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.