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00:00In the little town of Laveau, in the Champagne area, an archaeological excavation has shed light on the grave of an illustrious character, dormant underground for over 2,000 years.
00:19This is an exceptional discovery. When he was found, the deceased was surrounded by a bronze banquet service.
00:27Certain items of Greek and Etruscan origin had traveled hundreds, maybe thousands of kilometers.
00:38The archaeologists had discovered a princely tomb from the era of the Hallstatt Celts, dating back to the 6th and 5th centuries before Christ.
00:51Such tombs can be found throughout Central Europe.
00:58The burial of important figures of the community, among an abundance of jewels and objects of great value, was a customary tradition in Celtic societies.
01:07What of this society that buried its dead with such splendor?
01:19Where did these magnificent objects come from?
01:30How did they get here?
01:32Who were these Hallstatt Celts?
01:35And where did their opulence come from?
01:37And where did they live from?
01:40The
01:55This
01:57This
01:58This
01:59This
02:00This
02:01This
02:02This
02:04The Celts were first mentioned in writing by the Greeks.
02:13Indeed, as the Celtic people did not have a written tradition,
02:17they have left no written testimony of their civilization.
02:21We don't even know the name they gave themselves.
02:25The name Celts was found in the texts of Herodotus,
02:28a Greek historian who was the first to write about them.
02:32Stéphane Verger is an archaeologist who specializes in the relations between the Greeks and Celtic societies.
02:41Amongst the travelers that visited the sanctuary during the 5th century B.C. was Herodotus, the first Greek historian.
02:50Herodotus is responsible for the transformation in the way we understood geography in Europe.
02:54He re-established the location of the Hyperboreans to the northeast,
02:59and in their place, at the source of the Istros River, he located a people that we knew nothing about, the Celts,
03:06Keltoi in Greek.
03:08There is a well-known phrase of his on the subject, which constitutes the first mention of the Celts.
03:16The Istros River begins in the land of the Celts, near the town of Pyrenees, and crosses Europe through the middle.
03:23The Celts are beyond the pillars of Heracles and beside the Sinesians, the last people of Europe on the side of the setting sun.
03:31The Istros River meets the Pontic Sea, where the Istrians are.
03:36The Pontic Sea, where Herodotus situates the Greek settlement of the Istrians, corresponds to the Black Sea.
03:47The Istros River, which meets the Black Sea, is now the Danube.
03:51Today, if one were to follow the Danube upstream to the source, to the place where Herodotus placed the Celts,
03:58one would reach the southwest of Germany.
04:03There, in the Bad Württemberg, one can find the site of the Hunnenberg.
04:09During the Celtic area, the plateau was inhabited and surrounded by imposing graves.
04:15Some homes of the Hunnenberg have been reconstituted by the archaeologists.
04:21Dirk Krause is amongst those who have worked there many years.
04:28Here below, we can see the Danube.
04:37Herodotus mentions in Book 2 of his histories that the Istros River, that is to say the Danube,
04:43has its source on Celtic land, near the city of Pyrenees.
04:49This is the first mention ever made of a place or city outside the Mediterranean sphere.
04:59Everything seems to indicate that the Hunnenberg is Pyrenee.
05:04In Lavaux, the digs continue.
05:08The deceased was a contemporary of Herodotus' description.
05:12He was found in the center of a necropolis that was used for thousands of years.
05:18However, none of these graves equaled the sumptuousness of the princely tomb.
05:23They were buried beneath an immense funerary monument, measuring almost a hectare.
05:32Bastien Dubuis is in charge of the excavation.
05:35At his side is Emily Millet, a specialist in metal objects, whose job is to unearth a large bronze cauldron.
05:44So right now I'm clearing the fourth handle of the cauldron.
05:55You can see the somital part of the handle with Akaloosa's head, the Greek god of rivers,
06:00with his horns, his moustaches and his beard.
06:04Each of these segments is decorated with animal faces, felines, cheetahs and leopards.
06:11The few fragments that have already been revealed testify to the exceptional nature of the object.
