Oldest settlements

The oldest known Celtic settlement was found at Hallstatt, near Salzburg in Austria, during the last century. Dated to around the 750 - 400 BC period the archeological findings show a culture well versed in Iron Technology, unlike their Bronze Age predecessors, and a community involved in a high level of trade. Findings have included pieces from the Baltic, Phonecia and even Oriental gold leaf work. Within the society there appears to have been a settled peasantry which must have supported the warriors and craftsman elite, through farming. This peasantry was probably made up of the remnants of the earlier Urnfield culture of Europe, as there is evidence of continuous occupation.
It is supposed that the Hallstatt culture emerged in the Upper Danube regions in Austria, Bavaria and Bohemia, where the earliest Hallstatt graves have been discovered. This would support the statements by Herodotus, amongst others, that the Danube was the homeland of the Celts.
2.1.2 La Tene Culture
In 1858 in Lake Neuchatel (Switzerland) another later Celtic settlement was discovered. The archeological evidence from this site revealed what appears to be a far more advanced society than that found at Hallstatt. There are indications of major advances in iron technology and a significant increase in the wealth of the elite classes. This would support the theory that there had been significant progress in the status of the elite (e.g. the chiefs and their families). This settlement has been dated to around the 3rd century BC and findings from this and other Celtic sites from this period have included elaborate naturalistic artwork, as well as Scythian and Greek objects.
The level of technological achievement by the Celts in this period must not be underestimated: Although the wheel had been a much earlier discovery, it was these Celts who were responsible for it's refinement into some of the most effective tools of the prehistoric period - four wheeled wagons and war chariots.
The richness of the artifacts found both here and at other contemporary sites makes it appear that there was a substantial shift in the major centers of Celtic society from the Upper Danube region to the Upper Rhine region. This would be consistent with the evidence of Celtic expansion into South West Germany, Switzerland and Burgundy during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.

Copyright 1998 David F. Dale