Editing Helvetii (section)

=== Earliest historical sources and settlement ===
{{see also|Early history of Switzerland}}
In his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' (c. 77 AD), [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] provides a [[foundation myth]] for the Celtic settlement of [[Cisalpine Gaul]] in which a Helvetian named Helico plays the role of [[culture hero]]. Helico had worked in Rome as a craftsman and then returned to his home north of the Alps with a dried fig, a grape, and some oil and wine, the desirability of which caused his countrymen to invade northern [[Italy]].<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia naturalis]]'' 12.2.</ref>

The Greek historian Posidonius (c. 135–50 BC), whose work is preserved only in fragments by other writers, offers the earliest historical record of the Helvetii. Posidonius described the Helvetians of the late 2nd century BC as "rich in gold but peaceful," without giving clear indication to the location of their territory.<ref>Strabon 7.2.2.</ref> His reference to gold washing in rivers has been taken as evidence for an early presence of the Helvetii in the Swiss plateau, with the [[Emme (river)|Emme]] as being one of the gold-yielding rivers mentioned by Posidonius. This interpretation is now generally discarded,<ref>SPM IV ''Eisenzeit,'' Basel 1999, p. 31f.</ref> as Posidonius' narrative makes it more likely that the country some of the Helvetians left in order to join in the raids of the [[Teutones]], [[Cimbri]], and [[Ambrones]] was in fact southern [[Germany]] and not [[Switzerland]].

That the Helvetians originally lived in southern Germany is confirmed by the [[Alexandria]]n geographer [[Ptolemy|Claudius Ptolemaios]] (c. 90–168 AD), who tells us of an Ἐλουητίων ἔρημος (i.e. "Helvetic deserted lands") north of the [[Rhine]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Geographia|author=Ptolemy|language=el|chapter= Vol I.Book II.11.10|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ksBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA117|publisher=[[Tauchnitz publishers|Karl Tauchnitz]]|place=Leipzig|year=1843|page=117}}</ref> [[Tacitus]] knows that the Helvetians once settled in the swath between [[Rhine]], [[Main (river)|Main]], and the [[Hercynian forest]].<ref>Germ. 28.2.</ref> The abandonment of this northern territory is now usually placed in the late 2nd century BC, around the time of the first Germanic incursions into the Roman world, when the Tigurini and Toygenoi/Toutonoi are mentioned as participants in the great raids.

At the later [[Turicum (Zürich)|Vicus ''Turicum'']], probably in the first 1st century BC or even much earlier, the Celts settled at the [[Lindenhof hill|Lindenhof Oppidium]]. In 1890, so-called ''[[Potin]] lumps'' were found, whose largest weights {{convert|59.2|kg|lb|0}} at the [[Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zürichsee|Prehistoric pile dwelling settlement]] ''[[Alpenquai]]'' in Zürich, Switzerland. The pieces consist of a large number of fused [[Celts|Celtic]] coins, which are mixed with charcoal remnants. Some of the 18,000 coins originate from the ''Eastern Gaul'', others are of the ''Zürich'' type, that were assigned to the local ''Helvetii'', which date to around 100 BC. The find is so far unique, and the scientific research assumes that the melting down of the lump was not completed, therefore the aim was to form cultic offerings. The site of the find was at that time at least {{convert|50|m|ft|0}} from the lake shore, and probably {{convert|1|m|ft|0}} to three meters deep in the water.<ref name="potinklumpen">''Keltisches Geld in Zürich: Der spektakuläre «Potinklumpen»''. Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Stadtarchäologie, Zürich October 2007.</ref><ref name="michaelnick">{{cite web|url=http://ca.www.mcu.es/museos/docs/MC/ActasNumis/75_kilogrammes_of_Celtic.pdf|title=75 kilogrammes of Celtic small coin - Recent research on the "Potinklumpen" from Zürich|publisher=Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, España|author=Michael Nick|access-date=2014-12-12}}</ref> There's also an island sanctuary of the Helvetii in connection with the settlement at the preceding Oppidi Uetliberg on the former ''[[Grosser Hafner]]'' island,<ref>Beat Eberschweiler: ''Schädelreste, Kopeken und Radar: Vielfältige Aufgaben für die Zürcher Tauchequipe IV''. In: NAU 8/2001. Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Unterwasserarchäologie / Labor für Dendrochronologie. Zürich 2001.</ref> as well as the settlement ''[[Kleiner Hafner]]''<ref name="palafittes-übersicht">{{cite web|url=http://www.palafittes.org/en/unesco-world-heritage/sites-switzerland/index.html|title=Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Switzerland|publisher=Swiss Coordination Group UNESCO Palafittes (palafittes.org)|access-date=2014-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007220441/http://www.palafittes.org/en/unesco-world-heritage/sites-switzerland/index.html|archive-date=2014-10-07|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="palafittes-heritage">{{cite web|url=http://www.palafittes.org/en/unesco-world-heritage/world-heritage/index.html|title=World Heritage|publisher=palafittes.org|access-date=2014-12-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209212026/http://www.palafittes.org/en/unesco-world-heritage/world-heritage/index.html|archive-date=2014-12-09|url-status=dead}}</ref> at the [[Sechseläutenwiese|''Sechseläuten square'']] on the effluence of the [[Limmat]] on [[Zürichsee]] lake shore.