The dominant view for many decades has been that the Celts lived only in the area of southern Germany and Switzerland. But, with the discovery of a monumental sacred site comparable with Brú na Bóinne at Hessen, it has now been established that even Frankfurt is at the centre of a Celtic homeland.

Up until five years ago German archaeologists assumed that findings north of the river Main in the area of Hessen had to be considered as being of mixed Celtic / Germanic origin. Fortresses on the heights of the Taunus were seen as defence boundaries of the Celtic Main territory to the south. Settlements in this area were seen as boundary towns, where resources such as rich iron ore beds were exploited and processed further in the Celtic Main territory.

Even though excavations in Hessen had brought exceptional findings to light, the full significance of these can now be seen through the excavations done at the Glauberg.

It seems that over the last couple of years German archaeologists have been increasingly discovering that there is more to history than the Romans or Greeks. At least this seems to be the case from an arhaeological point of view. Suddenly all over Germany communities are putting on exhibitions about the Celts, showing what has been excavated and discovering their Celtic heritage.

From a personal standpoint this is great and to us gives proof that we live right in the middle of a Celtic homeland. In the past only southern areas of Germany were considered to be inhabited by Celts, which is obviously not true.

Modem Celtic research in Germany has only been going on for about the last 50 years. What makes it difficult is that our Celtic ancestors had a mainly oral tradition and written evidence was only given by foreigners or even enemies of the Celts. The historical scripts reflect their opinions and doubtlessly shed a "Roman" or "Greek" light on history.


Let us give examples of some of the most important sites of Hessen:

The Duensberg
At this site archaeologists found remains of a big Celtic city extending over an area of approximately 90 hectares. The outer ramparts of the ground had fourteen gates. According to archaeologists this oppidum was one of the most important in the German highlands.


The Altkoenig and the Heidetraenk-Oppidum
The site around the Altkoenig dates back to the early La Tene period and can be seen as the most impressive fortress in the Taunus hills. A double wall made of wood and rock surrounded the hilltop.

An extension terrain towards the southwest of the rampart comprised an additional area of 11 hectares and contained a well. The wall had a height and width of 4 to 6 metres and the area inside extended to 15 hectares. At the front was a wooden defence wall.

The Heidetraenk Oppidum had its time of prosperity during the 3rd and 2nd century BC. The walls of the complete oppidum outlined an area of a total of 130 hectares. The city was of high importance for what is today known as the Rhine-Main area. The town was protected by a 10 km long circular rampart. Six gates enabled the passage into the town.

Through archaeological findings it is possible to distinguish between the living and working areas. According to the findings (i.e. from the raw material found at one spot to the ready made product at another place) a proportion of the manufacturing processes could be completed on site. The most important stock of Celtic tools of middle Europe originated from this oppidum. Additionally, coins were embossed here which also emphasizes the central importance of this settlement.


The Glauberg
The excavations made at the Glauberg have led to a new assessment of all Celtic excavations in Hessen - not only because of the findings that were made, but additionally through the way the excavations were performed.

A new technique was used, the excavation was not done on site and outside: instead, whole pieces of earth containing the different treasures were brought into the laboratories. X-ray and supersonic pictures were taken, showing the archaeologist where to remove earth carefully so as not to destroy remains of organic material such as cloth or leather.

For a long time the Glauberg was known as being one of the fortified summit settlements along the line of settlements in Germany running from West to East. It did not have any special qualities in comparison to other settlements in this area other than its central position and the fact that it had been used as a settlement since the Stone Age. An area of approximately 20 hectares is sourounded by a rampart construction. Within these grounds two basins can be found, which served as water supplies.

The designation of the Glauberg as a residence of a noble is not from the findings at the hilltop, but from the excavations of the noble burial chamber at the bottom of the hill. Verification through additional findings or excavations on the plateau of the hill is unlikely because this summit settlement was extended and reconstructed throughout the centuries and served as a medieval residence. This continuous use has most likely
destroyed all Celtic traces on the plateau.

We can see that the noble burial chambers were by all accounts the richest found north of the river Main simply by looking at the generous burial offerings. They mark the height of a period of burial customs, which started about 600 BC with very little offerings in cremation chambers. Cremation customs changed some time in the 6th century BC to burials, and turned back towards cremation again during the 4th century BC. The dating of the findings proves that the cairns have heen used for longer periods, some of them for centuries.

Thank you for these informations.

The land name of Hesse comes from the "German" people Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatti by the intermédiary of Cassii. I suppose tt or ss are 2 orthographs for a sound equivalent to the english diphtongue th.

Also This term exists in compond words for peoples/tribes and persons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassivellaunus . It is near of the term catu whic means fight or battle. Although there is other given explanations, I think the meaning of cassii is warriors

There was a people in South-East England of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassi and also Catuvellauni httpt://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catuvellauni with the right explanation "The Catuvellauni are etymologically unrelated to the Catalauni of Belgic Gaul. The name is derived from the Ancient British catu-uellauni meaning "battle-chieftains" or "battle-leaders". This ultimately derives from the Proto-Celtic *katu-, "battle", and *wel-nā-, "to lead"."
Catalauni (town : Chalons sur Marne)

In France
- Baiocassii (town :Bayeux ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiocasses
- Durocassii (town : Dreux)
- Viducassii (town : Vieux near Caen) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viducasses
- Veliocassii (region : Vexin) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veliocasses
- Tricassi (town ; Troyes) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricasses

We can suppose for West Celtic, Germans were the Celts beyond the Rhine river. But Romans prefered to confuse all the people beyong the Rhine as an common threat in the propaganda for the benefaction of the "Pax Romana" reinforced in modern times by the supremacy of the German scholars.

