The practice of suttee (Sati) – the ritual sacrifice, willingly or otherwise, of a man’s wife upon his death – is well testified to in ancient sources with both Greek and Roman authors describing this horrific custom (Plutarch, Moralia, p. 499c.; Aelian, Varia Historia, 8. 18; Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 5. 27, 78; Propertius, 4. 12. 15–22; Valerius Maximus, Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium Libri, 2. 6. 14).
The Mahasati (the great Sati) or the Sahagamana (joint departure) system of cremating a woman alive on the death of her husband is an ancient custom in India, and Sati appears in both Hindi and Sanskrit texts, where it is synonymous with ‘good wife’, the term suttee being commonly used later by Anglo-Indian writers…
A most mysterious phenomenon to be observed in Iron Age Europe is the almost complete absence of children’s burials. While we are informed that the Celts were a particularly prolific race (Just. 25:2, Livy 38:16), and infant mortality during this period was at a much higher rate than today, remarkably few children’s burials have ever been discovered.
At Celtic sites where detailed anthropological analysis has been conducted, such as Ludas in Hungary, Brežice and Dobova in Slovenia, or Gordion in Turkey, recent research has once again shown a remarkable lack of children among the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ*.
Bronze situla with detail of narrative scene, from Kuffarn (Niederösterreich), Austria (Early La Tène; 6/5th c. BC). The depiction on the Kuffarn situla is one of the few representations of Iron Age Celtic children
So, where did all the children go?
Recent experiments carried out by the University of Copenhagen have suggested one possible explanation. Research involving the cremation of piglets of roughly the same mᴀss and weight as human children has indicated that that the cremation process reduces the immature bone to powder of which little trace is left. This, along with subsequent environmental factors, may result in the ‘disappearance’ of the physical remains.
http://sciencenordic.com/archeologists-burn-pigs-investigate-historical-mystery#!
Metal ‘lump’ recently excavated at the Auersperg Palace in Ljubljana (Slovenia). Subsequent forensic examination of the material revealed that the ‘lump’ actually contained a ritually ‘killed’ middle La Tène sword and shield boss, a shaft-hole axe, as well as the remains of a ‘boy warrior’ (under 20 years of age) who had literally fused with his weapons.
(see: https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/melted-warriors-la-tene-burials-from-the-auersperg-palace-in-ljubljana/)
However, these are a number of problems with the aforementioned Danish research, which suggest that this is not the whole picture. Firstly, children’s burials are also absent from sites, such as that discovered at Buchères in France, where inhumation, and not cremation, was practiced.
Furthermore, the disintegration of children’s bones as a result of the cremation process and subsequent environmental factors would logically result in the complete absence of children’s remains at sites where cremation was practiced – which is not the case. For example, at the aforementioned Ludas site in Hungary 8 double cremation burials were recorded, of which two were adults (burials 711, 1009), five contained an adult and a child (burials 686, 699, 725, 1051, 1267), and in one case a newborn and a child (burial 1139) were placed in the grave together.*
Double female burial (# 711) from Ludas
It should also be noted that many of the children’s burials which have been recorded are often accompanied by seemingly bizarre rituals. How, for example, does one explain burial # 1139 at Ludas, where among the newborn remains only the skull of an older child was found; burial # 1267 where a child’s remains were found among the adults, but without the skull; or #1051 where the remains of a 1 year old child were found, but the skull of an adult?
Also noteworthy is the fact that the lack of burials relates to children less than 12-13, indicating that this is the phase in Celtic society where individuals were believed to have pᴀssed the threshold between childhood and maturity, i.e. a person became eligible for independent burial only when they acquired the status of an equal member of the community, which, judging by the archaeological evidence, occurred around the age of 12-13, when boys reached the military age and girls came of age to marry.
THE BABIES BENEATH…
A partial explanation of the mystery as to what occurred with younger children has been suggested by recent research in central Europe. In the northeastern part of Austria excavations of Celtic settlements have uncovered the remains of infants deposited in the house foundations at sites such as Mitterretzbach (Bez. Hollabrunn), Franzhausen/ Wagram an der Traisen, Flur Kokoron and Inzersdorf-Walpersdorf (Bez. St. Pölten).
