THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

La Tene divisions (though in terms of Miinsingen la, etc., not La Tene la) in which the principle
modifications are subdividing Wiedmer-Stern's Ib and Ic each into Early and Late phases.
There is a general discussion of the chronological types under their functional headings, but
types which play no part in the internal relative chronology of the cemetery, such as swords, are
ignored. Of the chronological types the bent ring seems now the least useful, for it is distributed
from Horizon E (on the evidence of tomb 79) to Horizon U.
This book is not an excavation report, and several aspects of the cemetery and finds are deliberately
ignored; it is not an attempt to place Miinsingen in its context within the La Tene world—still
less to assess its absolute chronology. The author has not been tempted beyond his specific aims—
a complete catalogue and a discussion of the internal relative chronology; these objectives have been
achieved with great clarity and the work is a model which will be much envied by those frustrated
by inadequate records of other La Tene cemetery excavations.
1. M. STEAD

THE FINDS FROM THE SITE OF LA TENE. VOLUME I, SCABBARDS AND THE SWORDS FOUND IN THEM. By J. M .
de Navarro. Two parts, bound separately, 456 pages, 158 plates. The British Academy, 1972. Price £20.
The classic site of La Tene has been neglected, and the artefacts found there are inadequately
published. The reason for this neglect is readily apparent from the present volume—there were
several excavations, all in the early days of archaeological research, records are incomplete, and
finds have been dispersed. The site was discovered in 1857 by Hans Kopp, who earned his living
fishing antiquities from the Swiss lakes, and the attentions of other fishermen and collectors brought
such fame that by 1872 the name was used by Hildebrand for the second stage of the European
Iron Age—the La Tene period. The most systematic excavations were those of the Vougas in 1880-5
and 1907-17. The finds are distributed among 16 museums, and beyond that many found their
way into private collections and are now lost; de Navarro has counted more than 3000 objects from
La Tene—some 500 more than P. Vouga's count in 1923. The problems of cataloguing, studying
and comparing such a dispersed collection are fantastic.
The present work is the first of four volumes which will catalogue completely' all the artefacts
known to have been found at La Tene. This volume is devoted to the scabbards and the swords
found in them—the swords themselves will be dealt with at greater length in the second volume.
Part I is devoted entirely to discussion; and Part II is a catalogue, with indices, and 158 plates,
including many excellent photographs. Curiously the backgrounds of individual photographs have
not been masked on composite plates—which produces an irritating patchwork effect; pi. lviii, a
fine example of chagrinage, is surely mounted sideways; and on pi. cxlviii, the photograph of a tool
used in shagreening has been clipped, so that the functional end is omitted.
After a general introduction, Part I deals with the morphology of the scabbards from La Tene,
and then the eight scabbards of Early La Tene form. The entire distribution of scabbards with
dragon- and bird-pair ornament is considered in two chapters. There are 42 examples, 11 found
at La Tene (and 10 more with allied ornament, half of them from La Tene); nearly all these pieces
survived either because they were deliberately thrown into water, or because they were placed in
graves—a fine example of the weighting of distribution maps by ritual practices. The discussion of
scabbards from La Tene continues with the 133 examples of Middle La Tene form which are divided
into two major groups, A (based on the Middle La Tene scabbards with dragon- and bird-pair
ornament), and the later B. There follow two chapters on designs on scabbards, dealing first with
the heraldic dragon-pairs—a motif which de Navarro sees as originating in Hungary, inspired by
fourth-century B.C. Scythian models, and from which the bird-pairs developed in Switzerland. The
second chapter on design discusses the very different Swiss Sword Style—and here he regards the
Swiss and Hungarian Sword Styles as parallel developments, each copying leather sword-belts
wrapped round sheaths. In the same way chagrinage, which occurs on Middle La Tene scabbards
at La Tene, copies a leather prototype; de Navarro wonders if any of the 'sheathless' swords from
La Tene had leather scabbards—but why, in this waterlogged context, has not a single leather
scabbard or sword-belt survived ? As far as the belts are concerned this may be more than a matter

