ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

La Tène culture

Well kiddo, La Tène culture is a name given to a group of people who lived long, long ago in Europe. These people lived around 450 BC to 100 AD, which is a really long time ago. They were very interesting because they had some new ideas that made their way of life different from others at that time.

Their name La Tène comes from the place where archaeologists first found something that belonged to these people – it was a cool metal helmet that had some unique designs on it. These designs were sort of curvy and had spirals and other flowing shapes. And this is one thing that made the La Tène culture special – they loved to make things that had these types of designs – not just helmets, but also things like jewelry, weapons, and even everyday things like pots and pans.

The La Tène people also lived in some very nice places. They built some of their homes on platforms that stood over lakes. This made them safe from their enemies and gave them some protection. They also had these huge hill forts – which are like castles up on a hill – that they used to store food and also to protect their people.

But the La Tène people weren’t just good at making nice things and living in cool places, they were also very skilled in a lot of other things. For example, they were really good at making iron tools that helped them with farming and building their homes.

They were also very creative when it came to language – they used symbols and pictures to write things down. These symbols were called runes and they were like our alphabet but with pictures instead of letters. The La Tène people used these runes to write down important things like stories and also to keep track of important dates.

So, in summary, La Tène culture was a group of people who lived long ago in Europe. They were really good at making things with fancy designs, living in cool places like castles, and making useful tools. They also had a unique way of writing using symbols and pictures called runes.