(III) Evidence: Art Objects.

Limitations.

The numerical estimates vary, but it is clear that only a tiny fraction of Celtic sites have been excavated; even fewer are published. Settlement patterns and types are known from a very small number of sites that do not provide a complete picture of settlement form, development, destruction and change in Celtic Europe. Access to finds from the areas of former Eastern European countries is complicated by war, economics and politics, and a very spotty publication record. Any history of Celtic art is limited by the accidents of preservation and excavation; the present study recognizes that conclusions drawn from a limited selection of objects may be challenged by future discoveries, and aims to construct an alternative interpretational model that takes those limitations into consideration. As determined by the material, then, this study is not quantitative but interpretational. The approach used is both formalist and contextual. The study progresses from the larger historical and archaeological overview, to selected find sites, and finally to the stylistic analysis of individual objects.

Types of Objects.

Artifacts studied in their find contexts reveal a limited amount of information about their production, form, use, and, arguably, meaning. The same objects studied with respect to their place within a stylistic development reveal material, formal and aesthetic concerns of their creators (Frey and Schwappach 1973; Castriota 1981; Megaw and Megaw 1989). The objects studied in this dissertation fall into three categories: imports, imitations, and transformations.

Imports.

Imitations.

Imitations of imported goods are clear evidence that the receiving culture is interested in emulating at least some formal aspects of the exporting center's production. An early imitation of Greek imports, the oft-cited bronze lion from Hochdorf, in fact augments two South Italian imports, but its style is entirely distinctive and not at all derivative of its "originals." Close stylistic analysis of a series of bronze flagons ranging in date from late Hallstatt to Early La Tène, and generally considered to "imitate" Etruscan "prototypes," reveals a similar local originality and rejection of Mediterranean prototypes. The acquired eastern and Italic repertoire of motifs and shapes is subsumed into a dynamic and entirely non-derivative indigenous aesthetic.

Transformations.

Several imported wares, like the cauldron from Hochdorf, the cups from Kleinaspergle, and several bronze flagons, were transformed once in the Celtic world by the addition of incised patterns, gold foil appliques, or entire cast figures. Rather than proving slavish imitation of their Mediterranean carriers, however, these transformations indicate an appropriation of the imported luxury wares into the local artistic idiom, their embellishment and de facto "Celtization."

(IV) Celtic Style.