- Chapter Twelve -
proliferation of new iron tools made that change possible (Meduna 1980: 154).
The iron ploughshare, coulter, and scythe first came into regular use, and they made
possible faster ploughing, opening of heavier, more fertile soils, and more efficient
harvesting of grasses for fodder. The rotary quern increased the efficiency of grinding
grain several hundred per cent, according to modern experiments (Waldhauser
1981 ).
Recent discovery of evidence for manufacturing, often on a substantial scale,
at smaller, unenclosed settlements necessitates a rethinking of the organization of
industry at the end of the Iron Age. At a growing number of excavated small settle-
ments such as Aulnat (Collis 1980) and Levroux (Audouze and Buchsenschutz 1989:
306-7) in south-western France, and Berching-Pollanten in northern Bavaria
(Fischer, Rieckhoff-Pauli and Spindler 1984), ironworking, bronze-casting, and coin-
minting were carried out. Msec in Bohemia was a specialized iron-smelting site
(Pleiner and Prine 1984). At Strachotin in Moravia (Cizmar 1987), iron-working and
textile production are apparent, and pottery appears to have been manufactured on
a large scale, suggestive of specialized production for export. In Britain, the small
settlement of Gussage All Saints (Wainwright 1979) yielded abundant evidence for
the casting of bronze harness ornaments, almost certainly for use by persons who did
not live in the community. It is apparent now that the oppida, while clearly
focal points for intensive and specialized production for surrounding landscapes, did
not maintain monopolies on such production. Considerably more excavation, on
both oppidum and smaller settlements, as well as more detailed comparison of
the products of different communities, is needed, before we can develop a better
understanding of the organization of industry in this period.
It is significant that in this final stage of the Celtic Iron Age, metal tools appeared
in graves (Kramer 1985: 34). At St Georgen in Lower Austria (Taus 1963), a set of
smith's tools, including tongs, a hammer and shears, accompanied a burial. (The
find at Celles in south-western France, long considered contents of a smith's grave
outfitted with a large quantity of iron tools, has been reinterpreted recently as a
possible settlement find [Guillaumet 1983]). The burial of tools with deceased
workers may be symbolic of the increased specialization of such crafts as iron
production, pottery manufacture and jewellery-making in the final two centuries
before Christ.
The large-scale, specialized industrial activity at the major settlements of the Late
Iron Age was targeted, at least in large part, at export trade (Bujna 1982: 421).
Distributions of such products of Celtic workshops as painted pottery, graphite-
clay ceramics, glass bracelets, bronze cauldrons and iron swords, in lands beyond the
Celtic territories, illustrates the important connection between industry and trade at
the end of the Iron Age.
REFERENCESArcelin, P. (1981) 'Les ceramiques de type celtique en Provence', Revue Archeologique de l'Est
et du Centre-Est 32: 33-66.
Audouze, F. and Buchsenschutz, O. (1989) Villes, villages et campagne de l'Europe celtique,
Paris.226