Editing La Tène culture

{{Short description|Iron Age culture of Europe}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name        = La Tène culture
|map         = 
|mapcaption  = Celtic expansion in Europe
|mapalt      = 
|altnames    =
|horizon     =
|region      = Western/Central Europe
|period      = [[Iron Age Europe|Iron Age]]
|dates       = c. 450 BC – c. 1 BC
|typesite    = [[La Tène, Neuchâtel]]
|majorsites  = 
|extra       =
|precededby  = [[Hallstatt culture]] 
|followedby  = [[Roman Republic]], [[Roman Empire]], [[Roman Gaul]], [[Roman Britain]], [[Hispania]], [[Germania]], [[Rhaetia]], [[Noricum]], [[Archaeology of Northern Europe#Roman Iron Age|Roman Iron Age]]
}}
[[File:Hallstatt LaTene.png|thumb|261x261px|Overview of the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and La Tène cultures. The core Hallstatt territory (800 BC) is shown in solid yellow, the area of influence by 500&nbsp;BC (HaD) in light yellow. The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) is shown in solid green, the area of La Tène influence by 50&nbsp;BC in light green. The territories of some major [[Celtic tribes]] are labelled. Map drawn after ''Atlas of the Celtic World'', by John Haywood (2001: 30–37).]]

The '''La Tène culture''' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|t|ɛ|n}}; {{IPA|fr|la tɛn}}) was a [[Iron Age Europe|European Iron Age]] culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450&nbsp;BC to the [[Roman Republic|Roman conquest]] in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture]] without any definite cultural break, under considerable [[Mediterranean]] influence from the [[Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul]], the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=31LFIITb3LUC&pg=PA354 Sarunas Milisauskas, ''European Prehistory: a survey'', p. 354]</ref> and the [[Culture of Golasecca|Golasecca culture]],<ref>Venceslas Kruta, ''La grande storia dei Celti. La nascita, l'affermazione, la decadenza'', (Newton & Compton), Roma, 2003  {{ISBN|978-88-8289-851-9}}, a translation of ''Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire. Des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme'', Robert Laffont, Paris, 2000, without the dictionary</ref> but whose artistic style nevertheless did not depend on those Mediterranean influences.<ref>McIntosh, 89-91</ref>

La Tène culture's territorial extent corresponded to what is now [[Prehistory of France#The Iron Age|France]], [[History of Belgium#Celtic and Roman periods|Belgium]], [[Early history of Switzerland#Iron Age|Switzerland]], [[History of Austria#Iron Age|Austria]], [[History of England#Later Prehistory|England]], [[History of Germany#Iron Age|Southern Germany]], the [[History of the Czech lands#Iron Age|Czech Republic]], [[Prehistoric Italy#Iron Age|Northern Italy]] and [[Prehistoric Italy#Iron Age|Central Italy]],<ref>{{cite book|last=McNair|first=Raymond F.|title=Key to Northwest European Origins|date=22 March 2012|publisher=Author House|isbn=978-1-4685-4600-2|page=81}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/mefr_0223-5102_1996_num_108_2_1954|title=Manufatti in ferro di tipo La Tène in area italiana : le potenzialità non-sfruttate|year=1996|doi=10.3406/mefr.1996.1954|last1=Vitali|first1=Daniele|journal=Mélanges de l'École Française de Rome. Antiquité|volume=108|issue=2|pages=575–605}}</ref> [[History of Slovenia#Prehistory to Slavic settlement|Slovenia]], [[History of Hungary before the Hungarian Conquest#Iron Age|Hungary]] and [[Liechtenstein]], as well as adjacent parts of the [[Netherlands]], [[Slovakia]],<ref>The La Tène culture was present in the southwestern part of Slovakia, bordering on or overlapping with the [[Púchov culture]] of north/central Slovakia.</ref> [[Serbia]],<ref>Mócsy, András (1974). Pannonia and Upper Moesia. A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire. Translated by S. Frere. Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-7100-7714-1.</ref> [[Croatia]],<ref>Croatia was part of the Eastern Hallstatt zone, and the [[Illyrians]] of classical antiquity were culturally influenced both by Celtic (La Tène) and by Hellenistic culture.</ref> [[Celts in Transylvania|Transylvania]] (western [[Romania]]), and [[Carpathian Ruthenia|Transcarpathia]] (western [[Ukraine]]).<ref>G. Kazakevich, "The La Tène culture of the Trans-Carpathian area: Is the migration model still relevant?", 
UDK 94(477.87:364): "The only region of the present day Ukraine where the La Tène sites are sufficiently widespread is the Trans-Carpathian area which lies south-westwards of the Carpathian mountains."</ref> The [[Celtiberians]] of western [[Prehistoric Iberia#Iron Age|Iberia]] shared many aspects of the culture, though not generally the artistic style. To the north extended the contemporary [[Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe]], including the [[Jastorf culture]] of [[Northern Germany]] and [[Denmark]] and all the way to [[Galatia]] in [[Asia Minor]] (today [[Turkey]]).

Centered on ancient [[Gaul]], the culture became very widespread, and encompasses a wide variety of local differences. It is often distinguished from earlier and neighbouring cultures mainly by the La Tène style of [[Celtic art]], characterized by curving "swirly" decoration, especially of metalwork.<ref>Garrow, Ch 1 and 2</ref>

It is named after the [[type site]] of [[La Tène (archaeological site)|La Tène]] on the north side of [[Lake Neuchâtel]] in [[Switzerland]], where thousands of objects had been deposited in the lake, as was discovered after the water level dropped in 1857 (due to the [[Jura water correction]]).<ref>Or just "La Tene" in English. More rarely also spelt "Latène" (especially in French adjectival forms) or "La-Tène". In German ''Latènezeit'' or ''La-Tène-Zeit'' equate to "La Tène culture. "</ref>

In the popular understanding, La Tène describes the culture and art of the ancient [[Celts]], a term that is firmly entrenched in the popular understanding, but it is considered controversial by modern scholarship.<ref>Megaw, 9-16; Green, 11-17</ref>

==Periodization==
[[File:Celts in Europe.png|261x261px|thumb|Celtic expansion in Europe and Anatolia: <br />
{{legend|#ffff43|Core [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] territory, 8th–6th century BC}}
{{legend|#97ffb6|Maximal Celtic expansion by 275{{nbsp}}BC}}
{{legend|#d2ffd2|Uncertain or disputed Celtic presence in Iberia ([[Lusitanians]] and [[Vettones]])}}
{{legend|#27c600|[[Celtic nations]] with significant numbers of Celtic speakers in the [[Early modern period|Early Modern period]]}}
{{legend|#1a8000|Areas where [[Celtic languages]] remain widely spoken today}}
]]
Extensive contacts through [[trade]] are recognized in foreign objects deposited in elite burials; stylistic influences on La Tène material culture can be recognized in [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]], [[Ancient Italic peoples|Italic]], [[Ancient Greek art|Greek]], [[Dacians|Dacian]] and [[Scythia]]n sources. Datable Greek pottery and analysis employing scientific techniques such as [[dendrochronology]] and [[Thermoluminescence dating|thermoluminescence]] help provide date ranges for an absolute chronology at some La Tène sites.

La Tène history was originally divided into "early", "middle" and "late" stages based on the typology of the metal finds ([[Otto Tischler]] 1885), with the Roman occupation greatly disrupting the culture, although many elements remain in [[Gallo-Roman]] and [[Romano-British]] culture.<ref>Megaw, 228-244</ref> A broad cultural unity was not paralleled by overarching social-political unifying structures, and the extent to which the material culture can be linguistically linked is debated. The [[art history]] of La Tène culture has various schemes of periodization.<ref>Laing, Chapter 3, especially 41-42</ref>

The archaeological period is now mostly divided into four sub-periods, following [[Paul Reinecke]].<ref>Sabine Rieckhoff, [https://www.gko.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/historisches_seminar/02urundfruehgeschichte/Online_Beitraege/OnlBei30.pdf Geschichte der Chronologie der Späten Eisenzheit in Mitteleuropa und das Paradigma der Kontinuität] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713161215/https://www.gko.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/historisches_seminar/02urundfruehgeschichte/Online_Beitraege/OnlBei30.pdf |date=13 July 2020 }}, Leipziger online-Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichtlichen Archäologie 30 (2008).</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-  
! Tischler (1885)
! Reinecke (1902)
! Date
|-
| La Tène I
| La Tène A
| 450–380 BC
|-
| La Tène I
| La Tène B
| 380–250 BC
|-
| La Tène II
| La Tène C
| 250–150 BC
|-
| La Tène III
| La Tène D
| 150–1 BC
|}

==History==
[[File:Parade helmet.jpg|thumb|[[Agris Helmet]], France|246x246px]]

The preceding final phase of the [[Hallstatt culture]], HaD, c. 650&ndash;450 BC, was also widespread across [[Central Europe]], and the transition over this area was gradual, being mainly detected through La Tène style elite artefacts, which first appear on the western edge of the old Hallstatt region.

