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This item can be found on the following maps: Celts | Oppidum [German version] A. General Large Celtic settlement ( Oppidum) south of Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria) in a strategically favourable position on a dry gravel ridge between the Danube and areas of wetland (Donaumoos) extending from west to east, near a river crossing and formerly accessed by branches of the Danube (harbour?). The level settlement area is almost circular, with a diameter of 2.5 km, comprising 380 ha.; it is traversed by an ancient arterial…

[German version] A 5th- to 1st-cent. BC Celtic necropolis at the village of V. near Châtillon-sur-Seine (in Burgundy). The best-known grave is that of the 'Princess of V.' in a tumulus with a voluminous wooden chamber; this early 5th-cent. BC princess's tomb (Prince's tomb) is richly furnished with imported Greek and Etruscan goods ( bronze krater, silver phiale/ patera , Greek pottery) and a gold torque (Torques) and a state carriage. Attached to the necropolis was a fortified settlement as a princely seat on the neighbouring Mont La…

[German version] A. General Celtic archaeology (CA) investigates the material legacy of groups of the population from the Iron Age, mostly in southern and south-western Central Europe, in addition to the  Germanic archaeology, which borders onto it to the north and north-east. This concerns the  Hallstatt culture of the early and the  La Tène culture of the late Iron Age. The equating of this archaeologically knowable cultures with the ethnicity of the  Celts is not constantly and unambiguously poss…

[German version] A peat bog in Süderbrarup (in Schleswig-Holstein), from which numerous finds of the most varied kinds, e.g. weapons, jewellery, tools, coins, textiles and pots, (1st cent. BC to 4th cent. AD) were recovered in the second half of the 19th cent. The place of the finds is interpreted as a central cult and sacrifice site for the Germanic Angle tribe. The objects found are also from Roman workshops among other places, and (as gifts or booty?) from Germanic tribes neighbouring to the so…

[German version] The D. near Hallein (Salzburg) was a centre of Celtic culture in Central Europe from the Hallstatt period (6th cent. BC). Early salt-mining brought the partly fortified settlement in the upper valley of the D. economic prosperity rendering it important well beyond the region. This is attested by rich burials, esp. from the early La Tène period (5th/4th cent. BC), with lavish grave-goods and many southern imports. D. lost importance in the late Celtic period (2nd/1st cent. BC), and the settlement shifted to the valley of the Salzach around Hallein.  M…

[German version] Named after the archaeological site La Tène (field name) at Thielle on Lake Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel Canton, Switzerland. Soon after the discovery in the mid 19th cent., the La Tène Culture (LTC)/La Tène Period was recognized as typical of the later Iron Age in much of Central Europe and neighbouring areas. The site itself is, however, not particularly typical of the LTC, firstly because it offers a cross-section of finds (above all weapons and iron implements, wooden parts, etc.) tha…

[German version] O. is a bog in the district of Mühlhausen (Germany) where sacrifices were made. It was completely excavated 1957-1964, but published only in parts until now. It is a Germanic cult site that was used from the 6th cent. BC to the 4th cent. AD and which shows strong Celtic influences in the pre-Christian period. In the bog, various cultic areas were demarcated by stones or poles. Numerous animal bones (especially from cows and horses) and remains of sacrificial meals show that the si…

[German version] The early Iron Age in central Europe is called the Hallstatt Culture (HC), after the town of Hallstatt in the Austrian Salzkammergut. In the middle of the 19th cent., a large cemetery (over 1,000 burials) was found there with extensive find material, which was viewed as typical and led to the definition of the HC in the 19th cent. The find site has a very special significance, because there is a salt mine there which was already extensively worked in the Bronze Age [5; 11. 67-79]. The HC includes the period from the middle of the 8th cent. to the middle of the 5…

Pingel, Volker (Bochum) [German version] A. Definition (CT) Celtic/Germanic Archaeology (CGA) is a part of prehistoric archaeology (= prehistory, early prehistory and protohistory). Based on archaeological evidence (finds, monuments), the largely non-written history and culture of the Celts and the Germani are investigated using  archaeological methods. Its scholarly and scientific development and reception can be broken down into several stages. In doing so the main criteria are the steps that lead to …

[German version] On the G. moor, Ålborg district in northern Jutland, a large dismantled cauldron made of 13 partially gilded silver plates and a frame rack was found in 1891 (diameter almost 70 cm, weight c. 9 kg). The plates in repoussé technique show depictions of gods, scenes of sacrifice, mythical beasts etc. represented in a characteristic form. The questions of dating, origin and function of the G. cauldron have been the subject of controversy and debate from the time when it was found to the present. The cultic nature as…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Celts Late Celtic burial ground in Kent which gave its name to the A. culture in south-eastern England; cremation burials of the period between 50 BC and AD 50 are typical, and the burial gifts (Celtic lathe-turned ceramics and fibulae) demonstrate the existence of close connections with the Continent, which are possibly an indication of immigration of the  Belgae. The more sumptuous graves (e.g. Lexden) also contained ornamental bronze vessel fittings decorated in the Celtic style, amphorae and silver goblets. …

