The article deals with the iconography of the Celtic coins which come from the South-Eastern Europe. Main attention is paid to the coins found in the Trans-Carpathian region of Ukraine. The aim of this article is to shed light on symbolism of the Celtic coins, in particular on a horse-rider figure on the reverse of these coins. Research methodology is based on the structuralist approach. The scientific novelty. The author shows how the imagery of the coins was connected to the Celtic religious beliefs and cults. The Celtic issues from the Trans-Carpathian region were derived chiefly from the coins of Philip II and Audoleon. A horse-rider image is present on almost all of the Celtic coins from the Trans-Carpathian area and nearby regions. While on most of coins the rider’s figure is highly schematized, some of them contain a detailed image of a female figure. There is no reason to suggest that the Celtic women used to lead their communities or were widely involved in the warfare as military leaders or individual fighters. At the same time, their significance in the religious and ideological spheres of warfare was great. One can assume that the horse-rider depicted on the Celtic coins was considered rather as an image of deity associated with war, fertility and horse-breeding. It is highly probable that this deity in fact was Epona or other related goddess. The coins were widely used in both trade and ritual practices. In particular, the Classical sources mention the Celtic ritual of devotion of coins to the goddess of hunting. The findings of coins with chop-marks, similar to those found in the Gallic and Gallo-Roman sanctuaries, should be mentioned in this context as well.

The studies on the Iron Age Celtic warfare usually tend to put together three types of data: Greek and Roman literary sources, iconographic artefacts as well as the archaeological materials. In reality, we have at least two different images of the Celtic warfare. The Classical historians and artisans who pursued some political aims describing the Celtic warriors had constructed the first one. Another one had been created by the Celts themselves, who practiced their burial rite in accordance with the Iron Age religious beliefs. While the “real” Celtic warfare can hardly be reconstructed, the author focuses on the comparison of the two “ideal” images just outlined. According to the Classical sources, dozens of thousands of the Celtic warriors had attacked the civilized nations. In case of victory, the Celts used to cut off heads of their vanquished enemies and made mass suicides in case of their own defeat. They went into battle naked to demonstrate their rage and fearlessness, but they were unable to countervail the light infantry armed with missiles. The Celtic weapons had been huge, but poorly made. While the archaeology attests the usage of war chariots by the Celts, the Greek historiographers avoided to mention this type of military equipment for it had been considered an attribute of gods and epic heroes. While the Celtic war-bands were usually described as the disordered hordes, some passing remarks by Livy and Caesar give reason to suggest that the Celtic infantry was versatile enough to fight in both close formation and open order. The image of the Celts as the nomadic warrior people seems to be no more than the historiographic cliché. Recent strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of the La Tène cemeteries suggests that only a small part of the community took part in the population movements. The Greek and Roman artists embodied the above-mentioned stereotypes in their works. They used to depict the Celts as the men with athletic figures, specific “barbarian” haircuts and the moustache. Typical Celtic warrior in the Greek and Roman iconography had been depicted as the naked infantryman, armed with the sword and the shield, who stood against either the fully armed hoplite or cavalryman. The artists rarely reproduced the authentic appearance of the Celtic weapons, with exception of the oval shields and sword-belts, which were considered as the ethnographic markers of the Celts. The author argues that while the Celtic military equipment fitted mainly for the hand-to-hand clashes, the findings of the javelins in the La Tène burials are far from being seldom. Similarly, large amount of the fibulae in the male graves may indicate that the nudity in combat was exotic custom not only for the Greeks and Romans, but also for the Celts themselves. Judging from the archaeological finds, the typical Celtic warrior was an infantryman armed with a single multipurpose spear and an oval shield. The sword was an elite weapon of the chieftains, high-ranked warriors, equestrians etc. Special attention in the article is paid to the nomenclature of the Celtic weapons used in the Classical sources. The author comes to a conclusion that the words of the Celtic origin gaesum and matara (mandaris) widely used by the Greek and Roman authors originally referred to the multipurpose spear designed for the hand-to-hand fight. While the Greeks used a specific term thureos to define the Celtic shield, the Romans used the word scutum for both their own semi-cylindrical composite rectangular shield and the simply constructed Celtic oval shield. Similarly, both Greeks and Romans had not developed a specific term to define the Celtic long slashing sword, although the swords used by the Greeks and Romans themselves differed significantly from their Celtic counterparts.