Though there is no agreement on the precise region in which La Tène culture first developed, there is a broad consensus that the centre of the culture lay on the northwest edges of [[Hallstatt culture]], north of the [[Alps]], within the region between in the West the valleys of the [[Marne (river)|Marne]] and [[Moselle (river)|Moselle]], and the part of the [[Rhineland]] nearby. In the east the western end of the old Hallstatt core area in modern [[Bavaria]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Austria]] and [[Switzerland]] formed a somewhat separate "eastern style Province" in the early La Tène, joining with the western area in [[Alsace]].<ref>Megaw, 51</ref> In 1994 a prototypical ensemble of elite grave sites of the early 5th century BCE was excavated at [[Glauberg]] in [[Hesse]], northeast of [[Frankfurt-am-Main]], in a region that had formerly been considered peripheral to the La Tène sphere.<ref>[http://www.frankfurtlounge.de/Mystery_of_the_Celts.htm Mystery of the Celts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115032221/http://www.frankfurtlounge.de/Mystery_of_the_Celts.htm |date=15 January 2010 }}</ref> The site at La Tène itself was therefore near the southern edge of the original "core" area (as is also the case for the Hallstatt site for its core).

The establishment of a Greek colony, soon very successful, at [[Marseille|Massalia]] (modern Marseilles) on the [[Mediterranean]] coast of France led to great trade with the Hallstatt areas up the [[Rhone]] and [[Saone]] river systems, and early La Tène elite burials like the [[Vix Grave]] in [[Burgundy]] contain imported luxury goods along with artifacts produced locally. Most areas were probably controlled by tribal chiefs living in [[hillfort|hilltop fort]]s, while the bulk of the population lived in small villages or farmsteads in the countryside.<ref>McIntosh, 89</ref>

By 500&nbsp;BCE the [[Etruscans]] expanded to border [[Celts]] in north Italy, and trade across the [[Alps]] began to overhaul trade with the Greeks, and the [[Rhône|Rhone]] route declined. Booming areas included the middle [[Rhine]], with large iron ore deposits, the [[Marne (river)|Marne]] and [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] regions, and also [[Bohemia]], although here trade with the Mediterranean area was much less important. Trading connections and wealth no doubt played a part in the origin of the La Tène style, though how large a part remains much discussed; specific Mediterranean-derived [[motif (art)|motifs]] are evident, but the new style does not depend on them.<ref>McIntosh, 89-91</ref>

[[Barry Cunliffe]] notes localization of La Tène culture during the 5th century BCE when there arose "two zones of power and innovation: a Marne – Moselle zone in the west with trading links to the [[Po Valley]] via the central Alpine passes and the [[Golasecca culture]], and a [[Bohemia]]n zone in the east with separate links to the [[Adriatic]] via the eastern [[Alpine route]]s and the [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]]c culture".<ref>Cunliffe 1997:66.</ref>

[[File:Hallein, Keltenmuseum, 07.JPG|thumb|Swords and helmets from [[Keltenmuseum|Hallein]], Austria]]

From their homeland, La Tène culture expanded in the 4th century BCE to more of modern France, Germany, and [[Central Europe]], and beyond to [[Hispania]], northern and central [[Italy]], the [[Balkans]], and even as far as [[Asia Minor]], in the course of several major migrations. La Tène style artefacts start to appear in [[Iron Age Britain|Britain]] around the same time,<ref>Green, 26</ref> and [[Ireland]] rather later. The style of "Insular La Tène" art is somewhat different and the artefacts are initially found in some parts of the islands but not others. Migratory movements seem at best only partly responsible for the diffusion of La Tène culture there, and perhaps other parts of Europe.<ref>Garrow, chapter 2; Laing, chapter 4; Megaw, chapter 6</ref>

By about 400&nbsp;BCE, the evidence for Mediterranean trade becomes sparse; this may be because the expanding Celtic populations began to migrate south and west, coming into violent conflict with the established populations, including the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] and Romans. The settled life in much of the La Tène homelands also seems to have become much more unstable and prone to wars. In about 387&nbsp;BCE, the Celts under [[Brennus (4th century)|Brennus]] [[Battle of the Allia|defeated the Romans and then sacked Rome]], establishing themselves as the most prominent threats to the Roman homeland, a status they would retain through a series of [[Roman-Gallic wars]] until [[Julius Caesar]]'s final [[Gallic Wars|conquest of Gaul]] in 58–50 BCE. The Romans prevented the Celts from reaching very far south of Rome, but on the other side of the [[Adriatic Sea]] groups passed through the [[Balkans]] to reach [[Greece]], where [[Delphi]] was attacked and sacked in 279&nbsp;BCE, and Asia, where [[Galatia]] was established as a Celtic area of [[Anatolia]]. By this time, the La Tène style was spreading to the [[British Isles]], though apparently without any significant movements in population.<ref>McIntosh, 91-92</ref>

[[File:Avaricum westpoint july 2006.jpg|thumb|Model of the [[siege of Avaricum]], France, 52&nbsp;BC]]

After about 275&nbsp;BCE, Roman expansion into the La Tène area began with the conquest of [[Gallia Cisalpina]]. The conquest of [[Gallia Celtica]] followed in 121&nbsp;BCE and was complete with the [[Gallic Wars]] of the 50s BCE. Gaulish culture quickly assimilated to Roman culture, giving rise to the hybrid [[Gallo-Roman culture]] of [[Roman Gaul]].

==Ethnology==
{{main|Continental Celts|Gauls}}
{{see|Thraco-Cimmerian|Dacia|Illyrians}}

The bearers of the La Tène culture were the people known as [[Celts]] or [[Gauls]] to ancient ethnographers. Ancient Celtic culture had no written literature of its own, but rare examples of [[epigraphy]] in the Greek or Latin alphabets exist allowing the fragmentary reconstruction of [[Continental Celtic]].

Current knowledge of this cultural area is derived from three sources comprising archaeological evidence, Greek and Latin literary records, and ethnographical evidence suggesting some La Tène artistic and cultural survivals in traditionally Celtic regions of far western Europe. 
Some of the societies that are archaeologically identified with La Tène material culture were identified by Greek and Roman authors from the 5th century onwards as ''Keltoi'' ("Celts") and ''Galli'' ("Gauls"). [[Herodotus]] (iv.49) correctly placed ''Keltoi'' at the source of the [[Danube|Ister/Danube]], in the heartland of La Tène material culture: "The Ister flows right across Europe, rising in the country of the Celts".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Lionel |last=Pearson |title=Herodotus on the Source of the Danube |journal=Classical Philology |volume=29 |issue=4 |year=1934 |pages=328–337 |doi=10.1086/361781 |s2cid=162214275 }}</ref>

[[File:Dôme aux dragons - Bronze gaulois de Roissy, dans le Lieu dit de La Fosse Cotheret (Val d'Oise).jpg|thumb|Bronze chariot fitting from Roissy, France|195x195px]]

Whether the usage of classical sources means that the whole of La Tène culture can be attributed to a unified [[Celt]]ic people is difficult to assess; archaeologists have repeatedly concluded that language, material culture, and political affiliation do not necessarily run parallel. Frey (2004) 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".

Artefacts typical of the La Tène culture have been discovered in stray finds as far afield as Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Poland and in the Balkans. It is therefore common to also talk of the "La Tène period" in the context of those regions even though they were never part of the La Tène culture proper, but connected to its core area via trade.

