La Tène versus Jastorf Cultures, and their Role in the Boundary of the Roman Empire

24th September 2017

Post reblogged from BLOOD AND HEDONISM with 49 notes

La Tène versus Jastorf Cultures, and their Role in the Boundary of the Roman Empire

Map from “The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians”; apologies for the lack of an online version! This is the best map which shows both La Tène and Jastorf zones.
The distinction between the La Tène and Jastorf material cultures is an important tool to have in visualizing the divide between Celtic and Germanic peoples in the Iron Age, as well as how the European border of the Roman Empire landed. Uncovered elements of the La Tène zone and the Jastorf zone reflect distinctive features of either Celtic or Germanic society, respectively. Keep in mind, however, that the classification of these two are from general archaeological and historical trends, and therefore won’t be useful in understanding local differences within each zone. Frequency of trends discovered in each zone will inevitably vary (or entirely disappear) based on location. It’s also to be expected in areas of contact between the two zones, the line between La Tène and Jastorf elements will be blurrier; thus, Germanic settlements could reflect La Tène elements, and vice versa.
As a rule of thumb, there are a few important trends in both zones which give rise to the La Tène/Jastorf, Iron Age Celtic/Germanic distinction:
Settlements: the La Tène zone boasts larger villages than the Jastorf zone, dating prior to Roman occupation of the La Tène region.
Coinage: currency has been uncovered in the La Tène region, whilst the Jastorf shows a stark lack of it. It should be noted that the frequency of coin use in the La Tène zone is still low, and these Celtic coins relied on Latin for their inscription. This indicates that coins were not an invention of the La Tène Celts, but at the very least the presence of it presents a distinction from the Jastorf zones, which show no such coins in the Iron Age.
Literacy: in both regions literacy was extremely low, but in a few La Tène populations literacy among the elite is shown.
Arts: art is perhaps the greatest indicator of the La Tène versus Jastorf divide. The art uncovered in the La Tène region is markedly Celtic, with its famous intricate metalwork patterns. By comparison, artwork uncovered in Jastorf Europe is simpler.
Surplus: the presence of large, permanent settlements, coinage, literacy, and finer arts in the La Tène zone indicate an economic surplus which frees up the people from a subsistence lifestyle. The economy of the Jastorf zone during the Iron Age was therefore highly subsistence-based.
These trends were not staunchly attached to either ethnic group, but rather to the region and the time period. Looking further forward in history, we see that Germanic Europe developed similar cultural elements as the La Tène, largely in part to spreading Roman influence and the military/political success of later Germanic groups.
From the Roman point of view in the first century, the value of the La Tène versus the Jastorf zone was clear: the richer La Tène was of more worth to conquer. Attempting to cohesively control a large region which wasn’t even cohesively controlled by itself was a logistics nightmare. And it also wasn’t worth it when there was little resource surplus to extract from. Consequently, as “The Fall of the Roman Empire: a New History of Rome and the Barbarians” author Peter Heather observes, the boundary of the Roman Empire ultimately settled upon not an ethnic line but a socio-economic line: La Tène Europe (Gaul) fell to continued Roman interest, while Jastorf Europe (Germania) remained purposefully out of its borders. Romans would come to underestimate the capacity of the Germanic peoples to advance as a civilization.

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La Tène versus Jastorf Cultures, and their Role in the Boundary of the Roman Empire