Main trade commodities
Commodities traded between Celts and exported to neighboring cultures include:
salt
golden
slave
iron
copper
textile
Fur, hides and furs
Amber (from Baltic Sea)
Celtic languages imported from neighboring cultures include:
wine
Elephant's tusks
coral
Primitive glass
silver
think
Foods such as olives and figs.
Manufactured products, such as bronzes, exquisite pottery and furniture.
Early transactions: gift exchange
Trade with neighboring tribes and neighboring cultures may begin with the exchange of prestige items between rulers. Gunde stroop cauldron (3rd-/Kloc-0th century BC) is an example of possible trade between two different cultures. This gold-plated silver bowl was discovered in a peat swamp in Denmark in 189 1 and has been puzzling scholars ever since. The design of the characters on the bowl is obviously inspired by the Celtic gods, but this material is not popular among the craftsmen of this culture. There are also some visual elements inspired by Near East art. This bowl is probably made in the lower reaches of the Danube, especially in Dacia or Thrace (today's Romania and Bulgaria). It may even be made for Celtic customers, and it is an ideal gift between two friendly rulers. Then this bowl may enter Denmark through secondary trade or even as a trophy.
For example, "How did it get there?" The object is Trishtingen torc, which was found near the town of the same name in Germany. Perhaps dating back to the 2nd century BC, it is made of silver-plated iron and weighs 6.7kg( 14.8 lb), so it is too heavy to be worn practically. The quality of Torck's bull's head and silver plating shows that it may have originally come from Thrace or Persia, or, at least, it was made by imitating the popular artistic styles in those places. On the other hand, some details show that it was inspired by Gaul Pop Art. Is it also a diplomatic gift or payment for goods received?
Salt is used to preserve meat, especially in the northern Alps.
Whatever the true story of Gunder stroop cauldron and Trittin root torch, these objects will not move by themselves. They illustrate the connection between people thousands of miles apart. In addition, from this single exchange of exquisite or other valuable goods, there is a kind of trade itself, which uses a community's rich resources to exchange with local resources that are not easy to find. Archaeological findings prove that today's trade between Celtic tribes in southern Germany and Greek colonies in southern France began as early as the 6th century BC.
outward cargo
Among the Celtic tribes, salt and iron seem to be the most traded commodities. Salt is necessary to preserve meat, especially in the northern Alps. Here, rock salt is extracted from natural brine springs by evaporation, and from the 8th century BC, it is also extracted by mining. The salt mine in Hallstatt, central Austria, was the main reason for the vigorous development of settlements in the 8th to 6th century BC. In fact, the early Celts prospered in Central Europe largely because they were located in the center of an ancient trade route from east to west and from north to south. Another factor contributing to the success of the community is its proximity to major rivers such as the Rhine, Danube, Seine and Loire, because most goods are transported by water instead of by land.
Due to the high salt content in the soil around Hallstatt, cultural relics related to salt mining have been preserved. These items include pickaxes, stone bags and resin torches. Copper is another precious raw material found and exported in this area. In Durenburg, Austria, salt is also mined in large quantities. But the production here and Hallstatt ended in 400 BC. The depletion of salt may well explain why the Celts migrated from Central Europe to other regions in the 3rd century BC, because the elites had a deep-rooted taste in foreign luxury goods.
In Europe, iron is a commodity that is more widely used than salt, although it requires higher smelting and processing skills than other metals. In professional centers in Europe, it is used to make everything from weapons and tools to cauldrons and jewels (although Hungarian blacksmiths enjoy the highest reputation for quality). Pig iron is usually traded in the form of double pyramid-shaped or simple rod-shaped ingots, each weighing 2 to 9 kilograms (4 to 20 pounds).
In a place like Gaul, gold is relatively abundant. Julius Caesar (100- 44 BC) noticed this. After observing the Celtics' love for thick gold necklaces, he described the area as Gallia aurifera or "Golden Gaul" (Eluere, 160). Gold is extracted from rivers and mines, both open-air and underground. Diodor Ruth West Gullers, a writer in the 1 century BC, described the Celtic gold prospectors in Gaul in his World History:
In Gaul, residents can easily collect or mine a large amount of local gold. When the river rushes through a winding bend and rushes to the foot of the mountain, it will separate out rocks and fill them with gold powder. People engaged in this work collect and break dusty rocks, remove part of the soil by repeated washing, and then put the rest into a furnace to melt.
(5:27)
Bronze mirror is a specialty exported from southern England in BC 1 century and AD 1 century. These mirrors are luxuriously made, usually with a hollow handle and a complicated design on the back.
