Keltisk eller Førromersk? En undersøgelse af periodebetegnelser i dansk jernalderarkæologi

Celtic or Pre-Roman Iron Age? An examination of period designations in Danish Iron Age archaeology. Historically, the subject of archaeological period terminology has not been under much scrutinization. This article presents a short formatted taxonomical division of the names of the archaeological periods. The taxa, of which there are five, can be summarized as material based, based on a locus classicus, typological, ethnic and popular based names. This gives rise to the question of why the Pre-Roman Iron Age is named as it is. Based on the observed taxonomical structure, the Pre-Roman Period should have an ethnic-based term. Semantically viewed, the name is uncharacteristic and is just an identifier of it being a part of the Iron Age prior to the Romans. Although an ethnic name does exist, the Celtic Iron Age, it is seldom used, and especially avoided by professional archaeologists. This article examines this discrepancy, and further looks into the consequence of the period´s uncharacteristic terminology.