scholarly journals Archaeology and Zooarchaeology of the Late Iron Age-Roman Transition in the Province of Raetia (100 bc–100 ad)

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Trixl ◽  
Bernd Steidl ◽  
Joris Peters
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Burial Customs ◽  
La Tène ◽  
Alpine Foreland ◽  
La Tene ◽  
Transitional Phase

The incorporation of the region north of the Alpine divide and its foreland into the Imperium Romanum initiated major changes in economic and social structure and in everyday life in the newly-founded province of Raetia. Controversy exists, however, about the continuity of local La Tène traditions into early Roman times, since the archaeological evidence recorded to date tends to give the impression that the northern Alpine foreland was largely unpopulated at the time of the Roman conquest in 15 bc. However, ongoing excavations in this region are gradually enhancing the archaeological visibility of this transitional phase. Compared to early Roman provincial populations settled along the Via Claudia Augusta and its hinterland, a culturally unique community stands out: the Heimstetten group. This group is located in the eastern Raetian hinterlands and dates to around 30–60 ad. Its building tradition, settlement structure, and burial customs show close affinities with the La Tène culture, thus suggesting continuity in autochthonous culture at the time of the early Roman occupation. Since faunal remains can potentially act as cultural markers, additional insights can be gained from a spatial-temporal analysis of livestock composition and breeding practices. The results presented here clearly show that, during the Iron Age, marked regional differences in species composition are visible, implying the possibility of distinct developments during early Romanization. In addition to evaluating faunal developments in the study area between c. 100 bc–100 ad, the issue of cattle breeding—traditionally the mainstay of livestock economies in many regions and especially in the Munich Gravel Plain at least since the Bronze Age—is addressed in greater detail.

Status and Violence

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
La Tene

This chapter focuses on sword and scabbards. Swords were important visual objects, larger than most other objects in Bronze and Iron Age Europe, and their shape made them visually striking. Two parts of the sword were especially important in this regard. In the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, the hilt and pommel were often the vehicles for elaborate eye-catching ornament. When a sword was in its scabbard, whether worn at the side of the bearer, hanging on a wall, or placed in the burial chamber, the only parts of the weapon that were visible were the handle and its end. During the Middle and Late Iron Age, the scabbard became especially important as a vehicle for decorative elaboration. Bronze and Early Iron Age scabbards were mostly made of wood, and we do not, therefore have much information about how they were decorated. From the end of the Early La Tène period on, however, swords were long, and scabbards of bronze and iron offered extensive rectangular surfaces for decoration.

scholarly journals Novajidrány–Sárvár-Erdészház : A Celtic Cemetery at the Foothills of Cserehát, Hungary

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Bíborka Vass ◽  
F. Zsófia Sörös
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
Ceramic Assemblages ◽  
La Tene ◽  
Population Wave ◽  
Grave Goods

At the end of the 4th century BC, and the beginning of the 3rd century BC a Celtic population wave reached the eastern parts of the Carpathian Basin, including Northeastern Hungary. The elements of the funerary rite and the archaeological finds attest to the presence of the newly arrived communities in the cemeteries of the region. The present study serves as a preliminary report on the research results of a Celtic cemetery in the Hernád valley excavated in 2019. The site of Novajidrány–Sárvár-erdészház was in use between the late 4th century BC the earliest and the 3rd century BC and it fits well into the row of Late Iron Age cemeteries in the region. Both cremated and inhumated burials were documented with richly accompanied metal and pottery grave goods. Appearing next to the typically La Tène-styled finds, the graves also contained – mainly in the ceramic assemblages – Scythian-influenced forms which can be explained by the Celtic and Scythian cohabitation in the region during the Late Iron Age.

