The Celts are the fi rst ethnic group north of the Alps whose name
is known. They dwelled in Moravia during last four centuries before
the turn of the millennium (Latène Period). The burial ground excavated
in 1941 on the occasion of the construction of the cargo station in Brno-
Maloměřice was theirs. The most important fi nd on the necropolis with
nearly 80 skeleton graves from the period between the end of the 4th and
the fi rst quarter of the 3rd century BP is the unique collection of bronze
fi ttings applied originally on a wooden jug. Individual parts present many
fi gures belonging to basic elements of the artistic expression of the Celts
and refl ecting their religious concepts. The jug itself is one of the most
beautiful and most important chefs d’oeuvre of Celtic art.
In the fi rst centuries of the new era, Celtic tribes on our territory were
replaced with a new German population and Moravia got into the immediate
vicinity of the expanding Roman Empire. The rich grave discovered on
the cadaster of Mušov in 1988 is considered the most important fi nd from
that period called Roman Period (1st – 4th century AD). A romanized
German king, descendant of an old prince or royal family was buried in
it; previously the family had reliably served Roman authorities that in turn
could infl uence the installment of the descendant of this family.
The Period of Migration of Nations (late 4th – fi rst half of the 6th
century AD) is characterized with mighty waves of ethnic movements
initiated by the pressure of the Huns on populations in Eastern Europe.
In the exhibition, this period is represented with a rich prince grave
unearthed during the probing excavation beneath the Cézavy hill
near Blučina in 1953. A man of some 40 years was buried there with
extraordinary rich burial equipment. The whole unusually rich collection
bears witness of the exceptional position of the dead that undoubtedly
belonged to the elite of the German society – he was probably one
of the “small” Barbarian kings from the tribe of Herules being a part
of the leading social layer of Attila’s empire; he died between 450 and
480 AD.