Cloth is likely to be traded between local tribes, because the Celts are good at making textiles from animal hair such as wool, flax, bast (a plant fiber) and badger hair. Textiles are woven into patterns or dyed or decorated with gold thread. Raw wool was exported to neighboring cultures. Furs such as hides, skins and bearskins are also exported to others.
Finally, slaves, men and women were used as commodities in Celtic society. In the latter case, the sources are those who are captured in the war or those who are unable to pay their debts. Interestingly, the Celtic female official-Cumal-is used as a monetary unit term. The Romans were particularly keen on letting slaves work on their large farms, especially vineyards.
VIX's buried treasure house proves the wealth gained from the tin trade.
imported goods
In ancient times, the main sources of tin in Europe were mines in Cornwall and western England, Amauri (northwest France) and northern Spain. This metal is used to make bronze, so since the 6th century BC, tin has been transported to other parts of the European continent, such as the Celtic sites such as La Loire in northeast France. The Vix burial treasure house of the site can be traced back to this period, which proves the wealth gained from the tin trade.
Red coral is an imported product (originally extracted from tyrrhenian sea), and it is used as a high-value ornament in Celtic Britain and other places, decorating precious commodities such as bronze shields and swords. Before the Celts learned how to make their own glass, they imported glass in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, usually in the form of colored beads or green ingots. In contrast, the Celts did not particularly like silver. Since the 3rd century BC, silver has been limited to minting coins. Amber is imported from the Baltic Sea. Although the Celtics have no direct contact with the people there, they must have traded through intermediaries. Celts used amber to make jewelry, such as beads and pendants, or as precious inlay materials, which were used in everything from brooches to furniture. They also exchanged amber with people in southern Europe. Finally, horses were traded. They came from Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
Since about 500 BC, many Celtic tribes have become particularly fond of Mediterranean wine. Tens of thousands of Roman ear bottles for storing wine were found in Gaul, and their history can even be traced back to before the Roman conquest in the middle of A.D. 1 century. For example, a sunken ship found on the southern coast of France may be on its way to Marseille, dating back to 75-60 BC, with 6,000 bottles of Italian wine on board. Celts mainly used slaves to buy their wine.
Wine is the main part of Celtic banquet table. These luxurious meals are ideal opportunities for social display, and the Celts seem to be particularly impressed by the exquisite utensils made in foreign countries for mixing and pouring wine. Greek wine glasses, wine horns with gold edges, Etruscan bronze pots and Roman flagons were all found in Celtic tombs, which shows that the trade with Mediterranean culture is not limited to the wine itself, but also includes everything related to it.
Consequences of trade
Trade has not only brought positive results of obtaining scarce resources, but also produced secondary consequences. For people who trade, there are usually things to trade, and ideas will be cross-cultural in two directions. In this way, the Celts came into contact with new ideas in metal products and pottery technology, art and religious customs. For example, the Celts copied the Greek model of the 3rd century BC and made their own coins. Although there is no unified Celtic country in any form, Celtic coins are only used locally as a currency (only their weight in metal is valuable) and are mainly used by regional rulers for the purpose of enhancing prestige. Another example is that the Celtic burial custom developed after contact with Mediterranean culture in the 2nd century BC, so mound burial gave way to flat grave burial or cremation. As far as art is concerned, Celtic's love for the complex and twisted plant design that fills every available space may come from the Near East through contact with Greeks and Romans. On the other hand, the special meaning given to torcs by the Celts was adopted by the Romans and made it a heroic symbol on the breastplate of Roman soldiers.
Trade has also brought fierce competition for resources. Since the 2nd century BC, the development of fortifications (sometimes settlements) called oppida has proved the increase of competition and violence among Celtic tribes. Oppidum is usually built in an easy-to-defend position, such as the top of a mountain or a river bend. The fortifications are made of wood, mud, gravel and stones to ensure that the resources of the community can be protected from attacks by hostile tribes. These safe places later became ideal locations for manufacturing centers. Excavation shows that countless oppida include mint for producing coins and workshops of metal workers and craftsmen (such as potters, weavers and glass manufacturers). Oppida has become a trade center. In fact, many centers are committed to using natural resources such as precious metals or established trade routes, and commodities such as amber are transported from one end of Europe to the other.
Finally, trade will lead to conquest. When the Romans realized the resources that the Celts could use, they had the motivation to end trade and pursue military conquest. With the Roman Empire expanding in Europe from the middle of BC 1 century, the Celts became an assimilated people, and their wealth and independence were deprived politically and culturally. With the spread of Roman cultural customs to new people, trade replaced war, so Rome's demand for everything from wine to oil lamps increased.