
but whether alone or assisted by all
the peoples of Cisalpine Gaul, is
uncertain.
Livy V, 34–35
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
Livius V, 35-49
Diodorus Siculus XIV, 113-114
Plutarch, Camillus
Polybios II, 18 1-2
cca 390 (387/386?)
the Senones (or whoever) cross the Apennines
to conquer Chusi and Rome
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
Ancona
Canosa
Syracuse
Caere
Rome
a myth on Sicilian
origins of Gauls (from
Polyfemus and a nymph
Galateia) is construed in
Syracuse in this period
the Canosa helmet
2/2 IV BC
„When [the Syracusan tyrant] Dionysius was waging
war [against Reggio in 388], he was joined by the
envoys of the Gauls who had plundered Rome
several months before that, seeking his friendshisp
and alliance with him.“
M.Iustiniani Iustini Epitoma Historiarum
Philippicarum Pompei Trogi XX, 5
Syracusan Ancona
= outlet of the
Celtic
mercenaries for
Dionysius ?
-throughout the 4th century the Celts ravage Italy,
possibly in service of the Syracuse – they were very
active in southern Italy and regularly attacking the
enemies of Syracuse
TheCeltsinItaly–thewrittensources
the SENONES
Senones are localised in central
Adriatic area north of river Aesis
-390/386 – allegedly responsible for
the conquest of Rome
283 – Romans enter the Senon
territory and (allegedly)
exterminate the tribe annecting
the ager gallicus as part of the
Roman ager publicusSentinum
Ancona
Sena Gallica
Ariminum
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
Moscano di Fabriano
Santa Paolina
di Filottrano
Senons?
Picens?
Greeks?
LT artefacts in „non
Celtic“ contexts
-in the Middle Adriatic area, there is a series
of burials and cemeteries with high
presence of La Tène objects… strangely
enough, they are as widespread South of
Aesis as they are north of it….
LT objects are also very numerous in sites
which otherwise have all the characteristics
of local Picene culture
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
Montefortino di Arcevia
-several dozen ihnumations
-traditionally presented as an exemplary Senone cemetery
-one of the few which are actually north of Esino…
-but there are some doubts…
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
purely Italic grave goods
-metallic vessels, feasting implements
-the only LT elements are the LT swords. (present
along with Italic javelins and Italic spearheads)
-even the „Montefortino“ type helmets associated
with the Celts are in reality of Italic origin)
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
...among the extremely rich Italic jewellery inlcuding gold
wreath and fingerrings with engraved gemstones), there
are mere three LT brooches (few in comparison with Italic
ones), one wire bracelet and two glass bracelets
(btw the earliest ones known… => are they LT?)
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
These may indeed be
the Senones but if they
are, there is no way of
telling apart the Celts
and the Picenes (or
other Italics) from
archaeology alone
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
Santa Paolina di Filottrano…
…another Central Adriatic cemetery rich on both Italic
and LT archaeology
-including a golden torc and a sword scabbard in the
Waldalgesheim style
-the Senones region was
long presented as the area
where the Waldalgesheim
style was created, mainly
thanks to the close contact
of Celts with Greeks (W.
style was believed to be
derived from Greek 4th
century scrollwork)
-in reality the Fillotrano
tombs are later (third
quarter of the 4th century)
than other context with
examples of W. style
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
-Santa Paolina di Fabriano
-Epiais-Rhus
- Moscano di Filottrano
Motifs identical with those on the Filottrano scabbard are documented elsewehre in LT world, e.g. on scabbards of
Transalpine type and origin
https://www.academia.edu/1786179/Arte_lateniana_e_Celti_d_Italia
Unfortunatelly only in Italian…..
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
-in reality Waldalgesheim style did not need
Greek inspiration – it probably developed
continually from Early style (probably in France)
creation in the Senon
area under the
influence of of 4th c. BC
Greece and S. Italy?
(V. Kruta)
or local transalpine
development from the
La Tène Early style of
the 5th c. BC?
