La Tène in Ireland

La Tène in Ireland. The most distinctive artefacts and art styles of the Irish Iron Age have their ultimate origin either in the La Tène cultures of transalpine Celtic Europe, or in the British Iron Age cultures that drew material and influences from that milieu. The earliest such influences seem to have arrived in the north‐east, perhaps via northern Britain, in the 3rd century bc, although few actual imports have been found. The failure of other archaeological traits (such as settlement and pottery types) from those origin areas to appear in Ireland suggests that only small bands of settlers (warriors and metalworkers) arrived. This undermines the orthodox belief that the La Tène material, and the Celtic language, were the result of an overwhelming ‘Celticization’ of Ireland (see celtic ireland). It is, however, likely that these people would have spoken Celtic dialects. The Irish La Tène assemblage is rich, but rather unevenly distributed, occurring in concentrations in the north‐east, the east midlands, and the west midlands. A high proportion of the La Tène objects are harness pieces and weapons (and their fittings) confirming that this cultural group included a horse‐ and chariot‐using warrior elite.

Richard Warner