An accidental discovery
In 1927, workers constructing a railway in Basse-Yutz, a town in the Lorraine region of France, unearthed a remarkable find. Buried for centuries, and likely part of a dignitary's grave, were two nearly identical bronze flagons. These ceremonial drinking vessels, created around 450 BCE during the La Tène period, are early Celtic art. Standing just over 40 centimeters tall, each flagon was beaten into shape from a single sheet of a copper alloy.
The artists combined local Celtic motifs with styles from other cultures. The flagon's shape is an imitation of Etruscan vessels from Italy. The handle, formed as a lean dog or wolf, has Greek and Etruscan influence. A purely Celtic addition is the cast bronze duck that sits at the end of the long, beaked spout, seemingly ready to swim in the poured liquid. X-ray analysis reveals that the cast pieces, like the handle and spout, were attached to the beaten body using only pins and resin. The inside of each vessel is also coated with resin, making it watertight.
Materials science of the Iron Age
Scientific analysis of the Basse-Yutz Flagons reveals the sophisticated material knowledge and extensive trade networks of the La Tène people. The decorative inlays on the foot and neck, once thought to be enamel, are actually opaque red glass, a complex material for the period. This glass was likely sourced from Asia Minor.
The flagons are also decorated with 120 pieces of coral. This coral originated in the Mediterranean Sea, over 600 kilometers from where the flagons were made and found. Over time, the coral has faded to white, but it would have originally been a bright red, contrasting with the polished bronze and red glass. The copper alloy itself contains tin, an element that Celtic metalsmiths may have acquired from as far away as Cornwall in England. This combination of materials from across Europe and beyond shows that these Iron Age communities were not isolated and were part of a complex system of trade and cultural exchange. The use of tin to create bronze and a resin lining to prevent the contents from reacting with the metal shows a practical understanding of chemistry.