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The Vix Burial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

J. V. S. Megaw
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Extract

One of the best known and most quoted finds in western Europe must be that of the ‘princess's burial’ of Vix discovered early in 1953 not far from Châtillon-sur-Seine below the Celtic stronghold of Mont Lassois (Latisco). The contents of the grave are such that classical no less than prehistoric archaeologists have had cause to add to the still increasing literature on the site [I].

Recently, discussion has ranged over two of the foremost problems concerning the Vix burial: first, the question of date and provenance for the great Krater or mixing bowl, at more than 5 feet tall the largest extant bronze vessel of the Greek Archaic period. Second is the matter of the route taken by Greek and Italic imports into Western Europe from their place of manufacture—whether via the Alps or through the entrepôt of Marseilles, founded as Massalia by Phocaian settlers in about 600 B.c.—a debate which has continued since first opened in these pages more than 35 years ago [2]. Ancillary to these two points is the question as to the reason why costly objects made their way into the heart of Celtdom, to what end, with what exchange in mind—what in fact was the status of those native nobles whose graves and settlements have produced the basic clues for such tantalizing investigations?

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 40 , Issue 157 , March 1966 , pp. 38 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1966

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References

Notes

[1] Definitive publication: Joffroy, René, ‘Le Trésor de Vix (Côte-d’Or); Monuments et Mémoires Fondation Eugène Piot , XLVIII, 1: 1954 Google Scholar; see also his popular summary not only of Vix but his subsequent work on Mont Lassois and the surrounding area, ibid., Le trésor de Vix: hìstoire et portrée d’une grande decouverte (1962)—quoted here respectively as Joffroy (1954) and Joffroy (1962).

[2] J. M. de Navarro, ‘Massilia and Early Celtic culture’, antiquity, 1928, 423–42, first took up the battle against the Alpine brigade which dates back to Déchelette, later developed by Paul Jacobsthal and A. Langsdorff in Die Bronzeschnabel-kannen: Ein Beitrag sur Geschichte des vorrömanischen Imports nōrdlichen der Alpen (1929); for Jacobsthal’s later firm stand see his Early Celtic Art (1944), 142.

[3] Beazley, J. D., Attic black-figure vase-painters (1956), 201, no. 14Google Scholar.

[4] Dehn, Wolfgang and Frey, Otto-Herman, ‘Die absolute Chronologie der Hallstatt- und Frühlatènezeit. . .’ Atti del VIo Congresso Int. delle Scienze Preistoriche e Protostoriche , 1, 1962, 201 Google Scholar and Abb. 16; Uenze, H. P., ‘Zur Fruhlatènezeit in der Oberpfalz’, Bayer. Vorgeschichtsbl. , XXIX, 1964, 105 Google Scholar—suggesting little difference in date from that of the Reinheim (Saarland) grave. For a somewhat individual view compare Rosen-Przeworska, Janina, ‘Problems of Celto-Scythian interrelations’ (in Russian), Sov. Arkh., 1963, 3, 78 Google Scholar; see further p. 41 above. (For a translation see Soviet Anthropology and Archaeology, II, 3, 1963–4, 17). While this article was in the press an expanded version of Dr Rosen-Przeworska’s paper has appeared: ‘Some Celtic-Scythian parallels’, Archaeologia Poiana, VI, 1964, 65–105.

[5] Jacobsthal, Early Celtic Art, 143. Forauseful statement on imports and time-lag see Hawkes, C. F. C. and Smith, M. A., Antiq. J., XXXVII, 1957, 180 Google Scholar.

[6] Robert-Paul Charles in Joffroy (1954), 64; the abscesses and evidence for a septic skull wound hardly seem enough cause for death.

[7] Charbonneaux, Jean, Les bronzes grecs (1958), 88Google Scholar; an English translation appeared as Greek Bronzes (1962).

[8] Joffroy (1954), 30.

