Late Celtic and Early Roman transition Research Papers (original) (raw)

- by Carlos Herrera Novoa
- •
- Celtic Archaeology, Prehistoric Art, Iron Age, Celtic Art

Until recently the aggregate number of Celtic coins found within Poland’s borders, including items constituting parts of hoards, was ca. 100 coins from 26 sites. At present it exceeds 440 coins from at least 60 sites. Most of the new finds (at least 245), including Greek coins and gold bars, come from a settlement in Nowa Cerekwia. In Silesia we register at least 289 Celtic coins from 13 sites, or a little bit over 65% of all the relevant finds from Poland’s territory. As many as 286 items, or some 99% of all the Silesian finds, are Boii coins. Other Celtic issues are represented by a mere 1 or 2 coins. The history of the local minting production and money circulation can be divided into two stages: the first one, from the end of the 4th c. B.C. until ca. 130–120 B.C. At that time finds of Celtic coins took place predominantly in the south of Poland, in territories with dense Celtic settlement. Such concentrations are registered also in Upper and Lower Silesia. In the 2nd half of the 2nd c. B.C. Central European Celtic settlements underwent major changes, most probably related to the wandering of the Cimbri and the Teutons. They coincided with the onset of the second stage of the history of Celtic money, also in Silesia. In relative chronology of Boii coinage it covers the period from B through D and the newly indicated E period (since ca. 130–120 B.C. until the first decades A.D.). The geography of finds of Celtic coins in Polish territories changes completely at that time. They no longer take place in Upper Silesia and their number in Lower Silesia is greatly reduced in comparison to the preceding period. Probably only 2 finds from this territory may be products by a local workshop or workshops run by small groups of Celts.

- by Marcin Rudnicki
- •
- Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Numismatics, Numismatic

Relics of pottery kilns identified in the La Tène Culture settlement at Nowa Cerekwia, Upper Silesia, and in sites of the Tyniec Group in the Krakow region document local production of wheel-made pottery. The youngest finds of wheel-made wares are contemporary with the horizon of A. 68 fibulae. The technology was not adopted by the people of the Przeworsk Culture and almost invariably the pottery produced after the decline of Celtic cultures is hand-built; finds of wheel-made pottery of Early Iron Age date are very rare. This phenomenon has been explained in various ways. Some researchers, e.g., J. Wielowiejski, J. Marciniak and A. Cofta-Broniewska, concluded that the secrets of production of wheel-made pottery had not been handed down to the people of Przeworsk Culture and that with the extinction of the last foci of Celtic culture the knowledge of more advanced pottery making technologies naturally died out too. Alternately, J. Rodzińska-Nowak has proposed that a key factor responsible for the non-adoption of the wheel-made pottery technology by the Przeworsk Culture people was the existence of a socio-psychological barrier, the result of the traditional division of tasks into male and female. While feasible, this
reason cannot be recognized as crucial. The decline of wheel-made pottery on the threshold of our era is a more widespread phenomenon observed across the Central European Barbaricum, both the territory occupied by latenized cultures (Przeworsk Culture, Elbian Culture), by the acculturated communities descended from the people of the Tyniec Group, a culture unit with Celtic traditions, and also on the territory of the “state” of Maroboduus, under influence of Rome. The named communities were dissimilar in their culture outlook, having evolved from different traditions but in none of them the technology of wheel-made pottery was adopted for good. In the Gross Romstedt Culture and in the Plaňany Horizon there is evidence on local pottery production using the potter’s wheel but there too the technology relatively soon disappears from the archaeological record. It is unlikely that in these environments, dissimilar in their tradition and evolving under the impact from different cultures, the traditional division into female and male roles could have played a key role in the reception of innovative pottery making technologies.
Presumably, on the threshold of the Roman Period in communities residing on the territory of Poland there was a well-defined division of tasks into male and female, but it was not treated very rigorously or, possibly, it did not extend to all the areas of life and some activities were carried out together by both sexes. I believe that the key factor decisive for the decline of wheel-made pottery on the territory of Poland at the onset of the Roman Period was economic. In this I share the view expressed by L. Gajewski, J. Wielowiejski and K. Godłowski who, nevertheless, nowhere specify how they understand this term. To function, production workshops, potteries also, depend on the existence of a distribution network for their wares and there is a need to break with the autarkic tradition. The craftsmen must be assured of having recipients of their wares and in conditions of isolation of individual human groups and the limited scale of exchange the demand for their products is limited. There is an observable difference here between a potter and a blacksmith, the latter is more mobile and, what is more, has a monopoly on his activity for, in contrast to mass pottery production which needs to compete against wares made by hand as part of household activities, the means for individual manufacture of metal objects are quite limited. Specialised
pottery workshops on the territory of Poland became viable only when exchange between human groups became sufficiently frequent and intensive for the cost of transport of pottery to decrease so that the ratio of the price of the vessels offered to their value (not necessarily utilitarian only) was recognized as favourable. Specialised pottery making could not function without a developed distribution network;
only when the necessary level of social and economic development had been reached did it become profitable to introduce pottery as an object of exchange.
tłum. A. Kinecka

