Archaeology and History

Abstract

Abstract Traditionally the academic study of Celtic northern Italy has divided into two strands—Celtic prehistory and Roman history. The former has dealt principally with the evidence for the presence of the Celts in Italy. It has used this evidence to treat such questions as the explanation and dating of the original Celtic presence within Italy, the continuing relations between the Italian Celts and the Celts north of the Alps, and their progressive integration into the world of Italy. Celtic prehistorians have also addressed themselves to tracing Celtic survivals in the culture of northern Italy after the Roman conquest. The evidence employed in answering these questions is substantially archaeological in nature—the grave-assemblages from cemeteries ascribed to Celts have been crucial in discussions of chronology and in identifying the changing cultural affinities of the Celts of the north, sandwiched between the twin influences of transalpine Celtic Europe and Mediterranean Italy. Philological evidence, in the form of a handful of inscriptions in Celtic, has also played an important part in identifying the presence of Celts throughout the period. The framework within which the questions posed by the material evidence for Celtic prehistory have been asked has, primarily, been that provided by the literary record.