[9] H. A. Cahn, ‘Le vase de bronze de Graechwil’ in (ed.) Martin, R., Actes du Colloque sur les influences helléniques en Gaule (Pub. de l’Université de Dijon , XVI (1958), 21–9)Google Scholar; Cahn indicates the influences of Laconia on southern Italy. Most recently Jucker, Hans, ‘Die Bronzehydria in Pesaro’ Antike Kunst , VII, 1964, 3–15 Google Scholar, has drawn attention to a dose parallel (with a warrior instead of a potnia theron) to Grächwil from, probably, a grave at Treia now in the Museo Oliveriano, as well as a third hydria bought from an antique dealer in Nìmes and preserved in the Museum there. Assigning respec- tively dates of 540, 570 and 580 b.c., Jucker recognizes the influence of Laconian crafts on what he suggests may be a special class of ritual vessel made for the barbarian market. On the hydria and its sacred rôle see now Erika Diehl, Hydrien im Kult der Antike (1964) and for Laconian forms Rolley, CI., ‘Hydries de bronze dans le Péloponnèse du Nord’, Bull, de Corresp. Hell. , LXXXVII, 1962, 459–84 Google Scholar.

[10] Hawkes, C. F. C., ‘The Celts. . . ’, in (ed.) Demargne, Pierre, VIIIe Congrès Int. d’Archeologie classique: Rapports et Communications (1963)Google Scholar,—an invaluable new conspectus—11 ; Boardman, John, The Greeks Overseas (1964), 227–9Google Scholar; Wood-head, A. G., The Greeks in the West (1962), 67 and 153Google Scholar.

[11] Gjødesen, Mogens, A.J.A., LXVII, 1963, 333–51 Google Scholar.

[12] A.J.A., LXII, 1958, 198 and n. 13.

[13] The death of this ‘most powerful man in Europe’ is still debatable, but c. 584 is argued for by Dunbabin, T. J., The Western Greeks (1948), 229Google Scholar.

[14] Amandry, Pierre, Rev. Arch., XLIII, 1954, 125–40 Google Scholar.

[15] John Alexander (antiquity, 1962, 123–30), demonstrates that in the southern Balkans Greek trade did not develop until the 7th-6th century; compare Stephen, Foltiny ( A.J.A. , LXVIII, 1964, 256–7)Google Scholar. Boardman, op. cit., 232–6 summarizes the history of Adriatic settlement, on which see also Duje Rendić-Miocević, ‘L’Adriatico e la coloni- azzazione greca’, in (ed.) Preistoria dell’ Emilia e Romagna, 11, 1962 = Doc. e Studi, VII, 109–16.

[16] The material from Dodona is in the National Museum, Athens, and includes an unpublished Early La Tene sword, inv. no. 875—but that is another story. For Trebeništé (and its late date) cf. Ljubiša Popović, Musée National Beograd, Antiquité I: Cat. des objets découvertes près de Trebeništé (1956); in the originai publication of the cemetery Filov considered the first krater to be of Corinthian workmanship (Popović, op. cit., 72–3) and it is only fair to note that Joffroy (1954), 30, does not deny the skill of 6th-century Corinthian workshops.

[17] See particularly his article in Germania, XXXV, 1957, 229–48, and other Works referred to in Dehn and Frey, op. cit. In addition to many personal kindnesses I am much indebted to Dr Frey for allowing me to read his unpublished thesis on Bronzeschnabelkannen, some results from which are incorporated in this account which has also benefited from his criticai reading of the whole text.

[18] François Villard, La ceramique grecque de Marseille (VIe - IVe siècle) (Bib. des Écoles françaises d’Athènes et de Rom, fase. 195 (1960)).

[19] Wolfgang Kimmig, ‘Kulturbeziehungen zwischen der Nordwestalpinen Hallstattkultur und der Mediterranen Welt’, op. cit. [9], 75–87; see also on the links between Graeco-Etruscan Italy and the North, Riis, P. J., Acta Archaeologica , XXX, 1959, esp. 36–50Google Scholar.

[20] Kimmig ‘Bronzesitulen aus dem rheinischen Gebirge . . .’, B.R.-G.K., XLII-IV, 1962–3, for summary: 102–6.

[21] Benoit, Fernand, Revista di Studi Liguri, XXII, 1956, 5 Google Scholar ff. ; ibid., op. cit. [9], 15–20.

