Science
Related: About this forumTomb of 2500yr old French Celtic Prince found with many Treasures
The tomb of an Iron Age Celtic prince has been unearthed in a small French town.
The 'exceptional' grave, crammed with Greek and possibly Etruscan artefacts, was discovered in a business zone on the outskirts of Lavau in France's Champagne region.
The prince is buried with his chariot at the centre of a huge mound, 130 feet (40 metres) across, which has been dated to the 5th Century BC.
The most exciting find, he said, was a large bronze-decorated cauldron that was used to store watered-down wine. It appears to have been made by Etruscan craftsmen from an area that is today in Italy.
The cauldron has four circular handles decorated with bronze heads that depict the Greek god Acheloos.
The river deity is shown with horns, a beard, the ears of a bull and a triple mustache.
The pieces 'are evidence of the exchanges that happened between the Mediterranean and the Celts,' said Garcia.
Inrap said burial chamber is one of the largest recorded for this period.
The end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries BC were characterised by the rise of Etruscan and Greek city states like Marseilles in southern France.
Mediterranean merchants, seeking slaves, metals and other precious goods, opened trading channels with continental Celts.
The Celts gained valuable objects of Greek and Etruscan origin as a result of the trade. Many have been found in other mounds in Heuneburg and Hochdorf in Germany.
Researchers say excavation at the site will be complete at the end of this month.
more photos and maps
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2983404/Massive-tomb-Celtic-prince-unearthed-France-Exceptional-2-500-year-old-burial-chamber-reveals-stunning-treasures.html#ixzz426XZH700
Lunabell
(5,920 posts)I wonder how many other ancient treasures are hidden in this world. I can't wait until they excavate the area behind Tutankhamen's tomb. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151128-tut-tomb-scans-hidden-chambers/
Docreed2003
(16,817 posts)Can't wait to see what they find once they open the tomb!
flamingdem
(39,304 posts)Long live the crazy Celts.
cer7711
(502 posts)Tavern.
Amazing, isn't it? The entire culture gone and that word still with us...
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Which is also interesting
They gave us the word "person" and invented a symbol of iron rule later adopted by the fascists. Some even argue it was they who really moulded Roman civilisation.
Their language, which has never properly been deciphered, was unlike any other in classical Italy. Their origins have been hotly debated by scholars for centuries.
DNA studies have proven now where they came from.
snip
The latest findings confirm what was said about the matter almost 2,500 years ago, by the Greek historian Herodotus. The first traces of Etruscan civilisation in Italy date from about 1200 BC.
About seven and a half centuries later, Herodotus wrote that after the Lydians had undergone a period of severe deprivation in western Anatolia, "their king divided the people into two groups, and made them draw lots, so that the one group should remain and the other leave the country; he himself was to be the head of those who drew the lot to remain there, and his son, whose name was Tyrrhenus, of those who departed".
snip
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/18/italy.johnhooper
muriel_volestrangler
(101,159 posts)A later study, looking at ancient Etruscan burials, not modern inhabitants:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0055519
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)In 1885 a stele carrying an inscription in a pre-Greek language was found on the island of Lemnos, and dated to about the 6th century BC. Philologists agree that this has many similarities with the Etruscan language both in its form and structure and its vocabulary
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070616191637.htm
A Genome-Wide Study of Modern-Day Tuscans: Revisiting Herodotus's Theory on the Origin of the Etruscans
Published: September 17, 2014
Background
The origin of the Etruscan civilization (Etruria, Central Italy) is a long-standing subject of debate among scholars from different disciplines. The bulk of the information has been reconstructed from ancient texts and archaeological findings and, in the last few years, through the analysis of uniparental genetic markers.
Methods
By meta-analyzing genome-wide data from The 1000 Genomes Project and the literature, we were able to compare the genomic patterns (>540,000 SNPs) of present day Tuscans (N = 98) with other population groups from the main hypothetical source populations, namely, Europe and the Middle East.
Results
Admixture analysis indicates the presence of 2534% of Middle Eastern component in modern Tuscans. Different analyses have been carried out using identity-by-state (IBS) values and genetic distances point to Eastern Anatolia/Southern Caucasus as the most likely geographic origin of the main Middle Eastern genetic component observed in the genome of modern Tuscans.
Conclusions
The data indicate that the admixture event between local Tuscans and Middle Easterners could have occurred in Central Italy about 2,6003,100 years ago (y.a.). On the whole, the results validate the theory of the ancient historian Herodotus on the origin of Etruscans.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105920#pone-0105920-g001
MY Article is newer than yours thus more current.
but like I said under debate.
Bohunk68
(1,364 posts)for the Etruscans, ever since as a young teenager reading Mika Waltari's book "The Etruscan." Looking at my own words, I wonder if the word "fascination" is related to fasces. Just checked my old dictionary and indeed it could be inasmuch as one of the meanings is "captivate" and the second meaning is "to hold spellbound as by terror or awe." Thanks again, Ichingcarpenter.
lebkuchen
(10,716 posts)There's a very interesting museum there now.
http://archaeology.about.com/od/ironage/qt/Hochdorf-Germany.htm
trusty elf
(7,350 posts)That's exciting. There was another major Celtic find in that area in the 50's, south of Troyes, just down the road from where my brother lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vix_Grave
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