- The Social Implications of Celtic Art -
leaves (Moscati et al. 1991: 225f.) indicates a person of high position among the Boii,
but not necessarily the ruler. The flat conical hat of birch-bark in the Hochdorf
princely tomb (a southerly influence) has been seen as a mark of highest rank (d.
also the Hirschlanden warrior statue). We should note that the 'end-of-dynasty'
concept may be occasionally invoked to explain material in rich burials which might
otherwise be taken as regalia of succession (as for Vix; Griffith 1988: 8f., 20).
There was clearly a whole lesser sub-ranking within the nobility (e.g. Figure 21.4).
Some information concerning hierarchy may perhaps be derived from study of the
secondary burials in the 'princely' burial mounds (Frankenstein and Rowlands 1978:
90-1; Bittel et at. 1981: 90).
SOCIAL STANDING: THE HALLSTATT
CEMETERY EVIDENCEThis ostentation of the sixth and fifth centuries BC could only have existed if it
was backed by well-organized productive communities through much of the Celtic
world. Hodson's (1990) study of the great Hallstatt cemetery (Kromer 1959) of
over 2,500 graves (902 informatively analysed for ranking therein) reveals some-
thing of the infrastructure of one such community, one primarily concerned with
trading its product, salt, distantly across much of temperate Europe, as seen
through its burial conventions. In this, the artwork for both female and male dress
adornment, as well as the male weaponry, and the luxury ceremonial items, though
not all that gracious, is the major evidence. Figures 2 I .4a and b show the accepted
ranking of female and male burial attire among this specialized community. It
ranges from almost no metal accessories to ornate weapons and luxury items such
as specialized tools, feasting gear, and metal vessels (many imported from the
south) in the top-status graves. The elite tended to be buried in a secluded part
of the cemetery (Hodson 1990: 98). There seems a dearth of leading males in the
later phase (H2), and no obvious leader among them, which has suggested a rising
female dominance (Hodson 1990: 99), but it must be remembered that more males
would tend to me"et their end on distant journeys. A composite diagram can be
conceived to fill the missing highest ranking male for H2 (e.g. Sm4 (H2); Hodson
1990: 83, fig. 29). This would stress the emergence of the snake brooch
(Schlangenfibel) a design perhaps of southerly inspiration (Mansfeld 1973: 4,
154-82) seen in e.g. G1 16, G749, G207, and some twenty other graves at Hallstatt.
This snake brooch is a main brooch type at the Heuneburg fortress in the later
sixth to early fifth century (Mansfeld 1973: 160-81) and in the very rich burials
of Hochdorf (Moscati et at. 1991: IIO). These brooches of the earlier fifth century
were a herald of the softly curving shapes (Megaw 1971: pI. I, 2) which were to
become so essential in the ensuing Celtic art from the mid-fifth century BC
onwards, the age of the chariot burials, when artwork became more flowing
(Megaw 1971: pI. I, 2, 6).
In the Hallstatt cemetery many juveniles were buried with their symbols of family
rank, which suggests that in the eyes of the community they carried their status as a
family inheritance, and that status was lineage-related (Hodson 1990: 89-90). This