[22] Frey, , Marburger Wìnckelmann-Programm: 1963 (1964), 18–20Google Scholar. But for actual Late Hallstatt trade from Massalia to Central Europe see Dehn, Alt-Thüringen, VI, 1962–63, 372 ff.

[23] Villard, op. cit., 132–3, considers the ‘Rhodian’ flagons to have been distributed also from the mouth of the Rhône, since despite the c. 600 b.c. date for Massalia’s foundation there is evidence of prior Greek activity. Grachwil and the Nimes hydria, and the griffon-cauldrons, could have arrived at the same dispersal area due in part to the good relations which we know existed between the Phocaian and Chalcidian settlements. See also on tripods Rolley, , Bull, de Corresp. Hell., LXXXV, 1962, 476–93 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

[24] First pointed out at the latter site by Joffroy; Hawkes, loc. cit. [10].

[25] Dehn and Frey, op. cit., 200.

[26] Joffroy (1954), 54–5.

[27] Op. cit., 3.

[28] Op. cit., 157–8.

[29] To the commentary on classical sources by Villard, op. cit., 150–3, add Tierney, J. J., ‘The Celtic ethnography of Posidonius’, P.R.I.A. , LX, C5, 1960 Google Scholar. The 5th-century Greek lekythoi allegedly from Halamanning, Mounts Bay, Cornwall, quoted by H. O’N. Hencken (Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly (1932), 167, 177–8 and 298), are unfortunately suspect so Mr A. C. Thomas informs me; contro see Aileen, Fox (South West England (1964), 116)Google Scholar who also mentions the Attic pottery ‘from an artificial cave at Teignmouth’ now in the Taunton Museum.

[30] Powell, T. G. E., The Celts (1958), 94–8Google Scholar suggests that iron not tin might have been what the Greeks were after but, as Joffroy has pointed out, this occurs in plenty in the western Mediter- ranean. Boardman, op. cit., 216–8, mentions the second tin route, that by sea to Spain, but Villard comments that even before the closing of the Straits the Tartessans seem to have had control of south Iberian commercial channels.

[31] Gjødesen, op. cit., 346.

[32] Kimmig, op. cit. [19], 85.

[33] On ‘export only’ hydria, see [9] above.

[34] A pendant for the Vix/Trebeništé Gorgon handles Comes from near Elizavetgrad in Central Russia: Podischiwacow, A. ‘Anse d’amphora en bronze avec la figure de Méduse’, Gazette archéol., 1888, 79 and pl. XXIII, 2Google Scholar. For Greek relations with the natives of Illyria and south Russia see Board-man, op. cit., 240–75.

[35] Certainly it is easy to understand the opposition of champions of a South Italian pro-vanance to an early 6th-century dating when comparing Vix with the relative crudity of what would be the contemporary hydria.

[36] Dehn and Frey, loc. cit.

[37] Kimmig, op. cit. [19], 83, tentatively following Joffroy’s remarks concerning the skilful re-riveting of the frieze figures, suggests such a route for crafts-men as well as their produets.

[38] A folly placed nevertheless only on a part of the hill which offered good naturai protection! For an essay on the wall cf. Dehn, ‘Die Befestigung der Heuneburg (Per. IV) und die griechische Mittelmeerwelt’ (ed.) Martin, op. cit. [9], 55–62. That classical—and many prehistoric—archaeologists refuse to accept the similar theory of a Mycenaean at Stonehenge (q.v. R. J. C. Atkinson, Stonehenge (revised ed. 1960), 165–6: more recently Stuart Piggott, “The Mystery of Stonehenge: an archaeological detective story’, Life International, 37, 1, 1964, 58–61) seems to me a bit unfair to the unrecorded heroes of Greece’s first great period of contact with the barbarian West.

[39] Joffroy (1954), 46–8, and pls. XXXI-XXXII.

[40] Suggested thus by Kimmig, op. cit. [19], 85.