06:21The figures of the Aculis god point to the distant origins of the cauldron,
06:26which was probably made in Euturia or Magna Graecia.
06:36Inside the cauldron, an object emerges little by little.
06:41It's really quite amazing.
06:45Pieces like this, heightened with gold.
06:48It's really very rare.
06:50This object is called an anakawe,
06:55a Greek jug that is typical of the Athens region
06:59and which is often decorated with well-known Greek myths.
07:03There we are, we have the bottom section.
07:06And it's also decorated with gold.
07:12For the archaeologists, the presence of this large cauldron and of the anakawe confirm
07:17that they are looking at one of the most sumptuous princely tombs ever to be discovered.
07:22This grave does indeed date back to the time of the Hallstatt Celts.
07:34The Hallstatt territory extends to the Alps at the south.
07:39Over part of today's France in the west, up to the Seine and the Loire rivers.
07:44Finally in the east, it reaches the Danube.
07:48The Lavo grave is representative of what is often called the princely phenomena.
07:54The Hochdorf grave in Germany already met the qualifications for princely tombs.
07:59The presence of a cart, of imported pottery from Greece and Italy,
08:03and golden finery, mostly made by the Celts themselves.
08:09Then the Vicks grave was unearthed,
08:12with its large Greek crater and a golden torque,
08:15an incredible piece of jewelry.
08:28Let's go back in time.
08:30The startling revelation of these sumptuous funerary deposits began in the 19th century.
08:36In 1846, in the Burgundy region, scholars unearthed the beautiful Liebes cauldron from Anatoly.
08:43A few decades later in Germany near the Hohneberg site,
08:46funerary deposits were discovered in the grave of the Giusebel Tahoe.
08:51They clearly testify to a very prosperous culture.
08:55German scholars then suggested the idea of a princely civilization.
09:00Then in 1953, in the French region of Burgundy, the Vicks grave was discovered.
09:07It contained, among other things, a large vase, one meter sixty-five high and one meter twenty wide.
09:16It is the largest Greek vase known to mankind.
09:21During almost two centuries of archaeological research,
09:24the princely phenomenon has manifested itself in hundreds of graves.
09:29However, it is the Vicks grave, the Hochdorf grave,
09:33and now the Lavaux grave, that are considered the most remarkable.
09:46The Lavaux site rests by the River Seine,
09:49seventy kilometers downstream of the village of Vicks.
09:52It is in this village that the grave of the Lady of Vicks was discovered.
10:01Archaeologist Bruno Schaume has been searching this plateau for over twenty years.
10:07Twenty-five hundred years ago,
10:10inhabitants covered the La Soie Hill,
10:12and the Lady of Vicks was buried in the valley below.
10:17We are on the top of the burial mound of the Lady of Vicks.
10:35Underneath our feet was the central grave.
10:38The Lady of Vicks was buried under an important mound,
10:43a tunnelus elevated over her grave in order to mark its place in the landscape.
10:48Surrounded by objects of great value,
10:51including the renowned vase of Vicks,
10:54she rested upon a cart covered in jewelry and a golden torque.
11:00Princely tombs are often discovered near rivers.
11:03It would seem that these rivers played an important role
11:06in the thriving situation of the Celtic civilization.
11:09The Seine,
11:13which flows at the foot of the Mont La Soie,
11:16has its source upstream
11:18and flows towards the channel,
11:20700 kilometers downstream.
11:22This privileged position
11:25can easily be linked to the wealth of the Celts of Vicks.
11:29Much like the Vicks site,
11:40the Hunnenberg site in Germany
11:42is perched atop a plateau
11:44that overlooks a river,
11:45the Danube.
11:47What part did the river play
11:49in the development of the Celtic city?
11:52We are at the foot of the Hunnenberg.
12:08Here the Danube has already run about 80 kilometers.
12:13It takes its source in the west in the Black Forest
12:17and continues over 2,500 kilometers towards the southeast
12:21to join the Black Sea,
12:23where at the time there were Greek colonies.
