Celtic cemetery has no bones, but swords –

Excellent metal artifacts were found in the excavation of Celtic cemetery in Creuzier-le-Neuf in central France, including two swords still in swords, one of the best preserved and best Iron Age weapons ever made in Europe.

Creuzier-le-Neuf is a small town today (population 1,200) six miles north of Vichy, but in the Iron Age it was a key location on the cross of the people of Arverni, Aedui and Bituriges. The mid-Rathai (4th to 2nd century BC) cemeteries were discovered in preventive archaeological excavations in 2022, but the recovered objects were announced after years of hard protection, revealing how spectacular they were.

The cemetery consists of a quadrangle wall covering an area of ​​7,000 square feet and is surrounded by a wide ditch boundary. Archaeologists have excavated more than 100 graves in their circumference. The soil is highly acidic, so the remains without osteology survived the inhalation, with only one crematorium buried with a small funeral vase decorated with a hole punch and alternating painted tapes in red and black.

However, for thousands of years, high-quality metal artifacts have survived. Almost 50% of the tombs contain metal jewelry, mainly singles and pairs of bronze bracelets, but also contains 18 fibula made of bronze or iron. The designs of the bracelet range from simply coiled circular rods to matching pairs of curved and ocelli (circular) patterns. Most bracelets are made with hidden buckles as fine, with a small pointed label on one terminal fitting well with holes in the other terminal.

The fibula are so corroded that when they are first recovered from the grave, their mass is unrecognizable. Professional protectors at Cream, the Centre for Municipal Restoration and Archaeological Research in Vienna, southeast of France, are able to clean, stabilize and rebuild brooches. One of them found to have their own ocelli decorations, and the outstanding work was a dish brooch, with wooden bags decorated with silver leaves dating back to the late 4th century or early 3rd century B.C.

But the greatest star on the show is the two swords found in two graves. When they are excavated, they are encased in hardened substrates of corrosive materials and soil. After careful stabilization of the protection lab, the sword was found to be an example of what remains a gorgeous one in the original scabbard.

One is undoubtedly the most spectacular object in the cemetery (Grave 782). Its scabbard makes it wear on the waist. The handle and front plate of the scabbard made of copper alloy are covered with reels or Ocelli. Several protruders adorn the edges of the already richly decorated scabbard. At least two of them are equipped with swastika ornaments and glass paste.

The sword consists of short, slender sharp knives made of iron and handles with tentacles and spheres made of copper alloy or copper. X-rays reveal Inlays at the top of the blade: a circle and a crescent moon are separated by a line. Details of the decoration indicate the design in the early 4th century BC.

The second sword (Grave 990) is still accompanied by a suspension ring, which can be worn at the waist. Except for a pair of eye points that carefully occupy the top of the scabbard, it is related to the previous pair, with the absence of other decorations in front. The remaining fabric silk is captured by the metal oxidation on the back of the scabbard. They may have come from one of the clothes of the deceased, shrouds or boxes. The size and typology of the sword show that it was made in the 4th century BC.