Geto-Dacians and the Celts in Transylvania and S.

Danube

http://romanianhistoryandculture.webs.com/getodaciansandthecelts.htm

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/Power2the1/69676.jpg http://www.unc.edu/celtic/images/216662.html

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7S-0oWrx8aQ/R3DQXBgEaI/AAAAAAAAAFs/CY5zJX0JH7E/s1600/ciumesti-wxl7o.jpg

Helmet Chieftain's Tomb Ciumesti, Romania 3rd century B. C. Iron and Bronze 25cm h. Bucharest, Muzeul National de Istorie One of the most interesting pieces in Celtic art is this helmet that is mounted, like a perch by a bird of prey whose wings actually flap when met by wind. The cap of the helmet is made of iron and was roughly caste, which gives it a very interesting appearance in the presence of light. There are several raised circular areas around the helmet in the middle and along the rim that are almost spiral. A small rear flap adorns the back third of the helmet. The body of the helmet comes together to a point that is attached to a small round perch that the bronze bird of prey clutches to. The legs are smooth, and gradually widen into the belly. The entire body of the bird is pressed into a design that resembles a turtle shell. On each side are hinges that attach the wings, which are long smooth pieces of bronze with blue enameled tips. The tail is also composed of similar bronze sheets. The head is a small round shape and is characterized by walnut-shaped, red enamel eyes and a blue enameled beak that resembles a two piece crystal. This helmet was found in what is believed to be the funerary tomb of a Celtic chieftain. Though it was found in a funerary context, helmets such as this one were actually used in combat. On their heads they wear bronze helmets which possess projecting figures lending the appearance of enormous stature to the wearer. In some cases, horns form one piece with the helmet while in other cases it is the relief figures or the foreparts of birds or quadrupeds. -Diodorus Siculus

Bompiani, pp. 382, 383 Green, pp. 101, 102 http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/cultural-history-of-ireland/celtic-artwaldalgesheim-style.htm

Celtic helmet from Silivas, 4th century BC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_T%C3%A8ne_culture

The Celts were a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium BC to the 1st century BC spread over much of Europe. Their tribes and groups eventually ranged from the British Isles and northern Spain to as far east as Transylvania, the Black Sea coasts, and Galatia in Anatolia and were in part absorbed into the Roman Empire as Britons, Gauls, Boii, Galatians, and Celtiberians. In Asia Minor they founded the kingdom of Galatia. St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians in the New Testament is addressed to the descendants of these Celts. In Britain, Celtic warriors overran and conquered the islands. Linguistically they survive in the modern Celtic speakers of Ireland, Highland Scotland, the

Isle of Man, Wales, and Brittany.

http://mattyusha.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/razboinic.jpg?w=5 14&h=325 http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?122736-PreviewThe-Getai&p=2053221708&viewfull=1

Sinaia Lead Plaque with Dacian wearing a Celtic type helmet with the bird in the closed

position. Sinaia, plaque 61 at dr@cones

Towards East, a movement of Celts population so powerful as those who invested North Italy, starts in Vth BC, for control of Amber Road. Decisive expedition takes place in IVth century, on the same principle of the sacred spring. Coming from Black Forest and following up Danube's banks, especially the left, they are stopped by an Illyrian tribe : Antariates. These wars last fifty years and Celts, having conquered them, towards - 310, settle on their place.

Macedonian empire stands in their way and Celts go back up towards Transylvania. The Dacians developed fortresses with embankments and stone walls in the 3rd B.C. as defense against the Celts.

Dacian King Rubobostes, ended the Celtic domination in Transylvania.

They serve as mercenaries for Denys of Syracuse or Philippe II of Macedonia and, towards - 335, they meet Alexander the Great who concludes a friendship's treaty with them.

Celts melt the "principality" of Scordisques and Singidunum which will become Belgrade. At the beginning of 3rd century, Celts throw an offensive towards the Macedonia which knows difficulties then.

A first try of penetration in Thrace is a failure in - 298. Big offensive against the Macedonia starts - there 280.

