L'Or des CeltesDas Gold der

KeltenBy Christiane Eluere°lice du Livre. FribourgHirmer Verlag, MUnchen

1987220 pages. 125 colourand 19 black and white

photographs. 2 maps,24,5 x 315 cm

The Gold of the Celts

Christoph J. Raub

ALREADY from the cover of this remark-able book by the French archaeologist

Christiane Eluere, we suspect that somethingspecial must be hidden inside: it depicts thefamous `Pegasus' of the diadem of the `Prin-cess of Vix', riding across a field of filigreeand granulation. Could there be a better in-timation of the book's contents - a vision ofthe author sitting on 'Pegasus', discussing thehighs and lows of Celtic gold's high tech?Another glance at the cover after reading thesection on the `Princess of Vix' confirms thatthe horse must be patterned after one of thosestubby Gallic animals which in later yearshelped Gaius Julius Caesar, in command ofan army of German mercenaries, to conquerEluere's ancestors at Alesia. The symbolismcould be extended further: the reviewer'scopy was in German, his mother tongue isGerman - but he does not ride horses!

In the first chapter, `Myth and Reality',Eluere sets the scene in that masterly waywhich she uses throughout the book, both inthe text and in the choice of photographs: thejuxtaposition of myth with archeologicalevidence, and technology with aesthetics.The reviewer discovered here for the firsttime Lucretius' description of the reductionof ores with charcoal - the forest-fire theory - which today'sscience considers to be wrong, but which in Lucretius' poemsreads very nicely. Here too, we find Pliny's description of gold'selemental properties, most of them still valid today in the ageof the electron microprobe. Eluere devotes one succinct page tothe question of the impurity profiles of gold found in primaryor secondary deposits throughout Europe, without getting lostin too many detailed figures that would bore the non-technicalreader without a background in metallurgy. Very interesting,too, is the section on `The Legendary Gold of the Celts', whicheven covers such little-known artifacts as touchstones. TheFrench ones, naturally, were identified by Christiane Eluere her-self (see Gold Bull., 1986, 19(2), 58-61).

Chapter 11, 'The Goldsmiths' Art Before the Celts', beginswith a reference to the Hyperboreans, who lived 'hinter denWolkenbergen im Mdrchenland' (this is Herodotus, and not aquotation from a 1960's U.S. advertisement for the VW Beetle),touches on the Varna treasures and figurines in general, and tellsthe mystery story of the megalithic gold pearls found in thePauilhac tomb. Again, in nearly all cases, the composition of

the objects is given. What a tedious task itmust have been to collect all those data hid-den in the moguls of the internationalspecialist literature!

The chapter moves on to cover the periodof the tumuli of northern Europe, around1200-1100 BC. Here the reviewer enjoyed theremark about the modest amount of jewelleryfound in ladies' graves. Apparently the Cel-tic warriors used up all the gold for themsel-ves and left little for their ladies! The titles ofthe sections give a good idea of the topicscovered in this chapter: `Arms Made FromGold', `Gold and Religion', `The Attractionof Water', and `Gold and the Sun'. The rep-resentations of aquatic birds like ducks,swans, etc. are frequent in the decorative artof the Bronze Age, and more than 100 mini-ature gold figures of boats are known fromthis period. The big gold cones of Schif-ferstadt, Ezelsdorf and Avanton receive theirproper share of attention, as do the lunulae,arm and neck rings.

From Chapter III (`The Gold of the EarlyCeltic Tombs') onwards, even a modernmetallurgist is impressed by the synthesis ofaesthetics and consummate skill shown bythe Celtic goldsmiths during the Hallstatt,

and later La Tene, periods. This is illustrated in detailed colourphotographs that even specialists have rarely seen before.

Understandably, the Celtic neckrings, or torcs, are discussedin detail, since some of them are treasures of world significance(see Gold Bull., 1987, 20(1/2), 22-37).

A section entitled `The New Drinking Habits' is found in thisbook too - although not in Guide Michelin. In any case, thesavoir vivre of the Celts is certainly linked with the develop-ment of their arts and technology. Evidence of this is the obser-vation that many important Celtic sites are found in today'sfamous wine regions: Burgundy (Vix), Baden-Wiirttemberg(Hochdorf) and not to forget Franken (Wiirzburg-Marienfeste).A party given by a Celtic prince really must have been some-thing!

Chapter IV, `The New Celtic Aristocraty in the 5th and the4th Centuries BC', shows how the Celtic artists amalgamatedtheir own skills with influences from the surrounding cultures.In the book a wide variety of objects are presented and dis-cussed. The absolute highlight, illustrated with superb detail-photographs, is the group of Celtic decorative helmets, especial-

76 Gold Bull., 1988, 21(2)

Left, and opposite page: Bracelet and ring from Rodenbach, nearKaiserslautern, Germany (5th century BC). Historisches Museumder Pfalz, SpeyerTop left: Selection of 5th century BC earrings from the Champagneregion of France, and, above: Early Bronze Age Lunules fromnorthern France. Musee des Antiquities nationales, Saint-Ger-main-en-Laye

ly the one from Les Perrats near Agris. Just as impressive arethe treasures of the Celtic princesses of the Rhinelands, espe-cially those from Reinheim and Waldalgesheim. The latter is soimportant that its name is now applied to an entire period in Cel-tic art (Waldalgesheim style).

The last and fifth chapter, 'The Treasures from the Last Cen-turies BC', deals with the notorious treasure of Tolosa, or`Aurum Tolosanum', which, according to Strabo, originatedfrom the sacking of Delphi by the Celtic Tectosages.

This is followed by sections on Celtic coinage, in which ar-chaeological results are always interspersed with historicalreferences and technological information. One slight error hascrept into the discussion of how coin blanks were produced: itis claimed that the Celts weighed out separately the exactamount of metal needed for each coin, and produced the blanksby casting. In practice however, it is impossible to cast the exactweight (even approximately) by pouring hot melt into the coin

mould, as is stated in many archeological articles on coinproduction.

The closing chapter, 'The Gold of the Celts and the AntiqueWorld' is an impressive discussion of the influence of gold ona culture and a society. Many of the deductions arrived in it arecertainly not limited to Celtic culture but are valid for mostcivilisations.

This beautiful book is not only a scholarly reference work onthe history and technology of Celtic gold for the archeologist,the historian, the archaeometrist or the metallurgist, but it is alsoentertaining and fascinating reading for anyone interested in thecivilizations of antiquity. Furthermore, it contains a wealth ofideas for the practical jeweller, the craftsman and/or the artist.

Unfortunately the book is only available in French or Ger-man, but it is hoped that an English edition will be publishedsoon.

Gold Bull., 1988, 21(2) 77