Celts in Transylvania

A historical timeline of the Celts of Transylvania can be derived from archaeological finds at La Tène, but there are almost no ancient records that allow reconstruction of political events in the area. The Celts exercised politico-military rule over Transylvania between the 4th and 2nd century BCE and brought with them a more advanced iron-working technology. They were also responsible for the spread of the potter's wheel into a much wider area than the one they occupied.

History

Large areas of ancient Dacia, which were populated early in the First Iron Age by Thracian people, were affected by a massive migration of Iranian Scythians moving east to west during the first half of the first millennium BC. They were followed by a second equally large wave of Celts migrating west to east. Celts arrived in northwestern Transylvania in around 400–350 BC as part of their great migration eastwards. When Celtic warriors first penetrated these territories, the group seem to have merged with the domestic population of early Dacians and assimilated many Hallstatt cultural traditions.

4th-3rd centuries BC

The second half of the 4th century BC saw the Middle La Tène Celtic culture emerge in north-western and central Dacia, a development reflected especially in burials of the period. Celtic artifacts dating to this time have been discovered at Turdaș, Hațeg and Mediaș in modern-day Romania. By 1976, the number of Celtic sites found in Transylvania had reached about 150, indicating a significant La Tène population surpassed only by the Dacians. These sites are mostly cemeteries. Archaeological investigations have highlighted several warrior graves with military equipment, suggesting that an elite Celtic military force penetrated the region.

Celtic vestiges are found concentrated in the Transylvanian plateau and plain, as well as the upper Someș basin, whereas the surrounding valleys of Hațeg, Hunedoara, Făgăraș, Bârsa, Sfântu Gheorghe, and Miercurea Ciuc have neither necropoleis nor settlements but only tombs or isolated items. This indicates that Celts occupied the territory between the Mureș and Someș rivers, west of the Apuseni Mountains, and the plains and plateau in the intra-Carpathian space along with the valley in the upper basin of Someș. Nevertheless, these valleys, as well as those of Banat and Maramureș, have also yielded contemporary Dacian findings.

Of the Celtic cemeteries excavated, the most important are those in Ciumești and Pișcolt (Satu Mare County) and Fântânele (Bistrița-Năsăud County). These contain over 150 graves compared to the average of 50–70. Necropoleis have also been found at Sanislău (Satu Mare County), Curtuișeni (Bihor County), Galații Bistriței (Bistrița-Năsăud County), and Brașov (Brașov County).

• Twenty-three of the oldest graves from the extensive Fântânele, Mureș cemetery in Mureș County have been dated to the beginning of the 4th century BC. Among European Celtic cemeteries, this one is second only to Munsingen in size. The Geto-Dacian population is also represented through a full range of contemporary native pottery types.
• Finds from Pișcolt reveal that the inhabitants of settlements in the area practiced inhumation, or reuse of a pre-existing barrow or grave, as a type of burial.
• At Ciumești cemetery, of the 34 graves excavated, 21 were simple cremations in pits, seven featured inhumations, while the remains of six cremations had been buried in urns. The number and type of finds in the graves differed in each case. Principal among the grave-goods was an iron warrior's helmet of eastern Celtic type as well as a socketed spear, a pair of Hellenistic greaves and a suit of chain mail, to which a small bronze disc had been attached as its central feature with S-shaped motifs arranged in a series of symmetrical panels around its edge. The cremation burial containing the chain mail has been dated to the 3rd century BC (La Tène B2b–C1, more likely C1).

In Transylvania, the Celts shifted from inhumation to cremation, either through natural progression or because of Dacian influence. Almost without exception, the necropoleis so far studied are bi-ritual, although cremation appears to be more prevalent than inhumation. The Celts in Dacia certainly cremated their dead from the second La Tène period onwards but Celtic inhumations appear no older than pit-grave cremations in any of the cemeteries. It is impossible to say whether the Celts turned away from the practice of cremation as the Scythians had. Although less frequent, inhumation still occurred as a constant practice even during the final stage of Celtic inhabitation of this territory.

Celtic settlements had a rural character with such sites found in Mediaș, Morești (Mureș County), and Ciumești.

Expansion of Celtic groups in the area may be related to their invasion of the Balkans around 335 BC, when a massive colonization of the Tisa plain and the Transylvanian Plateau occurred following the death of Lysimachus. However, the eastward movement of the Celts into Transylvania used a different route from the one taken by the hordes that attacked the Balkans.

Celts did not occupy all intra-Carpathian areas of Transylvania, stopping short of the Maramureș Depression for instance, where excavations have uncovered Dacian fortifications from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. As regards Celtic influence on local Daco-Getic culture, Vasile Pârvan has stated that the latter is wholly indebted to Celtic traditions and that the "La Tene-ization" of these northern Tracians was a cultural phenomenon primarily due to the Celtic population who settled the area.

