In 280-279 BC, Celtic armies attacked Thrace, Greece, and Macedonia. After mixed outcomes (Macedonia was sacked, but Brennos died after unsuccessfully trying to plunder Delphi), other Celtic groups moved through the Hellespont, once again engaging in conflicts with local cities before threatening Byzantium. Around 277 BC, some of these groups crossed into Asia Minor, settled in central Anatolia, and became a threat to the cities and local populations of the peninsula.
However, a typochronological analysis of latenian remains discovered throughout the Eastern Mediterranean reveals a different chronology from that suggested by the historical narrative. Remains from Greece predate, mainly from the 4th century BC, the attacks of 280-279 BC, while evidence from Anatolia appears later (2nd and 1st c. BC) than the assaults on the Hellenistic cities of the Ionian coast. Moreover, divergences between Anatolian and European typologies suggest local production of latenian artefacts and indicate long-term settlement processes rather than traces of sudden and violent incursions.
This poster proposes an overview of the latenian remains known in the Eastern Mediterranean and a comparison between the history of the Celtic invasions, well documented in Hellenistic literary and iconographic sources, with the chronology derived from the archaeological record. The lack of correlation between these two dimensions raises questions about our ability to identify archaeologically the early phases of sudden migrations.

First Author: Kevin Parachaud

Keywords:
La Tène material culture
Hellenistic Anatolia
Methodology
Invasions narratives