==Culture==

{{blockquote|"In the final phases of the Iron Age, before the expansion of the Roman empire northwards in the first century BC, major changes are apparent in the economy and society of temperate Europe from central France to the Black Sea. The settlement pattern was transformed by the growth of large sites which functioned as towns, and new centres of industrial production distributed standardized wares over larger distances. At the same time, political power was becoming increasingly centralized … Coinage was introduced… The use of writing was known, at least for keeping official records. Thus even before the Roman conquest, large parts of Europe were occupied by literate societies with a high degree of social, economic and political development."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bMMMlPReRm4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Prehistoric Europe |date=2009 |last1=Champion |first1=Timothy |display-authors=etal |pages=297 |isbn=9781598744637}}</ref>}}

=== Settlements ===
{{See also|Oppidum}}

[[File:Oppidium Manching Osttor Modell.jpg|thumb|Model of the main gate at the [[Oppidum of Manching|Manching oppidum]], Germany<ref>{{cite web |url=https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-ba2eda3c70d551c10d0a90662b5b36bf |title=Digital reconstruction of the Manching oppidum |website=www.geo.de/magazine/geo-epoche/4783-rtkl-leseprobe-die-bedrohte-metropole}}</ref>|251x251px]]

Initially La Tène people lived in open settlements that were dominated by the chieftains' hill forts. The development of walled towns and cities—known as ''[[Oppidum|oppida]]''—appears during the mid-La Tène culture in the 2nd century BC. The name of ''oppida'' (singular ''oppidum'') was given by [[Julius Caesar]] to the Celtic towns and cities that he encountered during the conquest of Gaul.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/history/02%20Ancient%20Europe%201000%20AD.pdf |title=Ancient Europe, Vol. II |date=2004 |publisher=Thomson-Gale |last1=Bogucki |first1=Peter |chapter=Oppida in Britain |pages=154}}</ref> Oppida were characterized by very large surface areas (up to hundreds of hectares) and were defended by often massive ramparts and walls.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_the_European_Iron/hOvXEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age |chapter=21: Urbanization and Oppida |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Fichtl |first=Stephan |pages=717-741}}</ref> They are often described as 'the first cities north of the Alps', though this description has also been applied to earlier settlements of the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[Urnfield culture|Urnfield]] periods.<ref name="Fernández-Götz 2018 117–162">{{Cite journal |last=Fernández-Götz |first=Manuel |date=2018 |title=Urbanization in Iron Age Europe: Trajectories, Patterns, and Social Dynamics |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=117–162 |doi=10.1007/s10814-017-9107-1 |s2cid=254594968 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/74e98a7e-45fb-40d5-91c4-727229ba8cc7}}</ref> Oppida served as centres of craft production and commerce and were also important political and religious centres, with major oppida functioning as the capitals of Celtic states.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_the_European_Iron/hOvXEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age |chapter=21: Urbanization and Oppida |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Fichtl |first=Stephan |pages=717-741}}</ref>

Oppida appeared more or less simultaneously from the Atlantic to central Europe in the second century BC.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_the_European_Iron/hOvXEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age |chapter=21: Urbanization and Oppida |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Fichtl |first=Stephan |pages=717-741}}</ref> More than 180 oppida are known today, stretching from France in the west to Hungary in the east. Oppida-like settlements are also known from Britain and northern Spain.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004414365/BP000202002.xml |title=Chapter 2: A World of 200 Oppida: Pre-Roman Urbanism in Temperate Europe |date=2020| publisher=Brill |last=Fernandez-Gotz |first=Manuel}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/history/02%20Ancient%20Europe%201000%20AD.pdf |title=Ancient Europe, Vol. II |date=2004 |publisher=Thomson-Gale |last1=Bogucki |first1=Peter |chapter=Oppida in Britain |pages=157}}</ref> 

[[File:Oppida map 2.jpg|thumb|251x251px|Distribution of fortified [[Oppidum|oppida]]]]

Many oppida had planned layouts and some had standardised building designs, indicating a high level of central organization.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_the_European_Iron/hOvXEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age |chapter=21: Urbanization and Oppida |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Fichtl |first=Stephan |pages=717-741}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Vandemoortele |first=Kathleen |date=2011 |title=Late La Tene oppida in West and Central Europe |url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54456/ |location=Cardiff University |degree=PhD |pages=114}}</ref> At the [[oppidum of Manching]] in Germany all the buildings were constructed with the same standardised measurements, and a metal measuring rod conforming to this standard was found within the settlement.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Vandemoortele |first=Kathleen |date=2011 |title=Late La Tene oppida in West and Central Europe |url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54456/ |location=Cardiff University |degree=PhD |pages=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Metrological-research-into-the-foot-measurement-in-Schubert-Schubert/f3a78310cded4020a93ac987c431f5ea6dd419b0 |journal=Complutum |volume=4 |date=1993 |pages=227-236|title=Metrological research into the foot measurement found in the celtic oppidum of Manching}}</ref> Similar standards have been identified at multiple other oppida.<ref name=":0" /> The layout and structure of oppidum buildings demonstrates a knowledge of geometric principles that suggests the role of specialized craftsmen, surveyors or master builders in their construction.<ref name=":0">{{cite thesis |last=
Wassong |first=Rémy  |date=2018 |title=Architectures et métrologie en Europe celtique entre le VIIe et le Ier siècle avant notre ère |url=https://theses.hal.science/tel-02965061/|location=Strasbourg University |degree=PhD |pages=317-357}}</ref> Large buildings inside the oppida included temples, assembly spaces and other public buildings.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fernandez-Gotz |first=Manuel |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004414365/BP000202002.xml |title=Chapter 2: A World of 200 Oppida: Pre-Roman Urbanism in Temperate Europe |date=2020 |publisher=Brill}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hantrais |first1=Juliette |last2=Barral |first2=Philippe |last3=Nouvel |first3=Pierre |last4=Thivet |first4=Matthieu |last5=Joly |first5=Martine |date=2020 |title=The PC15 Building: a Wood-Built Public Place at the Center of the Oppidum of Bibracte (France) |url=https://www.academia.edu/42644330 |journal=Chronika |volume=10 |pages=44–53}}</ref> At the oppidum of [[Bibracte]] a monumental stone basin was constructed in the centre of the oppidum based on a precise geometric design with an astronomical alignment.<ref name=":02">{{cite book |last1=Almagro-Gorbea |first1=Martin |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CMPL/article/view/CMPL9191220239A |title=El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte |last2=Gran-Aymerich |first2=Jean |date=January 1991 |editor-last1=Almagro-Gorbea |editor-first1=Martin |pages=239–240 |chapter=Summary |editor-last2=Gran-Aymerich |editor-first2=Jean}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Almagro-Gorbea |first1=Martin |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CMPL/article/view/CMPL9191220283A |title=El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte |date=January 1991 |editor-last1=Almagro-Gorbea |editor-first1=Martin |pages=283–286 |chapter=La orientación topoastronómica |editor-last2=Gran-Aymerich |editor-first2=Jean}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=White |first1=Raymond |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CMPL/article/view/CMPL9191220275A |title=El Estanque Monumentale de Bibracte |date=January 1991 |editor-last1=Almagro-Gorbea |editor-first1=Martin |pages=275–277 |chapter=Determining the orientation of Le Bassin Monumentale de Bibracte |editor-last2=Gran-Aymerich |editor-first2=Jean}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JSA/article/view/10650 |journal=Journal of Skyscape Archaeology |volume=4 |issue=2 |date=2018 |title=The Monumental Basin of Mont Beuvray and its Possible Orientation towards the Constellation of Gemini |last1=Maumené |first1=Claude |pages=229–245 |doi=10.1558/jsa.36228}}</ref>

La Tène buildings were typically built of wood though stone was used in massive quantities for the construction of oppida walls, known as [[Murus gallicus|''Murus Gallicus'']].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415146272 |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |chapter=5: Fortifications and defence}}</ref> Some oppida walls were several kilometres long.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fernandez-Gotz |first=Manuel |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004414365/BP000202002.xml |title=Chapter 2: A World of 200 Oppida: Pre-Roman Urbanism in Temperate Europe |date=2020 |publisher=Brill}}</ref> The construction and effectiveness of these walls was described by [[Julius Caesar]] in his account of the [[Gallic Wars]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Julius Caesar, ''Gallic War'', 7.23 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0001%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D23 |website=Perseus Digital Library}}</ref> 

Major oppida were connected by a network of roads.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ERieBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT100&lpg=PT100&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=A Brief History of the Celts| date=2003 |last=Ellis |first=Peter |publisher=Constable |isbn=9781841197906}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/mar/15/britannia-roman-roads-iron-age |website=theguardian.com |title=Britannia Superior: Why Roman roads may not be quite as Roman as we think |date=2011}}</ref> Wooden bridges and [[Causeway|causeways]] are also known from archaeological remains and historical accounts.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TGd2npX8lpkC&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=%22gallic%2Broads%22%2Bbridges&source=bl&ots=JdckJgsk8g&sig=zElnrMkFaj0KVHqRzECuXyVDwAE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbhN-mz_nbAhUkJMAKHY9fA6QQ6AEIRzAI#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Roman Remains of Northern and Eastern France: A Guidebook |pages=254 |publisher=Routledge |date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/La_Tene_Culture/ |website=worldhistory.org |title=La Tène Culture |date=2021 |last1=Cartwright |first=Mark}}</ref> 

