HALLSTATT D GREEK

Hallstatt D Greek



Hallstatt D Greek

Georg Ramsauer lived in a small village called Hallstatt, in Austria. This village was located near a lake named Salzkammergut, which means "the place of good salt," also near the region's capitol, Salzburg, "the salt town." The salt from these mountains was used to preserve the food in most of Old Europe. Ramsauer was the director of the salt mines. He'd heard tales of his worker's ancestors, and was fascinated by them. Hoping to find some remnant of these earlier people, he began exploring the areas around Hallstatt, and in 1846, his explorations finally led him to an astounding archaeological discovery--a huge prehistoric cemetery, with over 2,500 gravesites.

The Academy of Sciences in Vienna sent a team to examine the site, and after years of exhausting work, it was determined that these graves, dating as old as 800 B.C., were the first people in a race that at one time reigned over the entire European world, deemed "Keltoi" by the Greeks; or, as they are known more commonly, the Celts.

The Celtic culture originated in a time when the people of what is now Europe had just grown out of their nomadic stage and were settling down at one spot, either a single home or an entire village. The Celts of the Hallstatt Era were rather advanced, compared to other people of this time.

The Hallstatt Era lasted until approximately 700 B.C., and for the next century it advanced into another distinctive era, the La Tene Era. Remnants of these people were found when the Thielle River and Lake Neuchatel, in Switzerland, were shallow due to a drought. The water became so low that in an area where the river dumps into the lake, blackened, waterlogged timbers were seen poking from its depths. La Tene means "the shallows" in their native language. After further investigation, these timbers turned out to be the remains of a village that once rested in that spot, and many artifacts were unearthed in the banks along the river and lake. Though the designs and styles of these artifacts proved them to be from the same race as the people of Hallstatt, they were of such greater quality and sophistication that they were deemed the beginning of a new era.

Though both eras lasted for about the same time, there was a vast difference between the Hallstatt and La Tene. During the Hallstatt Era, there was very little growth in the Celtic culture, only a refinement of existing things, such as farming methods, ironworking, and artwork. However, the La Tene people were a rapidly growing society, and it was during this time that almost ninety percent of the advancements of the Celts took place. They perfected their ironworking skills and moved on to other areas, became more precise with their artwork, invented new methods of more productive farming, established their system of society and living in general, carved their place in the world.

The Celts had spread to almost every area of Europe, ...