The subject of this study are gold coins, formerly attributed to the coinage of the Menapii, which in the seventies of the 20th century Karel Castelin referred to as staters of the Cracovian type, struck by Celts near Kraków. When the latest publications connected with them appeared, the number of known specimens of the type amounted to seven, and currently it has increased to seventeen. The aim of this study is to use the new possibilities of modification of the former findings concerning staters of the Cracovian type. The present study has discussed the problems concerning the definition of this type, its origin and changes it has undergone with the passage of time — both in respect of iconography and metrology. This is connected with a suggestion as to a new typological division of the discussed coins. Also the issues concerning their circulation and data were not omitted, as the finds from recent years throw a new light on them. The summary includes reflection of historical nature, including an attempt to connect the Cracovian type with Lugii.

- by Marcin Rudnicki
- •
- Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Numismatics, Numismatic

This discussion considers the Arthurian elements presented in De Excidio, Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae and analyses to what extent these may be indicative of the religious and political motives of their authors, rather than simplistically accepted as early primary sources recording reliable ‘evidence’ for an historical Arthur. The discussion is conducted using a framework for examining the texts, their wider historical and literary contexts, the authors’ motivations and the texts’ usefulness as historical ‘evidence’. It concisely distills all the relevant arguments and compares and contrasts various viewpoints. Finally it carefully unpicks the primary sources and demonstrates a number of problems concerning dating, later interpolations, inconsistencies, lack of clarity due to brevity (e.g. Arthur or Ambrosius?) and sensibly concludes that neither Historia Brittonum nor the Annales Cambriae can be viewed as reliable historical evidence, and that that the case for an historical Arthur is ‘unproven’.

- by Carla Zappalà
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- History, Celtic Studies, Medieval History, Anglo-Saxon Studies

Throughout history, the Druids have always been seen as sorcerers who had a strong bond with nature. Ancestral knowledge holders within Celtic society, directed all religious activity as the highest authority linked to the gods, practiced human sacrifices and festivals organized as Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasad or Samain, etc.. all aspects of which are discussed in this article.

- by Arturo Sanchez Sanz
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- Religion, History, Ancient History, Sociology

The subject of this study is a stater found in Masłów (Lower Silesia) in 1704: the oldest documented find of a Celtic coin from the area of the present-day Poland. The coin, which has been regarded as missing until recently, was successfully identified with a high degree of likelihood in the collection of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. The present study has carried out an analysis of the unit and the records concerning it, particularly emphasising the issues related to iconography, examined against a broad comparative background. The summary includes conclusions concerning the place of striking and dating of this unique coin.

- by Marcin Rudnicki
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- Archaeology, Archival Studies, Historical Archaeology, Celtic Studies

Questioning what types of beads would have been in use during the Iron Age in Britain and drawing deeply from the work of the late bead researcher Margaret Guido I’ve amassed a collocation of information which one can draw from not just for bead information concerning the Iron Age Celts in the Isles, but also for those interested in Celtic adornment and bead reproduction. Please note, my citing is poor the majority of information and many of the pictures have come from Guido’s work ‘The Glass Beads of the Prehistoric and Roman Periods in Britain and Ireland’, (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1978). I want to thank not just Guido for her amass of research, but also a wealth of museums and other sources for their invaluable photos, many of which I have to note are copyright protected.

