La Tène culture
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The
La Tene culture is a late
Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of
La Tene on the north side of
Lake Neuchatel in
Switzerland, where a rich trove of artefacts were discovered by Hansli Kopp in
1857.
La Tène site
\nDuring a period of drought, Lake Neuchatel's water level receded, revealing the remains of some wooden construction. When the area was excavated finds of great beauty were uncovered. Subsequent excavation of the areas around the lake found even more treasures.
La Tène dates
\nLike all archaeological periods, it was tempting to divide the Late Iron Age La Tène culture into Early (6th century BCE), Middle (ca 450–100 BCE ), and Late (1st century BCE), with the Roman occupation effectively driving the culture underground and ending its development.
The original homeland of the La Tene style is debated; it lay in the area from the Marne in Eastern France, north of the Alps to the upper Danube. La Tène metalwork is characterized by intricate spirals and interlace, on fine bronze vessels, helmets and shields, horse trappings and elite jewelry, especially the neck bracelets called "torcs and elabroate clasps called "fibulae." It is characterized by elegant, stylized curvilinear animal and vegetable forms, with elements akin to Scythian animal designs from the Ukraine area allied with the Hallstatt traditions of geometric patterning. La Tene cultural material appeared over a larger area, including parts of Ireland and Britain (the lake dwellings at Glastonbury, England are a well known example of La Tene culture, northern Spain, Burgundy, Austria.
La Tène culture
\nElaborate burials reveal the wide network of trade. In Vix, France, an elite woman of the 6th century BCE was buried with a bronze cauldron made in Greece.
Ritual shafts were dug, in which votive offerings and even human sacrifices were cast. Severed heads held great power and were often represented in carvings.
Famous La Tène art
\nAll dates are BCE
- Strettweg Cart (7th Century); found in southeast Austria (Landesmuseum Johanneum, Graz, Austria), a four wheeled cart with a goddess, riders with axes and shields, attendants and stags.\n-550-500 BC\n*A princess in Vix (Burgundy) is buried with a 1100 litre (290 US gallons) bronze Greek vase, the largest ever found. \n* Gundestrup Cauldron (3rd - 2nd century); found ritually broken in a peat bog in Denmark, but probably made near the Black Sea, perhaps in Romania (Himmerland Museum, Gundestrup)
- Battersea Shield (1st century); found in the Thames River; bronze with red enamel (Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen)
- Witham Shield, 400-300 BC, British Museum. [1]
External links
\n*Sampling of Celtic works of art