[41] Hawkes, op. cit., 10–11—but see also Uenze, op. cit. [4], 110. That there are several pieces not entirely dissimilar to Vix is shown by Wilhelm Schüle, ‘Probleme der Eisenzeit auf der iberischen Halbinsel’, J.R.-G.Z.M., VII, 1960, 82–6, Abb. 30–2. See also Edward Sangmeister, ‘Die Kelten in Spanien’, Madrider Mitteilungen, 1, 1960, 75–100. The little bronze mounting in the form of a winged lion rampant with turned-back head from Mont Lassois which the excavator (correctly I feel) suggests is Greek is interesting to compare with the Vix horses: Joffroy, L’Oppidum de Vix . . . (Publications de l’Université de Dijon, XX (1960), 55–6 and pl. 11, 8); ibid., Germania, XXXII, 1954, 64 and Taf. 16, 35.

[42] Repeated by Joffroy (1962), 105–6.

[43] E. Condurachi, ‘Influences grecques et romaines dans les Balkans, en Hongrie et en Pologne’, in (ed.) Demargne, op. cit. [10]: 118 note 1 emphasizes the lack of any concerted Scythian movement west; for recently discovered Scythian fìnds from Romania and Bulgaria see Berciu, D., ‘Neue skythische Funde aus Rumänien und Bulgarien’, Praehist. Zeit. , XLI, 1963, 190–8 Google Scholar. As Hawkes, op. cit., 11, comments, it is certainly impossible to give the nomads any blame for the destruction or abandonment of Late Hallstatt centres c. 500 b. c. In fact nomads never seem to be where archaeologists most need them—one of the snags in trying to trace the alleged Scythian components in Early La Tène art, for example. See also M. Dušek ‘Waren Skythen in Mitteleuropa and Deutschland?’ Praehist. Zeit. XLII, 1964, 49.

[44] Alina Kietlińska, Q.v., ‘Problem tzw. grobów ksia̧zȩych. . .’, Wiad. archeol , XXVI, 1950–60, 98–118 Google Scholar, esp. 107; Dr Kietlińska argues that the chieftains’ graves of the Lubieszewo (= Lübsow) type in the Roman Iron Age are the last vestiges of a Celtic originating priestly caste, a point which I have debated in Antiq. J., XLIII, 1963, 34–5.

[45] Stuart Piggott, ‘A Late Bronze Age Wine Trade?’, antiquity, 1959, 122–3. For the funeral symposium and its equipment in the archaic Greek world see Courbin, Paul, ‘Une tombe d’Argos’, Bull. de Corresp. Hell. , LXXXI, 1957 Google Scholar, 322–86—late 8th century with fire dog and armour; Vassos Karageorghis, ‘Une tombe de guerrier à Palaephaphos’, ibid., LXXXVII, 1963, 265 ff. I have to thank Professor Piggott for drawing my attention to these references.

[46] Jacobsthal, Early Celtic Art, 142.

[47] As has been noted in [29], evidence for early Greek trade in the furthest north is slight; Greek coins in Britain whatever their status are unfortunately not earlier than the 4th/3rd centuries: Milne, J. G., Finds of Greek Coins in the British Isles (1948)Google Scholar, esp. 22–3; add now the two coins from Holne, Devon (A. Fox, op. cit., 116 and pls. 58–9).

[48] Filip, Jan, Celtic Civilization and Its Heritage (1962), 39 f. and 94Google Scholar.

[49] The literature on Vix is still expanding. While this article was in the press I was able to read Professor Kimmig’s comments on the remarkable stone statue of a warrior from the late Hallstatt barrow at Hirschlanden (described recently in these pages by its excavator Dr Hartwig Zürn, antiquity 1964, 224–6): ‘Der Kreiger von Hirschlanden’ in (ed.) Demargne, Le Rayonnement des civilisations grecque et romaine sur les cultures périphériques (Actes due Ville Congrès Int. d’Archeologie classique (1965), 94–101). Kimmig points out how the statue’s neck-ring and belt offer explanations for the use of not only the Vix ‘diadem’ but also the large bronze ring illustrated by Joffroy (1954), fig. 1, no. 34; Kimmig’s paper also covers much of the ground traversed here, particularly summarizing the question of transalpine contacts, the results of which are so strikingly seen in the Hirschlanden statue itself.