Archaeological culture · c. 450 BCE – Roman conquest (1st century BCE)
La Tène culture (Celts)
The La Tène culture was the later Iron Age culture of the Celts, named after a site on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is famous for its curving, 'swirly' style of art, especially on metalwork.
Celtic groups spread from their homeland in eastern France, Switzerland and southern Germany across much of Europe, and later built large fortified towns called oppida. Rome conquered most of them, ending with Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in 58–50 BCE.
See La Tène culture (Celts) on the map in 300 BCE
- On the map
- 450–50 BCE
How we know
Greek and Roman writers such as Julius Caesar described these Celtic peoples, though they themselves wrote very little; most evidence is archaeological.