(S. Verger)
TheCeltsinItaly–theSenones
the BOII
-Emilia – Romagna (= frmr Etruscan – Felsinean area)
Placentia
Cremona
Modena Felsina
Ariminum
Sarsina
Ravenna
Mantova
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
the BOII
Territory
-approximatelly the present-day provinces of Bologna and Modena
History
283–225 aC – constant wars with Rome
225 aC – beaten at Telamon along with the Insubi
201–191 aC - after 2nd Punic war Rome finally conquered the Po valley and
wiped the Boii out
Placentia
Cremona
Modena Felsina
Ariminum
Sarsina
Ravenna
Mantova
Archaeology
-the dense highly structured
settlement pattern of
Felsinean period gradually
disappeared over the first
half of the 4th century
-the majority of minor
settlements are abandoned,
in larger settlements
occupation continues on a
scale which is hardly
perceptible
-some elements of Felsinean
material culture (pottery)
carry on till the 3rd century,
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Casalecchio di Reno
-an earlier Felsinean settlement is abandoned
-a LT flat cemetery is established on its margin
(purely LT burial rite and material culture)
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Casalecchio di Reno
-inhumations with only
personal
equipment
-very early artefacts
(LT B1a) show that
the community
arrived to Italy
already in the first
half of the 4th
century => the first
generation of
invaders
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
MA RZA BO TTO
The Etruscan town was abandoned in its original form in
the early 4th century
In late 4th and early 3rd century there are traces of
human presence – squatting rather than habitation
(blue blobs)
Two cemeteries (red blobs) – 18 inhumations with LT
grave goods or without furnishing (LT B2–C1)
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Btw: it was in Marzabotto in 1870 that La Tène artefacts were
first associated with the Celts when during a conference
excursion Gabriel de Mortillet (keeper of the French Musée des
Antiquités Nationales) and Edouard Désor (Swiss prehistorian)
recognised the sword and brooch types which they knew from
the Marne and La Tène…
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Marzabotto
Unfortunatelly the burials
were excavated in the
19th century, the artefact
associations are lost and
many of the artefacts are
not preserved
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
https://studiahercynia.ff.cuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2020/11/Heidi_Geschwind_78-97.pdf
BOLOGNA
-the occupation continues but the situation is very unclear
-the most consitent documentation comes from burials (still in the
same Villanovan / Felsinean cemeteries)
Casalecchio
Bologna
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
-even though the Celts were supposed to
arrive in early 4th century, the Bolognese
cemeteries do not show extremely many
signs of Celtic presence there for the
greater part of the 4th century
-there are two early LT B1a brooches
without clear context
-apart from than that, no great change in
the Felsinean burials neither in burial rite
nor in material culture
-all of this while in Casalecchio (5km
away) sits a purely LT community
=> The initial relationship between the two communities must have been much more complex than
simply high civilisation uprooted by invading barbarians… it was rather parallel existence and – as we
will see – mutual assimilation
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Later in the 4th century, Felsinean and La Tène
artefacts and rites begin to mix up
-brooches and weapons are usually in LT
tradition, pottery and prestige items are
Felsinean/Mediterranean
-on ritual level there is mixing of the LT warrior
ideology (no weapons were put in Felsinean
graves) with the Felsinean feasting (vessels
and board games) and athletic (scrapers)
ideology (cf. the next slide)
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
t. Benacci 953 IV/III aC
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
1st half III aC
2nd half III aC
-down to mid-3rd century, the
two cultures coexist –
people still write in
Etruscan in mid-3rd century
(-we are sure people were
wearingLT brooches and
using LT swords but there is
no evidence they also
spoke ‚Celtic‘)
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Monte Bibele
-in the Apennines overlooking the Idice valley
- a small settlement (pianella di monte Savino) and cemetery (Monte Tamburino)
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Monte Bibele
Settlement at Pianella di Monte Savino
-a dozen houses and a cistern on three terraces… that‘s all
-founded in late 5th/early 4th c., destroyed by fire in late
3rd/early 2nd c. BC (during the Roman occupation of the
territory?