12:31The Hunnenberg is at an important crossroads
12:33between various rivers snaking through Europe.
12:36To the east, the Danube is used to transport goods
12:39from western Europe to the Black Sea
12:42and in return to import goods from southern Europe.
12:45To the west,
12:46the Rhine opens the way to the northern sea,
12:49the Seine to the channel
12:50and the British Isles
12:52and the northern rivers
12:53give access to the Baltic space.
12:55By land,
12:56the Alps to the south of the Hunnenberg
12:58and finally Italy on the other side.
13:01To the southwest,
13:02the Rhône leads to the Mediterranean.
13:05For someone looking for a place
13:07from which to control commerce
13:08along the Danube,
13:09from north to south
13:10and from east to west,
13:11the Hunnenberg is the ideal place.
13:22The top of the plain was full of inhabitants,
13:24textiles and metallurgy workshops
13:26and surrounded by prosperous farms.
13:30At its apogee,
13:31the Hunnenberg's population
13:33is estimated to have reached 5,000,
13:36an exceptional concentration for the time
13:38and for this region.
13:39Due to the geographical location
13:44and the economic situation of the Hunnenberg,
13:46it was very important to control this place
13:48and to secure it.
13:49The fortifications around the Hunnenberg
13:58were built for this reason.
13:59He who settled here
14:00and controlled this place of transit
14:01had great passion.
14:02The fortifications around the Hunnenberg
14:03were built for this reason.
14:04The fortifications around the Hunnenberg
14:05were built for this reason.
14:07He who settled here
14:08and controlled this place of transit
14:09had great power
14:10and could accumulate much wealth.
14:11The development of princely sites,
14:13such as the Hunnenberg
14:14or Mont-la-Soix,
14:15is directly linked to their strategic locations.
14:17Via the rivers,
14:18all sorts of materials would come through
14:19as they travelled across Europe.
14:20Near the Vic site is a town by the name of
14:23Châtillon-sur-Seine,
14:24which is a town called Châtillon-sur-Seine.
14:25The city of the Hunnenberg
14:26is a town called Châtillon-sur-Seine,
14:27which is a town called Châtillon-sur-Seine,
14:28which is a town called Châtillon-sur-Seine.
14:29There, the wealth of objects found in 1953
14:31during the excavation is kept in the museum.
14:33The city of the Hunnenberg.
14:34The foot in the city of the Hunnenberg
14:35is the city of the Hunnenberg's Hunnenberg.
14:36The building of the Hunnenberg.
14:37It's a town called Châtillon-sur-Seine,
14:38and the dude of the Hunnenberg.
14:39The city of the Hunnenberg,
14:40is a town called Châtillon-sur-Seine,
14:41which is a town called on the Basinland.
14:42Under the Fuhrman of the Hunnenberg.
14:43Near the Vic site is a town by the name of Châtillon-sur-Seine.
14:54There the wealth of objects found in 1953 during the excavation is kept in the Museum
15:00of the Châtillonnet Country.
15:04Felicie Fougere, archaeologist and conservator of cultural heritage, is the director of the
15:10museum.
15:13Also found in the grave was jewelry made of amber, a fossilized, vegetal resin that
15:19was widely sought out during antiquity.
15:22Amber was found in the bracelets that we have here, bracelets that were worn by the Lady
15:29of Vic's herself.
15:31It was also found in the shape of large beads on a necklace that was most probably around
15:38her neck.
15:39Amber is a material that is systematically found in the best endowed graves of the time
15:48and even earlier.
15:49It's a material that attracted the attention of the entire social elite, contemporary to
15:56the Lady of Vic's.
15:58What is notable in a grave such as the one found in Vic's is the presence of amber,
16:07a material that comes from the Baltic Sea, very far from the region of Burgundy.
16:11This suggests that the material must have traveled across vast distances.
16:16We can also find fibula, a type of brooch or safety pin.
16:21Finally, there are even fragments of coral in the fibula that decorated the torso of the
16:27Lady of Vic's.
16:28Since coral is Mediterranean, we are looking at a trade network that crossed Europe from
16:33the north to the south, which is absolutely considerable.
16:37This map represents the princely residences.
16:45Archaeologists have found amber on all of these sites, even though amber comes from the coast
16:49of the Baltic Sea all the way to the north of Europe.
16:56The rivers that lead to central Europe begin their journey on these coasts.
17:01From central Europe and along the Danube, amber could be scattered all across Europe, as well
17:06as throughout the Mediterranean world via the Black Sea.
17:11Amber has enabled the development of trade across long distances, whether from north to
17:16south or west to east, between the various centers of power of the time.
17:25Although the large crater remains the main piece of the grave of Vic's, other banquet pottery
17:31was found by its side.
17:35This inakaway of Etruscan origin was used to collect the beverage from the crater for
17:42the service.
17:46Together with the basin, both come from Eturia, surprisingly far from the Mont-la-Soie, and
17:51are made of bronze, a material of capital importance during antiquity.
17:54Bronze can be used for prestigious pottery such as banquet pottery as we have here.
18:04But really, its most important use in Greek society at the time was probably in military
18:10equipment.
18:11In fact, that's exactly what is illustrated in the frieze around the neck of this vase,
18:18as the characters represented here are Greek soldiers, otherwise known as hoplites.
18:25They are wearing helmets, breastplates and greaves, which are shin protectors, all made
18:31of bronze, hence the conclusion that bronze was a crucial necessity in the art of war.
18:46The funerary bronze objects of Mediterranean origin traveled throughout Europe during the Hallstatt
18:53period, brought over by merchants in exchange for goods and services.
19:00Laveau presents many notable examples of this.
19:05By its style and its craft, archaeologists believe that the cauldron, found in a Laveau grave,
19:12was made in a workshop in what is now Italy.
19:18The excavation site shows multiple objects and shards of pottery from various parts of
19:23Europe.
19:28The presence of imported ceramics, particularly Etruscan pottery, is a phenomenal
19:41phenomenon that spread in the 5th century, at a time when the number of pieces imported
19:46and buried in princely tombs quadruples.
19:57The very fact that there are a dozen imported Etruscan objects in a grave dating back to the
20:025th century, or even further from Greece, is a remarkable aspect, already well known about
20:08princely tombs from the late Hallstatt period.
20:19Concerning the meadow wear, there is true originality due to the presence of multiple
20:23pieces of silverware, which is a very remarkable and rare characteristic.
20:27The precious artifacts were assembled in the section of the grave.
20:45Thus we found the innocue with the black figures inside the cauldron.
20:54Certain objects undertook a long journey before being buried in the grave with the deceased.
21:02The innocue contains black figures that come from the Athens region.
21:08The cauldron with the accolous heads, the origin of which are not yet known, was either made
21:14in Magna Grecia or in Euturia.
21:17A small jug and bucket, called cistus, has Eutruscan origins.
21:23Amber, found around the neck of the deceased, comes from the Baltic Sea.
21:28The coral that decorates the pins holding the clothes together comes from the Mediterranean.
21:35For approximately two centuries, luxury items, including some pieces of artwork, traveled hundreds,
21:41and maybe thousands of kilometers, in order to end up in the hands of the Hallstatt elites.
21:48What value did the elites give to such objects?
21:51We know that they did not participate in a monetary economy.
21:55The Hallstatt Celts never made use of money.
21:58So, what type of exchanges were they involved in?
22:12At the National Museum of Archaeology in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, archaeologist Laurent Olivier is curator of the
22:18Iron Age collections.
22:20He is particularly interested in social relations between Celts.
22:26These two objects are Mediterranean luxury objects.
22:29Here you have an object that was made in Euturia.
22:31We call this a Stamnos.
22:32It's a large vase, a beverage recipient.
22:35Then there's this small object.
22:37That's a cantar, meaning a drinking cup with two Attacan ceramic handles that were made
22:41in Greece.
22:45We think these were gifts, gifts that were given by Mediterranean traders to local
22:50patrons in exchange for exclusivity over certain markets or access to certain raw materials.
22:59And so, to reward them, they are given objects that are of extraordinary value for indigenous
23:04people.
23:05To possess such objects to use them is to show one's social status to one's social circle.
23:11It is beyond a unitary object, a luxury object.
23:15It is truly an object of prestige that travels through the Celtic world.
23:21The Stamusen scales come from the princely tomb of Corsell in the Haute Marne region.
23:28These are imported pieces.
23:30Inside the tomb, there are also objects of prestige that are made locally, such as these magnificent
23:36objects of gold, found in the tomb of Colombe-sur-Seine.
23:42Circulating in the Celtic world, these objects are also given the function of prestige goods,
23:48and are attesting to the social status of those in their possession.
23:55During this period, the Celts don't use coins as a form of currency.
24:03These objects were not bought, they were not produced to be sold, they were gifts.
24:07In these archaic societies, economies were based on the exchange of gifts.
24:11How did it work?
24:12The powerful accumulated wealth in order to give it away.
24:16By giving, they secured the allegiance of those who received the items.
24:19These objects circulated through the trade networks, functioned as alliance networks in
24:24order to make friends and allies.
24:27It also creates a subordinate power relation, a relationship of debt.
24:32The economy is one of gifts and counter-gifts.
24:35Such gifts are never altruistic, but used to create a link through debt.
24:46These magnificent objects, the beauty of which has survived for centuries, had an important
24:52role in establishing power relations between Celtic tribes.
24:56They also embody a fondness for garish objects that confirm to all the importance of their
25:02position within the community.
25:04A few kilometers away, in the basement of the Louvre, is the center of research and restoration
25:19of French museums.
25:32The particularity of the Lavo Inocue are the gold and silver decorations with which it was
25:38decorated.
25:44Why did the Celts add these ornaments to the Inocue?
25:48To repair it?
25:49To embellish it?
25:51To reappropriate it?
25:58The improvement and enhancement of imported objects are traits that reoccur frequently
26:07in the wealthiest graves.
26:09This customization is particularly common on vases that were used to distribute beverages.
26:14It was a vase to be shown as it was passed along between guests.
26:33In Germany, in the Museum of the Land of Württemberg in Stuttgart, other Mediterranean objects can
26:39be found, also embellished by the Celts.
26:45Thomas Hoppe is an archaeologist and the curator of the Celtic collection for the museum.
26:52Here we have objects that were found at Klein Aspergel, where there is a large tumulus near Oben
27:07Asperg, an ancient center of power from the early Celtic era.
27:12There are notable personal objects of interest, such as utensils for beverages, a large cauldron
27:22and a ribbed bucket.
27:26Nearby, there are drinking vessels, two magnificent cups from Athens.
27:33What's exciting here is that these two cups had broken near the coves during antiquity, probably
27:39through use.
27:41What is remarkable is that these cups were so valuable that the local Celtic artisans had
27:46prepared them with gilded sheets and then decorated them.
27:53In order to repair these cups, the Celtic artisans were not content to simply consolidate the object
27:59and attempt to respect its original appearance.
28:03Their gesture goes far beyond.
28:05It consisted of bestowing it with more value and beauty.
28:11In another room of the museum, there is another Mediterranean object, also repaired by the Celts
28:17in an unusual way.
28:19Here is the renowned lion's cauldron that comes from the Hochdorf grave in Eberdingen.
28:26It's the lion figures, in particular, that we're interested in.
28:30It is clear that these artifacts came from Greek workshops.
28:34However, what is even more remarkable is the third lion.
28:39It is in the place of a Greek lion that was lost.
28:41It is very different to the Greek lion's sculptures.
28:45Its outline and size of 30 centimeters are almost identical, but its style is considerably simplified.
28:52This means the Celtic artisans have chosen to reproduce it in their own style.
29:08To them, it would have been just as easy to create an exact copy of the original, but they
29:12choose to simplify this shape.
29:25The cauldron from Hochdorf contained, according to the scientists, 300 liters of mead.
29:32As for the immense Vicks cauldron, the biggest in the Celtic world, it could contain up to
29:371,100 liters of liquid.
29:40Most scientists agree that it probably contained wine.
29:46Alcohol held an important role in Celtic society, meaning that, most probably, to drink alcohol
30:06together was to belong to one and the same community.
30:09The person that organized the banquet was also the one who distributed the alcohol and the
30:17one who held the power to distribute this alcohol.
30:23In Alstatian cultures, Greek and Etruscan practices were adopted, but specifically adapted to the requirements
30:35of the society of the society.
30:37For instance, the Greek banquet, or at least the symposium, where alcohol was consumed, was
30:44a male banquet.
30:47In the Celtic world, women participated in banquets alongside men.
30:54Thus women were associated with the banquet, and probably shared in the power.
31:14Bettina Arnold, archaeologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, seeks to understand the
31:20ways in which the gender of individuals was represented in graves from this period.
31:31In Germany, the Omikale mounds contained multiple graves.
31:35Their excavation revealed the presence of numerous ornamental elements, both masculine and feminine.
31:42When they excavated this burial mound, the chamber grave they found, grave six, contained both
31:50a male individual and a female individual, again, without skeletal remains, but with grave goods
31:55that can be gender sort of specifically identified.
32:06Male burials are identified mainly on the basis of either weapons or razors.
32:11Male burials are a little more common if they're spears, very uncommon if they're daggers
32:15or swords, also arrows and quivers are not that frequent.
32:19A little more ambiguous is things like the placement of jewelry.
32:23So bracelets on only one wrist, or an upper arm ring above the elbow, particular kinds of
32:29materials are more typically associated with males.
32:32So the fact that there's an iron neck ring in the male grave here at the Omikale is a good
32:37example of that.
32:38Typically that would not show up in a female grave.
32:41Women's graves are a bit easier in the sense that they're more likely to show up because
32:44they have a lot more jewelry.
32:46They're wearing elaborate headdresses, enormous belts with staple decorations, bracelets on both
32:52arms, lots and lots of beads.
32:55Other markers for female graves include symmetrical distribution of jewelry.
33:01So if you have bracelets on both wrists, you've got hair or earrings, pins associated with
33:06the veil or some type of head covering, definitively female.
33:09The same thing is true for ankle rings, which never show up in male graves.
33:20So if you have a lot of people, you've got to be able to see them.
33:25The same thing is true for the same thing.
33:29Traces of Celtic graves still mark the Quinta landscapes.
33:34Archaeologist Pierre-Yves Milsand has excavated a certain number of these graves.
33:39While excavating these monuments, we often realize that the central grave, the one around which
33:49the others are organized, is generally a woman's grave.
33:53The female princely tombs contain furnishings that in many ways are very similar to the male
34:15princely tombs.
34:17Elements of adornment, heavy gold ones in particular, mark the imminent status of these individuals.
34:33In these Hallstattian princely tombs, there is a hierarchy of sorts according to wealth.
34:41But amongst the richest tombs, there is only one that sticks out, the grave of the Lady
34:50of Vix.
34:53And in this grave, the most emblematic object is the immense bronze crater.
35:02There are characters that go all the way around the crater.
35:10Then we can see that they prepare to go to war.
35:13To a Hallstattian observer, it was reasonable to think that these figurations could be interpreted
35:18as the mark of a relationship of submission between the troops that went to war and the
35:23female statue that is clearly placed higher and seemed to dominate the departure to war.
35:29Basically, the Vix crater could very easily be understood as the fact that the Lady of
35:42Vix, through this figure, could preside over the departures to war.
35:47Which means that she could make political decisions that were enormous, particularly the power to
35:51declare war or, on the contrary, make peace with the enemy.
36:01In many ways, instead of speaking of the Lady of Vix, we could say the Queen of Vix.
36:08The Lady of Vix, or the Queen of Vix.
36:12Although history hasn't recorded the name of this illustrious woman, her grave testifies
36:16to the power that she enjoyed within her community of Mont-Lassois.