Muzen der Kelten- Dacian and Celtic Imitations of Republican Denarii Dacia and Thrace See also: List of ancient tribes in Thrace and Dacia

Tribes in Thrace before the Roman period. This list includes tribes parts of which migrated to Dacia and Thrace. Serdi [2] [3] Scordisci [4] Gauls of Tylis [5] Bastarnae,[6] [7] Celtic or Germanic, and according to Livy "the bravest nation on earth" Teuriscii, Celts assimilated by Dacians[8] Anartoi, Celts assimilated by Dacians[8] Boii [9] Eravisci [9]

Strabo,Geography(7.5.2),"A part of this country was laid waste by the Dacians when they subdued the Boii and Taurisci, Celtic tribes under the rule of Critasirus" Celts and the Classical World by David Rankin,ISBN 0-415-15090-6,1996,page 189: "... and destroyed it. According to Polybius, the last of the kings of Tylis, Cavarus, was a man of magnanimity and regal character (8.24). ..." The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe,ISBN 0-14-025422-6,2000,page 86: "... distinguished suggests that one of the returning groups, led by Bathanatos, finally settled in the Middle Danube region at the confluence ..." The Celts - a History, by Daithi O HOgain,ISBN 1-905172-20-6,2006,page 60,"... those who, on their return from Greece under their leader Bathanatos, had settled at the confluence of the Danube and the ..."

http://miltiade.pagesperso-orange.fr/GB/celtic_civilization.html

Paulina Poleska:Celtic Pottery Workshop in the Settlement of Krakw-Pleszw (Site 20)

Elements of the Dacian pottery, i.e. some characteristic shapes and decoration appeared in the 1st century BC within almost the whole zone of the Carpathian Basin. The relevant literature claims that the Pchov culture was the indirect link enabling the import of such designs and decoration by the Tyniec group (Woniak 1990, 56, 76; Madyda-Legutko 1996, 65). This process may have been initiated by Celtic centres (Celtic and Dacian) from the area of the central section of the River Danube, directly, and most likely through the Zemplin centre in eastern Slovakia, and this phenomenon occurred also when new ceramic production centres were set up (Toik 1959; Pieta 1982, 103n.; Woniak 1990, 79). Another solid argument to support this thesis is the assemblage of Kra kwPleszw 20, where beside a series of wheel-made painted pottery which is probably production waste from a local workshop, an unusually abundant collection of pottery of the Dacian type and pieces of an early terra sigillata vessel have been found. It is thus no coincidence that other finds of early pottery imported from the South come from Devin from the youngest layers of the oppidum in Bratislava and Budapest.

This book chronicles the Celtic expansion throughout Europe beginning in the fourth century BCE; their creation of magnificent objects of bronze and gold; and what can be learned of them from the accounts by Roman historians and from archeological findings. Chapters: Birth of a Warrior Aristocracy, First Celtic Princes, All-Conquering Celts, Celts Against the Might of Rome, Realms of Religion, and Celtic Memories.

The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture (ca. 800-450 BC), named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria.[2] By the later La Tne period (ca. 450 BC up to the Roman conquest), this Celtic culture had expanded over a wide range of regions, whether by diffusion or migration: to the British Isles (Insular Celts), theIberian Peninsula (Celtiberians, Celtici ), much of Central Europe, (Gauls) and following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC as far east as centralAnatolia (Galatians).[3]

Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples:

core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC maximal Celtic expansion, by 275 BC Lusitanian area of Iberia where Celtic presence is uncertain the "six Celtic nations" which retained significant numbers of Celtic speakers into theEarly Modern period areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today

The Hallstatt culture was succeeded by the La Tne culture of central Europe, and during the final stages of the Iron Age gradually transformed into the explicitly Celtic culture of early historical times. Celtic river-names are found in great numbers around the upper reaches of the Danube and Rhine, which led many Celtic scholars to place the ethnogenesis of the Celts in this area. Eastward expansion Main article: Gallic invasion of the Balkans Celtic tribes in S.E.E c. 1st century BC (in blue) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Celts.png The Celts also expanded down the Danube river and its tributaries. One of the most influential tribes, the Scordisci, had established their capital at Singidunum in 3rd century BC, which is presentday Belgrade, Serbia. The concentration of hill-forts and cemeteries shows a density of population in the Tisza valley of modern-day Vojvodina, Serbia, Hungary and into Ukraine. Expansion into Romania was however blocked by the Dacians. Further south, Celts settled in Thrace (Bulgaria), which they ruled for over a century, and Anatolia, where they settled as the Galatians (see also: Gallic Invasion of Greece). Despite their geographical isolation from the rest of the Celtic world, the Galatians maintained their Celtic language for at least seven hundred years. St Jerome, who visited Ancyra (modern-day Ankara) in 373 AD, likened their language to that of the Treveri of northern Gaul. The Boii tribe gave their name to Bohemia and Bologna, and Celtic artefacts and cemeteries have been discovered further east in what is now Poland and Slovakia. A celtic coin (Biatec) from Bratislava's mint is displayed on today's Slovak 5 crown coin. As there is no archaeological evidence for large scale invasions in some of the other areas, one current school of thought holds that Celtic language and culture spread to those areas by contact rather than invasion[citation needed]. However, the Celtic invasions of Italy and the expedition in Greece and western Anatolia, are well documented in Greek and Latin history. There are records of Celtic mercenaries in Egypt serving the Ptolemies. Thousands were employed in 283-246 BC and they were also in service around 186 BC. They attempted to overthrow Ptolemy II. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts At the beginning of the 2nd century BC, under the rule of Rubobostes, a Dacian king in presentday Transylvania, the Dacians' power in the Carpathian basinincreased by defeating the Celts who previously held the power in the region. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia

