ABSTRACT
In the older traditional framework represented by Jacobsthal and de Navarro (1952) insular Celtic art would have been expected to reflect the Continental sequence of styles, albeit in diluted form appropriate to its peripheral position in Europe. In reality, while insular La Tène styles may indeed display characteristics analogous to Continental fashions, relatively few objects can be regarded as actual imports, and the parade armour and prestige products of the middle to late pre-Roman Iron Age in particular testify to the independence and quality of the insular artistic tradition. The absence from Britain of an Early Style manifesting itself in the translation of classical or Etruscan plant friezes or motifs in the manner of the middle Rhine or Champagne does not mean that it cannot be represented by other aspects of Early Style art, including compass-drawn geometric and open-work techniques not unlike those of Continental Europe. The ‘Developed Styles’, Waldalgesheim or Vegetal, are likewise sparsely represented in insular art, though we have remarked examples like the Standlake scabbard that reflect quite closely Continental fashions of the fourth century. Thereafter, there are also regional traditions in Britain and Ireland of embellishing sword scabbards with engraved ornament that should certainly be seen as cognate to those of Central and Eastern Europe, occasionally suggesting long-distance contacts among technicians and artists. Equally the concept of ‘plastic’ or three-dimensional relief ornament is fundamental to insular metal-working of the later pre-Roman Iron Age, though few examples accord closely to the Continental Plastic Style. In sum, insular La Tène art developed independently from, parallel to and doubtless occasionally in contact with and drawing influences from, its Continental neighbours.