Infant burial in the foundations of a house (Grubenhaus) at Mitterrzbach (Early La Tène period)
(after Trebsche P. (2016) Latènezeitliche Leichen im Keller? Überlegungen zur Deutung von Siedlungsbestattungen im österreichischen Donauraum. In: Vorträge des 34. Niederbayerischen Archäologentages. Rahden/Westf. 2016. pp. 79-118)
However, for the moment this has been recorded only over a small area of central Europe, and even if further research identifies it as a more widespread phenomenon these cases relate only to infants from 0-12 months old. Therefore, while modern archaeological science endeavors to explain the mystery surrounding the general absence of such burials in Iron Age Europe, many questions still remain concerning the elusive children of the Celts…
Statue of a Celtic baby, a votive offering at the Fontes Sequanae (“The Springs of Sequana”), France. (late 1 c. BC)
“To these men death in battle is glorious,
And they consider it a crime to bury the body of such a warrior;
For they believe that the soul goes up to the gods in heaven,
If the body is exposed on the field to be devoured by the birds of prey”.
(Silius Italicus (2nd c. AD) Punica 3:340-343)
It is becoming increasingly clear that the vast majority of sensationalist reports about “human sacrifice” and “horrible rituals” carried out by the ancient European populations have been derived from a fundamental failure by generations of academics to understand their religious beliefs and complex burial customs. In fact, recent discoveries have confirmed that the practice of excarnation and ritual manipulation of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ was a common one throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Age, and continued across Europe into the late Iron Age.
Human remains from a Pᴀssage Tomb at Carrowkeel (Sligo), Ireland. Research undertaken at the site has confirmed excarnation and post-mortem manipulation of corpses, dating from 3,500 – 2,900 BC, which involved a funerary rite which placed a particular focus on the “deconstruction” of the body.
SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS ? – Human Sacrifice and Execution in Iron Age Europe
EXCARNATION IN CELTIC EUROPE
From the later period, recent excavations, such as those at Ham Hill and Danebury in England or Roseldorf in Austria, have provided further evidence of the Celtic practice of excarnation – the ritual exposure of corpses to the elements and scavengers and the resulting defleshing of the body.
Excarnation may be precipitated through natural means, involving leaving a body exposed for animals to scavenge, or it may be purposefully undertaken by butchering the corpse by hand. The finds at Ham Hill include ritualistic burials – arrangements of human skulls as well as bodies tossed into a pit, left exposed and gnawed by animals. At the site “hundreds, if not thousands of bodies”, dated from the 1st or 2nd century AD, have been found treated in this fashion.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/exclusive-slaughtered-bodies-stripped-of-their-flesh–a-gruesome-glimpse-of-ironage-massacre-at-uks-largest-hill-fort-8798680.html#!
One of the few complete Iron Age skeletons found at the Danebury site.
The remains of at least 300 individuals have been found, but no more than 40 have been complete skeletons
Pit containing disarticulated skeletons from the Danebury site
The last 25 years of archaeological research have revealed how interments were the culmination of previous very complex rituals. The removal of flesh before interment is also clearly attested at Celtic sanctuaries like Ribemont (Brunaux 2004: 103-24), but the enormous deficit of interments, especially in the late La Têne period, can be partially explained by the exposure of corpses with the consequent destruction of most of the skeleton. Such practices are also recorded among the Balkan Celts (Churchin 1995:68-71; Mac Congail/ Krusseva 2010) and were particularly common among the Belgae tribes, from whom the Bastarnae and Galatians also originated (Mac Congail/Krusseva op cit; Soprena Genzor 1995; Brunaux 2004: 118-24).
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Reverse of a Celtic coin (Boii tribe 2nd/1st c. BC) depicting a fallen warrior being devoured by a bird of prey
(Bohemia – Collection of the Hypo-Bank, Munich)
Celtic coin of the Bratislava type; the obverse depicting a fallen warrior being devoured by a wild dog or wolf, the reverse a ram headed serpent
(Western Slovakia/ 1 st c. BC)
On the Ram headed serpent: https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/cernunnos-and-the-ram-headed-serpent/
Fragments of human skulls and other remains from the second large sanctuary (object 30) at Roseldorf, Austria.