A significant number of oppida developed into Roman cities following the expansion of the Roman empire.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_the_European_Iron/hOvXEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |title=The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age |chapter=21: Urbanization and Oppida |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Fichtl |first=Stephan |pages=717-741}}</ref> These include [[Besançon|Vesontio]] (Besancon), [[Durocortorum|Durocororum]] (Reims), [[Lutetia]] (Paris) and [[Avaricum]] (Bourges) among others.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415146272 |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |chapter=10: The First Towns  |pages=159-173}}</ref>

=== Trade === 
[[File:MNHA - Finds from the Goeblange-Nospelt Celtic Graves (51187043051).jpg|thumb|Grave with trade goods from the [[Titelberg |Titelberg oppidum]], [[Celtic Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], 1st century BC]]

By the Iron Age, trade operated intensively and extensively throughout Europe. Trade within Celtic lands involved raw materials and manufactured goods, with a large increase in the trade of manufactured goods occurring in the last two centuries BC. Goods were mass produced within the ''oppida'' by specialist industrial workers and craftsmen and distributed to surrounding areas. Items such as pottery, iron weapons, bronze vessels and glass jewellery were produced for export. Goods were transported by merchants with packhorses, wagons and on freight boats along rivers, and tolls were charged on trade routes by local rulers or states. Weighing balances and coins are found in both small and large settlements.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415146272 |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |chapter=13: Trade and exchange}}</ref> Ships of Celtic design were used for trade with the British Isles and along the Atlantic coast.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1989/april/veneti-pre-roman-atlantic-sea-power |journal=Naval History |volume=3 |issue=2 |date=1989 |title=The Veneti: A Pre-Roman Atlantic Sea Power |last=Watt |first=D. Cameron}}</ref> Metal production, mining and textile production were noted by the Greek author [[Strabo]], who writes: "among the Petrocorii there are fine iron-works, and also among the Bituriges Cubi; among the Cadurci, linen factories; among the Ruteni, silver mines; and the Gabales, also, have silver mines."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/strabo/4b*.html |title=Strabo, Geography, Book IV Chapter 2| website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Exports from La Tène cultural areas to the Mediterranean cultures included [[salt]], [[tin]], [[copper]], [[amber]], [[wool]], [[leather]], [[furs]] and [[gold]], whilst wine, luxury products and materials such as [[coral]] were imported northwards from the Mediterranean region.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=13: Trade and exchange}}</ref>  

===Writing===

Some Celtic-language inscriptions are known from this period, written in [[Lepontic language|Lepontic]], Greek and Latin scripts. Writing appears on Celtic coins (such as the names of Celtic rulers or peoples), and writing equipment in the form of wax tablets and [[stylus|styli]] has also been found within settlements.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |pages=241}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/19947178/Vernacular_Celtic_Writing_Traditions_in_the_East_Alpine_Region_in_the_Iron_Age_Period_important_note_continued_in_Inscriptiones_Pseudocelticae_ |journal=Studien zur Kulturgeschichte von Oberösterreich |volume=22 |title=Vernacular Celtic Writing Traditions in the East-Alpine Region in the Iron-Age Period? |date=2009 |last=Stifter |first=David}}</ref> Markings on pottery have been interpreted as a possible distinct 'La Tène alphabet'.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286706140_A_Celtic_script_in_the_eastern_La_Tene_culture |journal=Études Celtiques |volume=35 |issue=1 |date=2003 |title=A Celtic script in the eastern La Tène culture? |last=Zeidler |first=Jurgen}}</ref> Historical accounts by Greek and Roman authors provide descriptions of the use of writing by Celtic peoples at this time, such as the keeping of public records.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/1A*.html |website=penelope.uchicago.edu|title=The Gallic War, by Julius Caesar. Book 1, chapter 29 |quote=In the camp of the Helveti were found, and brought to Caesar, records written out in Greek letters, wherein was drawn up a nominal register showingh what number of them had gone out from their homeland, who were able to bear arms, and also seperately children, old men, and women.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/1A*.html |title=The Gallic War, by Julius Caesar. Book 6, chapter 14 |quote=Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters.}}</ref>

===Coinage===
[[File:ParisiiCoins.jpg|thumb|Gold coin of the [[Parisii (Gaul)|Parisii]]]]

[[Celtic coinage]] originated in the late 4th century BC in a period of intensified contact with Greek states through trade and the employment of Celtic [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] in Greek armies.<ref>School of Archaeology, University of Oxford {{cite web|url=http://web.arch.ox.ac.uk/coins/cci8.htm |accessdate=August 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080716025330/http://web.arch.ox.ac.uk/coins/cci8.htm |title=Coinage in Celtic society |archivedate=July 16, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=13: Trade and exchange}}</ref> Coins were minted by individual Celtic rulers or states and are found in large quantities in settlements and hoards throughout Europe.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=13: Trade and exchange}}</ref> Designs on coins include stylized portraits, abstract symbols and mythological imagery. Coins were made from gold, silver and bronze and were used for official payments, taxes, tribute, fines, religious offerings, dowries and other customary payments.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=14: Coinage}}</ref>

===Technology===

The La Tène period saw a vast increase in iron production, with huge quantities and varieties of iron objects becoming common on all types of settlements.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 17: Ironworking in the Celtic world}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 10: The First Towns}}</ref> According to Collis (2010), "iron industry and coin use were more advanced than in the Mediterranean, and indicate indigenous changes."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 10: The First Towns}}</ref> By the second century BC, 200 distinct types of iron tools were in common use, serving a wide range of purposes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 12: Resources and Industry}}</ref> Iron nails used in the production of [[Murus gallicus|''Murus Gallicus'']] were mass-produced in enormous quantities. The [[oppidum of Manching]] is estimated to have used used many tons of nails just in the construction of its outer wall.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 17: Ironworking in the Celtic world}}</ref> The production of [[high-carbon steel]] is also attested from c. 500 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 January 2014 |title=East Lothian's Broxmouth fort reveals edge of steel |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-25734877 |website=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 17: Ironworking in the Celtic world}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Skóra |first1=Kalina |display-authors=etal |date=2019 |title=Weaponry of the Przeworsk Culture in the light of metallographic examinations. The case of the cemetery in Raczkowice |url=https://www.academia.edu/76153774/Weaponry_of_the_Przeworsk_Culture_in_the_Light_of_Metallographic_Examinations_The_Case_of_the_Cemetery_in_Raczkowice |journal=Praehistorische Zeitschrift |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=1–45 |doi=10.1515/pz-2019-0016 |quote=In Pre-Roman Period Europe one can see a strong diversification of sword blade technologies. There are many low quality blades made from iron or low-carbon steel; on the other hand, one also encounters artefacts made partially or entirely from high-carbon steel.}}</ref> By the 1st century BC [[Noric steel]] was famous for its quality and was sought-after by the [[Roman military]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Presslinger |first1=Hubert |display-authors=etal |date=2005 |title=Norican Steel - An Assessment of the Archaeological Finds at the Magdalensberg Site, Carinthia, Compared to the “Celtic Trove” of Gründberg Hill, Linz |url=https://www.academia.edu/80083255/Norican_Steel_An_Assessment_of_the_Archaeological_Finds_at_the_Magdalensberg_Site_Carinthia_Compared_to_the_Celtic_Trove_of_Gr%C3%BCndberg_Hill_Linz |journal=Steel Research International |volume=76 |issue=9}}</ref>

Technological developments by Celtic craftsmen in this period include the invention of shrunk-on [[Tire|iron tyres]] for wagons and chariots, <ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Selected_Writings_on_Chariots_and_Other/6JO0PkRqpCsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |title=Selected Writings on Chariots, other Early Vehicles, Riding and Harness |date=2002 |editor-last1=Littauer |editor-first1=M.A. |display-authors=etal |publisher=Leiden |pages=324 |quote=the sweated-on iron tyre is considered to be the invention of Celtic wheelwrights in the La Tene period.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world|last1=Piggot|first1=Stuart|date=1995|title=The Celtic World|editor-last=Green|editor-first=Miranda|publisher=Routledge|chapter=Wood and the Wheelwright|pages=325|isbn=9781135632434 }}</ref> the creation of wagons with [[Front axle|front-axel steering]], and the incorporation of [[Rolling-element bearing|roller-bearings]] within wheel hubs.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |pages=Chapter 21}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KxTHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=dejbjerg%20wagon%20roller%20bearings&source=bl&ots=WKV1jEu7FA&sig=ACfU3U2MHGWlTA6mxDg5DE-9R6P0BIIYiQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj45eXNmtHvAhX0RhUIHVXDBDs4ChDoATACegQIARAD#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Motor Car: Past, Present and Future |date=2014 |publisher=Springer |last1=Genta |first1=Giancarlo |pages=6 |quote=The Dejbjerg wagon ... is the first example of a wagon with steering on the front axle, but it can be considered as an articulated vehicle made by two chariots … it incorporated other interesting features, such as wooden roller bearings in the hubs.}}</ref> In the 1st century BC the Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] noted that "In their journeyings and when they go into battle the Gauls use chariots drawn by two horses."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5B*.html |title=Library of History, Book 5, Chapter 29 |first=Diodorus |last=Siculus |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

