- Chapter Thirty-One -
Figure p.1 Distribution of imported Etruscan beaked flagons in early La Tene period.
(From John Collis, The European Iron Age, London: Batsford, 1984.)
that have come to be regarded as typically 'Celtic'. Nowhere, however, do we find
an abrupt break with earlier styles, and continuity from Hallstatt D into La Time I
can be demonstrated no less in central Europe than in the Hunsriick-Eifel region. By
the end of the fifth century, the La nne culture (La Tene Ib) extends throughout the
upper Danube region and across the Alps into the Po valley. This was not achieved
by conquest, and there are no major population shifts, although one factor in the
spread of the new art style, particularly in styles of horse gear and weapons, must
have been the widespread predatory activities of Celtic warrior bands, which broke
the power of the Etruscans and in 390, traditionally, or 387, actually reached and
sacked Rome itselF
The absence of any break in the material culture of the Hunsriick-Eifel and
adjacent regions must be stressed, since it is important for our understanding of
the ethnicity of the region in later times. The Mosel valley was the stronghold of the
Treveri, prominent in Caesar's narrative of his conquest of Gaul, and in the later
history of the empire. In 279 Be, other Celtic warrior bands attacked the shrine of