-throughout the settlement‘s existence the pottery is in
Felsinean tradition
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Mt. Bibele – cemetery at Monte Tamburino
- 165 burials V/IV –mid. III BC
t. 01
t. 02
-early burials are purely felsinean
t. 42 t. 43
-from mid-4th century LT weapons and brooches appear in
male graves along with Felsinean pottery
-but in the same graves there are inscriptions of Etruscan
male names
-no substantial change in female graves
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
t. 85
t. 88
t. 100
-In late 4th and 3rd century male furnishings seemingly
become Cetic (weapons) or Etruscan (feasting
implements) …. In reality the distinction between them
is based on age: all ‚Celts‘ are young to mid-age, all
‚Etruscans‘ are over 50…. :~)
-nothing changed in female graves
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
Marzabotto
Casalecchio Bologna
Monte Bibele
 In the Boii area the incoming Celts apparently
met with the previous populations (Etruscans,
Umbrians, Ligurians or whoever)
-both populations lived alongside and culturally
(and ethnically?) mingeld
-communities like Casalecchio could have been
Celtic
-Bologna is described Celtic by the Romans…but
archaeology shows Felsinean rite and Etruscan
language alive deep into the 3rd century
-Monte Bibele clearly shows that the use of
material culture was clearly culture-based, not
ethnical
=> there were some Celts and some Etruscans
and there is no way to recognize them
archaeologically nor to understand, how they
defined themselves and if they distinguished
Celts, Etruscans and Umbrians
The situation could have been absolutely identical
elsewhere in the LT world
https://www.academia.edu/10451295/I_Celti_dItalia_
IV-I_secolo_a.C._tra_identit%C3%A0_e_assimilazioni_
https://www.academia.edu/7456580/Probl%C3%A8mes_d_identit%C3%A9s_ethniques_en_Ci
salpine_soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9s_multi-ethniques_ou_identit%C3%A9s_multiples_
 unfortunatelly, just in French
and Italian
Cemeteries
Italic artefacts and rite
La Tène artefacts and rite
Italic and LT elements mixed
TheCeltsinItaly–theBoii
some La Tène elements
(mainly brooches and
weaponry) became
common throughout Italy
also in communities,
which were in no way
Celtic
The ‚Celto-Italic‘ helmets
of Montefortino type →
They further developed to
the standard helmet of
Roman legionaries in
Middle and Late Republic
TheCeltsinItaly
LT swords in Italy (Dore 1995)
LT swords are commonplace
through the peninsula from the
5th to the 1st century
TheCeltsinItaly
Pulica
In Liguria, ‚Celtic‘ swords (and ‚Celto-Italic‘) helmets
are associated with burials entirely in local tradition
TheCeltsinItaly
Btw., the horned helmet is a common feature of the Ligurian
territory, the only piece outside of it was found in Mt. Bibele
which … who knows to what extent it actually was Celtic
TheCeltsinItaly
Este, Veneto
Benvenuti 123
In the Veneto, LT swords
and LT brooches were the
norm in collective (family)
tombs with no other La
Tène features and with
numerous inscriptions of
purely Venetic names
TheCeltsinItaly
In Samnium LT swords are often found in sanctuaries (so
theoretically they could be spoils from clashes with Celts)
but also in graves, suspended not from the LT sword chain
but attached to the characteristically local bronze belt
TheCeltsinItaly
Cerveteri Tomba dei rilievi
And they appear also in Etruria, depicted
in elite contexts alongisde with swords
of Greek types…
TheCeltsinItaly
San Vittore , Frosignone
TR[EBIOS]·POMPONIO[S]·C[f?]·[M]E·FECET·ROMA[I]
Ghiaccio forte, Etruria
…as well as actually
present in settlements
And if someone is still not convinced, there is one from Latium which
explicitly says ‚made in Rome‘
TheCeltsinItaly
Vesta sanctuary, Rome
Cosa,
Etruria
LT type brooches are also
common in Italy in the
3rd–1st century BC and
often associated with
Celts… though not for
any good reason. In
reality, there are no
‚Roman‘ brooch types of
this period and very
probably, LT type fibulae
were just the normal
fasteners of the period
with no Celtic
connotations
TheCeltsinItaly
https://www.academia.edu/7657630/Holger_Baitinger_Fibeln_vom_Mittellat%C3%A8neschema_auf_Sizilien_un
d_in_Kalabrien._Jahrbuch_des_R%C3%B6misch-Germanischen_Zentralmuseums_Mainz_59_2012_2014_365-389
TheCeltsinItaly
6/3/216/3/21
artefacts Artefacts and practices
Kysela – Lukas – Camurri forthcoming
➢the Boii originating from Bohemia
invade Italy in early IV BC
➢ beaten by the Romans in 191 BC
they return to Bohemia where they –
thanks to their Mediterranean
experience – establish developed
urban culture
➢© V. Kruta
A study a part: the Boii in Italy and the Boii in Central Europe – what do they have in common?