Gundestrup cauldron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron

The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly-decorated silver vessel, thought to date to the 1st century BC, placing it into the late La Tne period.[1] It was found in 1891 in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup, in the Aars parish in Himmerland,Denmark ( 5649N 933E / 56.817N 9.55E). It is now housed at theNational Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. The Gundestrup cauldron is the largest known example of European Iron Age silver work (diameter 69 cm, height 42 cm). The style and workmanship suggest Thracianorigin, while the imagery seems Celtic. This has opened room for conflicting theories of Thracian vs. Gaulish origin of the cauldron. Taylor (1991) has suggested Thracian origin with influence by Indian iconography. Origins For many years scholars have interpreted the cauldron's images in terms of the Celtic pantheon. The antlered figure in plate A has been commonly identified asCernunnos, and the figure holding the broken wheel in plate C is more tentatively thought to be Taranis. There is no consensus regarding other figures. The elephants depicted on plate B have been explained by some Celticists as a reference to Hannibal's crossing of the Alps.[2] The silverworking techniques used in the cauldron are unknown from the Celtic world, but are consistent with the renowned Thracian sheet-silver tradition; the scenes depicted are not distinctively Thracian, but certain elements of composition, decorative motifs and illustrated items (such as the shoelaces on the "Cernunnos" figure) identify it as Thracian work.[3]

The silver in the cauldron cannot be tracked to an individual mine by lead isotope analysis, since the melted coins such artifacts are normally made of can originate in many mines. The variety of coin used has, however, been determined with some certainty, by careful analysis of weights: a total weight of 9445 grams was reconstructed for the entire cauldron, and 4255 grams for the bowl alone, and these were found to be nearly precise integer multiples of the weight of the Persiansiglos, a coin weighing 5.67 grams. By this calculation 1,666 coins were used in total, 750 of them in the bowl. This supports an origin in Thrace, where Persian weights were in common use. The phalera base plate, added to the cauldron at a later date, also originated in Thrace.[2] Interpretation The Gundestrup cauldron is the largest known example of European Iron Age silver work. Despite the absence of any known tradition of sheet silver repouss in Celtic Gaul or north-western Europe, the decorations on the walls of the cauldron have been widely identified with Celtic deities and rituals. The appearance of torques around the necks of some of the figures on the cauldron also suggest a connection with Celtic culture. Because of these, and because of the size of the vessel (diameter 69 cm, height 42 cm), it is said to have been used for initiatory or sacrificial [citation needed] purposes in Celtic polytheism. Bergquist and Taylor propose manufacture by a Thracian craftsman, possibly commissioned by the Celtic Scordisci and fallen into the hands of the Cimbri who invaded the Middle lower Danube in 120 BC. Olmsted interprets the iconography as a prototype of the Irish myth of the Tin B Cuailnge, associating the horned figure with C Chulainn rather than with Cernunnos. Timothy Taylor theorises that Thracian silverworkers were an itinerant class (who he compares to present-day Rromani people) who were valued for magical and ritual services as well as for their metalworking (itself an important ritual occupation), and who, though living in southeastern Europe, would not have considered themselves Thracian. He suggests they may have been a feminised caste of men fulfilling functions of priesthood and seership, like the Enarees of Scythia and similar groups attested across Eurasia in the Iron Age. The figure on the cauldron typically identified with Cernunnos is unbearded, in contrast with all the other male figures, and the similar Mohenjo-Daro figure, though having male genitalia, is dressed in female clothes, his posture resembling a yogic posture for channeling sexual energy still used by a caste of Indian sorcerers.[5] Taylor speculates that the "Cernunnos" figure, of ambiguous gender, may have been a deity of particular importance to the Thracian silverworking caste, part of a magical tradition common across Eurasia and still surviving in tantric yoga and Siberian shamanism.[2]

La Dacie l'poque celtique by Prvan, Vasil Read it at:

