The krater from Vix and the travel report of Pytheas of Marseilles – travels of Greek merchants via the river Rhône to Britain in the 6th to 4th centuries BC

Abstract

In the Hallstatt period the river Seine was navigable downstream of the Mont Lassois. It is demonstrated that Greeks did not ship the krater of Vix to its place of destination complete but in pieces, for only thus could it be transported on pack animals on the relatively short overland route from the Saône to the Seine. About 200 years later Pytheas of Marseilles also mentions transportation on pack animals in connection with the Greek tin trade from Cornwall through Gaul. Because of the bridle paths connecting the upper reaches of the rivers, this tin trade using the waterways as much as possible could not be managed by the Greeks with their own vessels. Instead they depended on the help of native boatmen. The krater of Vix, which could be dismantled, was a unique product specially made for the dynasty of the Mont Lassois, and probably a diplomatic gift through which in c. 530 BC the Greeks initiated this cooperation of transport by native boatmen to the tin market in Cornwall. On his »voyages of discovery« Pytheas himself also depended on the native boatmen for a ride. As their sailing range is well documented by the distribution of imported goods, earlier and too far-fetched speculation as to his destinations is no longer tenable. He did not venture further than Heligoland (Abalus) in the East and the Shetland Islands (Thule) in the North. New aspects of the relationship between Greeks and Celts are also presented.