- by heather smith
- •
- Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Cellular Biology, Glass

Through the sunken-featured buildings documented often in the Late Iron Age and Early Roman villages, the paper examines the possible survival of this feature and the settlements. The transformation of the La Tène D-villages to Roman Vici was multifactor, which offers examples of investigating the Romanisation process.
NOTE: corrected Fig. 3. at the end of the text!!!!

During the Roman conquest and the ensuing stabilization in the late 1st c. BC and 1st c. AD the most prominent position in the society of the Scordisci, Taurisci and those of autochthonous Pannonian communities was held by local
warrior elites. Their roots can be recognised in important social and economic transformations that occurred in the first half and the middle of the 2nd c. BC. The burials of the warrior elite of the LT D1 phase (second half of the 2nd and early 1st c. BC) are recognised by the presence of offensive and defensive weaponry, costume accessories and rich offerings consisting of ceramic and bronze vessels. Items of horse gear and spurs
were also found in warrior graves, occasionally also wagon parts, which portrayed them as warrior-horsemen. The finds in the graves of prominent warriors are a proof of the connection of a social system with the circulation of goods; in other words, the possession of prestigious goods was a fulfilment of social needs, that is, the display of one’s status and position within the community. The finds suggests the possibility of an
exchange of military equipment or even a certain mobility of groups of warriors. The importance of the warrior elite is further suggested by objects sacrificed to the war gods, and this
group could be represented by objects found in so-called fluvial contexts and the recently discovered Scordiscan sanctuary in Osijek. In the final conquest of the south Pannonian region during the Pannonian War (12–11 BC)
and in Bato’s uprising (6–8 AD), Tiberius used the warrior elite of the Scordisci as allies. After the establishment of Roman power the burials of the warrior elite were continued regardless of the appearance of a new political-administrative
government because members of the local aristocracy were entrusted with the defence of the limes. They continued to be buried, in accordance with their ancient customs, together with
their personal weapons, now of Roman origin, and also continued to offer provisions to the deceased that included numerous imported goods together with certain pottery forms of local origin thus testifying to their keeping of their previously acquired status. Thus, Romanisation was implemented by the ruling social class, the warrior elite being able to preserve
some of their previously attained positions and to remain in its original area.

- by Marko Dizdar and +1
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Funerary Archaeology

Abstract: A long and well preserved sword was brought to light in 2006 during the archaeological excavations carried out by the Soknopaiou Nesos Project (University of Salento, Lecce) in the temenos of the main temple in Soknopaiou Nesos, modern Dime. The current state of research would suggest a classification as a Roman, or at least Roman influenced, weapon of the late Republican period. However, some peculiar elements of this sword seem to point to an oriental or Egyptian final assemblage. It thus may give a new impulse to the still open discussion about the appearance of Hellenistic swords starting from the period of Alexander's Successors. The weapon can have been used by soldiers of the late Ptolemaic period as well as by members of the Roman army. The question whether the sword ended up in the temenos as part of local defensive arms or as a votive object will largely remain speculative, as its find context is not stratigraphically reliable.

- by Christian Miks and +1
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- Near Eastern Archaeology, Ancient Near East, Graeco-Roman Egypt, Roman military archaeology