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/crai_00650536_1926_num_70_2_86873 http://prehistoire.e-monsite.com/rubrique,epoca-la-tene-i,1102173.html

The Dacian Stones Speak, By Paul Lachlan MacKendrick

http://books.google.com/books?id=Lwt5Li_q2asC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=6

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/dragons/esp_sociopol_dragoncourt02_01.htm

The Society of the Living the Community of the Dead

(from Neolithic to the Christian Era)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Road An important raw material, amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, theBlack Sea, and Egypt thousands of years ago, and long after. In Roman times, a main route ran south from the Baltic coast in Prussia through the land of the Boii (modern Czech Republic and Slovakia) to the head of theAdriatic Sea. The Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun had Baltic amber among his burial goods,[citation needed] and amber was sent from

the North Sea to the temple of Apollo at Delphi as an offering. From the Black Sea, trade could continue to Asia along the Silk Road, another ancient trade route.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts

Conflictele Geto-Dacilor cu Celii

Conflictele Geto-Dacilor cu Celii http://www.universulromanesc.com/ginta/showthread.php?t=13

Cea mai ampl invazie petrecut n spaiul carpato-danubiano-pontic n secolele III-II .e.n. a fost fr ndoial aceea a triburilor celtice. Din inuturile lor iniiale de locuire - cursurile superioare ale Rinului i Dunrii - acestea s-au extins n toate direciile ncepnd din secolul al VI-lea .e.n. i pn la nceputul secolului al III-lea .e.n., cnd expansiunea lor a atins punctul culminant.

Triburile i uniunile de triburi celtice au reuit s invadeze un teritoriu imens, din insulele britanice pn n Asia Mic.

Ptrunderea celilor n spaiul carpato-danubiano-pontic a avut loc pe mai multe direcii, simultan sau consecutiv i cu intensiti diferite. Astfel, grupuri importante venite dinspre centrul Europei au invadat n cea de-a doua jumtate a secolului al IV-lea .e.n. zonele de cmpie dintre Tisa i Carpatii Apuseni, scurgndu-se apoi prin vile Mureului i Someului n spaiul intracarpatic, unde au ocupat terenuri mai fertile.

Este posibil ca celtii ptruni aici s fi aparinut puternicului grup tribal al anarilor, aa cum rezult din unele texte antice mai trzii. Alte grupuri au naintat dinspre sud, din Peninsula Balcanic.

n momentul invaziei lor pe teritoriile geto-dace amintite mai sus celii se aflau la apogeul democraiei militare. Buni agricultori, cresctori de vite i meteugari - cultura La Tene celtic a influenat, n unele cazuri puternic, zone ntinse pe continentul european -, ei erau, totodat, exceleni lupttori. Armamentul lor, fcut ndeobte din fier, era foarte variat i caracteristic acestei populaii rzboinice. n prima faz invaziile celilor aveau un caracter extrem de distrugtor. Dei adeseori erau inferiori din punct de vedere numeric populaiilor btinae, ei reueau s le nfrng prin atacuri fulgertoare, soldate cu masacre, jafuri i devastri ce aveau i un puternic impact psihologic asupra adversarilor poteniali.

"Ei - scrie Trogus Pompeius referitor la celi, pe care i numete ns galii - sunt un neam de oameni aspri, ndrznei i rzboinici, care au trecut peste culmile neptrunse ale Alpilor i prin locuri inaccesibile din pricina frigului [... ] nsui numele de galii inspira atta groaz nct chiar regii care nu erau atacai de ei le cumprau pacea, din proprie iniiativ, cu un pre foarte mare" (Trogus Pompeius, XXIV, 4, 4-7).

Dar, ntr-o faz ulterioar, atunci cnd se fixau mai ndelung pe anumite teritorii, celii ncepeau s dezvolte relaii mai panice cu autohtonii, crora le impuneau plata unui tribut i, firete, alte obligaii de ordin economic i politic.

O desfurare asemntoare au avut invaziile celilor i n teritoriile geto-dace. Violena ptrunderii lor este atestat arheologic, pe de o parte, de distrugerea aezrilor n care populaia local li s -a opus, iar pe de alt parte, de mormintele de lupttori celi descoperite pn acum, ceea ce demonstreaz c

relaiile cu geto-dacii nu au avut n nici un caz un caracter panic. Mai frecvent n inventarul mormintelor apar vrfurile de lance, sbiile i cuitele de lupt, nu lipsesc, ns, nici coifurile, zalele, cnemidele, zbalele, carele de lupt, pumnalele etc..

