Editing Noricum (section)

==Area and population==
Around 800 BC, the region was inhabited mostly by the people of the  [[Hallstatt culture]]. Around 450 BC, they merged with the people of other areas in the south-western regions of Germany and [[La Tène culture|eastern France]].

The country is mountainous and rich in iron and salt. It supplied material for the manufacturing of arms in Pannonia, [[Moesia]], and northern Italy. The famous [[Noric steel]] was largely used in the making of Roman weapons (e.g. [[Horace]], ''Odes'', i.16.9-10: ''Noricus ensis'', "a Noric sword"). Gold<ref>From a statement of Polybius, in his own time in consequence of the great output of gold from a mine in Noricum, gold lost one-third of its value. {{Cite book|author=Ridgeway, William |year=1892 |title=The Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards |location=Oxford, England |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.70243/page/n153 139]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.70243}}</ref> and salt{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} were found in considerable quantities. The plant called saliunca (the wild [[Nard (plant)|nard]], a relative of the lavender) grew in abundance and was used as a [[perfume]] according to [[Pliny the Elder]].<ref>''[[Pliny's Natural History|Naturalis Historia]]'' xxi. 20.43)</ref>

The inhabitants developed a culture rich in art, salt mining, cattle breeding, and agriculture. When part of the area became a [[Roman province]], the Romans introduced water management and the already important trade relations between the people north and south of the Alps increased.

Archaeological research, particularly in the cemeteries of [[Hallstatt]], has shown that a vigorous civilization was in the area centuries before recorded history. The graves contained weapons and ornaments from the [[Bronze Age]], through the period of transition, up to the Hallstatt culture, i.e., the fully developed older period of the [[Iron Age]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}