The Anatomy of a Migration (Confronting History with Archaeology)

Szabo, Miklos

The legendary event recounted by the historian Livius - Vae Victis - dramatising the attack of the Gauls in Rome demonstrates well the image of the ancient Romans had of the Celts: ruthless barbarians driven by the desire to rob and steal.
However, modern archaeology has shown that the Celtic Migration cannot be explained by a lust for treasure. In 450-400 B.C. in certain parts of the Celtic world (e.g. in Champagne) overpopulation and a later cessation of the usage of cemeteries point towards a migration of the population. The expansion of the Celts can primarily be viewed as a peaceful colonisation. The findings at Monte Bibele show the symbiosis of the local Etruscan population with the Celts. In Northern Serbia we can observe the assimilation of local Illyrians with immigrant Celts, this is repeated on the Great Hungarian Plain where Scythian objects were found alongside Celtic ones (e.g. at Sajópetri). The evidence of ethnic and cultural integration and the development of an Eastern Celtic cultural coinage shows a number of regional characteristics and we can conclude that by 300-200 B.C the Carpathian basin had become a new centre in the Celtic world.

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