https://www.academia.edu/39772490/the_Celts_2018_2019_-_Celts_and_Boii
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Polyb. II, 17.7
These plains were anciently inhabited by Etruscans […] Their chief intercourse was with the
Celts […] who […] expelled the Etruscans from the valley of the Padus […]. First, the
country near the source of the Padus was occupied by the Laevi and Lebecii; after them the
Insubres […]; and next them [….] the Cenomani. […] South of the Padus, in the Apennine
district, first […] the Ananes, and next them the Boii settled.
34. […] to Segovesus were by
lot assigned the Hercynian
highlands; but to Bellovesus
the gods proposed a far
pleasanter road, into Italy. [5]
Taking out with him the
surplus population of his
tribes […] they crossed the
Alps through the Taurine
passes and the pass of the
Duria [and] routed the
Etruscans in battle near the
river Ticinus […]. Then, over
the Poenine Pass, came the
Boii and Lingones, who
finding everything taken up
between the Po and the Alps,
crossed the Po […], and
drove out not only the
Etruscans, but also the
Umbrians from their lands.
S
B
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Strabo (V, 1. 6)
The principal nations of these Kelts [in Italy] were the Boii,
the Insubri, and the Senones and Gæsatæ […]. The Romans
afterwards entirely extirpated these latter, and expelled the
Boii from their country, who then migrated to the land about
the Danube, where they dwelt with the Taurisci, and warred
against the Dacians until the whole nation was destroyed.
× Gerhard Dobesch demonstrated that this is Strabo‘s
conjecture based on reconstruction of events from later
sources
Taurisci
Boii?
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Strabone VII, 2.2
[Poseidonius] goes off to say that in
earlier times the Boii dwelt in the
Hercynian Forest, and that the Cimbri
made a sally against this place, but
on being repulsed by the Boii, went
down to the Ister and the country of
the Scordiscan Galatae, then to the
country of the Teuristae and Taurisci
(these, too, Galatae), and then to the
country of the Helvetii
Taurisci
Scordisci
Helvetii
TheBoiiandtheBoii
??????
???
Caesar (BG I, 5, 4)
and [the Helvetii] admit to their party
and unite to themselves as
confederates the Boii, who had dwelt
on the other side of the Rhine , and
had crossed over into the Norican
territory, and assaulted Noreia.
Rauraci
Norici?
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Strabo (IV, 6. 8)
Beyond, both the eastern parts of the mountains, and those likewise inclining to the south, are possessed by the Rhæti and
Vindelici, who adjoin the Helvetii and Boii, and press upon their plains. The Rhæti extend as far as Italy above Verona and
Como. [...] All these people were continually making incursions both into the neighbouring parts of Italy, and into [the
countries] of the Helvetii, the Sequani, the Boii, and the Germani.
Reti
Vindelici
Helvetii
Boi?
