La Tne culture

For the municipality in Neuchtel for which the culture is named, see La Tne, Neuchtel. The La Tne culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tne on the north side of Lake Neuchtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857. La Tne culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BCE to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BCE) in eastern France, Switzerland, Austria, southwest Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Romania. To the north extended the contemporary Jastorf culture of Northern Germany. La Tne culture developed out of the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any definite cultural break, under the impetus of considerable Mediterranean influence from the Culture of Golasecca, the Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul and later Etruscan civilizations.Barry Cunliffe notes localisation of La Tne culture during the 5th century when there arose "two zones of power and innovation: a Marne Moselle zone in the west with trading links to the Po Valley via the central Alpine passes and the Golasecca culture, and a Bohemian zone in the east with separate links to the Adriatic via the eastern Alpine routes and the Venetic culture".A shift of settlement centres took place in the 4th century. La Tne cultural material appeared over a large area, including parts of Ireland and Great Britain (the lake dwellings at Glastonbury, England, are an example of La Tne culture), northern Spain, Burgundy, and Austria. Elaborate burials also reveal a wide network of trade. In Vix, France, an elite woman of the 6th century BCE was buried with a bronze cauldron made in Greece. Exports from La Tne cultural areas to the Mediterranean cultures were based on salt, tin and copper, amber, wool and leather, furs and gold. Contents A disputed La Tne "homeland" A 1st century BCE mirror found in Desborough, Northants, showing the spiral and trumpet theme. Though there is no agreement on the precise region in which La Tne culture first developed, there is a broad consensus that the center of the culture lay on the northwest edges of Hallstatt culture, north of the Alps, within the region between the valleys of the Marne and Moselle in the west and modern Bavaria and Austria in the east. In 1994 a prototypical ensemble of elite grave sites of the early 5th century BCE was excavated at Glauberg in Hesse, northeast of Frankfurt-am-Main, in a region that had formerly been considered peripheral to the La Tne sphere. From their homeland, La Tne groups expanded in the 4th century to Hispania, the Po Valley, the Balkans, and even as far as Asia Minor, in the course of several major migrations. In the 4th century, a Gallic army led by Brennus reached Rome and took the city. In the 3rd century, Gallic bands entered Greece and threatened the oracle of Delphi, while another band settled Galatia in Asia Minor. Periodization Extensive contacts through trade are recognized in foreign objects deposited in elite burials; stylistic influences on La Tne material culture can be recognized in Etruscan, Italic, Greek, Dacian and Scythian sources. Dateable Greek pottery at La Tne sites and dendrochronology and thermoluminescence help provide date ranges in an absolute chronology at some La Tne sites. As with many archaeological periods, La Tne history was originally divided into "early" (6th century BCE), "middle" (ca 450-100 BCE), and "late" (1st century BCE) stages, with the Roman occupation effectively driving the culture underground and ending its development. A broad cultural unity was not paralleled by overarching social-political unifying structures, and the extent to which

the material culture can be linguistically linked is debated. Ethnology Our knowledge of this cultural area derives from three sources: from archaeological evidence, from Greek and Latin literary evidence, and more controversially, from ethnographical evidence suggesting some La Tne artistic and cultural survivals in traditionally Celtic regions of far western Europe. Some of the societies that are archaeologically identified with La Tne material culture were identified by Greek and Roman authors from the 5th century onwards as Keltoi ("Celts") and Galli ("Gauls"). Herodotus (iv.49) correctly placed Keltoi at the source of the Ister/Danube, in the heartland of La Tne material culture: "The Ister flows right across Europe, rising in the country of the Celts", whom however, apparently misunderstanding his source,he places "farthest to the west of any people of Europe" Whether the usage of classical sources means that the whole of La Tne culture can be attributed to a unified Celtic people is difficult to assess; archaeologists have repeatedly concluded that language, material culture, and political affiliation do not necessarily run parallel. Frey notes (Frey 2004) that in the 5th century, "burial customs in the Celtic world were not uniform; rather, localised groups had their own beliefs, which, in consequence, also gave rise to distinct artistic expressions". In some cases where La Tne archaeological sites are overlain by Slavic culture, any identification of La Tne material culture with Celts may become a sensitive local issue. Material culture La Tne metalwork in bronze, iron and gold, developing technologically out of Halstatt culture, is stylistically characterized by inscribed and inlaid intricate spirals and interlace, on fine bronze vessels, helmets and shields, horse trappings and elite jewelry, especially the neck rings called torcs and elaborate clasps called fibulae. It is characterized by elegant, stylized curvilinear animal and vegetal forms, allied with the Hallstatt traditions of geometric patterning. The Early Style of La Tne art and culture mainly featured static, geometric decoration, while the transition to the Developed Style constituted a shift to movement-based forms, such as triskeles. Some subsets within the Developed Style contain more specific design trends, such as the recurrent serpentine scroll of the Waldalgesheim Style The Hallstatt and La Tne Cultures Initially La Tne folk lived in open settlements that were dominated by the chieftains towering hill forts.The development of towns appears in mid-La Tne culture. La Tne dwellings were carpenterbuilt rather than of masonry. La Tne peoples also dug ritual shafts, in which votive offerings and even human sacrifices were cast. Severed heads appear to have held great power and were often represented in carvings. Burial sites included weapons, carts, and both elite and household goods, evoking a strong continuity with an afterlife.

