You are invited to an IIHSA Online Lecture on Thursday, April 28th 2022 at 5.30 pm (Irish time) / 7.30 pm (Greek time) by Professor Bettina Arnold (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

Abstract: The starting point for my talk is a simple question: Without Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus and other early Greek writers would the designation Celtic have become the most frequently encountered ethnonym in the European Union? As an anthropologically trained archaeologist specializing in pre-Roman Iron Age Europe in southwest Germany I have frequently found myself wishing that Herodotus in particular had never existed or at least had confined his observations to first-hand sources of evidence. It is largely due to his geographically challenged assessment of the area surrounding the sources of the Danube River that the early Iron Age hillfort of the Heuneburg, where I have been engaged in fieldwork since 1988, has become seemingly inextricably associated with Herodotus’ Pyrene, for example. That putative identification has resulted in decades of Celtic-themed museum exhibits, documentaries and publications. The most recent manifestation of this phenomenon is the explicit designation, by political fiat, of “Keltenland Baden-Württemberg”: https://www.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilung/pid/auf-dem-weg-zum-keltenland-baden-wuerttemberg/. Professional archaeologists working in this region have long engaged in linguistic code-switching when presenting their research in academic vs. popular contexts (Hallstatt/Eisenzeit vs. Celtic, for example) but the distinction between these terms is becoming increasingly blurred. This presentation will explore the historical and archaeological roots as well as the contemporary political ramifications of playing fast and loose with early Greek sources when interpreting archaeological contexts.