Earlier this year the Canon of Flanders was presented: 60 events, dates, people, traditions, books, objects and works of art that define today's Flanders. Today we look at the Celtic origins of our region.
From a fortified camp on the Mount Kemmel, Celtic nobles dominated the surrounding region some 2,500 years ago. The highest point in the region, the Kemmelberg in present-day West Flanders offered a good overview and became the ideal base from which to build an extensive trading network.
An extensive defence system with moats, earthen walls and wooden posts turned the place into an imposing hill fortress. Thanks to the steep flanks, the wooden houses at the top were easy to defend. From the hill, the local elite controlled trade routes. Wealth and power were possibly generated by trading in salt and iron ore. Salt was then a luxury product brought inland from the North Sea. Local potters made red-painted pottery with a very distinctive design and decoration. Their wares can be found up to a hundred kilometres away. Imports and imitations of objects from the Mediterranean show that the settlement was also part of a wide network of trade contacts.
Celtic centralisation of power
The Romans portrayed the Celts as warlike barbarians. The Celts left no written sources of their own, so that image persisted until the early 20th century. Meanwhile, thanks to archaeological research, we know that Celtic society was more complexly organised than Roman writers gave it credit. For a long time, it was assumed that the first cities in north-western Europe came into existence in the 1st century before the common era through contact with Roman culture. But already in the first millennium before the beginning of the common era, the Celts built settlements with urban allure, ruling over the surrounding area as centres of power.
Celtic culture spread from their original home in the valley of the Danube across large parts of Europe some 2,500 years ago. This was the result of increasing contacts between regions, which made cultural exchange happen faster and on a larger scale. Characteristic of Celtic culture were fortified settlements on higher ground like Mount Kemmel. The Celts built fortifications protected by walls made of wickerwork, clay or loam, stone and wood. These hill forts dominated the surroundings. Some settlements, such as the Heuneburg in Germany or those on the Mont Lassois in France, numbered up to five thousand inhabitants and had an elaborate street plan with neighbourhoods, squares and sometimes monumental houses. The settlement on the Kemmelberg was smaller. In the wide surroundings of their settlements, the Celtic inhabitants laid out fields and pastures. They controlled the main trade routes and thus acquired wealth and power.
Exchange between the regions
Even in the first millennium before the beginning of the common era, goods could be transported and traded over long distances. Besides salt, to preserve food, and metal, for durable utensils, luxury goods such as gold, wine or woven fabrics also made long journeys. As Celtic culture spread further across Europe, the trade network also expanded. It extended from the Mediterranean to Britain.
The journey usually took place in stages. Through an extensive network of intermediate stations, traders exchanged goods. The Celts practised barter. Celtic coins were only used to pay ransoms, as offerings or during ceremonies.
Apart from goods, traders also exchanged technological insights, religious beliefs and cultural practices. Thus, some acquired great wealth and knowledge, which set them apart from the rest of the population. They liked to show their privileged position through precious jewellery and richly decorated utensils, but also by serving imported wines at feasts. In Celtic settlements such as those on Mount Kemmel, archaeologists found gold-plated drinking horns and Greek and Etruscan-inspired luxury pottery for mixing and serving wine. This shows that the Celts not only imported products from the Mediterranean, but also adopted customs from southern European culture.
Technology in the Iron Age
Along with Celtic culture, knowledge about iron production also spread in Europe. In some places iron ore was present in the soil. This in contrast to copper and tin, the raw materials for bronze, which until then had been the material for metal working. As a result, trade patterns profoundly changed.
Both the mining of iron ore and its processing into metal objects required skill and technical knowledge. Unlike bronze, iron was not cast but forged. This, and its nature, made it sturdier and allowed for more complex shapes. Blacksmiths specialised in producing iron weapons, tools and utensils. Their designs were particularly refined, with winding shapes and geometric patterns.
From then on, bronze was mainly used to create objects of art and jewellery, or to decorate iron utensils. On the Kemmelberg, for example, archaeologists found an artfully decorated part of a chariot, the axle of a chariot that holds the wheel in place. The axle was made of iron and finished with a typical Celtic moon motif cast in bronze.