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Strabo VII, 1.5
The Hercynian Forest […] comprises a
large circuit within regions that are
fortified by nature; in the center of it,
however, lies a country that is capable
of affording an excellent livelihood.
And near it are the sources of both
the Ister and the Rhenus, as also the
lake between the two sources, and
the marshes into which the Rhenus
spreads. […] There is also an island in
the lake which Tiberius used as a base
of operations in his naval battle with
the Vindelici. This lake is south of the
sources of the Ister, as is also the
Hercynian Forest, so that necessarily,
in going from Celtica to the Hercynian
Forest, one first crosses the lake and
then the Ister, and from there on
advances through more passable
regions—plateaus—to the forest.
Tiberius had proceeded only a day's
journey from the lake when he saw
the sources of the Ister.
Strabo VII, 1.5
The country of the Rhaeti adjoins
the lake for only a short distance,
whereas that of the Helvetii and
the Vindelici, and also the desert
of the Boii, adjoin the greater
part of it. All the peoples as far as
the Pannonii, but more especially
the Helvetii and the Vindelici,
inhabit plateaus. But the
countries of the Rhaeti and the
Norici extend as far as the passes
over the Alps and verge toward
Italy, a part thereof bordering on
the country of the Insubri and a
part on that of the Carni and the
legions about Aquileia. And there
is also another large forest,
Gabreta;6 it is on this side of the
territory of the Suevi, whereas
the Hercynian Forest, which is
also held by them, is on the far
side.
Reti?
deserta Boiorum??
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Strabo VII, 3.11
Boerebistas a Getan [….], restored the people, who had been
reduced to an evil plight by numerous wars, and raised them to such
a height through training, sobriety, and obedience to his commands
that within only a few years he had established a great empire and
subordinated to the Getae most of the neighboring peoples. And he
began to be formidable even to the Romans, because he would
cross the Ister with impunity and plunder Thrace as far as
Macedonia and the Illyrian country; and he not only laid waste the
country of the Celti who were intermingled with the Thracians and
the Illyrians, but actually caused the complete disappearance of the
Boii who were under the rule of Critasirus, and also of the Taurisci.
VII, 3.2
For at the present time these tribes […] are mingled with the
Thracians. And mingled with them are also the Celtic tribes—the
Boii, the Scordisci, and the Taurisci.
VII, 5.6
for those who were most powerful in earlier times were utterly
humbled or were obliterated, as, for example, among the Galatae
the Boii and the Scordistae […]; that is, they were reduced in
warfare by one another at first and then later by the Macedonians
and the Romans.
Taurisci
Scordisci
Boii?
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Pliny NH III, 146
A tergo Carnorum et Iapudum, qua se fert magnus Hister,
Raetis iunguntur Norici. oppida eorum Virunum, Celeia,
Teurnia, Aguntum, Iuvanum, omnia Claudia, Flavium
Solvense. Noricis iunguntur lacus Pelso, deserta Boiorum;
iam tamen colonia Divi Claudi Savaria et oppido Scarabantia
Iulia habitantur.
Agrippa (in: Dimensuratio
provinciarum 18)
Illyricum et Pannonia ab
oriente flumine Drino ab
occidete dessertis in quibus
habitant Boi et Carni, a
septentrione flumine Danubio.
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Strabo VII, 1, 3
the country is elevated towards the south and forms a mountain chain that connects with the Alps and extends towards the
east as though it were a part of the Alps […] Here, too, is the Hercynian Forest and also the tribes of the Suevi, some of
which dwell inside the forest, [and], in whose territory is Boihaemum, the domain of Marabodus, the place whither he
caused to migrate […] several peoples, in particular the Marcomanni, his fellow-tribesmen; after his return from Rome this
man […] was placed in charge of the stateaffairs. for, as a youth he had been at Rome and enjoyed the favor of Augustus…
Boiohaemum (?)