At Roseldorf 3 cult districts with seven sanctuaries which played a major role in the functional orientation of the complex have been identified. Although evidence of human sacrifice has not been found at the site, evidence of post-mortem manipulation of the bodies has been established, consistent with the Celtic practice of exhumation.
THE MᴀssACRE AT RIBEMONT-SUR-ANCRE
Graphic reconstruction of the Ribemont-Sur-Ancre ‘Tower of Silence’
This shrine/sanctuary was erected on the site of the Battle at Ribemont, where around 1,000 Celtic warriors are believed to have died. The victorious Belgae erected this shrine to celebrate the great battle, decapitated the bodies of the defeated warriors taking the heads home with them as trophies. The headless corpses and thousands of weapons collected from the battle field were hung from a large wooden platform (‘Tower of Silence’).
Evidence of weathering and dismemberment of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at the site, and others such as Ham Hill, is consistent with the well documented Celtic religious practice of exposing corpses after death to be devoured by birds of prey and carnivores. The removal of flesh from corpses, which is well documented in the Celtic world, had a mortuary significance that differed greatly from the Greco-Roman practices (Soprena Genzor 1995: 198 ff.).
Brunaux J.L. (2004) Guerre et religion en Gaule. Essai d’anthropologie celtique. Paris: Errance.
Churchin L.A. (1995) The Unburied ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at Thermopylae (279 BC) In: The Ancient History Bulletin 9: 68-71
Soprena Genzor G. (1995) Ética y ritual. Aproximación al estudio de la religiosidad de los pueblos celtibéricos. Zaragosa.
Mac Congail B., Krusseva B. (2010) The Men Who Became the Sun – Barbarian Art and Religion on the Balkans. Plovdiv. (In Bulgarian)
Mackillop, James (2004) A dictionary of Celtic mythology. Oxford University Press
Marco Simón F. (2008) Images of Transition. The Ways of Death in Celtic Hispania. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 74, 2008. Pp. 53-68.
Among the most significant Iron Age archaeological sites from Ancient Thrace is the complex of rich Celtic burials, dated to between 220 – 180 BC, discovered at Kalnovo (Schumen region) in today’s eastern Bulgaria.
The Schumen region of Bulgaria, in which Kalnovo is situated, has yielded one of the highest concentrations of Celtic material in Thrace, both in terms of La Têne artefacts and Celtic numismatic material dating from the 4th – 1st c. BC. This area consтιтuted part of the Celtic Tyle State in the 3rd c. BC, and Kalnovo is situated slightly to the southeast of the main political centre of this state at the Arkovna Hillfort. Following the collapse of the Tyle state at the end of the 3rd c. BC, the area fell within the sphere of influence of the ‘barbarian’ Zaravetz Culture until the Roman conquest in the 2nd half of the 1st c. BC.
Findspots and main concentrations of Celtic (La Têne) material in the Schumen/Varna areas of north-eastern Bulgaria from the La Têne B2 – C1 period
Sadly, after their discovery in the mid 1970’s the Celtic graves at Kalnovo were first plundered by the local population and subsequently destroyed by the communist authorities due to ‘conditions pertaining at the time’ (Atanᴀssov 1992, Megaw 2004). Thus, only a partial publication of the material from 1992 gives us some idea of the wealth and significance of this unique archaeological site.
A total of 3 cremation pyres and 8 burials were recorded at the site and, while most of them were completely destroyed during the ‘excavations’, material from 2 of the burials deserves special mention.