3rd – 2nd century BC

Archaeological sites of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC reveal a pattern of co-existence and fusion between the bearers of La Tène culture and the indigenous Dacians. Domestic dwellings exhibit a mixture of Celtic and Dacian pottery while several Celtic graves contain Dacian type vessels. At Celtic sites in Dacia, finds show that the native population imitated Celtic art forms that they admired, but remained firmly and fundamentally Dacian in their culture.

Dacian archaeological finds in the Transylvania area increase in number from the middle of the 2nd century BC.

2nd–1st century BC

During the first half of the 2nd century BC, Pompeius Trogus writes in his Historiae Philippicae of a Dacian king, Oroles, who fought against Celtic incursions. Oroles is recorded as resisting the intrusion of the Bastarnae, a people now generally considered to be of Germanic origin but who were in fact Celto-Germanic and, according to Livy, spoke a Celtic language. The Bastarnae moved from Silesia into what is now central and northern Moldavia.

Pompeius Trogus along with Justin also record the rise in Dacian authority prior to 168 BC under the leadership of King Rubobostes.

Around 150 BC, La Tène material disappears from the area. This is concurrent with ancient writings, which mention the rise of Dacian authority. This ended Celtic domination and it is possible that the Celts were forced out of Dacia. Conversely, modern scholars have posited that the Transylvanian Celtic-speakers remained but merged with the local culture and thereafter ceased to be distinctive.

The boundary between the Celts and Dacians near the River Tisa is depicted in 2nd century BC pottery found at Pecica in Arad County, a prosperous trading center at the confluence of the two peoples.

1st century BC

A classic period of Geto-Dacian La Tène culture began in the 1st century BC centered around the city of Sarmizegetusa Regia in south-western Transylvania. Dacian king Burebista defeated the Celtic Boii and Taurisci tribes between 60–59 BC. However, some archaeological finds in Dacian settlements and fortifications feature imported Celtic vessels and others made by Dacian potters imitating Celtic prototypes. These discoveries in sites from regions north and west of Transylvania show that relations between the Dacians and the Celts continued in the period 1st century BC-1st century AD.

During Burebista's time, the Dacians became closer to the remaining Celtic populations than they had been when the Celts ruled Transylvania. Evidence from the earlier period shows Celtic burials and settlements with only occasional Dacian elements, while Dacian settlements with Celtic finds are infrequent. This situation reversed after Burebista's conquest when a distinctive hybrid Celtic-Dacian culture emerged on the Hungarian plain and in the Slovak regions.

Most of the Celts were absorbed into the Geto-Dacian population and contributed to Dacian cultural development. These Celtic tribes, who were skilled in iron exploitation and processing, also introduced the potter's wheel to the area, thereby contributing to acceleration of the development of Dacia. By this time, prosperous Celtic communities had spread over the whole territory of modern Romania.

2nd century AD

By the 2nd century, Celtic military and civilian groups from Roman Empire provinces had moved into the area of Transylvania that also had become part of the Empire, as part of Roman Dacia, by 106 AD. They were probably Latin-speaking groups with Celtic substratum who also participated in the Roman military campaigns in Dacia.

Roman Dacia consisted of eastern and southeastern Transylvania, the Banat and Oltenia regions of modern Romania but excluded the rest of Dacia. The presence of Celts here is mainly illustrated by the composition of both the legions and cohorts. Legio XIII Gemina came from the Celtic zone of Vindabona and contained some Celtic elements. Troops from Roman Celtic and Germanic provinces were the most numerous of the auxiliary troops. (See also List of Roman auxiliary regiments)

The several cohorts and alae Gallorum attested in diplomas and inscriptions reveal the large number of Gauls who were recruited by Romans, some of whom were moved to Transylvania (i.e. Cohors II Gallorum Dacica equitata in Dacia Superior later organized as Dacia Porolissensis). Some units were recruited from single Gallic or Germanic tribes (i.e. Germanic Batavi formed Cohors III Batavorum "3rd Cohort of Batavi").

The following are military units with some Celtic-speaking elements stationed in this region:

• Legio XIII Gemina located at Apulum the Latin name of the Dacian settlement Apulon, (Alba Iulia).
• Cohors I Alpinorum equitata: When stationed in Dacia Superior, they were garrisoned at Sărăţeni, Mureş. After 144 AD they were moved to Călugăreni
• Military detachments I Vindelicorum c.R. eq: Formed by the Celtic Vindelici, it is attested at Cumidava on the site of modern Rasnov, by an inscription "Vindelicorum Cumidavensis Alexandriana". Other detachments of I Vindelicorum c.R. eq were located at Tibiscum.
• Alpinorum and cohors VIII Raetorum are recorded in Dacia superior in diploma from 136/38 having been attested in Dacia in 114 and 110 AD.
• Cohors II Gallorum Dacica equitata, Dacia Superior. A number of stamps of Ala Gallorum were found at Borosneul Mare Covasna.
• Cohors V Lingonum (Celtic Lingones): They were located at Moigrad-Porolissum.