Gegenstand vorliegender Arbeit ist der Versuch, in neuer Weise den Wandel, zu dem es am Ende des 1. vorchristlichen und zu Beginn des 1. nachchristlichen Jahrhunderts im uns interessierenden Gebiet kam, zu betrachten und zu interpretieren. Es handelt sich folglich um einen breiteren Horizont als nur die Phase, während der das Marbod-Reich bestand. Eine sehr wichtige Rolle spielen dabei Funde aus dem Gebiet an der Nida, vor allem von den durch den Verfasser geführten Grabungen bei Pełczyska. Hier befindet sich ein großes und reiches Siedlungsensemble, welches Fundplätze vom Neolithikum bis zum Frühmittelalter umfasst. Zur riesigen Fundmasse als Zeugnis außergewöhnlicher vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Siedlungsaktivität gehört auch eine umfangreiche Artefaktsammlung aus der uns interessierenden Phase. Dieses Material spiegelt hervorragend die komplizierten Besied- lungs- und Kulturveränderungen wider, welche in Kleinpolen zu jener Zeit vonstatten gingen, füllt in bedeutender Weise Wissenslücken und wirft neues Licht auf eine Reihe von Problemen. Die Funde von Pełczyska demonstrieren, wie unzureichend unsere Quellenbasis ist, auf der wir die komplizierte Thematik angehen. Hier werden nämlich die Probleme von Migrationen, von kulturellen und ethni- schen Differenzierungen sowie vielschichtige Fragen überregionaler Bedeutung berührt, alles von dynamischen, kurzfristig ablaufenden Umgestaltungen betroffen. Doch sind die Quellengrundla- gen dazu sehr bescheiden. Dies betrifft unter anderem das wenig umfangreiche Metallmaterial vonSiedlungen, was – nach Meinung des Verfassers – vor allem auf die hauptsächlich in den fünfziger und sechziger Jahren, zum Teil auch noch später, angewandte Grabungsmethodik zurückzuführen ist. Dies betrifft nicht nur Kleinpolen, aber Symbol dessen wurde das vor kurzem entdeckte, keltische, überregional bedeutsame Handwerks- und Handelszentrum vom Typ Roseldorf-Němčice auf dem Gelände einer in dieser Zeit untersuchten Siedlung bei Nowa Cerekwia, pow. Głubczyce, woj. opolskie. Ein weiteres Problem ist das Fehlen von Gräberfeldern der vorrömischen Eisenzeit, erklärbar nur mit spezifischen Bestattungssitten der Kelten seit der jüngeren Phase der Mittellatènezeit. Das nahezu völlige Fehlen auch von Gräberfeldern der Träger der Przeworsk-Kultur wird traditionell mit der Übernahme keltischer Sitten erklärt. Neue Funde, darunter von Pełczyska, scheinen anzudeuten, dass diese Deutung in Gänze oder zu großen Teilen falsch ist. Die Gründe für das genannte Phänomen sind offenbar viel prosaischer. Aus ökologischer Sicht gehört das uns interessierende Gebiet zu den degradiertesten ganz Polens. Durch Charakter und Umfang negativer Umformungen führte die Anthropopression die Landschaft in einen katastrophalen Zustand. In Konsequenz dessen wurden archäologische Fundplätze in unvorstellbarer Weise gestört. Die Entdeckungen auf den Fundplätzen bei Pełczyska, besonders den sepulkralen, waren durch glücklichen Zufall und dank der angewandten Untersuchungsmethoden möglich. Dadurch verdop- pelte sich innerhalb weniger Jahre die Zahl donauländischer Importe der Phasen LT D2 – B1a. Von weitreichenden, vorher unbekannten Kontakten der ansässigen Bevölkerung zeugt eine Reihe von Neufunden. Dieses Beispiel zeigt eine einsetzende, weitreichende Neubewertung des Charakters und der Rolle Kleinpolens bei den breit verstandenen Kontakten zwischen Caput Adriae und den Gebieten an der Ostsee an der Wende von der vorrömischen Eisen- zur römischen Kaiserzeit. Dies betrifft auch die Frage seines Verhältnisses zum Marbod-Reich, die in der Fachliteratur im Grunde noch überhaupt nicht gestellt worden ist.

- by Marcin Rudnicki
- •
- Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Celts (Archaeology), Social Archaeology

The paper gives an overview of the Late Iron Age and early Imperial
settlement phases at the Dunavski Lloyd and Frankopanska
b.b. positions in Sisak. Both are positioned on the left
bank of the Kupa river in Sisak, and the findings give us an insight
into the material culture of the Late La Tène settlement
and the beginnings of the early Roman imperial settlement.

Abstract
Apollonia and Dyrrhachium, the two most important Greek cities on the Illyrian coast, issued drachms depicting a cow suckling her calf from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. Large quantities of these drachms have been discovered, both in numerous hoards and as innumerable finds of single
coins, far from the cities that issued them, in the basin of the middle Danube, the homeland of the Scordisci, and further afield in Dacia and Thrace. A remarkable concentration of both hoards (more than 30) and single finds of these drachms discovered in the territory of the Scordisci represents an extraordinary monetary phenomenon deserving attention. The chronology of issuing of these drachms long remained unclear, but recent research by Petrányi (1995, 1996 and 1997), and Picard and Gjongecaj (1996, 1999, 2000 and 2000a), provided a clarification of the chronology of the final phase of their issuance. It has been determined that the massive output started
only ca. 80/70 BC, reached its maximum ca. 60/50 BC and ceased ca. 50/40 BC. The use of this new chronology in examining the drachms present in the hoards discovered in the territory of the Scordisci requires a down-dating of their arrival in that region to the middle of the 1st century BC. Consequently, the interpretation of the causes of the massive inflow of these coins deep into the Balkan hinterland, into the lands of the Scordisci and beyond, needs reconsideration. Since it was the period of large military operations throughout the Balkans – the Mithridatic wars and the Roman civil wars – it is probable that various military payments, rather than trade, prompted a rapid
transfer of such large quantities of these drachms into these distant regions.