Included in the finds from the mausoleum (Burial No. 1) were 2 horse burials ᴀssociated with 2 La Têne swords, one ritually bent in its scabbard of LTC type. Also discovered were an iron spearhead with hiebmesser, round headed nails, and 2 of several classic La Têne C iron brooches from the site. A further find from this burial was a Hellenistic helmet of Waurick’s (1988) Attic type – evidence, as with another Hellenistic helmet discovered at a Celtic burial at nearby Seuthopolis in the ‘Valley of the Thracian Kings’, of Celtic mercenary activity (see ‘Wolves Wages’ article). Other notable discoveries in the burial included fragments of iron chainmail and a middle La Têne rectangular umbo from a wooden shield. As a whole, warrior burial No. 1 from Kalnovo is ‘an outstanding example of a middle La Têne warrior burial’ (Megaw 2004).
Artefacts from Warrior Burial No.1 at Kalnovo
(after Atanᴀssov 1992)
Notable finds from the other destroyed burials at the site included a clay dice from burial no. 4, as well as a number of clay lamps and an iron scabbard. Another burial (no. 3) was a rich female burial in a shaft, a facility similar to Celtic burials at Branichovo and others east of the Jantra river. Grave goods recorded in this female burial included 4 silver and 1 iron La Têne fibulae, four bronze rings, 2 iron knives, a bracelet of glᴀss beads, and 1,200 further glᴀss beads which formed a 3 tiered necklace (Atanᴀssov 1992).
Glᴀss ‘Eye’ bead bracelet similar to that found in the Celtic princess burial at Kalnovo
(from the Celtic burial at Necropole de Prosnes – Marne; Museé Saint Remi – Reims. (5th c. BC)
The Princess burial discovered recently in the Altai mountains region of Russia. This so-called ‘Cleopatra Necklace’, similar to that found in female burial (No. 3) at Kalnovo in Bulgaria, is a unique find this far east. It most probably reached the Altai region through trade with the Celto-Scythian Bastarnae tribes, and is particularly valuable for our understanding of trade and the spread of technology between Europe and Asia in the late Iron Age.
Unfortunately, because of the nature of the communist ‘excavations’ a proper record of the inventory of most of the burials has not survived. However, one notable factor at Kalnovo was once again the presence of significant amounts of animal bones (both burnt and unburnt) among the human remains, with the bones of wild pigs predominating. This phenomenon is common in late Iron Age Celtic burials throughout Eastern Europe (see ‘Celtic Death’ article).
Mould for producing La Têne C fibulae found in the Schumen-Razgrad area The mould was used to produce fibulae of the type found at the Celtic burial site at Kalnovo, others found in Serbia, and a further example from north-eastern Bulgaria, now in the Varna museum
(Mircheva 2007:71; see ‘New Material 2’ atricle)
The Kalnovo site represents further testimony to extensive Celtic presence in Eastern Thrace in the late Iron Age. However, Kalnovo again raises a number of fundamental questions. Almost 40 years after its discovery the majority of material from the site has still not been properly published, and the ‘conditions pertaining at the time’ which required the summary destruction of such a unique archaeological site, (in sharp contrast to ‘Thracian’ sites in this area), remains unexplained.
Atanᴀssov G. (1992) S’or’ženija ot III-II v. pr. n. e. ot okolnosтιтe na s. K’lnovo, Šumensko. – Izvestija na Istoričeskija Muzej – Šumen, 7, 5-39. (In Bulgarian)
Megaw V., Megaw R., Anastᴀssov J., Mircheva E. (2013) Walt Disney Comes to Bulgaria. In: L’âge du Fer en Europe: mélanges offerts à Olivier Buchsenschutz. Bordeaux : Ausonius. p. 551-565
Megaw V. (2004) In the footsteps of Brennos? Further archaeological evidence for Celts in the Balkans. – In: Hänsel B., Studenikova E., (eds.) Zwischen Karpaten und Ägäis. Neolithikum und ältere Bronzezeit. Gedenkschrift für Viera Nemejcova-Pavukova. Rahden / Westf. 93-107.
Mircheva E. (2007) La Téne C fibulae kept in Varna Archaeological Museum. In: Vagalinski L. (ed.) The Lower Danube in Antiquity (VI c. BC – VI c. AD) International Archaeology Conference. 6 – 7. 10 2005. Tutrakan. (Sofia 2007) P. 65 – 72.
