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The archaeological evidence for Iron Age cultures in the Paris Basin is outlined. The data are heavily weighted to burials, there being little evidence available of settlements, but regional patterns of variation can be recognized. The broader contacts of the region are discussed and the effects of external trade and internally generated pressures on socio-economic systems are considered. Hearst Newspapers Editorial Room 227

SummaryThe three bronze fragments from Lezoux belong to a particular type of cult-wagon manufactured in central Italy in the seventh century B.C. Their presence in Lower Auvergne, together with other largely contemporary Italo-Etruscan bronzes, suggest that they are a result of a commercial exchange in return for tin ores. Such trade links between France and central and northern Italy were close and continuous in the centuries preceding the foundation of Massalia by the Phocaeans in c. 600 B.C. The cult-wagon from Lezoux is a particular central Italian creation drawing on a variety of Urnfield decorative techniques and symbolic motifs from eastern and central Europe. Whether or not the wagon was used at its ultimate destination for the cult practices intended by its creators remains open to debate.

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