Subject: noble warrior
Culture: Hallstatt / early Celtic
Setting: central Europe 8th-6thcBC
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Barnes 2009 p12-14
"The Hallstatt culture (750-450 BC, named after a burial ground in the Salzkammergut in Austria) spread its Iron Age technology and civilization throughout the Balkans, central Europe, France, Spain, and into south-east England. Artifacts recovered at the Hallstatt necropolis, containing some 2,000 graves, demonstrate elaborate funeral rites, whether by cremation or interment. Some graves contain four-wheeled carts and bronze harness mounts and bits, suggesting economic and cultural links with the Russian steppes, whether by origin or by the absorption of peoples moving westward from a steppe homeland. Finely decorated burial sites in Bohemia, complete with a Greek wine amphora and pottery, in southern Germany, and in north-eastern France would appear to be those of chieftains.
"The increasing use of iron and technological skills in its work and smithing characterize the Hallstatt Age. However, this culture continued to use Bronze Age materials and the techniques of the earlier Urnfield culture. The widespread use of iron allowed the Celts to fell forests and clear land for agriculture as well as engaging in raids and warfare among themselves or with other peoples such as the Iberians, who settled in the Iberian Peninsula. An indication of increasing warfare can be seen in the construction of strongly fortified settlements and the later hill forts. The first fortified 'castle' of the late Hallstatt period was found at Heuneburg on the Danube, where rich grave finds were uncovered by archaeologists. The late Hallstatt period saw many small hill forts being abandoned with a drift of population westward to the upper Danube, the upper Rhine, and eastern France. A reduced number of very large hill forts were created where very prestigious and powerful high chiefs resided. This move westward might be attributed to the Greek trade goods emanating from Massilia forming a major attraction. The routes along the river valleys of the Seine, Rhine, Danube, and Rhône link together major centers."
* McIntosh 2006 p88
"The establishment of a Greek colony at Massalia around 600 B.C. had a significant impact on the patterns of trade and power within transalpine Europe. ... In both Burgundy and southern Germany the preexisting native chiefdoms, focused on a few substantial hillforts, gained symbols of power and prestige through trading as middlemen with the Greeks, receiving wine and luxury goods, some ... made to cater to barbarian tastes for ostentation. ...
"The chiefs and their entourage dwelt in fortified hillforts, but the majority of the tribe farmed within the surrounding countryside, a pattern repeated across Europe at this time. ...
"Over much of the rest of western Europe a similar but less prosperous society flourished, consisting of small tribes mainly of farmers living in villages or farmsteads, giving allegiance to a chief based in a hillfort. The latter maintained an entourage of elite warriors who spent much of their time in hunting or in raiding their neighbors."
Sword
* Coe/Connolly/Harding/Harris/La Rocca/Richardson/North/Spring/Wilkinson p18 (Anthony Harding, "Stone, bronze and iron" p8-19)
"Swords of the early Hallstatt period (700-600 BC), named after the Iron Age cemetery and nearby salt mines at Hallstatt near Salzburg in Austria, were essentially variants on Bronze Age themes, but longer and heavier, with elaborate pommels of roughly conical form. Most had sheaths, but usually only the bronze winged or pouch-like terminal or chape survives. Some of these swords are magnificent weapons, even though undecorated. To own one was a mark of warrior status."
* Tarassuk/Blair 1979 p466-467
"In the Hallstatt culture (900-500 B.C.) swords made of bronze and swords with iron blades coexisted and were modeled after earlier forms. Swords with a long, lancet-shaped blade were typical of this culture; these blades had a broader section with the ridge beyond the center of the blade, and ending in a right-angled point. The grip was surmounted by a mushroom-shaped pommel, typical of this culture, which was often decorated with gold or other precious materials. An example from a Hallstatt tomb, with an iron blade, still has its magnificent grip made of ivory with carved bands of zigzag patterns and traces of the original coloration. Another grip typical of this culture was the 'anthropomorphic' type: the lower limbs, carefully fashioned, were positioned on either side of the blade; the upper limbs, raised above the shoulders, shielded the head; the body formed the actual handle."