Of the later Celtic material from Thrace, most remarkable is a dense concentration of La Têne C/D swords recorded over the last 100 years between the Timok and Iskar rivers in today’s northwestern Bulgaria (Popov 1922, 1924; Mikov 1932/33, 1933; Velkov 1957; Milchev 1958; Nikolov 1965, 1981, 1990, 1993; Alexandrov 1975, 1983; Wozniak 1975; Werner 1977; Petrov 1978; Tacheva-Hitova 1978; Domaradski 1984; Torbov 2000 with cited lit.; see also Paunov 2012). By the end of the 20th century over 60 of these swords had been registered in this area of northwestern Bulgaria alone – the largest concentration of such Celtic material in Europe….
“The other order is that of the knights. These, when there is occasion and any war occurs …, are all engaged in war. And those of them most distinguished by birth and resources, have the greatest number of vᴀssals and dependents about them”.
(Caesar. Gallic War. 6.15)
The warrior class was a crucial element in Celtic culture and, along with the druids, formed the backbone of the social structure in Iron Age European society. Their military apтιтude and ability to mobilize significant numbers of troops is evident from accounts of their struggles with the classical world, and confirmed by the profusion of weapons found in their burials. The warrior class also played a central political role as participation in tribal councils was reserved for those who bore arms (Kruta V. 2004:190).
Burial goods from the grave (Benacci 953) of a Celtic warrior/chieftain in Bononia/Bologna, Italy
(early 3rd c. BC)
However, what has hitherto remained unclear is exactly what proportion of Celtic society this warrior class represented. An analysis of burials sites in southeastern Europe allows us to throw some light on this question.
Excavation of a Celtic warrior burial at Dubník, Slovakia. (late 5th c. BC)
During the initial migration phase into southeastern Europe in the late 4th/early 3rd c. BC the proportion who bore arms was logically quite high. For example, of the 20,000 Celts who crossed into Asia-Minor in 277 BC (subsequently known as the Galatians) 10,000, or 50%, bore arms. In the immediate post-migration phase this figure remains high. For example, at the Celtic cemetery at Belgrad-Karaburma (Serbia) the percentage of warrior burials from the LT B2b period (i.e. 2nd quarter of the 3rd c. BC) is 70% – an exceptionally high proportion. However, in the subsequent decades this figure falls dramatically, and by the LT C1 period (post 250 BC) warrior burials at the site consтιтute only 35% of the graves:
Belgrad-Karaburma
| Grave # | Swords | Spears | Shields | Dating |
| 22 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b | |
| 23 | 1 | LT B2b | ||
| 51 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b | |
| 62 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b |
| 66 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b |
| 71 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b |
| 111 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b | |
| 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT C1 |
| 29 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT C1 |
| 33 | 1 | LT C1 | ||
| 41 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT C1 |
| 324 | 1 | LT C1 | ||
| 325 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT C1 |
Horizon 1
Graves with weapons = 7
Graves without weapons = 3
Warriors = 70 %
Horizon 2
Graves with weapons = 6
Graves without weapons = 11
Warriors = 35.29 %
(Tables adapted after Rustoiu 2006)
Weaponry from Celtic (Scordisci) Warrior Burials at Karaburma (3/2 c. BC)
Similar statistics are to be observed at other Celtic burial sites in the region such as Ižkovce in eastern Slovakia or Apahida in Romania (Zirra 1976, Rustoiu 2006). An analysis of burial complexes in the Carpathian basin reveals that while warrior graves consтιтuted 18% of the total burials (Bujna 1982), once again a rapid transition from the highly militarized society of the first quarter of the 3rd c. BC to ‘peacetime’ conditions is to be observed in the decades which follow. For example, at Remetea Mare in Transylvania in the burial complex from the LT B2b period warrior graves represented 35% of the total burials, while at Ciumeşti, also in Transylvania, by the LT C1 period – i.e. a few decades later, warrior graves consтιтute only 9% of the total burials:
Remetea Mare:
| Grave # | Swords | Spears | Shields | Dating |
| D1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b | |
| D2 | 1 | LT B2b | ||
| D3 | 1 | LT B2b | ||
| M1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b | |
| M4 | 1 | LT B2b | ||
| M9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b |
| M10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT B2b |
Graves with weapons = 7
Graves without weapons = 13
Warriors = 35%
Ciumeşti
| Grave # | Swords | Spears | Shields | Helmet | Chainmail | Greaves | Dating |
| 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT C1 | |||
| 12 | 1 | LT C1 | |||||
| M1961 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | LT C1 |
Graves with weapons = 3
Graves without weapons = 30
Warrior graves = 9.09 %
Thus, the above data indicates that the number of warriors in Celtic society was not fixed, and varied greatly depending on the geo-political conditions pertaining at the time. In peacetime this figure appears to have been constant at circa 10 %, which probably indicates the core warrior class in Celtic society. However, there existed an ability to expand these numbers dramatically, which illustrates an intrinsic flexibility in society capable of rapidly mobilizing a large proportion of the population in times of conflict. This also logically indicates that besides the ‘warrior elite’ substantial numbers who were normally engaged in other professions, also had basic combat training.
