Bohemia at the End of the La Tène Period: Objects, Materials, Chronology, and Main Development Trends – A Review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of current knowledge concerning the late La Tène chronology in Bohemia and Moravia during the LT C2–D2 phases (150–0 BC) with an emphasis on developments in the latter stages of the La Tène occupation of the Middle Danube zone (LT D1b – LT D2). During the first century BC, specifically from the 70s and 60s BC onwards, a succession of events caused a rapid chain of reactions that resulted in the abandonment of the oppida and the replacement of the La Tène population in Bohemia by incomers of Germanic origin on the one hand, and a final rapid rise of the La Tène elites in the Middle Danube zone on the other. These processes are accompanied by a distinctive material culture of both local and external origin (Mediterranean and Germanic) and these objects tell us much about the society and its socio-economic strategies, distribution patterns and long-distance communication. The article does not aim to provide an historical account of the events that took place around the second half of the first century BC, such as Ceasar’s military campaigns against the Helvetians and in Gaul, the supposed participation of the Boii in these events, and the demise of the Celtic occupation of the Bratislava oppidum as a result of the (supposed) devastating incursion by the Dacians under the leadership of Burebista. The objective is to summarise what is known about the chronology of this turbulent period of the first century BC and to offer an archaeological overview of the developments of material culture in the Middle Danube zone. Key Words: Late La Tène, chronology, material analysis, metals, glass, oppida, Central Europe