Relationships: Central Europe and the Mediterranean in the Hallstat period

In Central Europe, the Hallstatt period or Early Iron Age (c. 800-450 BC) was a time of increased connectivity with the Mediterranean world. This was particularly the case with the Etruscan city-states of central Italy and the Greek colonies established in southern France. Relationships materialised in the adoption of some Mediterranean building techniques north of the Alps, such as the famous mudbrick wall of the Heuneburg, but can be seen above all in the presence of imported material such as amphorae and Greek pottery in settlements and elite graves.

The nature of these exchanges, as well as the influence of Mediterranean cultures on the developments that took place in Central Europe (i.e. emergence of some urban centres and numerous sumptuous burials) has been heavily debated for decades. In this paper, I will review the main characteristics of the period and the most influential interpretative models. While the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas should not be underestimated, I will argue that rather than seeing urbanisation processes north of the Alps as dependent on the Mediterranean, it is better to envisage two distinct zones that evolved in parallel and in close contact with one another.

Manuel Fernández-Götz is Abercromby Professor of Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, where he has also been Head of the Archaeology Department. His main research interests are Iron Age and Roman societies in Europe, the archaeology of identities, and conflict archaeology. He has authored over 200 publications and directed fieldwork projects in Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Croatia. His research has been recognised with the award of the Philip Leverhulme Prize and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Thomas Reid Medal. He is currently PI of the Leverhulme-funded project ‘Beyond Walls: Reassessing Iron Age and Roman Encounters in Northern Britain’.

A lecture presented in conjunction with the Discipline of Archaeology, School of Humanities.