Grave goods from the Celtic (Scordisci) warrior burial at Montana, northwestern Bulgaria
(RGZM – Inv. # 0.42301/01-08; see: https://www.academia.edu/5385798/Scordisci_Swords_from_Northwestern_Bulgaria )
Sources Cited
Bujna J. (1982) Spiegelung der Sozialstruktur auf latenzeitlichen Grăberfeldern im Karpatenbecken. In: PamArch, 73, 1982. P. 312-431.
Kruta V. (2004) The Celts: History and Civilization. London.
Rustoiu A. (2006) A Journey to Mediterranean. Peregrinations of a Celtic Warrior from Transylvania. In: Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai, Historia 51, no. 1 (June 2006). P. 42-85
Zirra V. (1976) La nécropole La Téne d’Apahida. Nouvelles considerations. Dacia N.S, 20. P 129-165
Mac Congail
BARBARIAN BRIDES – Inter-Ethnic Marriage in the Iron Age
Ud – January 2015
A number of rather strange archaeological discoveries from s.e. Europe over the past few years have thrown new light on the social and cultural relationships between the various ‘barbarian’ peoples who inhabited this region in the pre-Roman period.
One example of this phenomenon was discovered at the late Iron Age burial complex at Remetea Mare in the Banat region of western Romania, which evolved from the period over LT B2 and the start of LT C1 (i.e. from circa 280 BC to the end of the 3rd c. BC). In terms of funerary rites and rituals, the cemetery at Remetea Mare illustrates the cultural mixture specific to Celtic cemeteries in the east and south of the Carpathian Basin (fig. 1) – with one notable exception.
Burial # 3 at the site, which dates to the same period, is a female inhumation burial which contained a handmade bowl, a small bi-conical wheel-made vessel, iron tweezers that when discovered still preserved attached fabric pieces of the woman’s clothing, a segment of an astragal belt reused as pendant, and a bronze Thracian brooch (Rustoiu 2011, 2012) (Fig. 2). The ‘Thracian’ brooch belongs to the IIb variant according to Zirra’s typology and was dated in the first half of the 3rd century BC (Zirra V. (1998) Bemerkungen zu den thraco-getischen Fibeln, Dacia N. S., 40–42, 1996–1998, 29–53).
Both the funerary rite (inhumation rather than cremation – unique at the cemetery) and inventory illustrate that the woman came from a community markedly different from the one in which she died, in this case probably from a Thracian group (Triballi?) south of the Danube, and reached the Celtic community at Remetea Mare following a matrimonial alliance established between the Celts and the Thracians, sometime in the first half of the 3rd century BC.
Fig 1- Material from Celtic Cremation burial # 9 from Remetea Mare (Different scales)
(after Rustoiu 2011- Rustoiu A. (2011) The Celts from Transylvania and the eastern Banat and their Southern Neighbours. Cultural Exchanges and Individual Mobility. In: The Eastern Celts. The Communities between the Alps and the Black Sea. Koper–Beograd 2011. p. 163-171)
Fig 2 – Female Inhumation Burial (#3) from Remetea Mare
(after Rustoiu 2011)
Burial of an Illyrian woman in the Celtic cemetery at Aradu Nou (Banat) in western Romania (late 4th/early 3rd c. BC).