According to Julius Caesar trade with the [[British Isles]] was dominated by the [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]] from [[Armorica]],<ref name=":2" /> who commanded "a very great number of ships", which he describes as follows: 

{{quote| The ships were built wholly of oak, and designed to endure any force and violence whatever; the benches which were made of planks a foot in breadth, were fastened by iron spikes of the thickness of a man's thumb; the anchors were secured fast by iron chains instead of cables, and for sails they used skins and thin dressed leather.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.3.3.html |title=The Gallic Wars By Julius Caesar, Book 3, Chapter 13 |website=classics.mit.edu}}</ref>}} 

Close similarities have been noted between Caesar's description and shipwrecks discovered at [[Blackfriars shipwrecks|Blackfriars]] in [[London]] (dating from the 2nd century AD) and at [[Saint Peter Port|St Peter Port]] in [[Guernsey]] (dating from the 3rd century AD), which have been described as [[Gallo-Roman culture|Romano-Celtic]] ships built according to a native Celtic tradition, distinct from that of the Mediterranean.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-9270.1995.tb00723.x |journal=The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |volume=24 |issue=2 |date=1995 |title=Romano-Celtic boats and ships: characteristic features |last=McGrail |first=Sean |doi=10.1111/j.1095-9270.1995.tb00723.x |pages=139-145}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://museums.gov.gg/romanship |title=Gallo-Roman Ship
|website=Guernsey Museums and Galleries}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://mass.cultureelerfgoed.nl/blackfriars-ship-1 |title=Blackfriars Ship 1 |website=mass.cultureelerfgoed.nl}}</ref> McGrail (1995) suggests that the frame-first construction process of these ships represents a specific Celtic ship-building innovation.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415146272 |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |last=McGrail |first=Sean|chapter=15: Celtic seafaring and transport}}</ref>

Wooden [[Barrel|barrels]] bound with metal hoops were also invented by Celtic craftsmen during the La Tène period<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |chapter=Chapter 18: Wood and the Wheelwright}}</ref> and gradually replaced the use of [[Amphora|amphorae]] within the Roman empire from the 2nd century AD.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/amphorae.html |title=Encyclopedia Romana:Amphora |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

The 3rd century BC saw the development of iron [[chain mail]], the invention of which is credited to Celtic armourers by the Roman author [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vkV8bcgLbiAC&q=the+celtic+world&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Celtic World |editor-last1=Green |editor-first1=Miranda |publisher=Routledge |date=1995 |isbn=9780415146272 |pages=Chapter 4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HscIwvtkq2UC&pg=PA79&dq=laminar%20armor&hl=en&ei=nOMGTqrNNfGv0AGWpbi6Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v%3Donepage%26q%26f%3Dtrue |title=Soldiers' Lives Through History - The Ancient World |date=2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury |last=Gabriel |first=Richard A. |pages=79 |quote=The third century BC saw the introduction of iron chain mail invented by the Celts, whose iron craft was much more advanced that the Romans and probably the best in Europe. Chain mail was constructed of thousands of small iron circles linked together to form an iron mesh shirt … Once the Romans adopted the Celtic chain mail armor for their troops, the mail shirt remained the basic armor of the Roman infantryman until the first century CE.}}</ref> Celtic helmet designs also served as the basis for the design of Roman [[Imperial helmet|imperial helmets]] following Caesar's campaigns in Gaul.<ref>{{cite book |last=Elliott |first=Simon |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lMnXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT28&lpg=PT28&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Roman Legionaries: Soldiers of Empire |date=2018 |publisher=Casemate Publishers}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.academia.edu/1195498/The_Arms_of_the_Romans |title=The Arms of the Romans |date=2002 |publisher=Tempus Publishers |last=Feugère |first=Michel}}</ref> The ''[[spatha]], a'' long sword of Celtic design, was introduced to the Romans by [[Celts|Celtic mercenaries]] and [[Auxilia|auxilaries]], gradually becoming a standard [[heavy infantry]] weapon within the Roman army by the 2nd century AD and replacing the earlier ''[[gladius]]''.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Bishop |first=M.C |title=The Spatha: The Roman Long Sword |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2020 |isbn=978-147-283-240-5}}</ref>

The 1st century Roman author [[Pliny the Elder]] attributed the invention of [[soap]] and [[Mattress|mattresses]] to the Gauls.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D28 |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Plin. Nat. 28.51 |website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Aabo%3Aphi%2C0978%2C001%3A8%3A73 |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Plin. Nat. 8.73 |website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> The 2nd century Greek physician [[Aretaeus of Cappadocia]] also attributed the invention of soap to the Gauls.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XCMwAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Ἀρεταίου Καππαδόκου Τὰ Σωζόμενα |last=Aretaeus of Cappadocia |publisher=Sydenham Society |pages=496}}</ref>

At the site of the {{ill|oppidum of Paule|fr|Forteresse de Paule}} in [[Brittany]] the remains of a wooden structure thought to be a 'machine for drawing water' incorporating a [[Connecting rod|crank and connecting-rod mechanism]] were discovered at the bottom of a well, dating from 68-27 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bibracte.fr/ressource/machine-hydraulique-copie |title=Machine hydraulique |website=Bibracte Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://patrimoine.lamayenne.fr/jublains/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2016_DP_Exposition_Premieres_villes_gauloises_Jublains.pdf |title=L’exposition « Les Premières Villes de l’ouest » |website=patrimoine.lamayenne.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://patrimoine.lamayenne.fr/jublains/expositions/les-premieres-villes-de-louest/ |title=Les Premières villes de l'Ouest |website=patrimoine.lamayenne.fr}}</ref> This is the earliest known evidence for such a mechanism, which is also known from later Roman machines.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://patrimoine.lamayenne.fr/jublains/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2016_DP_Exposition_Premieres_villes_gauloises_Jublains.pdf |title=L’exposition « Les Premières Villes de l’ouest » |website=patrimoine.lamayenne.fr}}</ref>

In his account of the siege of [[Avaricum]] during the Gallic War, Julius Caesar writes:

{{blockquote |To the extraordinary valor of our soldiers, devices of every sort were opposed by the Gauls; since they are a nation of consummate ingenuity, and most skillful in imitating and making those things which are imparted by any one; for they turned aside the hooks with nooses, and when they had caught hold of them firmly, drew them on by means of engines, and undermined the mound the more skillfully on this account, because there are in their territories extensive iron mines, and consequently every description of mining operations is known and practiced by them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0001%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D22 |title=C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War, 7.22 |website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}

=== Art ===
{{see|Celtic art}}

La Tène [[metalworking|metalwork]] in bronze, iron and gold, developing technologically out of [[Hallstatt culture]], is stylistically characterized by inscribed and inlaid intricate spirals and interlace, on fine bronze vessels, helmets and shields, [[horse trappings]], and elite jewelry, especially the neck rings called [[torc]]s and elaborate clasps called ''[[Brooch|fibulae]]''. It is characterized by elegant, stylized curvilinear animal and vegetal forms, allied with the Hallstatt traditions of geometric patterning.

