During surveys for a solar park in Hesse, archaeologists uncovered a Celtic princely tomb with exceptional grave goods near Bad Camberg, a find of European significance, according to Hesse’s state archaeologist Udo Recker.
During construction work for a solar park, a Celtic princely grave has been uncovered for the first time. Experts classify the discovery and the artefacts it yielded as exceptionally significant.
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Among the grave goods recovered are several gold rings, an Etruscan beaked jug probably imported from what is now Tuscany in Italy, as well as the remains of weapons. Archaeologists also found traces of a two-wheeled wagon, including non-ferrous metal fittings from the wheel hubs and axle caps and iron tyre fittings. The finds suggest that the person buried there was probably a man, explained archaeologist Udo Recker.
The discovery makes it possible to prove “the previously only assumed presence of a local Celtic elite”.
Celtic wagon burial
The grave is now to be analysed using state-of-the-art investigative methods. The archaeologists hope this will provide new insights into the lives of people in the Iron Age more than 2,000 years ago.
Imaging techniques such as X-rays and CT scans point to further finds in the grave that still need to be uncovered.
The burial site can be dated to the middle of the first millennium before Christ. The find can be assigned to the so-called Hunsrück-Eifel culture.
According to the experts, it is one of the rare Celtic wagon burials. In Hesse only around three comparable graves are known to date – none of them matches the quality of the finds from Bad Camberg.
A completely different social structure
Compared with today, Celtic society was structured in a completely different way.
As the Celts left no written records, archaeologists and historians rely primarily on ancient accounts from Greek and Roman times and on archaeological finds. The Celts did not form a cohesive people or an early European nation, but in the Iron Age lived in numerous independent tribal groupings.
These groups were linked by a common Indo-European language family and by similar cultural characteristics, traditions, beliefs and ways of life. Out of the Bronze Age cultures of Central Europe developed the two defining Celtic periods: the Hallstatt culture (c. 650–450 BC) and the La Tène culture (c. 450–50 BC).
Politically, the Celts were organised in a decentralised way – there was no shared system of rule or overarching kings. In addition to tribal leaders and princes, druids played a central role as religious and intellectual authorities. They acted at the same time as priests, healers, teachers and judges.
The decline of the Celts did not happen abruptly, but over several centuries. Decisive above all was the expansion of the Roman Empire: many Celtic territories were conquered and incorporated into Roman rule, especially after the campaigns of Julius Caesar in Gaul in the 1st century BC.
Tribal confederations instead of a single community
Because the Celts lived in numerous independent tribal confederations and did not form a political unit, they were only able to oppose external powers to a limited extent. There was also a gradual cultural adaptation to the Roman way of life – language, administration and customs were adopted in many places. In other regions, Celtic groups were also displaced by Germanic tribes or integrated into new societies.
The Celts have not, however, disappeared entirely: in regions such as Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany, Celtic languages and cultural traditions have been preserved. Today’s Celtic languages (such as Irish, Welsh or Breton) go back to this heritage.
The investigations of the current finds in Bad Camberg are being carried out jointly by experts from “Hessen-Archäologie”, the research centre of the Celtic World at Glauberg, and the Leibniz Centre for Archaeology in Mainz.
