Chantre has shown that the two cultures which he described were existing at the same time, for the graves of one people sometimes contained objects belonging to the culture of the other;[390] not only, then, did the cultures synchronise, but the peoples had come into contact. There is no reason for believing that the Koban folk, militarist though they were, had conquered their humble neighbours. That the reverse had taken place is unthinkable. The evidence suggests that the contact had been peaceful, that trade relations had been established, and perhaps the Koban folk, who appear to have been new-comers in this region, may have taken wives from their neighbours. All this points to the fact that it was in the Koban region that the steppe-folk first learned the use of iron, and that they carried the knowledge of it thence to the Danube basin, rather than that the reverse process took place.
But, it may be asked, how can we be sure that our Koban people are the steppe-folk, who have been the heroes of the last few chapters? Their culture closely resembles that of Hallstatt, which is but a development of the later bronze age culture of Central Europe, and even their earlier graves clearly belong to the same series. This is so obvious that Rostovtzeff is content merely to state that they had come from the west.[391]
It may be well, however, to submit more precise proofs of this origin. During the later bronze age a certain type of pin had been used in Hungary, possibly, as some think, as a hair-pin, but used more probably, as Lissauer has suggested, to fasten the chlamys, toga or plaid, which these steppe-folk appear to have worn. These pins are known to the Germans as Rudernadln[392] and to the French as épingles à raquette.[393] Lissauer recognises five types, which we will distinguish by the letter A to E. A developes into B, and this again into alternative forms, C and E. A also developes by stages, which are at present missing, into D.
FIG. 21.—RACQUET PINS FROM KOBAN.
Now Types A and B have been found in North Italy, Switzerland, Wurtemberg and on the Rhine. They have also been found in Hungary, at Tökés, Gata, Versecz and Butta. Two have been found in Bohemia, at Noutonic and Krendorf, and one at Gaya in Moravia. Thus these two types are fairly well distributed over both halves of the Celtic cradle. Type D has been found at Andrasfalva in Hungary, and at Alt-Bydzow in Bohemia. Besides these several have been found further afield, one at Dexheim in Rhenish Hesse, one at Greisheim in Hesse-Darmstadt and one at Fritzen in East Prussia. Lastly several have been found in the Koban graves,[394] and these are larger and more developed than the others.
This evidence seems to show us that this type of pin was at first well distributed throughout the Celtic cradle, and that the dimensions of the head increased in Hungary and Bohemia. About the time that this later form was in use some kind of exodus took place to various distant places. That one of these expeditions passed to the east, in the direction of south Russia, is clear from the occurrence of this type, in its most developed form, in the Koban graveyards. We can well believe that these emigrants left the Celtic cradle by the Moravian gate, and passed along the more or less open spaces at the northern foot of the Carpathians, to which reference has already been made, and so into the plain of Russia and finally to the foot of the Caucasus. The journey would have been made on horseback, and need not have occupied many weeks so there is no need to expect much evidence from objects lost en route; but, as they must have crossed Podolia on their way to the Koban, it seems probable that it was these emigrants who left at Zavadyntse the sword which was mentioned in a previous chapter, as this is the only example of a Central European sword recorded from the eastern plain. The Podolian sword was of Type E, and this gives us a clue to the date, and will enable us to put together in their proper order these various items of evidence.