The Early Style of La Tène art and culture mainly featured static, geometric decoration, while the transition to the Developed Style constituted a shift to movement-based forms, such as [[triskeles]]. Some subsets within the Developed Style contain more specific design trends, such as the recurrent [[Serpentine shape|serpentine]] scroll of the Waldalgesheim Style.<ref>Harding, D. W. ''The Archaeology of Celtic Art''. New York: Routledge, 2007; other schemes of classification are available, indeed more popular; see [[Vincent Megaw]] in Garrow</ref>

=== Burial rites ===
Burial sites included weapons, carts, and both elite and household goods, evoking a strong continuity with an [[afterlife]].<ref>Megaw, chapters 2-5; Laing, chapter 3</ref>

La Tène peoples also dug ritual shafts, in which [[Votive offering|votive offerings]] and even human sacrifices were cast. Severed heads (particularly of defeated enemies) appear to have held great power and were often represented in carvings.<ref>Megaw, chapters 2-5; Laing, chapter 3</ref>

<gallery widths="130" heights="130" perrow="8">
File:Celtic.warriors.garments-replica.jpg|Celtic warrior garments
File:Iron Age Europe Celtic Bronze Helmets (28755977795).jpg|alt=Bronze helmet from Iron Age Europe|Bronze helmet
File:Axle cover for a charriot. Gold. Rheinland-Pfalz,400 BC. Neues Museum.jpg|Chariot's axle cover
File:Museum of ScotlandDSCF6355.jpg|Torrs Horns
File:Röhrenkanne.jpg|Copper pot with lid
File:The Gaulish army, Interpretation Centre of the Muséo Parc, Alésia (7700615978).jpg|Gaulish warrior garments
File:Roquepertuse. Statue de guerrier.jpg|Warrior statue, [[Roquepertuse]], France
File:MAN - casque de la Gorge Meillet (7).jpg|Gaulish bronze helmet
File:Celtic Gold-plated Disc, Auvers-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise.jpg|Celtic gold-plated disc
File:Iron Age Europe La Tene Culture Burial Goods (28755919625).jpg|La Téne burial goods
File:Celtic sword.jpg|Celtic sword
File:Monnaie 9 MAN.jpg|Gallic gold coin
File:Romano-Celtic mirror (Desborough).jpg|Celtic mirror, England
File:Museum of Pre- and Early History, Saarbrücken 46.jpg|Golden bracelet from Reinheim Princess burial
File:British Museum Basse Yutz flagons (1).jpg|Flagons from [[Basse Yutz Flagons|Basse Yutz]], France
File:A recreation of the wooden funeral chamber of the 'Princess of Reinheim', Reconstructions of Celtic burial mounds, European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim, Germany France (34640233723).jpg|{{ill|Princess of Reinheim|de|Keltisches Fürstinnengrab von Reinheim}} burial reconstruction
</gallery>

==Type site==
{{See Also|La Tène (archaeological site)|Iron Age Switzerland}}
[[File:Latenium Celtic bridge mg 2221.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of one of the bridges at the La Tène site|185x185px]]

The [[La Tène (archaeological site)|La Tène]] [[type site]] is on the northern shore of [[Lake Neuchâtel]], [[Switzerland]], where the small river [[Thielle]], connecting to another lake, enters the Lake Neuchâtel.<ref>[[Swisstopo]] map (1931) [https://s.geo.admin.ch/7dae336550 geo.admin.ch]</ref> In 1857, prolonged [[drought]] lowered the waters of the lake by about {{Convert|2|m|abbr=on}}. On the northernmost tip of the lake, between the river and a point south of the village of [[Marin-Epagnier|Epagnier]] ({{coor|47.0045|N|7.016|E|}}), Hansli Kopp, looking for antiquities for Colonel Frédéric Schwab, discovered several rows of wooden piles that still reached up about {{Convert|50|cm|abbr=on}} into the water. From among these, Kopp collected about forty iron swords.

The Swiss archaeologist [[Ferdinand Keller (antiquity scholar)|Ferdinand Keller]] published his findings in 1868 in his influential first report on the Swiss [[pile dwellings]] (''Pfahlbaubericht''). In 1863 he interpreted the remains as a Celtic village built on piles. [[Eduard Desor]], a geologist from [[Neuchâtel]], started excavations on the lakeshore soon afterwards. He interpreted the site as an armory, erected on platforms on piles over the lake and later destroyed by enemy action. Another interpretation accounting for the presence of cast iron swords that had not been sharpened, was of a site for ritual depositions.

With the first [[Jura water correction|systematic lowering of the Swiss lakes]] from 1868 to 1883, the site fell completely dry. In 1880, Emile Vouga, a teacher from Marin-Epagnier, uncovered the wooden remains of two bridges (designated "Pont Desor" and "Pont Vouga") originally over {{Convert|100|m|abbr=on}} long, that crossed the little Thielle River (today a nature reserve) and the remains of five houses on the shore. After Vouga had finished, F. Borel, curator of the Marin museum, began to excavate as well. In 1885 the [[Cantons of Switzerland|canton]] asked the Société d'Histoire of Neuchâtel to continue the excavations, the results of which were published by Vouga in the same year.

All in all, over 2500 objects, mainly made from metal, have been excavated in La Tène. Weapons predominate, there being 166 [[sword]]s (most without traces of wear), 270 lanceheads, and 22 [[shield boss]]es, along with 385 [[brooch]]es, tools, and parts of [[chariot]]s. Numerous human and animal bones were found as well. The site was used from the 3rd century, with a peak of activity around 200&nbsp;BCE and abandonment by about 60&nbsp;BCE.<ref>Megaw, 132-133</ref> Interpretations of the site vary. Some scholars believe the bridge was destroyed by high water, while others see it as a place of [[sacrifice]] after a successful battle (there are almost no female ornaments).

An exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the La Tène site opened in 2007 at the Musée Schwab in [[Biel/Bienne]], Switzerland, then [[Zürich]] in 2008 and Mont Beuvray in [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]] in 2009.

==Sites==

Some sites are:
{|
|valign="top"|
*{{ill|Altburg (castle)|lt=Altburg|de|Altburg (Burg)}} oppidum, Germany
*[[Bern]], [[Engehalbinsel]] oppidum
*[[Jolimont (mountain)|Jolimont]]
*[[Oppidum of Manching|Manching]]: oppidum
*[[Ehrenbürg]] hillfort
*[[Mormont]]
*[[Münsingen]], burial field
*[[Petinesca]]
*[[Basel oppidum]]
*[[Bibracte]], oppidum of the [[Aedui]] at Mont Beuvray in Burgundy
*[[Erstfeld hoard]]
*[[Turicum (Zürich)|Turicum]]–[[Oppidum Zürich-Lindenhof|Lindenhof]]
*[[Bopfingen]]: ''Viereckschanze'', a characteristic rectangular enclosure
*[[Fellbach-Schmiden]], near Stuttgart: ''Viereckschanze''; ritual objects recovered from a well
*[[Rodenbach, Rhineland-Palatinate|Rodenbach:]] [[Princely Grave of Rodenbach|The Princely Grave of Rodenbach]]
*[[Havranok]], Slovakia
*[[Reisberg (Scheßlitz)|Reisberg oppidum]]
*{{ill|Gondole oppidum|fr|Oppidum de Gondole}}
|valign="top"|
*[[Kleinaspergle]]: elite graves of La Tène I
*[[Waldalgesheim chariot burial]]: an elite chariot burial, 4th century
*[[Glauberg]], oppidum and elite graves
*[[Dürrnberg]] near [[Hallein]]: Burial field and earthworks of late Hallstatt&ndash;early La Tène
*[[Donnersberg]] oppidum
*[[Oppidum Steinsburg|Steinsburg]] oppidum
*Vill near [[Innsbruck]]: remains of dwellings
*[[Sandberg Celtic city]] near [[Platt, Austria|Platt]] and [[Roseldorf]] in [[Lower Austria]]
*[[Vix Grave|Vix/Mont Lassois]]: oppidum and elaborate graves
*[[Titelberg]]: oppidum in [[Luxembourg]]
*[[European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim|Reinheim]]: Tomb of a princess/priestess with burial gifts
*[[Mihailovac]]: in Serbia
*{{ill|Závist oppidum|cs|Oppidum Závist}}, Czech Republic<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI0UPxEKOYo&t=52s|title=Reconstruction of the Zavist oppidum|website=Středočeský kraj|date=2022}}</ref>
*{{ill|Stradonice oppidum|cs|Oppidum Stradonice}}, Czech Republic
*[[Dünsberg]] hillfort, Germany
*{{ill|Schwarzenbach oppidum|de|Höhensiedlung Burg in Schwarzenbach}}, Austria
*{{ill|Houbirg oppidum|de|Houbirg}}
|}