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 REVIEWS
of preservation, because iron sword-chains are also absent. Part I concludes with a 'retrospect',
including a valuable discussion of absolute chronology.
The author's style is subjective, and the volume is written in the first person, but it is a work
of great scholarship, drawing on parallels throughout the La Tene world and concentrating on the
chronological significance of the various traits. De Navarro has had to travel widely and cope with
unusual problems in recording this collection—measuring objects now broken and divided between
museums, and objects now lost, or recently damaged, but for which casts, drawings or photographs
have been traced (there is interesting commentary on the reliability of scales in various museum
photographs). His problems are well illustrated by the sheath nr m a which is in at least three parts:
the lower end was at Neuchatel until recently lost, but was photographed at Zurich (where the
scales are reliable); the central part is missing and has never been recorded; and the upper part
was found, unprovenanced, at Princeton (New Jersey)—de Navarro argues convincingly for regarding
these pieces as parts of a single scabbard.
It is encouraging to read the work of an English scholar (if an American citizen might be so
described) whose research is based on the continent, and who sees British material objectively when-
ever it enters the continental scene (as here, the Sutton scabbard). Thi9 is the second major work
on the Iron Age in north Switzerland to appear in English in the last four years—and, of course,
Hodson's Miinsingen is very relevant to de Navarro's search for the chronological clarification of
the material from La Tene, for the two sites are only 50 km apart. De Navarro's contribution to
chronology here rests largely on the recognition of an earlier and a later group of scabbards within
the Middle La Tene period—he concludes that if his forthcoming study of the brooches from La
Tene is equally fruitful, 'a more satisfactory subdivision of the Middle La Tene period in northern
Switzerland . . . will fall within the bounds of probability'—a modest conclusion to this impressive
volume.
One of the valuable results of this very detailed approach is to show the importance of minor
features in identifying the products of a particular workshop, or perhaps groups of workshops.
Certain of the details found on scabbards from La Tene are rarely found elsewhere—even at Port,
another water-deposit only 20 km away, the ornithomorphic chape-clamps and chape-bridges so
characteristic of the Middle La Tene Group B scabbards at La Tene are represented by but a single
bird-clamp. Hence de Navarro sees the work of a single school of armourers producing weapons
for a single people. These people who deposited weapons at La Tene he thinks of as not a small
local community but a large clan, perhaps a tribe (and Sequani rather than Helvetii)—but it is
impossible to work from the size of deposit (itself unknown) to the size of the population responsible
for it. All we know is that at least 3000 objects (and one or two women) were deposited in these
waters within the space of about 150 years. Whatever the ritual involved we can be thankful for it,
for otherwise our knowledge of La Tene artefacts would be considerably less. We can also be grateful
to the British Academy for sponsoring this excellent publication and look forward to de Navarro's
treatment of the swords, brooches and other finds in future volumes of this ambitious project.
1. M. STEAD

AN INVENTORY OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN THE COUNTY OF DORSET, Volume 2, South-East. The

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). 701 pages, 235 plates, maps and plans, index.
H.M.S.O., 1970. Price £16-80.
This splendid volume of the Royal Commission appears in three parts, of which the third contains
the prehistoric and Roman monuments in the south-east of the county. It is a pity that the parts
are not sold separately, although there is much to admire in the post-Roman to A.D. 1850 parts.
Part 3 alone contains over 200 pages, with quantities of plans and maps of Earthworks, Roman Re-
mains and Ancient Fields. The last category consists mainly of Celtic fields and although five groups
of these are sufficiently well preserved to warrant pull-out plans, the total inventory is meagre in
comparison with what must have existed up to recent times, before ploughing took its final toll;
this section alone is ample reason to bemoan any delays in the recording of ancient monuments.

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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0079497X00011944 Published online by Cambridge University Press