Abstract
The prevailing climate of west-central Europe since the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age (-10,000 b.p.) can be described as temperate, but there are significant differences in climate along the north-south and east-west axes. There are more than 3,500 km separating the northern and southern zones of Europe; the western coastline is influenced by the Atlantic, and the eastern zone is affected by proximity to the vast land mass of Asia. West-central Europe can therefore be described as a mosaic of climate zones that have remained distinct in spite of major climatic shifts since the end of the Pleistocene. Three major zones can be defined for the region: a marine climate zone for the western coastal region characterized by cool summers, mild winters, and significant amounts of precipitation; a Mediterranean climate zone in the south with hot, very dry summers, mild winters, and relatively sparse rainfall occurring mostly in the winter months; and a humid continental climate zone for most of central Europe with precipitation levels and summers similar to the western coast but with much colder winters.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Suggested Readings
Arnold, Bettina, and D. Blair Gibson, eds. (1995). Celtic Chiefdom, Celtic State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Champion, Timothy C., and J. Vincent Megaw, eds. (1985). Settlement and Society: Aspects of West European Prehistory in the First Millennium B.C. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Collis, John (1984). The European Iron Age. London: Batsford.
Cunliffe, Barry (1994). The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gibson, D., Blair, and Michael N. Geselowitz, eds. (1988). Tribe and Polity in Late Prehistoric Europe'. Demography, Production and Exchange in the Evolution of Complex Social Systems. New York: Plenum.
Green, Miranda, ed. (1995). The Celtic World. London and New York: Routledge.
Moscati, Sabatino, Otto Hermann Frey, Venceslas Kruta, Barry Raftery, and Miklós Szabó, eds. (1991). The Celts. Milan:Bompiani.
Bompiani. Wells, Peter S. (1980). Culture Contact and Culture Change: Early Iron Age Central Europe and the Mediterranean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
References
Angeli, Wolfgang (1970). „Zur Deutung der Funde aus der Bycí skála-Höhle.“ In Krieger und Salzherren: Hallstattkultur im Ostalpenraum, ed. Naturhistorisches Museum Wien. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 139-150. Collis 1984
Reitinger, Josef (1981). “Die Hallstattkultur Mitteleuropas.” In Die Hallstattkultur: Symposium Steyr 1980, ed. C. Eibner and A. Eibner. Linz: Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag Linz, 7-34.
Alt, Kurt, Martin Munz, and Walter Vach (1995). “Hallstattzeitliche Grabhügel im Spiegel ihrer Biologischen und Sozialen Stukturen am Beispiel des Hügelgräberfeldes von Dattingen, Kr. Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald.” Germania 73, 2: 281-316.
Arnold, Bettina (1988). “Slavery in Late Prehistoric Europe: Recovering the Evidence for Social Structure in Iron Age Society.” In Tribe and Polity in Late Prehistoric Europe: Demography, Production, and Exchange in the Evolution of Complex Social Systems, ed. D. B. Gibson and M. N. Geselowitz. New York and London: Plenum, 179-192.
Arnold, Bettina (1991). “The Material Culture of Social Structure: Rank and Status in Early Iron Age Europe.” Ph.D. diss., (University Microfilms International).
Arnold, Bettina, and D. Blair Gibson (1995). “Introduction: Beyond the Mists: Forging an Ethnological Approach to Celtic Studies.” In Celtic Chiefdom, Celtic State, ed. B. Arnold and D. B. Gibson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-10.
Arnold, Bettina (1996). “‘Honorary Males' or Women of Substance? Gender, Status and Power in Iron Age Europe.” Journal of European Prehistory 3, 2: 153-168.
Arnold, Bettina (1999). “‘Drinking the Feast’: Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal9, 1: 71-93.
Champion, Timothy, Clive Gamble, Stephen Shennan, and Alasdair Whittle (1984). Prehistoric Europe. New York and London: Academic Press.
Dietler, Michael (1989). “Greeks, Etruscans and Thirsty Barbarians: Early Iron Age Interaction in the Rhone Basin of France.” In Centre and Periphery: Comparative Studies in Archaeology, ed. T. Champion London. Unwin Hyman, 127-141.
Dietler, Michael (1990). “Driven by Drink”: The Role of Drinking in the Political Economy and the Case of Early Iron Age France. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 9, 4: 352-406.
Pauli, Ludwig (1972). Untersuchungen zur Späthallstattkultur in Nordwurttemberg: Analyse eines Kleinraumes im Grenzbereich zweier Kulturen. Hamburg: Hamburger Beiträge zur Archäologie.
Wells, Peter S. (1995). “Resources and Industry.” In The Celtic World, ed. M. Green. London and New York: Routledge, 213-229.
Gediga, Boguslaw (1981). “Zur Entwicklung der hallstattzeitlichen Burgen der Lausitzer Kultur in Mittelschlesien.” In Die Hallstaitkultur. Symposium Steyr 1980, ed. Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum. Linz: Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag Linz, 297-314.
Scarre, Chris (1998). Exploring Prehistoric Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schwab, Hanni (1991). “Châtillon-sur-Glâne: A Late Hallstatt Princely Residence.” In The Celts, ed. S. Moscati, O. H. Frey, V. Kruta, B. Raftery, and M. Szabó. Milan: Bompiani, 123.
Wells, Peter S. (1981). The Emergence of an Iron Age Economy. The Mecklenburg Grave Groups from Hallstatt and Sticna. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum, Harvard University, American School of Prehistoric Research.
Arnold, Bettina (1988). “Slavery in Late Prehistoric Europe: Recovering the Evidence for Social Structure in Iron Age Society.” In Tribe and Polity in Late Prehistoric Europe: Demography, Production, and Exchange in the Evolution of Complex Social Systems, ed. D. B. Gibson and M. N. Geselowitz. New York and London: Plenum, 179-192.
Arnold, Bettina (1999). “‘Drinking the Feast’: Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 9, 1: 71-93.
Kimmig, Wolfgang (1983). Die Heuneburg an der oberen Donau. Stuttgart: Konrad Theiss Verlag.
Murray, Matthew L. (1996). “Viereckschanzen and Feasting: Sociopolitical Ritual in Iron Age Central Europe.” Journal of European Archaeology 3, 2: 125-152.
Büchsenschutz, Olivier (1995). “The Celts in France.” In The Celtic World, ed. M. Green. London and New York: Routledge, 552-580.
Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1991). “The Princely Tombs of Burgundy.” In The Celts, ed. S. Moscati, O. H. Frey, V. Kruta, B. Raftery, and M. Szabó. Milan: Bompiani, 103-107.
Spindler, Konrad (1983). Die Frühen Kelten. Stuttgart: Reclamč.
Hencken, Hugh, and Peter S. Wells (1978). The Iron Age Cemetery of Magdalenska gora in Slovenia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Wells, Peter S. (1981). The Mecklenburg Grave Groups from Hallstatt and Stična. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Arnold, B. (2001). West-Central European Early Iron Age. In: Peregrine, P.N., Ember, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1187-8_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1187-8_32
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-7131-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1187-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive