Syllabus
1. Introduction to Hallstatt Period 1 ‒ West Hallstatt and East Hallstatt cultures
2. Introduction to Hallstatt Period 2 ‒ Mediterranean, Black Sea, the Near East
3. Society of the Hallstatt Period ‒ the highest social units: elites
4. Burials of elites ‒ magnate mounds and graves
5. Burial sites of the Horákov and Platěnice groups of the East-Hallstatt culture
6. Settlements of the Hallstatt Period ‒ lowland settlements and homesteads
7. Hilltop settlement of the Hallstatt Period ‒ hillforts
8. Mining, production and production sites of th Hallstatt Period
9. Hoards as a phenomenon of the Platěnice group of the East Hallstatt culture
10. Central cave sanctuary Habrůvka ‒ "Býčí skála"
11. Interregional contacts ‒ commodities, trade and its actors
12. Late Hallstatt Period and transition in to the Early La Tène Period
13. Other phenomena of Hallstatt society - religion, situlae art, music, writing, etc.
Annotation
The Hallstatt Period (Early Iron Age; 800‒450 BC; Ha C1‒D3) is not only a period of common use of new and easily available domestic metal ‒ iron, but also the continuation of extensive socio-economic changes. The chief society of the "early Celts" is visibly stratified and there is a gradual political assertion of individuals and their communities ‒ centralization processes. Privileged male and female magnates (at a higher level of development of the society princes and princesses) accumulating in their hands power and wealth, which is unevenly represented in the landscape. The prominent magnate layer stands on top of the social pyramid, using its wealth and religious activities to strengthen its status and consolidate power.
The course focuses on the period since the beginning of the Hallstatt Period in Moravia as a model region. Moravia
(eastern part of the Czech Republic) has absorbed, mixed and created new cultural settings by its location at the crossroads of the Pannonian-Elbe (East-West direction) and Amber Roads (from the North from the Baltic Sea to the South to the Adriatic), it became a scene of change or a buffer zone between the autochthonous population and nomads or neighboring semi-settled/migratory cultures. It is therefore necessary to study this area with an overlap into the surrounding regions, especially Bohemia, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Austria, Slovakia and others, with an emphasis on connecting with the Mediterranean. The course also outlines the contrast between the previous Urnfield Period (1300–800 BC) and especially its conclusion, studied Hallstatt Period, passes in the Early
La Tène Period (450–375 BC). It deals with the phenomena of the studied period, presents individual partial issues as complete blocks. The most important sites, characteristics, their dating and periodization, artifacts connected with the issue (material sources) and especially the socio-economic importance will be presented within the individual lecture blocks.