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Velleius Paterculus (II,108-109)
[108] Nothing remained to be conquered in
Germany except the people of the Marcomanni,
[with] its leader Maroboduus, […109] He was to
be feared on this account, that, having Germany
at the left and in front of his settlements,
Pannonia on the right, and Noricum in the rear
of them…
4. the Alps which mark the
boundary of Italy were not
more than two hundred miles
distant from Marobuduus
boundary line. 5 […] Tiberius
Caesar resolved to attack
from opposite directions […].
Sentius Saturninus had
instructions to lead his legions
through the country of the
Catti into Boiohaemum, that
is the name of the region
occupied by Maroboduus,
cutting a passage through the
Hercynian forest which
bounded the region, while
from Carnuntum, the nearest
point of Noricum, he himself
undertook to lead against the
Marcomanni the army which
was serving in Illyricum
Boiohaemum
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Tacitus (Germania[28]
The great Julius, informs us that
Gaul was once more powerful
than Germany. Consequently
we may believe that Gauls even
crossed over into Germany. […]
Accordingly the country
between the Hercynian forest
and the rivers Rhine and
Mœnus, and that which lies
beyond, was occupied
respectively by the Helvetii and
Boii, both tribes of Gaul. The
name Boiemum still survives,
marking the old tradition of the
place, though the population
has been changed.
Elvezi?
Boii?
Boii?
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Tacitus, Germania 42
The Narisci border on the Hermunduri, and then follow the Marcomanni and Quadi. The Marcomanni stand first in strength and
renown, and their very territory, from which the Boii were driven in a former age, was won by valour. Nor are the Narisci and
Quadi inferior to them. This I may call the frontier of Germany, so far as it is completed by the Danube.
Quadi
Marcomani
Boii
Marcomani
Boii
TheBoiiandtheBoii
L. VOLCATIO Q. F. VEL.
PRIMO PRAEF. COH. I.
NORICOR. IN PANN.
PRAEF. RIPAE DANVVI
ET CIVITATIVM DVARVM
BOIOR[VM] ET
AZALIOR[VM]
(CIL IX 5363: Györ)
D(IS) M(ANIBUS) ULPI TITI EQ.
SING. AUG. N. TUR(MA)
EMERITI NAT(IONE) BOIUS [...]
ALLECT. EX ALA I THR(ACUM)
EX PANN(ONIA) SUP(ERIORE)
CIL VI 3308, Roma
ARIOMANUS ILLIATI
F(ILIUS) BOI
(CIL III 4594:
Ebersdorf)
MOGETISSAE
COMATULLI F. BOIO
(CIL III p. 867 nr. XXIV:
Weißenburg)
NERTOMARO
IRDUCISSAE F.
BOIO
(CIL III p.869 N°
XXVI: Carnuntum)
BOIOS
(Manching)
D(is) M(anibus) M(arci)
COSS(ioi) NATALI
[centurionis numeri
exploratorum] BOIORUM
ET [trib]OCCORUM...
(Murrhardt)
[D]EANAE
E[X]PLORATOR[ES]
TRIBOCI ET BOII
[V.S.]L.L.M
(CIL XIII 6448: Benningen
Boiodurum
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Caesar, Posidonius apud Strabo Strabo
Agrippa, Pliny Tacitus, Velleius Paterculus
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Boii in central Europe
=> Is a name from outside –
Roman or Geman
-the only sure location is in the
Middle Danube area
-most probably the name was used
for various peoples in the whole of
central Europe
-Boii arriving to the Middle Danube
area from Italy is an invention of
Strabo
-there is no mention of Boii in
Central Europe before ca. 120/100
BC
-identification of of Boii with
Bohemia is only the result of
histircal circumstances in the
Roman period and Middle ages
cemetery
lowland setl
highland setl.
>2 ha 2-10 ha <10 ha
Etr. / Rm.
fortified
uncert.
this is what an oppidum the thing the
Boii were supposed to introduce to central
Europe ( would look like... (there is none...)