THE MEGALITH CULTURE IN NORTH-WESTERN GERMANY

In north-western Germany, approximately 400 megalithic tombs, dating to the second half of the fourth millennium, have survived until today. They are located in three central areas between the Weser and Ems rivers:
• north of the city of Osnabrück up to the northern border of the region Osnabrück Land
• in the Emsland district north of the Hase river
• south of the city of Oldenburg in the Wildeshausen Geest area

All tombs belong to the distribution area of the Funnel Beaker culture but, depending on the different areas mentioned, they clearly differ in terms of construction methods. The predominant construction type is the passage grave. Only a few isolated cases are known to differ from this pattern, the so-called dolmens. This term refers to small chambers which have no further enclosure and an entrance on the short side. This grave type is generally considered to be the oldest form of megalithic constructions in north-western Germany. All remaining graves, i.e., more than 90%, are known as passage graves because they have a passage-like entrance in the middle of the southern long side. Another feature of these graves are oval, rectangular or trapezoidal enclosures consisting of small boulders. Such an enclosure may run closely around the chamber. But other enclosures are exceptionally spacious, measuring more than 100 m in length, while the chambers so enclosed measure less than 10 m in length.



The distribution area of the Funnel Beaker culture ends south of the city of Osnabrück in the Osnabrück hill country, which consists of the foothills of the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills. Only beyond it, on the southern slope of the Teutoburg Forest, do we find some solitary megalithic tombs again. They share construction features both of the passage graves and the Hessian-Westphalian stone cists. They probably belong to the distribution area of the Wartberg culture, the other large Neolithic culture group in Germany, which built megalithic tombs for the burial of their dead. Despite the differences in their tombs, both culture groups can be assumed to have been in close contact with each other because the grave goods of the Funnel Beaker and Wartberg cultures can hardly be distinguished. The significant aspect of this contact area is that it was here that the two most important routes of the expansion of the megalithic culture in central Europe must have met: the culture’s spread to inland areas along a south-western route from France and along the southern Scandinavian coastal strip from Denmark.

@Dartraighe: Where did you copy this from? What are the references?

dartraighe wrote:THE MEGALITH CULTURE IN NORTH-WESTERN GERMANY

In north-western Germany, approximately 400 megalithic tombs, dating to the second half of the fourth millennium, have survived until today. They are located in three central areas between the Weser and Ems rivers:
• north of the city of Osnabrück up to the northern border of the region Osnabrück Land
• in the Emsland district north of the Hase river
• south of the city of Oldenburg in the Wildeshausen Geest area

All tombs belong to the distribution area of the Funnel Beaker culture but, depending on the different areas mentioned, they clearly differ in terms of construction methods. The predominant construction type is the passage grave. Only a few isolated cases are known to differ from this pattern, the so-called dolmens. This term refers to small chambers which have no further enclosure and an entrance on the short side. This grave type is generally considered to be the oldest form of megalithic constructions in north-western Germany. All remaining graves, i.e., more than 90%, are known as passage graves because they have a passage-like entrance in the middle of the southern long side. Another feature of these graves are oval, rectangular or trapezoidal enclosures consisting of small boulders. Such an enclosure may run closely around the chamber. But other enclosures are exceptionally spacious, measuring more than 100 m in length, while the chambers so enclosed measure less than 10 m in length.



The distribution area of the Funnel Beaker culture ends south of the city of Osnabrück in the Osnabrück hill country, which consists of the foothills of the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills. Only beyond it, on the southern slope of the Teutoburg Forest, do we find some solitary megalithic tombs again. They share construction features both of the passage graves and the Hessian-Westphalian stone cists. They probably belong to the distribution area of the Wartberg culture, the other large Neolithic culture group in Germany, which built megalithic tombs for the burial of their dead. Despite the differences in their tombs, both culture groups can be assumed to have been in close contact with each other because the grave goods of the Funnel Beaker and Wartberg cultures can hardly be distinguished. The significant aspect of this contact area is that it was here that the two most important routes of the expansion of the megalithic culture in central Europe must have met: the culture’s spread to inland areas along a south-western route from France and along the southern Scandinavian coastal strip from Denmark.

www.megalithicroutes.eu/i-tyskland1/‎

Ian B wrote:@Dartraighe: Where did you copy this from? What are the references?

As far as I can tell, it's been copied from here:

http://www.aislingmagazine.com/aislingm ... rmany.html

GTC wrote:

Ian B wrote:@Dartraighe: Where did you copy this from? What are the references?

As far as I can tell, it's been copied from here:

http://www.aislingmagazine.com/aislingm ... rmany.html

Thanks GTC. Dartraighe has a history of posting without providing references, suggestive of the fact that he is trying to make us believe it is all his own work. On any other reputable forum, he would be banned.

Ian B wrote:

GTC wrote:

Ian B wrote:@Dartraighe: Where did you copy this from? What are the references?

As far as I can tell, it's been copied from here:

http://www.aislingmagazine.com/aislingm ... rmany.html

Thanks GTC. Dartraighe has a history of posting without providing references, suggestive of the fact that he is trying to make us believe it is all his own work. On any other reputable forum, he would be banned.

I am not trying to make you believe anything and you don't have to read any of my posts so why are you stalking me. I didn't say that I wrote all of the stuff that is my posts. You must be a very insecure person when you need everything verified for you. Have you not got a mind of your own? The fact that a scientist or professor writes something doesn't make it right. He is giving his view on it.