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2,200-year-old 'complex and delicate' Celtic warrior charm is evidence of sophisticated metalworking in the Iron Age
Archaeologists discovered a 2,200-year-old bronze warrior charm while excavating an ancient Celtic town in Germany.
Archaeologists have discovered a small, bronze charm depicting a Celtic warrior, complete with a shield and a sword, while digging at an ancient settlement in Germany. The figurine, which dates to the third century B.C., is evidence of sophisticated metalworking in the Iron Age (800 to 50 B.C.).
Excavations at the Celtic city of Manching in Bavaria took place from 2021 to 2024, according to a statement from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (BLfD). Manching is one of the largest ancient settlements north of the Alps, but less than 15% of it has been studied archaeologically. So far, researchers have recovered more than 40,000 artifacts from Manching, including the striking bronze figurine.
"The Celts were known fighters at that time," Mathias Pfeil, the curator general at BLfD, said in a translated interview. "And the descriptions are now confirmed by this small, bronze statue."
The solid-bronze artifact is 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) tall and weighs 1.9 ounces (55 grams). It was made with the lost wax casting process, which involves creating a detailed wax model of an object, embedding that in clay, melting the wax, and pouring molten bronze into the void. The result is a "complex and delicate" figurine with an attached ring for hanging on a chain, according to the BLfD.
Although the Celts are sometimes imagined as having fought naked to intimidate their enemies, they were likely protected by helmets and chain mail.
"We see a warrior in a very dynamic pose with a typical Celtic shield," along with a short sword, Pfeil said. "The equipment was as we know it from descriptions," which makes this Celtic warrior a unique find.
Further scientific evaluation is planned for all of the artifacts discovered at Manching, which began as a settlement at the end of the fourth century B.C. and was gradually abandoned in the middle of the first century B.C.
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Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
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