ARCHÄOLOGISCHE UND HISTORISCHE HINWEISE BETREFFEND DEN ANFANG DER KELTISCHEN KOLONISATION DES INNENKARPATISCHEN RAUMES
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL REFERENCE POINTS CONCERNING THE BEGINNING OF THE CELTIC COLONIZATION OF THE INNER CARPATHIAN AREA

Summary/Abstract: The chronology of the Celtic discoveries from Transylvania has caused numerous debates over time. Some of the discussions were concerned with the dating of the earliest La Tène artifacts. The systematic investigation and publication of the necropolis from Piscolt (Satu Mare County) allowed resuming of discussions concerning the stages of development of Celtic settlements from Tisa basin and Transylvania. The funerary compounds from this necropolis belong to four chronological intervals. The earliest complex dates from LT B1/B2 (Kramer) – LT B1b-1c (Waldhauser). A number of rings and fibulae originating in funerary compounds from Transylvania and Crisana, or found accidentally, add up to the archeological materials found in the necropolis from Piscolt. These complexes prove the penetration of the first Celtic groups in areas located east of Middle Danube. The ancient literary sources suggest that the first Celtic colonization of the region occurred around 335 B.C., when an embassy of the Celts from Adriatic Sea (probably the Senones) met Alexander the Great in the region of Iron Gates. Based on the archeological materials, one can suppose that besides the Senones, other groups from the Alpine and Transdanubian regions have contributed to the Celts’ expansion. By the end of the fourth century B.C. the Inner Carpathian area was already colonized by Celtic groups. This region constituted one of the areas of recruitment for the Balkan invasion from 280-277 B.C.

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