Coligny calendar

Overview of the re-assembled tablet

Detail of Mid Samonios The Gaulish Coligny calendar was found in Coligny, Ain, France (4623N 521E) near Lyon in 1897, along with the head of a bronze statue of a youthful male figure. It is a lunisolar calendar. It is now held at the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon. It was engraved on a bronze tablet, preserved in 73 fragments, that originally was 1.48 m wide and 0.9 m high (Lambert p. 111) or approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) wide by 3 feet in height.Based on the style of lettering and the accompanying objects, it probably dates to the end of the 2nd century AD. It is written in Latin inscriptional capitals, and is in the Gaulish language (Duval & Pinault). The restored tablet contains sixteen vertical columns, with 62 months distributed over five years. The French archaeologist J. Monard speculated that it was recorded by druids wishing to preserve their tradition of timekeeping in a time when theJulian calendar was imposed throughout the Roman Empire. However, the general form of the calendar suggests the public peg calendars (orparapegmata) found throughout the Greek and Roman world (Lehoux pp. 6365). A similar calendar, found nearby at Villards d'Heria (4625N 544E) is only preserved in eight small fragments. It is now preserved in the Muse d'Archologie du Jura at Lons-le-Saunier.

System The Continental Celtic calendar as reconstructed from the calendars of Coligny and Villards d'Heria had the following properties: it was a lunisolar calendar, attempting to synchronize the solar year and the lunar month. the months were lunar. Scholars disagree as to whether the start of the month was the new moon or the full moon, or per Pliny and Tacitus perhaps even the First Quarter. the common lunar year contained 354 or 355 days. the calendar year began with Samonios, which is usually assumed to correspond to Old Irish Samhain, giving an autumn start to the year. However, as Samon is Gaulish for summer (Lambert p. 112), this assumed start is disputed. Le Contel and Verdier (1997) argue for a summer solstice start of the year. Monard (1999) argues for an autumn equinox start. Bonsing (2007) argues for a May beginning consistent with Irish Beltaine, and Fennian literature, notably Joyce (2000). the entry TRINOXSAMO SINDIV "three-nights of Samonios today") on the 17th of Samonios suggests that, like the Irish festival of Samhain, it lasted for three nights. The phrase *trinoxtion Samonii is comparable to a Gaulish festival mentioned in a 1st century AD Latin inscription from Limoges, France, which mentions a "10 night festival (*decamnoctiacon) of (Apollo) Grannus" (POSTVMVS DV[M]NORIGIS F(ILIVS) VERG(OBRETVS) AQVAM MARTIAM DECAMNOCTIACIS GRANNI D[E] S[VA] P[ECVNIA] D[EDIT] ) the solar year was approximated by the insertion of a 13th intercalary month every two and a half years (unlike the Islamic calendar, where the calendar year keeps shifting in relation to the solar year). The additional months were intercalated before Samonios in the first year, and between Cutios and Giamonios in the third year. The name of the first intercalary month is not known with certainty, the text being fragmentary; the second intercalary month is Ciallos bis Sonnocingos (Lambert p. 116) the months were divided into two halves, the beginning of the second half marked with the term atenoux or "renewal" (cf. Old Irish athnugud "renewal"). The basic unit of the Celtic calendar was thus the fortnight or half-month, as is also suggested in traces in Celtic folklore. The first half was always 15 days, the second half either 14 or 15 days on alternate months (similar to Hindu calendars). months of 30 days were marked matus, lucky. Months of 29 days were marked anmatus, unlucky. a simple five year cycle would be insufficiently accurate; the sequence of intercalary months is completed every thirty years, after five cycles of 62 lunations with two intercalary months each, and one cycle of 61 lunations, with a single intercalary month, or after a total of 11 intercalary months. This assumes that there are exactly 371 lunations in 30 years, which is accurate to a one day every 20 or 21 years on average (this is less accurate than the Julian calendar, which shifts a day in about 130 years, but which ignores lunar months). It may be assumed that the "30 years cycle" was not prescriptive, and that an extra month would have been omitted as the need arose (i.e. some 300 years after the calendar's inception). Gaulish calendar in historical sources Julius Caesar in The Gallic Wars states (Caesar, DBG 6.18) that days, months, and years start with a dark half followed by a light half. All the Gauls assert that they are descended from the god Dis, and say that this tradition has been handed down by the Druids. For that reason they compute the divisions of every season, not by the number of days, but of nights; they keep birthdays and the beginnings of months and years in such an order that the day follows the night.