I.—Prehistoric and Roman Settlements on Park Brow

Archaeologia ◽  
1927 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 1-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garnet R. Wolseley ◽  
Reginald A. Smith ◽  
William Hawley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
South West ◽  
Disturbed Areas ◽  
La Tène ◽  
La Tene ◽  
The Hill ◽  
The Bronze Age

In a paper describing the discovery and partial excavation of an Early Iron Age settlement on Park Brow Hill near Cissbury, published in the Antiquaries Journal, vol. iv, mention was made of the location of two other habitation sites on the hill—one Roman, and another probably occupied during the Bronze Age of Britain. It was to this latter site that I decided to attend in 1924, the object being to examine the relation between this settlement and that attributed to the Hallstatt–La Tène I period found on the top of the hill (see fig. a). The new site consists of a series of disturbed areas roughly circular, and lying on the slope of the hill facing south-west, about a furlong from the Hallstatt settlement (see fig. b).

scholarly journals Oppida, Agglomerations, and Suburbia: the Bibracte Environs and New Perspectives on Late Iron Age Urbanism in Central-Eastern France

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Moore ◽  
Arno Braun ◽  
John Creighton ◽  
Laura Cripps ◽  
Peter Haupt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
Central Eastern ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
La Tene

This paper explores the nature and chronology of La Tène and early Roman unenclosed agglomerations in central-eastern France. It has been prompted by the discovery of a c. 115 ha La Tène D2b/Augustan (c. 50 BC to AD 15) site close to Bibracte in the Morvan, located around the source of the River Yonne. This complex provides a new perspective on the chronology and role of Late La Tène and early Roman unenclosed settlements, adding further complexity to the story of the development of Late La Tène oppida. It indicates that these ‘agglomerations’ followed remarkably varied chronological trajectories, raising important issues concerning the nature of landscape and social change at the end of the Iron Age.

Charcoal and pollen analyses and vegetation reconstruction of the Alpine foreland in West Hungary

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katalin Náfrádi ◽  
Pál Sümegi ◽  
Tünde Törőcsik
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
Alpine Foreland ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Pollen Analyses

AbstractIn the area of archaeological excavations that were performed prior to the construction of Main Road No. 86 in Vas County (West Hungary) in the Alpine foreland new geoarchaeological analyses have been conducted. We used anthracology and pollen analyses to reconstruct the former vegetation cover at the study site. Charcoal data provide site-related information about the local woodland composition, management and human impact, while pollen data provide information on the arboreal and non-arboreal vegetation on a regional or local scale. Adequate samples for anthracological analyses derive from the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Imperial and Migration Periods and Middle-Ages archaeological objects. The core for pollen analyses originates from alluvial sediments of the Borzó Creek and covers the late Pleistocene and the Holocene until the Medieval Period. Charcoal analyses show the dominance of Quercus trees in the vicinity of the human settlements that might indicate a strong human selection, or the fragmentation of samples. Pollen analyses indicate thermophilous vegetation from the beginning of the Holocene, with increasing values of Fagus and Carpinus. Pollens of cereals indicate human activity, which is also demonstrated by the presence of pollen from Juglans and Vitis in the Iron Age sequence. Extensive forest clearance occurred in the Late Iron Age and the Imperial Period.

scholarly journals The Spirit of the Sword and Spear

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
La Tene

From the Norse sagas or the Arthurian cycles, we are used to the concept that the warrior's weapon has an identity, a name. In this article I shall ask whether some prehistoric weapons also had an identity. Using case studies of La Tène swords, early Iron Age central and southern Italian spearheads and middle and late Bronze Age type Boiu and type Sauerbrunn swords, I shall argue that prehistoric weapons could indeed have an identity and that this has important implications for their biographies, suggesting that they may have been conserved as heirlooms or exchanged as prestige gifts for much longer than is generally assumed, which in turn impacts our understanding of the deposition of weapons in tombs, where they may have had a ‘guardian spirit’ function.

Commentaria archaeologica et historica (III). Chronology of the Dacian Silver Hoards

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 11-38
Author(s):  
Aurel Rustoiu
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
Danube Region ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
La Tene