=== Gallery ===
<gallery widths="130" heights="130" perrow="8">
File:Manching model 1.jpg|[[Oppidum of Manching|Manching oppidum]], Germany
File:Manching model 2.jpg|Manching oppidum, Germany
File:La Porte du Rebout, principal accès à l’oppidum de Bibracte au Ier s. av. notre ère. Porte et murs ont été reconstruits après la fouille selon la technique du murus gallicus. Nièvre, Morvan, Bourgogne, France.jpg|alt=Bibracte oppidum, fortification walls|[[Bibracte|Bibracte oppidum]], France, outer walls
File:Bibracte, 1st century B.C.jpg|Bibracte oppidum
File:Corent oppidum 1.jpg|[[Corent|Corent oppidum]], France.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=3D reconstruction of Corent oppidum, France|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxRGJZydZwc}}</ref>
File:Entremont - Habitat 1 (ville haute) 05 (2007).jpg|[[Entremont (oppidum)|Entremont oppidum]] remains, France
File:Mont Vully Maquette.jpg|{{ill|Mont Vully oppidum|fr|Mont Vully (site archéologique)}}, Switzerland
File:MaquetteFermeDeVerberie2.jpg|Gallic farm at [[Verberie]], France
File:Vesontio oppidum.jpg|[[Besançon|Vesontio]] oppidum, France
File:Archéosite d'Aubechies 2.jpg|Sanctuary of [[Gournay-sur-Aronde]], France
File:Ringwall Otzenhausen.jpg|[[Hillfort of Otzenhausen|Otzenhausen]] hillfort wall remains, Germany
File:Glauberg oppidum Stockheim Gate (reconstruction).jpg|[[Glauberg|Glauberg oppidum]], Germany
File:Aerial photograph of Maiden Castle, 1935.jpg|[[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] hillfort, Britain
File:Rekonstruierte Pfostenschlizmauer am Ipf bei Bopfingen.JPG|Fortifications at [[Ipf (mountain)|Ipf]], Germany
File:Donnesberg 2.jpg|[[Donnersberg]] hillfort, Germany
File:Archéosite d'Aubechies 4.jpg|Temple buildings at [[Acy-Romance]], France<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wGnOugF3QY |title=Digital reconstruction of Acy-Romance}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/gaulois-ardennes/en |title=Acy-Romance |website=archeologie.culture.gouv.fr}}</ref>
File:Heidengraben-6687.jpg|[[Heidengraben]] oppidum, rampart, Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxxyZ-RZe6c|title=Digital reconstruction of the Heidengraben oppidum}}</ref> 
</gallery>

==Artifacts==
{{See also category|Celtic art}}[[File:London - British Museum - 2453.jpg|thumb|266x266px|Detail of the [[Battersea Shield]], [[British Iron Age|Britain]], c. 350–50 BC]]
Some outstanding La Tène artifacts are:
*[[Mšecké Žehrovice Head]], a stone head from the modern [[Czech Republic]] 
*A life-sized sculpture of a warrior that stood above the [[Glauberg]] burials
*Chariot burial found at [[La Gorge Meillet]] ([[St-Germain-en-Laye]]: [[Musée des Antiquités Nationales]])
*[[Basse Yutz Flagons]] 5th century
*[[Agris Helmet]], with gold covering, c. 350
*[[Waldalgesheim chariot burial]], [[Bad Kreuznach]], [[Germany]], late 4th century BCE, [[Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn]]; the "Waldalgesheim phase/style" of the art takes its name from the jewellery found here.
*A gold-and-bronze model of an oak tree (3rd century BCE) found at the [[Oppidum of Manching]].
*Sculptures from [[Roquepertuse]], a sanctuary in the south of France
*The silver [[Gundestrup cauldron]] (2nd or 1st century BCE), found ritually broken in a peat bog near Gundestrup, [[Denmark]], but probably made near the [[Black Sea]], perhaps in [[Thrace]]. ([[National Museum of Denmark]], [[Copenhagen]])
*[[Battersea Shield]] (350–50 BCE), found in London in the [[River Thames|Thames]], made of bronze with red [[Vitreous enamel|enamel]]. ([[British Museum]], London)
*[[Waterloo Helmet]], 150–50 BCE, Thames
*"[[Witham Shield]]" (4th century BCE). ([[British Museum]], London) <ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/t/the_witham_shield.aspx British Museum – The Witham Shield<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103180615/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/t/the_witham_shield.aspx |date=3 November 2015 }}</ref>
*[[Torrs Pony-cap and Horns]], from Scotland
*[[Cordoba Treasure]]
*[[Turoe stone]] in [[Galway]] and [[Killycluggin Stone]] in Cavan [[Ireland]]
*[[Great Torc from Snettisham]], 100–75 BCE, gold, the most elaborate of the British style of [[torc]]s  
*[[Meyrick Helmet]], post-conquest Roman helmet shape, with La Tène decoration
*[[Noric steel]]

<gallery widths="130" heights="130" perrow="8">
File:Scissors Oppidum Manching.jpg|Scissors, found at [[Oppidum of Manching]]
File:KMH - Schnabelkanne aus Grab 112 unterhalb der Hexenwand am Nordhang des Mosersteins am Dürnberg (1).jpg|Celtic flagon
File:Phalère 06007.JPG|Phallerum
File:Vor und Fruehgeschichte (89).jpg|Gold armlets from [[Saarland]]
File:Hallein, Keltenmuseum, 03.jpg|Bronze flask from the salt mines at [[Dürrnberg]]
File:KMM - Bemalte Keramik.jpg|Mass-produced pottery from [[Oppidum of Manching|Manching]] 
File:British Museum - Room 50 (21045342106).jpg|Chariot mounts from [[Somme-Bionne]]
File:MAN - Bracelet gaulois a.jpg|Bronze bracelet, France
File:Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin 001.jpg|Helmet made of iron, bronze, and coral
File:Barde à la lyre.jpg|Statue of a [[bard]] with a Gallic lyre, found at the Paula Fortress
File:Landesmuseum Württemberg, Kelten 019.1.jpg|Gold-plated decorative disc made of iron and bronze
File:Musée de Bretagne Expo Celtique - Figure d'un aristocrate gaulois Morandais 20220917-02.jpg|Figure of a Gallic aristocrat with a [[torc]], from [[Trémuson]], France
File:Villeneuve d'Ascq Eté2016 Asnapio poignards gaulois.jpg|Gallic daggers
File:Musée de Bretagne Expo Celtique - Vase de Saint-Pol 20220917-01.jpg|[[Saint-Pol-de-Léon]] Vase, (a [[cinerary urn]])
File:KMM - Hirsch.jpg|Deer statue found in [[Salzburg]]
File:Silver torque.jpg|Silver torque
</gallery>

==Genetics==
[[File:1911 Britannica-Archaeology-Chariot burial.png|thumb|Chariot burial at [[Somme-Bionne]], France|282x282px]]
{{See also|Bell Beaker culture#Genetics|Unetice culture#Genetics|Urnfield culture#Genetics|Hallstatt culture#Genetics|Gauls#Genetics|Celtic Britons#Genetics}}

A genetic study published in ''[[PLOS One]]'' in December 2018 examined 45 individuals buried at a La Tène necropolis in [[Urville-Nacqueville]], France.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|p=1}} The people buried there were identified as [[Gauls]].{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|pp=4, 15}} The [[mtDNA]] of the examined individuals belonged primarily to [[haplotypes]] of [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H]] and [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)|U]].{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|p=7}} They were found to be carrying a large amount of [[steppe ancestry]], and to have been closely related to peoples of the preceding [[Bell Beaker culture]], suggesting genetic continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age France. Significant gene flow with [[Great Britain]] and [[Iberia]] was detected. The results of the study partially supported the notion that [[French people]] are largely descended from the Gauls.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|pp=14-15}}

A genetic study published in the ''[[Journal of Archaeological Science]]'' in October 2019 examined 43 maternal and 17 paternal lineages for the La Tène necropolis in Urville-Nacqueville, France, and 27 maternal and 19 paternal lineages for La Tène tumulus of Gurgy Les Noisats near modern [[Paris]], France.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|p=1}} The examined individuals displayed strong genetic resemblance to peoples of the earlier [[Yamnaya culture]], [[Corded Ware culture]] and Bell Beaker culture.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|p=6}} They carried a diverse set of maternal lineages associated with steppe ancestry.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|p=6}} The paternal lineages were on the other hand characterized by a "striking homogeneity", belonging entirely to haplogroup [[Haplogroup R (Y-DNA)|R]] and [[Haplogroup R1b|R1b]], both of whom are associated with steppe ancestry.<ref>{{harvnb|Fischer et al.|2019|pp=4–5}}. "[A] striking homogeneity of the Y-chromosome lineages could be observed, all of them corresponding either to R* or R1b (M343) haplogroups... [W]e consistently found in our Iron Age samples R*/R1b paternal lineages that are linked to the massive migration from the steppes and dated to the Late Neolithic-to-Bronze Age transition (Haak et al., 2015). This migration was responsible for an impressive genetic turnover in the European populations, with Neolithic haplogroups being replaced by new paternal (R1a and R1b) lineages originating from the eastern regions..."</ref> The evidence suggested that the Gauls of the La Tène culture were [[patrilineal]] and [[patrilocal]], which is in agreement with archaeological and literary evidence.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|p=1}}

