Hallstatt culture

Hallstatt culture. An archeologically defined culture of the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (ca 10th–5th centuries BC). The name is derived from a burial ground discovered in 1846 near the town of Hallstatt in southwestern Austria, where objects characteristic of the period were first identified. The culture was spread throughout south-central Europe and has been identified with the Celts and Illyrians. These groups were engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, ceramic production, and the mining of salt, copper, and iron. Their semi-fortified settlements consisted of surface and semi-pit dwellings.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1989).]