These comments stem from the recent publication of a number of studies regarding the silver artefacts of pre-Roman Dacia, with important implications for the relative and absolute chronology of the late La Tène period in the region in question, and also for some cultural and historical transformations that happened in the same area. Some of the conclusions presented in these studies are insufficiently supported by arguments. Their publication requires a detailed analysis, which is meant to clarify a number of controversial aspects. For example, D. Spânu has recently divided the evolution of the Dacian silver hoards into two phases dated to the La Tène D2a and D2b (the period between ca. 75 – 65 BC and the Augustan age). To support this chronology, he chose to ignore a series of hoards, or only certain artefacts from other hoards, which did not fit into the suggested model. These efforts to push the chronology of the Dacian silver hoards within a particular time frame stem from his aim to use these discoveries as arguments for a series of a priori historical interpretations for which archaeological evidence is scant. This includes the idea that the local silver ornaments were all made exclusively of melted Mediterranean coins which supposedly reached pre-Roman Dacia massively only after the defeating of Mithridates VI Eupator and the fall of the Kingdom of Pontus. However, the analysis of the silver jewellery from pre-Roman Dacia is demonstrating that the artefacts in question were made using both locally-sourced silver and melted Mediterranean coins. Chronologically, these hoards can be divided into three phases: first group dated to the La Tène D1, 150/125 – 75/50 BC; second group belongs to the La Tène D2, 75/50 – 30/25 BC; third group dated to the Augustan – Tiberian period, 30/25 BC – AD 25/30. It can be therefore concluded that the scenario proposed by D. Spânu for the chronology of the end of the Late Iron Age in the lower Danube region and Transylvania, based on an erroneous dating of the silver hoards, is not credible. This kind of analysis requires the incorporation of different categories of archaeological evidence belonging to the last three centuries before the Roman conquest. Their contextual interpretation could provide a more reliable and detailed chronology of the evolution of the communities from each of the two territories in question. Lastly, this evolution was not uniformly equal across wide areas, as suggested by the typo-chronological tables and schemes drawn in the office by some researchers, since each community had its own history and evolution governed by a multitude of different social, economic, demographic or ecological factors.

scholarly journals Hrabianki Szembekówny - pionierki archeologii wielkopolskiej z przełomu XIX i XX wieku

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 7-45
Author(s):  
Jerzy Fogel
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
La Tène ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Field Works ◽  
La Tene ◽  
The 19Th Century

Archaeological interests of the Szembek earls from Siemianice near Kępno (southern Wielkopolska) have spread over many generations starting from the middle of the 19th century until the present time. This is well exemplified by activities of Jadwiga (1883-1939) and Zofia (1884-1974) Szembek. In the years 1897-1908, both sisters undertook systematic and model excavations of the multicultural cemetery (-ies) at Siemianice near Kępno (Bronze Age 11, Bronze Age V - HaD; the Late La Téne - Early Roman Iron Age) and cemetery at Lipie near Kępno (Bronze Age V). Jadwiga Szembek excavated also multicultural settlement at Tarnowica near Jaworów (western Ukraine) in 1924 and 1927. An origin and development of archaeological interests of the Szembek sisters, along with a detailed analysis of their field works, was reconstructed on the basis of unpublished archive materials and old literature of the subject. Assessment of their achievements in this field, according to both previous and current criteria, made possible to support opinion by Prof. Józef Kostrzewski who rated the Szembek sisters among archaeologists of the most outstanding merit before 1918.

scholarly journals Lava rotary querns of ‘Iron Age type’ in Roman times

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Wenzel
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Main Product ◽  
Type A ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
Active Surfaces ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
Branded Product ◽  
La Tene

In Mayen the production of lava rotary querns of ‘Iron Age type’ continued from the late La Tène period into Julio-Claudian times. The lower quernstone possessed a domed grinding face and the upper stone was double concave in section. While the surfaces of these querns are usually pecked, late examples show a segmented radial grooving on the grinding surfaces. Handle sockets with elbow-shaped (L-shaped) perforation were already an innovation of the late Iron Age. Since Augustan times ‘typical Roman’ hand-mills were the main product of the Mayen quarries. They had a meta with a flat conical grinding surface and a catillus with a broad raised rim. The active surfaces were grooved for functional reasons. However, the upper side of the catillus and the sides of upper and lower stones were grooved for decoration, making these rotary querns a characteristic ‘branded’ product. Most of the ‘Iron Age type’ quernstones of Early Imperial times are known from the Low Countries where they go under the name of Brillerij-type. A survey of these quernstones reveals several examples found to the southeast of this region. Even after the typical Roman hand mills became the dominant form, some ‘vintage’ Iron Age type querns were still produced for a special clientele. Though, so far, virtually no closely dated specimens are known from contexts after the Batavian revolt.

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