- by Dubravka Ujes Morgan
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- Ancient History, Archaeology, Greek History, Roman History
- by Sabine Hornung
- •
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Settlement Patterns

The exceptional Late La Tène style scabbard and its sword discussed in this contribution are today kept in the Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins, but came there from the international antiquities market, more precisely from Christie’s auction house
in London, which reported its origin in an old private collection in Germany. The scabbard, made of silver and copper alloy, is in excellent condition, with a large part of the sword surviving in its interior. It is a representative example of the Late La Tène style scabbards with openwork mounts. These objects were in use roughly between 40/30 BC and the first few decades AD, mainly in the south-eastern Alps, the Moselle Basin and the middle reaches of the Rhine, but also between the southern Baltic coast and the Rivers Vistula and Odra. The technological features, particularly the probable use of brass, as well as individual decorative elements suggest that these items of prestige were produced in Roman workshops for the prominent members of the Celtic, Germanic and Thracian military elites. The condition of the scabbard indicates that the weapon most probably came from a watery context, possibly on the territory of the Taurisci between the Ljubljansko barje and the lower Krka valley, which is an area known for such finds of weaponry.

The subject of the present analysis are bronze rings (bracelets/armlets?) decorated with a cord ornament, known in archaeological literature as type Șimleul Silvaniei and Rustoiu 3. The paper starts out with an overview of past research on the impact from the Dacian territory on Iron Age inhabitants of Poland since type Șimleul Silvaniei bracelets are an element of this phenomenon. It follows with an analysis of the context of discovery of these ornaments in the area to the north of the Carpathians and the Sudety. Next, insights obtained from this analysis are used as a point of departure to examine the chronology, origin and distribution of type Șimleul Silvaniei in reference to the conclusions of Romanian researchers Aurel Rustoiu and Cristinel C. Plantos.

- by Marko Dizdar and +1
- •
- Archaeology, Late Iron Age (Archaeology), Fibules Gallo-Romaines, La Tene Period in Middle Europe

In: TURK, Peter, Janka ISTENIČ, Timotej KNIFIC, Tomaž NABERGOJ (eds.) 2009, Ljubljanica – a River and its Past. – Ljubljana : Narodni muzej Slovenije.

- by Sławomir Miłek and +1
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- Archaeology, Celtic Archaeology, Celtic studies (Medieval Studies), Archeologia
- by Jacques Monnier and +1
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- Funerary Archaeology, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Roman Pottery, Augustan Principate
- by Borbála Maráz
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- Typology, Celts (Archaeology), Celtic History, Celtic Archaeology

Les fibules font partie des meilleurs marqueurs chronologiques de la fin de La Tène pour aborder de manière détaillée l'occupation du territoire. Cette contribution propose une typologie renouvelée des fibules de cette époque fondée sur des corpus récents. Ces ensembles permettent l'établissement d'un classement typologique utilisant un vocabulaire standardisé et un système de codification hiérarchique, qui garantissent un enregistrement systématique des caractéristiques individuelles ainsi qu’une certaine transparence lors de l’attribution des types. Cette typologie comprend neuf familles, 25 groupes et 129 types, pour lesquels une description normée et une première évaluation chronologique sont présentées en version bilingue. Fibeln sind für die Chronologie und viele aufbauende Fragestellungen eine der wichtigsten Fundgattungen der jüngeren Latènezeit. Für das Schweizer Mittelland fehlt derzeit allerdings eine umfassende Fibeltypologie der Epoche. Dank einer Reihe umfangreicher, neu vorgelegter Fundinventare konnte diese Lücke nun geschlossen und eine entsprechende Typologie erarbeitet werden. Diese verwendet ein hierarchisches Kodifizierungssystem mit standardisiertem Vokabular, was eine systematische Aufnahme der Einzelmerkmale und eine transparente Typenbildung gewährleistet. Insgesamt umfasst sie neun Familien, 25 Gruppen und 129 Typen, für welche in zweisprachiger Form eine formale Beschreibung sowie eine erste Einschätzung zur chronologischen Einordnung vorgelegt werden.
Brooches are one of the most diagnostic finds for the end of the La Tène period. For the Swiss Plateau a comprehensive typology of brooches was lacking and therefore a base for a more detailed chronology of the occupation of the territory. Thanks to a series of newly published large assemblages of finds this has since been rectified and a typology is now available. It uses standard terminology and a hierarchical system of codification, which ensures that individual features are systematically recorded and the definition of types is thus transparent. Overall, the typology consists of nine families, 25 groups and 129 types, which are formally described in two languages with preliminary dates proposed for each.