Din luptele purtate de geto-daci mpotriva celilor se cunosc cteva detalii despre una singur, pe care o amintete lapidar Trogus Pompeius: "Brennus, conductorul galiilor, plecase n Grecia, iar cei pe care i lsase s apere hotarele neamului lor, ca s nu par c numai ei stau degeaba, au narmat cincisprezece mii de pedestrai i trei mii de clrei, au pus pe fug trupele geilor i ale triballilor i, ameninnd Macedonia, au trimis soli la rege [Antigonos Gonatas], ca s-i ofere pacea pe bani i totodat s spioneze tabra regelui" (Trogus Pompeius, XXV, 1, 2-3).

Rezistena geto-dacilor trebuie s fi avut ns un caracter general, desfurndu-se n toate zonele de penetraie celtic i avnd ca principal rezultat limitarea ariei de ntindere a dominaiei acestora.

Astfel, n zona sud-vestic asupra creia celii au exercitat o dubl presiune, dinspre nord, de pe culoarul Mureului, i dinspre sud-vest, uniunile de triburi geto-dace s-au dovedit suficient de puternice pentru a-i apra vatra de locuire; o enclav celtic de durat se constat arheologic doar la Aradul Nou i n ctevapuncte izolate de ptrundere a scordiscilor.

Destul de slab a fost prezena celilor i pe teritoriul de la vest de Olt, unde o parte din vestigiile acestei populaii sunt datorate, cu certitudine, nu unei locuiri efective, ci schimburilor economice ntreinute ulterior.

Chiar n interiorul arcului carpatic, unde ocul invaziei s-a resimit mai violent, dominaia celilor nu sa putut institui efectiv dect n zone de podi i cmpie, precum i ntr-o singur depresiune, cea bistriean. Restul teritonului intracarpatic, cuprinznd regiunile muntoase i deluroase n ntregime, pri din podi i cmpie, depresiunile (cu excepia amintit), a fost meninut ferm de btinai; triburile i uniunile de triburi geto-dace i-au pstrat aici fortificaiile din perioada anterioar i au construit noi i puternice ceti ctre linia de contact cu zonele ocupate de celi.

Mai trziu, cnd ntre geto-daci i celi s-au dezvoltat relaii de schimb, conflictele pierzndu-i din intensitate, n anumite cazuri s-a ajuns chiar la nelegeri militare temporare spre a face fa unor adversari comuni mai puternici. Astfel s-au petrecut, la un moment dat, lucrurile spre zonele illyre, unde geto-dacii s-au angajat alturi de scordisci n aciuni militare mpotriva romanilor.

Se cunoate n acest sens, din relatarea lui Frontinus, un eveniment interesant din ultimul deceniu al secolului al II-lea .e.n., cnd scordiscii aliai cu dacii au nfruntat trupele comandate de consulul Minucius Rufus, n anul 109 .e.n. : "Fiind strmtorat de ctre scordisci i daci, care erau mai muli la numr, generalul Minucius Rufus l-a trimis nainte pe fratele su, i n acelai timp civa clrei cu trmbiai, i i-a poruncit ca, n clipa cnd va vedea angajat lupta, s apar pe neateptate din direcia opus i s ordone ca trmbiaii s sune din trmbie. Deoarece rsunau culmile munilor, s -a

rspndit ntre dumani impresia c au de-a face cu o mulime imens: ngrozii de aceasta, au luat-o la fug" (Frontinus, Stratagemata, II, 4, 3).

Pe msur ce au acumulat fore, triburile i uniunile de triburi geto-dace din zonele nconjurtoare spaiului supus autoritii celilor au nceput s exercite asupra acestora presiuni tot mai puternice n scopul eliberrii teritoriilor care le aparinuser. Spre sfritul secolului al II-lea .e.n. se constat c enclavele celtice dispuse n teritoriul de locuire geto-dac intracarpatic au disprut - fie lichidate prin violen, fie asimilate de populaia autohton, n schimb, dominaia celt s-a prelungit n zonele dace mai ndeprtate de la vest i nord-vest, precum i la sud de Dunre, de unde triburile boiilor, tauriscilor, scordiscilor, etc., efectuau dese incursiuni i n alte inuturi.

Lichidarea primejdiei pe care o reprezentau acestea a devenit posibil n prima jumtate a secolului I .e.n., cnd unificarea politic a geto-dacilor sub conducerea regelui Burebista a asigurat concentrarea unui potenial militar superior celui deinut de adversari.

Preluat din : http://www.dracones.ro Prezenta militara Geto-Daca in Dobrogea http://www.universulromanesc.com/ginta/showthread.php?t=14