Did they leave or not?

Abstract

One of the key unresolved questions regarding the archaeology of La Tène Europe concerns the continuity of settlement around 400 BC. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the countries north of the Alps, including the Czech Republic, declines during this period – a decline which for decades has generally been attributed to population migration. Demographic growth, climate deterioration, land depletion, disease, and social crisis have all been put forward as reasons for this migration. Our contribution critically reflects on all these alternatives and asks whether there was indeed any significant migration out of Bohemia. We suggest that a reduction in archaeological visibility – the possibility of detecting archaeological traces of human activity – is behind most of the decrease in the number of recorded settlement sites during the transition from LT A to LT B. Some form of social ‘revolution’ is considered the main cause of the changes recorded in this period.

Keywords

• Hallstatt–La Tène transition
• archaeological visibility
• migration
• climate change
• social revolution
• settlement