This is consistent with a month starting at the dark of the moon, or at the sixth day of the moon per Pliny (Natural History); it is inconsistent with a month starting at full moon. Months The following Etymologies, unless otherwise noted, are taken from Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnare de la langue gauloise, 2nd edition, Editions Errance, 2003. Samonios - "Month Belonging of Summer". Likely an n-stem derivative (with a suffix of appurtenance, -io-) of the Common Celtic root *samo- "summer" found in Old Irish sam, Welsh haf. Cf. Old Irish Samain "(festival of the) First of November", "All-Hallows/All-Saints day" and Mithem, Mithemain "Mid-summer, month of June", Middle Welsh Meheuin "June" (both from Common Celtic*Medi[o]-samVn [V="vowel", likely -o- or -u-]), as well as Old Irish Ctamuin "Month of May", "First of May", "May Day" (alternate name for Beltain), Welsh Cyntefin "month of May" (both from Common Celtic *kintu-samonis "beginning of Summer"). An alternate proposal is that the root of the name is Common-Celtic *sem- "one, same, together", making it the "Month of Assembly". Duman(n)(ios) - "Month of (religious) Fumigation"? Cf. Latin fmus "smoke", Sanskrit dhmah "smoke", Greek (thmos) "soul, life, passion; anger, wrath" (also [thmiaoo] "to burn, as incense", [thma] "sacrificial offering"). Riuros - "Thick/Fat/Large month"? Possibly cognate with Old Irish remor "stout, thick, fat", Welsh rhef "thick, stout, great, large" (in which case, the original form may have been *Remros, with later shift of -e- to -i- [compare the alternation between Semi- and Simi- in Semuisonna] and lenition of internal -m-). Some scholars alternately suggest a connection with Old Irish rud, Welsh rhew "cold". Anagantios - "Month in which One Does Not Travel", "Non-itinerant month? Composed of a Common Celtic negative prefix *an- and a an agentive noun *agant- based on the root *ag- "to go, to conduct, to lead". Cf. Old Irish ag "to go, do, conduct", Welsh agit "goes". Ogron(n)(i)(os) - "Cold Month". An n-stem derivative of the Common Celtic root *ougros "cold". Cf. Old Irish ar, Welsh oer. The root *oug- may be compared to Armenian oyc "cold", Lithanian auksts "cold", and Latin a(u)ctumnus "autumn". Cutios - unknown etymology. Some have compared it to the obscure Greek month name (Kooutios) in the Lokrian calendar from Chaleion (which may = October-November). Giamonios "Month belonging to Winter". An n-stem derivative (suffix of appurtenance -io-) derived from the Common Celtic root *giamo- "winter". Cf. Welsh gaeaf, Breton goav, Old Irish gaim "winter", Gamain "month of November" (also, a "yearling calf" [a calf that is one winter old]). Simiuisonna (or Semiuisonna) - unknown etymology. Perhaps Common Celtic *smi- "half" plus *ues- "Spring(time)" or a compound containing a feminine form of the word for "sun", *sonna (see Sonnocingos below). Equos - etymology unknown. Some scholars have connected it with the word for "horse" in Celtic languages, Common Celtic *ekWos, Old Irish ech, Welsh eb- (found only in ebol "pony", compound words such as eb-rwydd "fast/quick/ready", eb-ran "fodder", and the place name Mynydd Epynt), but there is some disagreement over this, since one would expect the form to be *Epos in aP-Celtic language such as Gaulish, in which personal, divine and place names containing the P-Celtic form *epo- are widely attested (some scholars acknowledge this point, but propose that the Calendar may contain Q-Celtic dialectal features, or archaisms dating to a time before Proto-Celtic -kw- became -p- in Gaulish; yet the Calendar does display P-Celtic words such as prinni, pog-, andpeti, which argues against this).

