Culture · La Tène
La Tène
450–50 BCE, Europe — Western & Central
La Tène is the Late Iron Age Celtic culture of temperate Europe from about 450 BCE to the Roman conquest, named after a votive site on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Its art style of flowing tendrils and abstracted faces decorated weapons, torcs, mirrors and horse gear from Ireland to Romania. Collectors hold bronze and iron fibulae, glass and bronze bracelets, coins, iron tools and spearheads; decorated swords, shields and torcs are rare and heavily protected.
| Dates | 450–50 BCE |
|---|---|
| Period | La Tène |
| Region | Europe — Western & Central |
| Areas | France, Britain, Central Europe |
| Typical objects | Brooch, Sword, Torc, Coin |
| Typical materials | Bronze, Iron, Gold |
Identification
La Tène fibulae have a foot that turns back toward the bow, free in early forms, clasped in middle forms and cast as a frame in late forms, which gives the period its subdivisions. Iron swords with scabbards in decorated sheet, glass arm-rings in cobalt and purple, gold and electrum torcs and potin and struck gold coins are all characteristic. Wheel-thrown pottery appears late.
Legality
In Britain, La Tène finds from private land are recorded through the PAS and gold and silver fall under the Treasure Act; in France, Germany, Switzerland and central Europe finds are state property and export needs licences. Celtic coins are widely traded but hoards must be reported.
Reproductions and fakes
La Tène brooches and glass bracelets are reproduced for reenactors and then sold as antiquities, and Celtic coins are struck from modern dies or cast from genuine coins. Fakes show no stratified patina, have mechanical file marks and lack the fine curvilinear engraving that defines the style. Iron swords with intact scabbards offered privately are nearly always modern.
Elsewhere
- Wikidata: Q208247
- Wikipedia: La Tène culture
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "La Tène" (Culture). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/cultures/la-tene. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-la-tene,
title = {La Tène},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/cultures/la-tene}},
year = {2026},
note = {Culture article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.