[German version] Prehistoric finds assemblage of the 5th to 3rd cents. BC in central Lower Saxony, named after burial mounds near Nienburg on the river Weser (Germanic archaeology, map). It is the westernmost group of the Jastorf culture. Typical elements of the NG are cremation burials in mounds, certain types of pottery and adornments (earrings). Occasionally Celtic imports occur; there is also evidence for iron working. Celtic archaeology; Funerary architecture III.G; Iron; Jewellery Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography H.-J. Hässler, Ur- und Frühgeschichte in Niedersa…

[German version] Term for bodies or body parts of dead humans found in bogs, which ended up there for various, usually unclear reasons (e.g. sacrifice, punishment, burial, accident, battle). Most of the several hundred cases are from the bogs of northern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands and date - in as far as can be determined (by carbon dating, pollen analysis) - predominantly to the later Iron Age (from c. 500 BC) and the Roman Imperial period of the centuries around the birth of Christ. Because of the mostly well-preserved state of the organic substances …

[German version] Method of constructing fortifications from wood, stones and soil widespread through Central Europe during the Iron Age, in which the dry-stone wall fronts had vertical gaps positioned at regular intervals. Basically two types can be distinguished according to their construction: one in which the rear of the wall was similar, and layers of crossbeams were incorporated in the body of the wall, linking the two surfaces (Altkönig-Preist type), and another in which a raised earth ramp …

[German version] Square or rectangular enclosure of sides about 80-100 m long with circumvallation and occasionally palisade walls. The interpretation of these structures, found in the Celtic settlement area from France to Bohemia, is still disputed. For the most part they are regarded as 3rd-1st cent. BC Celtic sanctuaries, with shafts for sacrifices and wooden cult buildings. Rich sacrificial finds from recent excavations in France (cf. [1]) - including evidence of animal and human sacrifice, e.…

[German version] in the county of Rendsburg (Schleswig-Holstein). Burial ground of the Germanic pre-Roman Iron Age (6th-4th cents. BC) furnished with painted pottery vessels and iron slag, which indicates a privileged position within the  Jastorf culture and points to early iron production through contacts with the  Hallstatt culture. The presence of iron ore and slag mounds in the area is known, but cannot definitely be assigned.  Germanic archaeology;  Iron Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography H. Hingst, Jevenstedt, 1974.

[German version] In Celtic and Germanic cultures, as in the Graeco-Roman sphere, a special significance is attached to spring offerings as well as offerings in water and bogs. The primary archaeological evidence of this are late 4th-cent. BC Celtic finds from a hot spring at Duchov in northern Bohemia and 1st- to 4th-cent. BC Germanic finds from a mineral spring at Bad Pyrmont in Lower Saxony. In both complexes hundreds of examples of fibulae (Pins; some with traces of use) dominate. SO are interpreted as votive gifts in the context of a fertility cult. Celtic archaeol…

[German version] Later Iron Age culture (4th-1st cents. BC), named after a site in eastern Yorkshire (England) and recognized primarily by grave mounds with rectangular enclosures ( Funeral architecture;  Burial). In rich warrior graves  war chariots are typical burial goods. Besides contacts with Celtic cultures on the continent ( Celtic archaeology), emphasis is increasingly placed on strong indigenous traditions. Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliography B. Cunliffe, Iron Age Communities in Britain, 1974 I. M. Stead, Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire, 1991.

[German version] (district of Apolda/Thüringen). Germanic burial site of the pre-Roman Iron Age that was excavated between 1907 and 1913. It comprises over 600 graves containing cremation burials from the 2nd half of the last pre-Christian cent. and the time of Christ as well as some graves from the 2nd/3rd cents. AD. The graves contain typical ceramics ( Situla, wheelmade pottery), weapons ( Sword,  Shield and lance) as well as  fibulae that are taken to be stereotypes for the subdivision of this…

[German version] Site (in Nonsberg - Val di Non near Trento/South Tyrol) which gave its name to an archaic group of finds (group 'Fritzens-S.') from the Early Iron Age (5th-1st cents. BC); S. was a fortified settlement rich in material finds revealing local South Alpine and Etruscan elements (the adorned bronze containers of the 'Situla Circle,' ceramic forms) as well as Celtic influences (iron gear, weapons). S. and the corresponding group of finds is believed to have belonged to the Raetian population of the central Alpine region. Raeti, Raetia; Situla Pingel, Volker (Bochum) Bibliogr…