The Iron Age (1000 – 15 BC)

Around 800 BC people in Central Europe fully mastered iron metallurgy and started using the material more and more for producing weapons and tools. In the southern Alpine valleys, economic and cultural links with neighbouring  cultures, especially with those towards the south, grew in importance. This is reflected by the occurrence of numerous imported goods at finds. The early Iron Age around 550 BC continued to be defined by the Laugen-Melaun culture. In the Late Iron Age it was succeeded by the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture. Its main proponents were the Raetians, though there were also strong Etruscan and Celtic influences during this late phase.