The bronze age and the Celtic world - Universal History Library

THE WANDERINGS OF THE WIROS 159
to roam the steppes of Turkestan, and eventually to cross the Volga into South Russia,
where they occupied the plain as far west as the foot of the Carpathians/"
We may now for a time leave the Asiatic sections and concentrate our attention
upon those Wiros who entered what we have termed the Celtic cradle. Some passed
into the mountain zone, where others had arrived before them, and made themselves
lords of the settled agricultural Alpine lake-villages ; these were the proto-Celts.
Others seem to have remained in the plain of Hungary, continuing perhaps their
former nomadic life. These, who had spread into the basin of the Morava, became the
Thraco-Phrygian group. Between these two, in the lower valleys of the Drave and
the Save, in Croatia and perhaps in Bosnia, were a third group, who may be termed
proto-Itahc. It must not be taken for granted that from the time of their arrival these
three groups were quite sharply separated. We have seen, however, that the division
of the people of the plain and the mountain zones arose quite early, largely from the
difference between their modes of life. It is probable that many dialects arose, and
that by degrees some of the mountain Wiros extended to the south-east, even as far as
Herzegovina, and these gradually became separated from the main body of their
fellows. The main group developed Celtic dialects, and south-eastern group Itahc, though
both, it must be remembered, spoke Q tongues.
Soon after 1500 B.C., when the first leaf-shaped sword, Type A, had been
evolved, some Wiros seem to have passed over the mountains into the FriuU. It may
have been merely a raid or a trading venture, but the Treviso specimen suggests that
these swords had remained in use and had developed into a local type, so that it is
possible that we may see in this, evidence of a small migration of Wiros through the
Friuli to settle in the Veneto. The evidence is admittedly sUght, but it seems to point
to the introduction at this time into the regions lying at the head of the Adriatic of the
Venetian dialects, which appear to be more archaic in form than the other Itahc tongues.
During the Type B period, between 1450 and 1400 B.C., we have evidence of a
northward movement to Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland, and the fact that these
Type B swords continue in the north an independent development suggests that the
party who carried them thither were not engaged in a temporary raid. I am inchned
Minns (1913) 36-39, 102, 115.