The paper reveals the history of photographic exhibitions which were held in Kyiv from the mid-19th

The origin and widespread of ethnic and cultural entities, such as the Celts, Germans, Slavs, Scythians etc. remain an essential problem for both archaeologists and linguists. The article reassesses the main concepts of the Iron Age Celtic origin, including the traditional “Celts from Central Europe” approach, “the Celts from West” hypothesis, as well as the most recent assumptions according to which the Celts were just a historiographic cliché produced by the Classical authors. It seems that neither of these concepts could be accepted as an explanation of the Celtic origin; however, it is still possible to find common ground in understanding the “Celtic phenomenon” by synthesizing the disciplines of history, linguistics, archaeology, and population genetics. First of all, the Classical authors indeed used to attach an ethnic label Celts/Galatians/Gauls to various groups of population in Europe. However, there is no doubt that most of these groups in fact used some Celtic dialects. As far as the ethnic name Celts/Galatians/Gauls comes from the Celtic languages, it is highly likely that it was used by the Celts themselves at least to some extent (for example, as a sign of belonging to certain social group). Despite the concept of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures seems to be outdated, the archaeology still proves that most of the “Celtic tribes” shared some common features of craftsmanship, art, religious beliefs, and rituals. At the same time, genetic studies and isotope analyzes of the remains of buried at the Hallstatt and La Tène cemeteries in various regions of Europe, clearly show that there were no major migrations of population during the Iron Age which potentially could lead to the emergence of Celts as a distinct ethnic group. There were rather small-scale migrations and social contacts (i. e., marriage, fosterage etc.), as well as an exchange of goods, technologies and ideas that played a crucial role in widespread of the Celtic identity. The author puts forward an idea that the Celticness once became a prestigious cultural concept for social elite of distinct groups of the barbaric population throughout the Europe.

The article deals with the early history of photographic industry in Kyiv as a complex cultural phenomenon. Special attention is focused on the portrait photography as a ‘technology of memory’. It involves methods of social history of art, prosopography and visual anthropology. The study is based on the wide scope of archival documents, including the correspondence of publishing facilities inspector, who supervised the photographic activity in Kyiv from 1888 to 1909. By the early 20th century, making, collecting, displaying and exchanging the photographic portraits became an important memorial practice for townspeople throughout the world. In the pre-WWI Kyiv dozens of ateliers produced photographic portraits in large quantities. While the urbanization and economic growth boosted migration activity and washed out traditional family and neighborhood networks, the photography provided an instrument for maintaining emotional connections between people. The author emphasizes the role of a professional photographer who acted as a maker of ‘memory artifacts’ for individuals and families and, therefore, established aesthetic standards for their private visual archives. It is stated that the professional photography played a noticeable role in modernization and westernization of Kyiv. With its relatively low barrier to entry, it provided a professionalization opportunity for women, representatives of the lower social classes or discriminated ethnic groups (such as Poles after the January Insurrection, and Jews). While working in a competitive environment, photographers had to adopt new technologies, improve business processes and increase their own educational level. At the same time, their artistic freedom was rather limited. The style of photographic portrait was inherited from the Eighteen and Nineteen-century academic art, so it is usually hard to distinguish photographic portraits made in Kyiv or in any other European city of that period. Body language of models, their clothing and personal adornments as well as studio decorations and accessories aimed to construct the image of successful individuals, faithful friends, closely tied family members with their own strictly defined social roles etc. The old-fashioned style of the early twentieth century portraiture shaped the visual aesthetics of photographic portrait that was noticeable enough even several decades later.