Editing Celts (section)

===Archaeological evidence===
{{Further|Iron Age Europe}}
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| caption1 = Reconstruction of a late La&nbsp;Tène period settlement in Altburg near [[Bundenbach]], Germany<br />(first century BC)
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| caption2 = Reconstruction of a late La&nbsp;Tène period settlement in [[Havranok]], Slovakia<br />(second–first century BC)
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The concept that the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures could be seen not just as chronological periods but as "Culture Groups", entities composed of people of the same ethnicity and language, had started to grow by the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century the belief that these "Culture Groups" could be thought of in racial or ethnic terms was held by [[Gordon Childe]], whose theory was influenced by the writings of [[Gustaf Kossinna]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EZ7Gj2ocIEsC&pg=PA346 |title=Milestones in Archaeology: A Chronological Encyclopedia |page=346 |date=2007 |access-date=2 October 2010 |isbn=978-1-57607-186-1 |last1=Murray |first1=Tim |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222214917/http://books.google.com/books?id=EZ7Gj2ocIEsC&pg=PA346&dq=%22Gordon+Childe%22+la+tene |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> As the 20th century progressed, the ethnic interpretation of La Tène culture became more strongly rooted, and any findings of La Tène culture and flat inhumation cemeteries were linked to the Celts and the Celtic language.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=bQMxOC66jvsC&pg=PA48 |title=Prehistoric Europe: Theory and Practice |page=48 |access-date=2 October 2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-2597-0 |last1=Jones |first1=Andrew |date=2008 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]}}</ref>
<!-- The Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] (c. 800–475 BC) and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] (c. 500–50 BC) cultures are typically associated with Proto-Celtic and Celtic culture.<ref>F. Fleming, ''Heroes of the Dawn: Celtic Myth'', 1996. pp. 9, 134.</ref> -->

In various{{Clarify|date=July 2010}} [[List of academic disciplines|academic disciplines]], the Celts were considered a Central European Iron Age phenomenon, through the cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène. However, archaeological finds from the Halstatt and La Tène culture were rare in Iberia, southwestern France, northern and western Britain, southern Ireland and Galatia<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jEJyWT1gwg0C&pg=PA5 |title=pg5 |access-date=2 October 2010 |isbn=978-0-415-35177-5 |last1=Harding |first1=Dennis William |date=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222210715/http://books.google.com/books?id=jEJyWT1gwg0C&pg=PA5&dq=no+la+tene+in+western+france |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA386 |title=Celtic Culture: A-Celti |page=386 |access-date=2 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222191026/http://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA386&dq=no+la+tene+in+south+ireland#v=onepage&q=no%20la%20tene%20in%20south%20ireland&f=false |archive-date=22 December 2011 |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]}}</ref> and did not provide enough evidence for a culture like that of Central Europe. It is equally difficult to maintain that the origin of the Iberian Celts can be linked to the preceding Urnfield culture. This has resulted in a newer theory that introduces a 'proto-Celtic' substratum and a process of Celticisation, having its initial roots in the Bronze Age [[Bell Beaker culture]].<ref name="Lorrio">{{cite web |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |title=Center for Celtic Studies &#124; UW-Milwaukee |access-date=27 April 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060819015554/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |archive-date=19 August 2006}} The Celts in Iberia: An Overview – Alberto J. Lorrio (Universidad de Alicante) & Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero ([[Complutense University of Madrid|Universidad Complutense de Madrid]]) – Journal of Interdisciplinary [[Celtic studies]], Volume 6: 167–254 The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula, 1 February 2005</ref>

The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) in eastern France, Switzerland, Austria, southwest Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It developed out of the Hallstatt culture without any definite cultural break, under the impetus of considerable Mediterranean influence from [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], and later [[Etruscan civilisation]]s. A shift of settlement centres took place in the 4th century. The western La Tène culture corresponds to historical [[Gaul|Celtic Gaul]]. Whether this means that the whole of La Tène culture can be attributed to a unified Celtic people is difficult to assess; archaeologists have repeatedly concluded that language and material culture do not necessarily run parallel. Frey notes that in the 5th century, "burial customs in the Celtic world were not uniform; rather, localised groups had their own beliefs, which, in consequence, also gave rise to distinct artistic expressions".<ref>*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110517084539/http://www.ria.ie/publications/journals/journaldb/index.asp?select=fulltext&id=100427.  Otto Hermann Frey, "A new approach to early Celtic art"]. Setting the Glauberg finds in context of shifting iconography, [[Royal Irish Academy]] (2004)</ref> Thus, while the La Tène culture is certainly associated with the [[Gauls]], the presence of La Tène artefacts may be due to cultural contact and does not imply the permanent presence of Celtic speakers.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}