An Early Linguistic Boundary? Archaeology and the Cultural Territories of Our Regions in the Iron Age

Abstract

Research conducted in recent years on the late Iron Age in our regions—focusing on the Aduatuci, Condrusi, and Eburoni based on archaeological data—has revealed striking contrasts between the north and south of present-day Belgium. These differences pertain to material traditions and trade with neighboring regions as well as land-use patterns and certain religious practices. Archaeology thus appears to reveal an ancient cultural boundary between the Celts and the Germanic peoples—one that historical geography had previously struggled to identify—and which is corroborated by linguistic evidence. Even more remarkable is that this boundary appears to have persisted in another form during the Gallo-Roman period, to the point where it is legitimate to wonder whether its location along the current linguistic border could be anything other than a mere coincidence…

Fanny Martin is a National Professor of Archaeology at the University of Namur and a specialist in Belgian protohistory. She received the 2018 Joseph-Edmond Marchal Prize from the Royal Academy of Belgium (Class of Fine Arts).