Article on the Excavations of Gournay-sur-Aronde.

- by Jonas Scherr
- •
- Ancient History, Classics, Celtic Studies, History of Religion
- by Kordula Gostencnik
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- Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology

Connections between the inhabitants of pre-Roman Dacia and peoples residing in the area between the Carpathian range and the Baltic Sea is a subject we can hardly consider as well understood. A form possibly helpful for investigating these connections are rings with a cord ornament, type Şimleul Silvaniei — type 3a after A. Rustoiu. These finds (bracelets or armlets) originating from a Celtic environment, should be attributed to the Dacian environment. The first finds of type 3 rings with a cord ornament were recorded in Poland already in the first half of the last century but their typology and origin was defined correctly in Polish literature only recently, by M. Rudnicki. In Poland at least fifteen bracelets/armlets type Şimleul Silvaniei (mostly type 3a) are recorded at present. One is from Western Pomerania (Lubiechowo), five are from the Lower Vistula region (Lasy, Malbork-Wielbark, Małe Czyste), three from Masovia (Kleszewo [?], Niedanowo, vicinity of Skierniewice). Four were discovered in Western Lesser Poland (Jakuszowice, Nowe Brzesko, Pełczyska). The focus of the present paper are two armlet fragments, type Şimleul Silvaniei, from Central Poland (Brodnia, Jastrzębniki).
If we take into account the chronology of this type of ornament and the itinerary of the main communications routes, this distribution of their finds appears justified. That all the armlets listed here were imports is suggested not only by the absence of a local tradition of production of this type of ornament and analogies from the south-east but also by the unusual composition of their metal alloy. Specimens originating from contexts are dated to the Early Roman Period but it seems that even earlier — during phase LT D2 (A3 of the Pre-Roman Period) — these ornaments were brought north of the Carpathian Mts.
The present study addresses the question of the source area of bracelets/armlets type Şimleul Silvaniei and the route by which they were introduced to the area between the Baltic and the Carpathian Mts.

- by Marco Tizzoni and +1
- •
- History of Mining, Late Celtic and Early Roman transition

The Celtic cavalry practice known as trimarkisia is only known by a quote in Pausanias (Guide for Greece 10.19.9-11). Although always mentioned when tackling Celtic warfare, little effort has been made to try to explain how it functioned and its implications, with just a passing mention to Pausanias’ quote, without further dwelling into the matter. In this paper we will outline a model to explain the trimarkisia in the wider frame of Celtic warfare, from its probable origin in the charioteer-warrior-shield bearer triad to its late reflection in Roman cavalrymen tombstones.
We will take a closer look at the sources, to show that there are some more brief mentions about the trimarkisia or similar practices. The archaeological record will be brought forward as the changes in Celtic panoply can be linked to the development and growing importance of cavalry. Horsemen and infantry often fought together, as seen in Celtiberia, Gaul and Germania, and this coordination is probably related to the trimarkisia. Moreover, a late iconographic reflection can perhaps be glimpsed in some Roman auxiliary cavalrymen tombstones, where calones are depicted carrying the master’s lanceae. Last, a look at Medieval Europe can provide a mirror to explain trimarkisia, as we find a similar practice with squires that keep the reserve destriers of the knights in the rearguard or even get into the fray.
The growing importance of cavalry in Celtic warfare had to do with the development of a class of aristocratic horsemen, the equites of Latin sources, which became the ruling class in the Celtic oppida of 2nd and 1st centuries BC. In this way the trimarkisia should be viewed not only as a military practice but also as an indicator of social developments in Western Europe late Iron Age.

