The La Tène culture – named after the archaeological site of La Tène on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland – was an Iron Age cultural complex associated with Celtic peoples, though not identical to the entirety of the Celtic world. It developed on the basis of the late Hallstatt culture and flourished from the late 5th century BC until the beginning of the Roman era.

Its chronology is divided into several phases (LT A–D, c. 480 BC – turn of the era) distinguished mainly by changes in brooch (fibula) forms. Originating in the upper Danube region, La Tène groups expanded widely across Europe from the 5th century BC onwards, settling in areas of modern France, Spain, Britain, northern Italy (sacking Rome in 390 BC), central Europe, the Balkans and Asia Minor (the Galatians). Characteristic artefacts include La Tène–type brooches, spearheads, swords, oval shields with metal bosses, expanded‐end bracelets, chain belts, hand‐made pottery in early phases and wheel‐thrown pottery from LT C onwards, and glass bracelets. From the mid‐2nd century BC, fortified proto‐urban centres (oppida) such as Bibracte, Alesia and Stare Hradisko emerged as hubs of craft production and political power.

Funerary rites shifted from inhumation (LT A–B) to cremation (LT C onwards), often with ritually destroyed grave goods. The La Tène religious system, known through classical sources, featured deities such as Teutates, Taranis and Esus, human sacrifice, and a druidic priesthood with significant political influence. The economy was based on advanced agriculture, iron smelting and working, and coinage. Although the Celts knew writing from contacts with Greeks and Romans, it was rarely used, as druids forbade recording of religious or traditional knowledge; most accounts of them come from external, often hostile, sources like Julius Caesar.

Source: Dulęba P. (red.) 2026, Nowa Cerekwia. La Tène Culture Agglomeration on the Amber Road, t. 1-2, Wrocław.