Garam Éva szerk.: Between East and West - History of the peoples living in hungarian lands (Guide to the Archaeological Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum; Budapest, 2005)

HALL 5 - The Celts (450 B.C.-turn of the millennium) (Miklós Szabó)

62. Bronze deer figurine from Rákos. 2nd century B.C. 63. Painted clay vase from B udapest-Békásmegyer. 1st century B.C. the coin hoard from Egyházasdengeleg, containing Audoleon type silver coins, was hidden in a clay vessel which can be dated to the 3rd century. (Audoleon was the ruler of Paeonia, a kingdom bordering on Macedonia.) Initially modelled on Macedonian prototypes, Celtic coinage soon became independent of these southern coins, and as their experience of minting grew, the Celts' designs became more original, evolving into an independent branch of Celtic art. The distribution of early Celtic coins was restricted to the territory controlled by the tribes which issued them. They played a minor role only as a yardstick of value in trade. The silver coins worth six drachmas of the Pannonian Boii were probably minted in the tribe's central oppidum in Pozsony; the mint reached the height of its activity during the second quarter of the 1st century B.C. The legends on these coins, written with Latin letters, include sixteen personal names, most frequently Biatec, after whom this coin type was named. It has been suggested that the names denoted the officials supervising minting. The appearance and wide circulation of Regöly and Dunaszekcső type bronze coins replacing the earlier "tribal" coins signalled the onset of a genuine monetary economy. The gradual spread of Roman coins can also be noted at the time of the oppidum culture, as can the appearance of Celtic copies of Roman republican denarii towards the end of the La Tène period. The legend on the coins minted by the Eraviscans contained the name of this tribe, written as RAVIS or RAVISCI. The gold and silver jewellery in the Szárazd-Regöly hoard (Fig. 64) is an excellent illustration of how the La Tène style was combined with the filigree and granulation technique adopted from the Balkans. The masked beads illustrate another instance of how diverse traditions were blended. The hoard which came to light in the late 19th century was probably a votive deposit from a sanctuary near the oppidum at Regöly.