Cult Places at Former Oppida in South‐East Gaul: Questions of Memory, Tradition and Identity

Abstract

This paper offers a new perspective on the reuse of Celtic fortified hilltops by Gallo-Roman shrines. Going beyond the simplistic explanation of continuity, I shall argue for the role of memory in the perception of the landscape and in the location of some Gallo-Roman shrines. This paper opposes the argument for continuity of sacred spaces and Celtic cults during the Roman period despite abandonment of the settlements. The evidence supports a more symbolic protohistoric expression, beyond that attendant on the place of a cult. The continuity concealed breaks, changes and modifications. I put forward the concept of 'fictive continuity', after Hobsbawm. The reclamation of a place of memory assigns a greater visibility to these shrines, enhancing their topographical appearance at the highest points in their respective landscapes, thus enabling the sites to appropriate fully space and place and to ensure cohesion within the community.

Social Change and Metalworking in the Early Iron Age: An Approach From North‐west Iberia

“…The disappearance of simple, multifunctional dwellings in favour of large, complex, and specialized units points to the emergence of inequalities, especially if we consider that the need to define and demarcate one's own domestic space is often related to an increase in social complexity (Gerritsen 2007; Steadman 2015). This is complemented by an early development of settlement planning, a greater degree of productive specialization of certain tasks (such as metallurgy), and giving the practices of religion architectural form helping also to legitimize certain social transformations (Fernández‐Götz and Roymans 2015; Golosetti 2017).…”