36:23But how vast was this community?
36:26How far did it extend over Mont-Lassois and the Seine?
36:30The height of the plateau has been the subject of long excavations.
36:34They revealed numerous traces of buildings.
36:37A large community must have lived here.
36:45The Mont-Lassois has a surface of approximately 45 hectares within the city walls.
36:50The upper plateau we're on has a surface of 5 hectares.
36:55The most remarkable building on the plateau is within the greatest enclosure.
37:00It was identified as the Palace of the Lady of Vix.
37:07The first zone to be excavated was that of the apse.
37:11The objects found there were fragments of ceramic jugs.
37:16These jugs were used to cull liquid from a larger vase.
37:20It is possible to imagine that the large vase was also in the apse.
37:25The Palace of the Lady of Vix is a unique building.
37:29It is 35 meters long, 22 meters wide, and its height is estimated around 15 to 20 meters.
37:37This represents a four-story building.
37:40Certain rooms are 500 square meters, and it is possible to imagine that they could hold
37:47two to three hundred people at a time.
37:53Around the Lady of Vix Palace, many houses were built, each enclosed by fences that created
37:58private spaces.
38:02As with the Hunneberg, it would seem this plateau was also vastly populated.
38:14The Vix dwellings were strategically placed up high and surrounded by a complex system of
38:19fortified walls.
38:22Thomas Pertlweiser and his team at the University of Vienna are attempting to visualize the entire
38:28system that protected the heights of the plateau.
38:32Thomas Pertlweiser and his team at the University of Vix Palace of Vix Palace of Vix Palace.
38:44Here we are in front of one of the city walls of the Mont-la-Soie.
38:49At the time, these fortifications all had one thing in common.
38:54They were monumental.
38:58When we observe other structures on the Mont-la-Soie, as the apse houses or the tumuli, we can understand
39:04that the monumental aspect is an architectural feature.
39:11These fortifications were monumental.
39:14They were enormous.
39:37What we have here is a system of fortification composed of a double line of defense that as
39:43a whole measures several kilometers long.
39:46These walls surround the Mont-la-Soie and represent an enormous fortress facing the Seine.
40:05By their monumental nature, their appearance, their architecture, these fortifications project
40:10a certain image to the outside world.
40:14Here is an example of a demonstration of power where wealth is proclaimed.
40:20These monumental walls that surrounded the Mont-la-Soie were intended to extend into the landscape
40:26in a forceful manner, in order to instill fear in potential enemies, but also in the people
40:32over which the Lady of Vix ruled.
40:39In Lavaux, the excavation is nearing its end.
40:57In order to determine the gender of the deceased, it was necessary to make the distinction between
41:10decorum, objects and jewelry, some of which suggest it was a woman.
41:17On the other hand, preliminary observations of the skeleton itself suggest it was a man.
41:25The archaeologists and Lavaux made their decision.
41:28It was, in fact, a man.
41:35The wealth of objects assembled in the grave are proof that the deceased was an important
41:40individual.
41:58Such a setup could only be an indication of great power and great wealth.
42:05The people and the territory on which the Prince of Lavaux ruled was probably very vast and reinforced
42:19his power.
42:24In the Hunneberg, the plateau on which the main dwellings lay dominates the landscape majestically.
42:42How far did the territories on which he exercised power extend?
42:49The Hunneberg was a very impressive site during the 6th century BC, with its silt brick walls
43:05quoted in bright white.
43:07It certainly made a lasting impression on the surrounding populations.
43:12Today we know that surrounding the Hunneberg, many housing locations, fortified and placed
43:17at high altitudes, tumuli, were scattered along the Danube.
43:22I can demonstrate here, look.
43:27The Danube is here, the Hunneberg is there.
43:31All around, there is a great quantity of other excavation sites, graves and villages.
43:40The site known as Alteberg is on top of a plateau in the middle of a forest, 8 kilometers northwest
43:47of the Hunneberg.
43:57The Alteberg is an enigmatic place.
44:01The stone remains do not correspond to these types of dwellings.