Dating to the initial phase of Celtic expansion into this area, her interment in a Celtic cemetery again indicates a matrimonial alliance contributing to the cementing of inter-cultural relations during this period. Such alliances also logically contributed to the creation of complex social networks between the elites of different communities.
(after Rustoiu A., Ursuţiu A. (2013) Indigenous and Celtic Garment ᴀssemblages in Banat and the Surrounding Areas at the Beginning of the La Tène Period (Observations Regarding the Silver Spiral Earrings). In: Archaeological Small Finds And Their Significance. Proceedings of the Symposion:
costume as an idenтιтy expression – Cluj-Napoca 2013. p. 77-88)
Another example of such matrimonial alliances between the indigenous Balkan tribes and the Celts comes from a cremation grave, discovered by chance in 1977 at Teleşti in the Oltenia region of Romania. Its inventory consisted of a fragmentary bronze belt, two fragmentary bronze brooches (probably a pair; one destroyed on the pyre), four glᴀss beads and fragments of a blue glᴀss bracelet, an iron horse-bit and two iron elements which probably belonged to a ceremonial cart. The entire ᴀssemblage is characteristic for the Celtic environment dating from the Lt C1 phase (second half of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 2nd century BC).
The funerary inventory from Teleşti represents the burial of a Celtic woman in a Thracian context. As is the case at Remetea Mare, this burial also points to the existence of an inter-ethnic matrimonial alliance. Her belt, as well as other garment accessories, suggests that the deceased came from a Celtic area, probably in Transylvania or Scordisci territory in Serbia/Bulgaria (Rustoiu A. (2012) The Celts and Indigenous Populations from the Southern Carpathian Basin. Intercommunity Communication Strategies. In: Iron Age Rites and Rituals in the Carpathian Basin. Proceedings of the International Colloquim from Târgu Mureș 7–9 October 2011. Târgu Mureș 2012).
An example of such matrimonial alliances is also recorded at the beginning of the 2nd c. BC. In this case the Macedonian king Philip V, in order to secure a military alliance with the Celto-Scythian Bastarnae tribes, arranged for his son to be married to a Bastarnae princess:
“The envoys whom he had sent to the Bastarnae to summon ᴀssistance had returned and brought back with them some young nobles, amongst them some of royal blood. One of these promised to give his sister in marriage to Philip’s son, and the king was quite elated at the prospect of an alliance with that nation” (Livy 40:5; see also ‘Bastarnae’ article).
Skull and facial reconstruction of a Celto-Scythian (Bastarnae) woman found in the Celtic burial complex at Pelczyska, Poland (1st c. BC)
(see:https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/face-of-a-stranger-a-female-burial-from-little-poland/)
BONDS OF BLOOD
Well recorded in the Hellenistic world, the aforementioned burials from Romania and Poland represent the first direct archaeological testimony that such matrimonial alliances were also common among the ‘barbarian’ peoples of Europe. Such marriages would logically have had both a social and political significance.
It is worth noting that these women, although living in an alien cultural environment, retained their own cultural identity, and upon their deaths their respective customs and burial rites were respected by their host tribe. Such inter-ethnic marriages undoubtedly acted as a catalyst for the development of the symbiotic relationship which evolved between the local tribes and the Celts, resulting in close social, cultural, and political ties. This phenomenon is to be observed in the material culture, and manifests itself in the development of the mixed Celto-Thracian Zaravetz Culture in n.e. Thrace, and military alliances formed between them against Rome during the Scordisci Wars of the late 2nd/1st c. BC.