A genetic study published in the ''[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]]'' in June 2020 examined the remains of 25 individuals ascribed to the La Tène culture. The nine examples of individual Y-DNA extracted were determined to belong to either the [[paragroup]]s or [[subclade]]s of haplogroups [[Haplogroup R-M269|R1b1a1a2]] (R-M269; three examples), [[Haplogroup R-M222|R1b1a1a2a1a2c1a1a1a1a1]] (R-M222), [[Haplogroup R-L278|R1b1]] (R-L278), [[Haplogroup R-P297|R1b1a1a]] (R-P297), [[Haplogroup I-M253|I1]] (I-M253), [[Haplogroup E-M215 (Y-DNA)|E1b1b]] (E-M215), or other, unspecified, subclades of [[Haplogroup R (Y-DNA)|haplogroup R]]. The 25 samples of mtDNA extracted was determined to belong to various subclades of haplogroup [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H]], [[Haplogroup HV (mtDNA)|HV]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)|U]], [[Haplogroup K (mtDNA)|K]], [[Haplogroup J (mtDNA)|J]], [[Haplogroup V (mtDNA)|V]] and [[Haplogroup W (mtDNA)|W]].{{sfn|Brunel et al.|2020|loc=Dataset S1, Rows 221-245}} The examined individuals of the Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture were genetically highly homogeneous and displayed continuity with the earlier Bell Beaker culture. They carried about 50% steppe-related ancestry.{{sfn|Brunel et al.|2020|p=5}}

A genetic study published in [[iScience]] in April 2022 examined 49 genomes from 27 sites in Bronze Age and Iron Age France. The study found evidence of strong genetic continuity between the two periods, particularly in southern France. The samples from northern and southern France were highly homogeneous, with northern samples displaying links to contemporary samples form Great Britain and Sweden, and southern samples displaying links to [[Celtiberians]]. The northern French samples were distinguished from the southern ones by elevated levels of steppe-related ancestry. R1b was by far the most dominant paternal lineage, while H was the most common maternal lineage. The Iron Age samples resembled those of modern-day populations of France, Great Britain and Spain. The evidence suggested that the Gauls of the La Tène culture largely evolved from local Bronze Age populations.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="130" heights="130" perrow="8">
File:Hallein, Keltenmuseum, 04.jpg|Jug (glass replica) with bronze mounting found in [[Hallein Salt Mine|Hallein]], Austria
File:Vase arverne, Musée de la Bataille de Gergovie .jpg|Painted pottery vase
File:Head of druid from Mšecké Žehrovice, La Tène culture, NM Prague, 188090.jpg|The [[Mšecké Žehrovice Head]], [[Czech Republic|Bohemia]], c. 150–50 BC
File:Celtic neck ring.jpg|Celtic torque
File:Tombe à char Châlons 1901.jpg|[[Catalauni]] chariot burial, [[Châlons-en-Champagne|Châlons]]
File:Bronze-Grabfund (330-320 v. Chr.) der Keltenfürstin von Waldalgesheim.jpg|[[Waldalgesheim chariot burial]], bronze situla
File:Gundestrup Cauldron.jpg|[[Gundestrup cauldron|Gundestrup Cauldron]]
File:Goldschmuck Erstfeld2.jpg|Gold jewelry from [[Erstfeld]], Switzerland
File:CoinsOfTheParisii.jpg|Gold stater (currency)
File:Chambre funéraire B de Goeblange-Nospelt, MNHA.jpg|Bucket made of Yew wood, from [[Luxembourg]]
File:Celtic sword scabbards, La Tene culture.png|Decorated metal sword scabbards
File:Bibracte basin 1.jpg|[[Bibracte|Bibracte oppidum]], monumental basin
File:Archéodrome Beaune 05.jpg|Chariot burial
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Archaeology of Northern Europe]]
*[[Iron Age Britain]]
*[[Prehistory of France#The Iron Age|Iron Age France]]
*[[Prehistoric Iberia#Iron Age|Iron Age Iberia]]
*[[Jublains archeological site]]
*[[Krakus Mound|Krakus Mound, Poland]]
*[[Tasciaca]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==References==
{{Iron Age}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Brunel |first1=Samantha |last2=Bennett |first2=E. Andrew |display-authors=1 |date=9 June 2020 |title=Ancient genomes from present-day France unveil 7,000 years of its demographic history |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=117 |issue=23 |pages=12791–12798 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1918034117 |pmc= 7293694|pmid=32457149 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11712791B |ref={{harvid|Brunel et al.|2020}}|doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Fischer |first1=Claire-Elise |last2=Lefort |first2=Anthony |display-authors=1 |date=6 December 2018 |title=The multiple maternal legacy of the Late Iron Age group of Urville-Nacqueville (France, Normandy) documents a long-standing genetic contact zone in northwestern France |journal=[[PLOS One]] |publisher=[[PLOS]] |volume=13 |issue=12 |pages= e0207459|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0207459 |pmc=6283558 |pmid=30521562 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1307459F |ref={{harvid|Fischer et al.|2018}}|doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Fischer |first1=Claire-Elise |last2=Pemonge|first2=Marie-Hélène |display-authors=1 |date=October 2019 |title=Multi-scale archaeogenetic study of two French Iron Age communities: From internal social- to broad-scale population dynamics |journal=[[Journal of Archaeological Science]] |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |volume=27 |issue=101942 |page= 101942|doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101942 |bibcode=2019JArSR..27j1942F |ref={{harvid|Fischer et al.|2019}}|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Fischer |first1=Claire-Elise |last2=Pemonge|first2=Marie-Hélène |display-authors=1 |year=2022 |title=Origin and mobility of Iron Age Gaulish groups in present-day France revealed through archaeogenomics|journal=[[iScience]] |publisher=[[Cell Press]] |volume=25 |issue=4 |page= 104094|doi=10.1016/j.isci.2022.104094 |pmid=35402880 |pmc=8983337 |bibcode=2022iSci...25j4094F |doi-access=free |ref={{harvid|Fischer et al.|2022}} }}
*Garrow, Duncan (ed), ''Rethinking Celtic Art'', 2008, Oxbow Books, {{ISBN|1842173189}}, 9781842173183, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lZj9AwAAQBAJ google books]
*Green, Miranda, ''Celtic Art, Reading the Messages'', 1996, The Everyman Art Library, {{ISBN|0-297-83365-0}}
*Laing, Lloyd and Jenifer. ''Art of the Celts'', Thames and Hudson, London 1992 {{ISBN|0-500-20256-7}}
*McIntosh, Jane, ''Handbook to Life in Prehistoric Europe'', 2009, Oxford University Press (USA), {{ISBN|9780195384765}}
*[[Vincent Megaw|Megaw, Ruth and Vincent]] (2001). ''Celtic Art''. {{ISBN|0-500-28265-X}}

==Further reading==
* Cunliffe, Barry. ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997
* Collis, John. ''The Celts: Origins, Myths, Invention''. London: Tempus, 2003.
* Kruta, Venceslas, ''La grande storia dei Celti. La nascita, l'affermazione, la decadenza'', [[Newton & Compton]], Roma, 2003 <small>{{ISBN|978-88-8289-851-9}} (492 pp. - a translation of ''Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire. Des origines à la romanisation et au christianisme'', Robert Laffont, Paris, 2000, without the dictionary)</small>
* James, Simon. ''The Atlantic Celts''. London: British Museum Press, 1999.
* James, Simon & Rigby, Valery. ''Britain and the Celtic Iron Age''. London: British Museum Press, 1997.
* Reginelli Servais Gianna and Béat Arnold, ''La Tène, un site, un mythe'', Hauterive : Laténium - Parc et musée d'archéologie de Neuchâtel, 2007, Cahiers d'archéologie romande de la Bibliothèque historique vaudoise, 3 vols, {{ISBN|9782940347353}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|La Tène culture}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160205164646/http://gate.cia.edu/cbergengren/arthistory/celtic/slides.html Charles Bergengren, Cleveland Institute of Art, 1999:] illustrations of La Tène artifacts
* [https://patrimoine.lamayenne.fr/jublains/expositions/les-premieres-villes-de-louest/ Les Premieres Villes de l'Ouest - Exhibition on La Tene period towns and cities]
* [http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/romania-arch-map/latene.htm La Tène Archaeological Sites in Romania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224143430/http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/romania-arch-map/latene.htm |date=24 December 2017 }}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=La Tène|short=x}}

{{Celts}}
{{Gallic peoples}}
{{Portal bar|History|Switzerland}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Tene Culture}}
[[Category:La Tène culture| ]]
[[Category:Celtic archaeological cultures]]
[[Category:Iron Age cultures of Europe]]