- by Alberto Pérez Rubio
- •
- Celtic Studies, Celtic History, Celtic Archaeology, Ancient Warfare

In recent years the number of archaeological finds associated with the Celtic presence in the area north of the Carpathians and the Sudety has grown perceptibly. This evidence is helping to validate the claim that the role played by the Celts in shaping the culture of Poland during the La Tène and at the beginning of the Roman Period was much greater than has been supposed in the past. Although the road to reconstructing and correctly evaluating this role still seems a long one there is no doubt that numismatic sources have much to contribute on this subject. An important discovery in this regard was made in the vicinity of Kalisz, Poland, one of the most unexpected archaeological developments recorded in Poland in recent years. It is not an exaggeration to say that this new input represents a qualitative advance in the study of a wide range of issues related to trade exchange, circulation of precious metal coinage, far-ranging contacts, the cultural and even political environment of the people who settled around the turn of the era the region between the Vistula and the Odra river.

- by Marcin Rudnicki
- •
- Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Numismatics, Numismatic

La grande vicenda storico-culturale delle invasioni barbariche nell'impero romano, dei definitivi insediamenti barbarici nel territorio imperiale, del tra-monto e della fine dell'impero romano di Occidente, della costituzione dei regni germanici sulle rovine dell'impero, e dunque tutta la lunga, complessa e sofferta quanto feconda dialettica dello scontro/incontro tra il mondo romano e cristiano e le genti barbariche, in particolare dei versanti germanici e celtici, viene qui esaminata e ricostruita in una originale sinergia di analisi e sintesi. Da indagini specifiche (sull'evoluzione di determinati usi linguistici, su aspetti peculiari del cristianesimo presso i diversi popoli, su singole opere e singoli autori latini, sulla diffusione del latino nella Romània, sugli scambi linguistici e culturali tra varie regioni dell'Occidente europeo) e da studi di più ampio orizzonte (sugli indirizzi nell'ambito della storiografia, sulla nascita delle letterature nazionali, sulla società dell'Italia romano-gotica e su quella longobardica del secolo VIII) emerge l'affascinante quadro di un nuovo mondo culturale. Il patrimonio classico, ormai connotato in senso cristiano, appare non come una realtà in disfacimento, ma come punto di partenza del processo di inte-razione e integrazione che, attraverso molteplici e articolate dinamiche, fra cui in special modo l'inculturazione e l'acculturazione, ha condotto alla formazione culturale dell'Europa occidentale. The clash/encounter between the Roman and Christian world on one side, the barbarians (particularly Germans and Celts) on the other, is examined and reconstructed in this volume in an original combination of analysis and synthesis. Specific inquiries alternate with broader essays to outline a new cultural world. The classical heritage, now with a Christian imprint, appears not as a decayed left-over, but as the starting point of a process of interaction and integration, that eventually led, along multiple and complex paths, including especially inculturation and acculturation, to the cultural shaping of Western Europe.

- by SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo
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- History, Cultural History, Celtic Studies, Medieval History

Cette contribution vise à faire le point des recherches sur la diffusion de l'architecture italique dans le sud-ouest de la France aux IIe et Ier s. av. n. ère. Cette délimitation géographique et la fourchette chronologique ont de toute évidence influencé la collecte des données. On peut dès à présent affirmer qu’aucun élément d’architecture italique reconnu n’est antérieur au Ier s. av. n. è., mais une majorité d’indices relève de la première moitié de ce siècle, affecté par d’importants changements géopolitiques.

- by Marcin Rudnicki
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- Archaeology, Celtic Studies, Numismatics, Numismatic

La chronologie de La Tène D2 et de l'augustéen dans le pays trévire est portée par des ensembles funéraires aristocratiques qui permettent de préciser les horizons du GR 1 et de distinguer deux étapes dans le GR 2. Cette approche s'appuie... more

- by Jenny Kaurin
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- Ceramics (Archaeology), Chronology, Brooches, Cemeteries

For request I can send a PDF!

- by Jean-Luc Collart
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- Roman Villae, Romanisation, Roman Gaul, Romanization