Mac Congail
HEART OF THRACE – The Celts in Central Bulgaria
UD: December 2018
The recent publication of results from large-scale excavations in sub-Balkan Thrace marks an important step forward in Bulgarian archaeology, and has finally provided us with objective scientific data on the geo-political status quo and ethnic composition in this part of Europe in the late Iron Age. These extensive excavations, carried out at a number of sites in Central Bulgaria, especially in the Chirpan Heights area, has yielded material that has prompted local archaeologists to finally conclude that in the late Iron Age “this region was in fact inhabited by a Celtic (Celto-Thracian) population” (Tonkova et al 2011 = Трако-римски династичен център в районна Чирпанските възвишения Тонкова M. (ed.) София, 2011).
FULL ARTICLE:
https://www.academia.edu/4107842/The_Celts_in_Central_Thrace
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A Celtic Warrior Burial from Sremska Mitrovica (Serbia)
UD: Jan. 2020
The “accidental” discovery of a Celtic warrior burial from Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia has shed new light on the Scordisci tribes who inhabited large areas of today’s eastern Croatia, southwestern Romania, Serbia, and northern/western Bulgaria in the late Iron Age. The burial, which was disturbed by a local farmer, was found in the Syrmia region, most probably close to the modern town of Sremska Mitrovica.
(after Tapavički-Ilić, Filipović 2011 = Tapavički-Ilić M., Filipović V., A Late Iron Age Grave Find from Syrmia. In: Iron Age Rites and Rituals in the Carpathian Basin. Poceedings of the International Colloquium from Târgu Mureş, 7–9 October 2011. 453-559)
The cremation burial was accompanied by a bronze ‘kettle’, a bronze simpulum, a pair of iron snaffle-bits, a bronze fibula, an iron knife, a belt buckle of the Laminici type, a scabbard decorated with geometric ornaments, and two spears (one ritually killed). A sword from the grave had been removed, and presumably sold, before the material was presented to archaeologists. There is no information about the sword itself, so one cannot tell whether it was a long one, typical of the Late Iron Age, or a shorter one, developed during the last decades of the 1st century BC by the Balkan Celts. Examples of the latter have been found at sites in Serbia and in Bulgaria, such as the Taja site in the Balkan mountains where burials contained examples of both types of late Iron Age Celtic swords.
A number of interesting features are to be noted in the Sremska Mitrovica burial. All of the finds have close parallels with material from Balkan Celtic burials from the same period (late 2nd / 1st c. BC). Two iron spurs with ʙuттon-shaped endings, which belong to the first variant of the La Tène spur type 1 in Serbia, chronologically belong to the 1st century BC. What makes this find of spurs special is that so far in the Central Balkans only one more pair of Celtic spurs have discovered as grave goods – from a Celtic burial at Popica in Bulgaria. Usually, only a single spur is encountered (Tapavički-Ilić, Filipović op cit.). The bronze kettle discovered has analogies in Scordisci territory along the Danube in Serbia and in examples from Romania (Tigănesti, Bobaia, Vedea, Costești and Pescari), all dated to the 1st century BC.
An iron knife with a straight blade is also noteworthy. This knife is in contrast to the typical Celtic/Scordisci fighting knives (daggers), which possess a mᴀssive bent blade and a short handle. Thus, the type of knife found at Sremska Mitrovica was not a fighting knife/dagger, and the bronze earring-like ornament on its handle indicates that it belonged to a female.
Also noteworthy in this burial is the deliberate bending/deformation of the spearhead before being placed in the grave – once again confirming that the ritual of ‘killing the objects’ was a common religious practice among the Balkan Celts in the late Iron Age ((see https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/killing-the-objects-3/).
Ritually ‘Killed’ Spearhead from the Sremska Mitrovica burial
(after Tapavički-Ilić, Filipović 2011)
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Celtic burial under discussion is the presence of female articles in the grave. Objects such as the knife, ‘Laminci’ belt buckle and fibula belong to a woman, in contrast to the weapons and spurs which are obviously from a male burial. This has led archaeologists to conclude that we may be dealing with the double cremation burial of a warrior accompanied by his wife. The circumstances which could have led to such a double burial, which dates to the period of the Scordisci Wars, can only be guessed at.
Reconstruction of the Celtic Burial from Sremska Mitrovica
(after Tapavički-Ilić, Filipović 2011)
Mac Congail