44:12The function of this structure, unique in the Celtic world, has given birth to a singular
44:16hypothesis.
44:23This location could have housed a place of worship, a sort of sanctuary.
44:27On a clear day, the plateau of Alteberg was visible from the Hunneberg.
44:42The connection between the two sites seems to make sense.
44:49Vicks, Lavaux, the Hunneberg, and many others.
44:53Princely sites were not confined to their main habitat.
44:56Instead, they extended far beyond.
45:01But their reign would not last much longer.
45:05The Hunneberg was burned down.
45:11And perhaps it's not a coincidence if in 530 BC, the Hohenassberg, the main princely site
45:18in the north, had its golden age.
45:23Certain researchers have interpreted this as the concurrence between two princely centers
45:27that ended in the Hohenassberg attacking the Hunneberg, which soon yielded.
45:36The Hunneberg rose from its ashes for a brief time.
45:43However, in the mid-5th century BC, another devastating fire provoked the total desertion of the plateau and its surroundings.
45:52What's extraordinary is that simultaneously the other princely sites undergo an analogous destiny.
46:01This sudden decline marks the end of the Celtic principality phenomenon.
46:07We do not know the reasons for this collapse, but it is possible that the development of the circulation of Greek and Etruscan commerce on the Mediterranean
46:16isolated inland principalities from the great commercial and cultural routes, precipitating their demise.
46:23The disappearance of these great houses at the end of the early Iron Age corresponds to the subsiding of social hierarchies
46:37and rupture of a system that was relatively pyramidal, relatively vertical.
46:42In Vix, similarly to the Hohenassberg, in fact, there are buildings that caught fire, as well as fortifications that were destroyed by the fire.
46:57But in Vix, unlike the Hohenassberg, an additional element comes into play.
47:02The violent destruction of the statues that represent two elites of the population, a woman, probably the Lady of Vix, and one soldier.
47:09These statues were beheaded.
47:12It was an attempt to erase the elites that represented the reigning dynasty from the landscape and from the collective memory.
47:29From the second half of the 6th century, new centers emerge in the western Mediterranean that develop and establish new trade networks,
47:37trade networks that aren't necessarily compatible with those of the 6th century,
47:41those that enabled luxury goods to travel to Central Europe.
47:44That is to say, there are no more Greek imports, no more Etruscan imports,
47:52and in a sense, we have a society that turns its back on a system that used to be very open towards the Mediterranean.
48:00So, I think that the end of Mediterranean imports is also indicative of the change in social values.
48:08This is a society that is isolating itself.
48:11The level grave marks the transition between two types of societies, of cultures.
48:23Here we see a transition from a society in which prestige is celebrated with ceremonies and banquets,
48:37to one that gives importance to the military aspects of aristocratic life and to war in general.
48:44This system of values is one which existed during the early Alstadt period.
48:51It's as though we are closing the circle in a way,
48:55and we return to societies that are slightly more traditional.
49:00An entire experience that of the Alstadt is brushed aside without a future in sight.
49:06Now, the Prince of Lavaux is part of our culture, of our history,
49:17with equal standing to the Lady of Ix, and we could even wonder if they ever met.
49:2525,000 years ago in the small village of Lavaux,
49:29a powerful individual was sumptuously buried by his people,
49:33deposed on a cart, accompanied by banquet pottery and a cauldron full of alcohol,
49:39all objects of considerable value, chosen with care,
49:43lavishly dressed and decorated with finely crafted golden jewels.
49:48He was laid majestically among the possessions that would follow him into the next life.
49:54The Halstadt Celts created great and prosperous cities,
50:02traded with all the peoples of Europe as well as the Greeks and the Etruscans.
50:07They crafted sumptuous objects in gold and gave women an important place in society.
50:13They built a flourishing civilization, the ruins of which, on occasion, are unearthed,
50:18for our boundless admiration.
50:21They left behind an image of a powerful people, precursors of our own cities.
50:27The real reasons for their demise will remain a mystery forever.
50:33The real reasons for their lives are the only ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that are the
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