Posted on 03/05/2015 6:35:29 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
An "exceptional" tomb from the fifth century BC, likely that of a Celtic prince, has been unearthed in a small French town, shedding light on Iron Age European trade, researchers said Wednesday.
The grave, crammed with Greek and possibly Etruscan artefacts, was discovered in a business zone on the outskirts of Lavau in France's Champagne region, said the National Archaeological Research Institute, Inrap.
A team from the institute has been excavating the site since October last year, and have dated it to the end of the First Iron Age -- a period characterised by the widespread use of the metal.
The burial mound, 40 metres (130 feet) across, has at its heart a 14-square-metre (150-square-foot) burial chamber, not yet opened, of an ancient VIP.
"It is probably a local Celtic prince," Inrap president Dominique Garcia told journalists on a field visit.
The most exciting find, he said, was a large bronze-decorated cauldron that was used to store watered-down wine. It appears to have been made by Etruscan craftsmen from an area that is today in Italy.
The mausoleum also contained a decorated ceramic wine pitcher made by the Greeks.
The pieces "are evidence of the exchanges that happened between the Mediterranean and the Celts," said Garcia.
The end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries BC were characterised by the rise of Etruscan and Greek city states like Marseille in southern France.
Mediterranean merchants, seeking slaves, metals and other precious goods, opened trading channels with continental Celts.
ping
Was it found next to a bar?
Least they had a pot to pi$$ in...!!!!
The bar was INSIDE it.
Lovely. Hope they can protect it from ISIS.
Neat stuff!
My first (mostly wishful) thought to whose grave it might be is Lancelot, who would have been A: an ally of the Celts B: would have been French. C: would have traveled a lot.
That little brass head is fabulous! Horns, beard, is it a goat god, the devil? What?
I get it! It’s Bacchus!
Cousy?
More pics here.
Ancient Celtic Treasure Found In France
Scroll down to slide show. Large scale imgs.
Thanks aposiopetic and csvset.
From the quality of the objects, this guy was rich.
I knew it! The ancient Celts had mastered the making of plastics and played Tiddlywinks! (the green disk in one of the pics at the site you linked).
Impressive workmanship.
Definitely!
It has been consistently shown that there is a lot of very old stuff in the ground in Europe.
It’s interesting too that so much of the megalithic stuff gets older as one goes west.
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