Archaeologists working near Erdőbénye have discovered a Celtic spear and shield fittings among a collection of Iron Age artefacts, providing new evidence of Celtic communities in north-eastern Hungary during an era marked by migration, warfare and expansion across Europe.
A rare collection of Celtic weaponry has been discovered near Erdőbénye in north-eastern Hungary, where archaeologists and volunteers are conducting a long-term investigation into the region’s ancient landscape.
The most striking finds are a Celtic spear and what the Hungarian National Museum describes as a complete shield assemblage, discovered lying together in the ground.
Numerous other metal objects and fragments of pottery were recovered during fieldwork in September, but researchers have singled out the weapons as the most significant discovery.
According to the museum, this is the first known find of its kind from the Erdőbénye area and could provide important new evidence for the presence of Celtic communities in the region during the Iron Age.
The discovery is particularly significant because archaeological evidence for Celtic settlement in this part of Hungary remains relatively scarce. Previous excavations elsewhere in north-eastern Hungary have uncovered Late Iron Age cemeteries and artefacts associated with Celtic communities that settled in the region during the fourth and third centuries BC.
Celts arrive in the Carpathian Basin
The weapons belong to a broader archaeological story of Celtic expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.
During the fourth century BC, Celtic groups associated archaeologically with the La Tène culture expanded into the Carpathian Basin, including the territory of modern Hungary.
This movement formed part of a much wider period of Celtic expansion across Europe during the fourth and third centuries BC. Communities established themselves in new territories bordering the Greek and Roman worlds, while Celtic warriors also participated in military expeditions and served as mercenaries.
The spear and shield remains from Erdőbénye therefore come from a cultural environment in which weapons could carry significance beyond their immediate function in combat. Determining precisely why the newly discovered objects were deposited together, however, will require further archaeological analysis.
The era of the Celtic Wars
The centuries surrounding Celtic settlement of the Carpathian Basin were also characterised by numerous conflicts sometimes broadly described as the Celtic Wars, although the term does not refer to a single continuous conflict.
Celtic expansion brought different groups into confrontation with Mediterranean powers and neighbouring peoples. In 390 or 387 BC, according to differing ancient chronologies, a Celtic army defeated the Romans at the Battle of the Allia before entering and sacking much of Rome.
During the following century, Celtic expansion increasingly turned towards the Balkans. In 279 BC, Celtic forces invaded Greece and advanced towards the sanctuary at Delphi. Other groups crossed into Asia Minor, where they eventually became known as the Galatians.
The Carpathian Basin occupied an important geographical position during these movements, connecting Celtic communities of Central Europe with routes leading towards the Balkans and Greek world.
Archaeological discoveries in Hungary have provided evidence of these wider connections. Imported Mediterranean objects found in Celtic contexts demonstrate contact between communities in the Carpathian Basin and societies farther south, although individual objects could have arrived through trade, exchange, migration or warfare.
Meanwhile, Rome fought repeated conflicts against Celtic peoples in northern Italy and elsewhere. Roman expansion gradually reduced Celtic political independence in many regions, culminating in Julius Caesar's conquest of much of Gaul between 58 and 50 BC.
Warfare was only one element of Celtic expansion, however. Migration, settlement, trade, agriculture and interaction with existing populations were also fundamental to the spread and development of La Tène culture.
The Erdőbénye weapons could therefore contribute to a more local question: how Celtic communities living in north-eastern Hungary participated in the wider transformations taking place across Iron Age Europe.
Community archaeology reveals Iron Age landscape
Archaeological topographical research around Erdőbénye has been under way since 2024 through collaboration between institutions, specialists and local volunteers.
The project aims to systematically map the area's archaeological heritage while revisiting previously identified sites and locating new ones.
Researchers conduct fieldwalking and metal-detector surveys to establish how successive communities occupied and used the surrounding landscape. Recording the precise locations and archaeological contexts of finds is particularly important because objects discovered together can reveal considerably more than isolated artefacts.
The position of the newly discovered spear and shield remains, their relationship to one another and other material recovered nearby could eventually help archaeologists establish why the weapons were placed together.
Further analysis should also allow researchers to establish their date and archaeological context more precisely.
For archaeologists, the discovery offers a potentially important addition to the evidence for Celtic communities in north-eastern Hungary — and another piece of a much larger story of migration, conflict and cultural exchange that transformed Europe during the Iron Age.
Sources : Hungarian National Museum