Elembiu - "Month belonging to the Deer". From the Proto-Indo-European root *elen-bho- "deer", which gave us English lamband the Greek (elaphos), / (Elaphion / Elaphios), "Month belonging to the Deer" (called [Elaphebolion] "Month of the Deer-hunt" in the Attic Calendar, equivalent to March-April). An alternate form of the PIE root, *elen-, gave us Welsh elain and Old Irish elit, "doe, hind; young deer". Aedrini(os) - Bright (or Hot) Month"; cf. Old Irish aed "fire", "heat", Greek (aithr) "bright sky, upper air, ether". Ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *aidh- which also gave us Latin aestas "Summer". Cantlos - perhaps "Song month"; cf. Welsh cathl "song", Breton ketel "lesson", Old Irish ctal. Intercalary months Sonnocingos - "Sun's march"; cf. Welsh huan "sun" and Old Irish cinged "to walk, march". May not be the actual name of the intercalary month, but rather some term applied to it (Delamarre suggests perhas "sun's march = "a year").

The oppidum of Entremont

Western and Central Europe. Many oppida grew from hill forts, although by no means did all of them have significant defensive functions. Oppida surrounded by earthworks are known asenclosed oppida. The main features of the oppida are the architectural construction of the walls and gates, the spacious layout and commanding view of the surrounding area. Geographic location The Arc Valley, located in the hinterland of Marseilles, runs parallel to the sea and ends at Berre pond. During Antiquity, the Herculean Road, as it was called by the Greeks, followed its course. According to myth, Heracles followed this road from Iberia to Etruria after having stolen a herd of red oxen from Geryon the giant. The site of Entremont is located on the edge of a plateau at 367 meters altitude. It dominates a nearly 200 meter wide valley below and is situated at the contact of two distinct geographic entities: - to the west, a zone of plains and saltwater ponds separated by low hillocks; - to the east, a zone of higher hills, or small mountains (Sainte-Victoire mountain, 1011 m altitude, and SainteBaume mountain,1147 m altitude), intertwined with basins and narrow valleys. Entremont is also integrated in one of the possible routes linking Marseilles to the Alps and Italy by way of the Durance Valley, beyond which it is also possible to reach the Provence high country by crossing or going around the Luberon.

The famous stone carving from Euffigneix (Haute-Marne)

that depicts a betorced deity with a boar, hackles raised, striding along his torso. We also have the Orci (literally 'people of the boar') tribe of northern Britain.

The Boar (male wild pig), is the Celtic totemic/zoomorphic animal par excellence. Representations of the Boar are known from the Hallstadt culture (c 1100 BCE) onwards and are found on Celtic coins from the La Tne period (c 500 BCE) onwards. The nature of the boar in Celtic belief is dual. It is both the principles of hospitality and feasting as well as the skills of hunting and war. It is likely that amongst the forests of northern Europe the boar would have been amongst the most agressive creatures and this aspect of the boar became revered by the Celts. The boar came to represent the strength of the warror with the boar's erect hackles standing for the agressive 'warrior' nature of the boar.