Fitz Jenő (szerk.): The Celts in Central Europe - István Király Múzeum közelményei. A. sorozat 20. A Pannon konferenciák aktái 2. (Székesfehérvár, 1975)
B. Jovanović: The Scordisci and their art
TM E SCOR DISCI ANI) THEIR AHT The findings on the territory of the Scordisci which could be categorized as works of art are very meager even if we assign the broadest possible definition to „works of art.” In general La Tène objects from the Yugoslav Danube area were produced in uniform, standardized types and in great quantity which is a basic feature of this period. But some of these objects, whether metal or ceramic ware, are very often decorated in a complex style and design and are different from the usual and widely adopted patterns of La Tène art. Even without a close analysis, the explanation for this difference may be sought in the origin of the Scordisci, the most southerly of the Eastern Celtic tribes)1). Emerging upon the historical scene relatively late bearing news of the severe defeat at Delphi to the Celtic groups in the Central Danube Basin, the Scordisci did not hold aloof from the indigenous population — the Thracians, Illyrians, the Pannonians, and at the end, the Dacians. Historical sources agree that the Scordisci were not a pure Gallic tribe, but were a tightly knit warrior community maintaining reciprocal relations and alliances with the protohistorical population of the Balkan-Danube regions: the form of their organization must then have been some kind of intertribal federation. This military federation is represented in the sources as one of the most powerful obstacles to Roman penetration of the Balkans in the second and first centuries BC. The Scordisci must then have developed some corres(1) F. Papazoulu, Srednjobalkanska plemena u predrirnsko doba. Sarajevo 1969, 265 — 272; B. Gavela, Keltski oppidum Éidovar. Beograd, 1952, 51 —54 ; M. GaraSantn, K o konfrontaciji pisanih i arheoloskih izvora o Keltima u naSoj zemlji. Materijali III, Beograd, 1966, 17 — 26 ; B. Jovanovic, Early Iron Age, The Union of tribes of Scordisci during the prehistoric period in Vojvodina. Prehistory of Vojvodina. in print. ponding and special characteristics in their material culture. Thus we arrive at the question of a genuine Scordisci art, the existence of which has not yet been established although one may cite an outstanding example as an argument in favor of their distinctive creative work. This is the well known and exhaustively discussed Gundestrup cauldron with a decorative frieze, whose exact provenance remains unknown(-). Nevertheless, most of the attributions focus on that area of the Danube where La Tène mythology and artistic imagination might have been enriched by contact with the silver working experience of Thracian-Dacian groups whose art reveals Greek-Asia M inor origins!3). If the Gundestrup cauldron is connected with the Scordisci (since they come the closest to fulfilling these conditions), then further research in the art of this mixed La Tène tribe is completely justified. It he Scordisci produced this first class work, they must have created others — less important but more numerous. To start with we must go back to the broad outline of what is already generally known about the art of the Eastern Celts with its noticeable influences from the Mediterranean and from local Scythian, Thracian, and Dacian surrounding)4). The territory of the Scordisci may be divided into areas of Iltyrian- Pannonian and Dacian-Thracian influence)5). It is (2) S. Piggott, Ancient Europe. Edinburgh, 1965, 226; O. Klindt-Jensen, The Gundestrup Howl: a Reassessment. Antiquity, XXXIII, 1959, 161—169; \T. Sandars, Prehistoric Art in Europe. Harmondsworth, 1968, 253 — 257. (3) D. Berciit, Arta Traco-Getică. Bucareşti, 1969, 183-201. (4) M. Szabó, Sur les traces des Celtes en Hongrie. Budapest, 1971, 55 — 63. (5) M. GaraSanin, Praistorija na tlu SR Srbije. Beograd, 1973, 537 — 539; J. Todorovic, Kelti u jugoistocnoj Evropi. Beograd, 1968, 106 — 108. 107