-the settlement strucutre of
the territory of Boii
features no particular
complexity and no signs
of being model for later
Central Europe
-the advanced Felsinean
settlement structure was
in ruins and only passively
exploited, not furtner
developed in any way
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Casalecchio di Reno (and elsewhere)
-the Felsinean settlement is abandoned (we have
heart this already)
-disused water chanels (necessary for well
functioning agriculture in the marshy Po
valley) gradually silted
-the Celtic (?) community obviously had no abilities
or motivation to maintain the complex water
management
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Bologna – viale Aldini
-Felsinean settlement with occupation until
the Celtic period
-no clear structures from the Celtic period,
only layers with finds
-the only clear activity of this period is
dismantling Felsinean stone walls including
emptying their foundation trenches
trenches after
quarrying
out felsinean
stone walls
a silted
felsinean
water
chanel
=> The Celtic period was
apparently not a
phase of floruit and
prosperity in the
region…:~/
TheBoiiandtheBoii
SW Bohemia
densely popuated
-tumuli, cremations
→ depopulation
mostly depopulated
rare cremations
northern Italy
felsinian culture
„invasion“
(pre-)duchcov brooches
flat inhumaitons
Central Bohemia
LT A
„invasion“
(pre-)duchcov brooches
flat inhumations
„the Boii invade Italy in cca 400 BC, departing from southern Bohemia which gets
depopulated at exactly the same time.“
LT A
LT B1
-there is no logical
connection
between the events
in Bohemia and the
invasion in Italy
-population drop in
Bohemia appeared
at the end of LT A
-those who invaded
Italy were
characterised by the
LT B1 flat graves
which were as
foreign in Italy as
they were in
Bohemia
TheBoiiandtheBoii
SW Bohemia
LT A : -tumuli and cremation
-rare inhumations – siginificant
burials
LTB/C: -rare cremations in earlier
tumuli
Northern Italy
Biritualism
flat cemeteries, from LTB2 on rare cremations
(esp. significant burials)
„the origin of the Italian Boii in SW Bohamia is proven by their
biritualism, cremation being characteristic of early LT Bohemia and
Bavaria.“
93
5 7
51 54
8 7
2
34
171
6
22
4 6
2
5
1
1
3
10
3 7
2
2
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
i k ?
burial rite in northern
Italy IV-III BC.
-the connection
between Bohemia
and EmiliaRomagna
is
sometimes sought
in the cremation
rite practiced in LT
A Bohemia and in
LT B–C Emilia BUT!
-in Bohemia
cremation is the
norm, inhumation
an elite rite – in
Italy it is the
contrary
-cremation only
became common
in taly in late 4th
century
=> no
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Nehvízdky
Boemia
Marzabotto
There are a few Italian objects in
Bohemia (but fromthe Allps, not from
Emilia) and a few Bohemian objects in
Italy… but in both cases they are only
absolute minority in comparison with
objects from France, Switzerland,
Carpathian basin etc.
TheBoiiandtheBoii
https://www.academ
ia.edu/33429082/Ste
bno-
Nouze_pozoruhodn%
C3%BD_lat%C3%A9ns
k%C3%BD_depot_z_P
odbo%C5%99anska_S
tebno-
Nouze_a_remarkabl
e_La_T%C3%A8ne_ho
ard_from_Western_
Bohemia_
…though there is one significant
exception in Bohemia (more on it the next
time)
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Rather than large movements of entire tribes from one specific place to another….TheBoiiandtheBoii
…the migrations of this period should be understood as a series of small scale migrations of small groups. Rather than entire
social groups changing places, the groups and social position of individuals were being (re-)established during and as a result
of these migrations
TheBoiiandtheBoii
Boii
Boii (?)
=>
1) There are no signs that Boii were present in Bohemia in the
5th century BC
2) There is no evidence – historical or archaeological – that the
Boii from Italy and central Europe were identical
3) There is no evidence of connection between Bohemia and
Italy during the 4th–3rd century
4) There was nothing, the Italian Boi learnt in Italy that could
benefit Central Europe and help develop local settlement
strucutre or economy (more on it in the last lecture)