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Celts and Greeks

The Early Iron Age in northern Europe coincided with a high point in Greek culture. The Greeks had founded colonies in the Mediterranean area in Italy, the south of France and Spain. Trade flourished and the Celtic populations of central Europe were drawn into the sphere of activity of the Greeks. Greek luxury items found their way to the central European princes, but links with the regions farther north were weak. In the period 500-200 BC the north was by and large cut off from southern Europe. Exotic ornamental objects from southern Europe rarely found their way to these latitudes.

Celts and Greeks
Dark green: core area of the Celts in Central Europe, light green: new territories conquered by the Celts.
Celts and Greeks

The bronze pail from Keldby on the island of Møn was found during ploughing of a small hill near "Trehøje" in 1827. The pail, which is furnished with palmetto ornamentation, has clear Greek models and was probably made in Macedonia or in the Greek colonies by the Black Sea around 300 BC. Why and when the pail was burried is unknown, but other finds indicate, that sometimes imported bronze pails were used as urns.

Read more about the imported vessels The Gundestrup Cauldron and other Bronze vessels here.