Archaeologists Discover Tomb of Celtic Prince
Monday, March 9th, 2015March 9, 2015
Last week, French archaeologists (scientists who study the remains of past human cultures) announced their discovery of a 2,500-year-old Celtic tomb filled with wonderful bronze treasures. The tomb was found at a building site off a main road near Troyes, in the Champagne region of France. Archaeologists from the National Archaeological Research Institute in Paris initially discovered the tomb in October 2014. As they investigated the large burial mound, they unearthed a skeleton buried in a chariot and surrounded by Celtic artifacts, including a long bronze sword, bronze pots, pitchers, and other vessels. The quantity of bronze grave goods (items buried with the dead) indicates that the man buried in the tomb was a high-ranking member of society, probably a Celtic prince. The valuable grave goods were laid around the body as if he were seated at a great banquet. Experts describe the exceptional tomb as the most important Celtic find of the last half-century.
The Celts were a diverse group of peoples connected by a shared language, religion, and material culture who thrived in Europe from about 800 B.C. to A.D. 100. Celtic culture extended from present-day Portugal to the Balkans, and from Austria to the southern coast of France. By 500 B.C., Celtic culture had spread to Great Britain and Ireland. The French tomb dates to end of what historians call the Hallstatt period of Celtic culture, around 500 B.C. The Hallstatt period was characterized by elaborate burials for the elite members of society.
The Celtic tomb is remarkable for the number of artifacts from ancient Greece. These include several items decorated with Greek religious scenes, including a ceramic vessel with gold trim depicting Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. The archaeologists also believe that a large bronze cauldron (large kettle), with four circular handles decorated with the horned head of the Greek river god Achelous, was made by the Etruscans in what is now present-day Tuscany, Umbria, and Latium in Italy. These foreign objects demonstrate that the Celts had well-established trade relationships with the civilizations of the Mediterranean.
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