The Halstatt period represents a revolution in prehistoric society. Spanning the period from 900 BC until 400 BC, it represents a culture that spread from Austria to the British Isles. Named after the area of Halstatt in Austria, it is identified by its previously unseen burial style and high quality iron working. Halstatt culture marks the beginnings of the Iron Age and has become known as the first recognizable phase of Celtic culture.
What is Halstatt Culture?
The area of Halstatt, close to Saltzburg in Austria was known as a salt mining region since the prehistoric Urnfield period. Salt was a valuable commodity which along with iron was traded as far as the Mediterranean. Trade led to the spread not only of goods but also ideas and technologies that led to the development of Halsatt culture.
The finds that defined the period were discovered in a prehistoric graveyard on a hill close to the area’s prehistoric salt mines. Whilst the evidence of the mines point to a hard existence for those who worked them, the finds in the Halstatt graveyard point to the development of a sophisticated elite who had developed a culture unique from other late prehistoric European cultures.
Defining Features of Halstatt Culture
Those defining features were:
- The use of iron. Never before had iron been used on such a large scale or to such a high level of craftsmanship. The finds in the Halstatt graves included swords, decorated vessels, and horse trappings of a quality and workmanship never seen before.
- Burial methods. Halstatt is the first place to see the rise of a new type of mortuary practice: burial in wagon graves, where the body was placed in a wagon which in its turn was interred in a wooden mortuary houses.
The Halstatt Period and the Celts
By the 6th century BC, these distinctive burial styles and ironworking craftsmanship had crossed Austria, reaching Germany, Switzerland and France. By the 4th c BC, they had reached Ireland and the UK. Halstatt was the source of a brand new European cultural phenomenon, that formed the foundation for later iron Age developments such as La Tene Culture.
The Halstatt period also provided the first archaeological evidence for a group of central European people, previously only known from the descriptions of Greek, Roman and Etruscan authors. These people were known as the keltoi or the Celts.
Sources:
Frank Delaney The Celts (1993) HarperCollins: London
The Illustrated Dictionary of Archaeology
Lloyd Laing Celtic Britain (1984) Paladin: Granada Publishing
