6 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Famous Celtic hero bust of the Czech Republic “The head of Mšecké Žehrovice”

Located in the Czech Republic, the Mšecké Žehrovice’s head makes an appealing piece with its delightful curling mustaches- “perhaps the closest thing to a Celtic self-portraiture”.

This Celtic Hero was found during a course of 1943 excavation of an oppidum in Mšecké Žehrovice in central Bohemia, Czech Republic. It was probably created at the end of the third or at beginning of the second century BC. Ever since its discovery in 1943, the head has become one of the icons of Celtic art.

Mšecké Žehrovice’s head is one of the most well-known surviving pieces of Celtic art not just in the Czech Republic, but across Europe.

The Celts were one of the great peoples of antiquity that inhabited much of Western and Central Europe. To their contemporaries, the Romans and the Greeks, they were known as great warriors who carried out deep invasions into Italy, the Balkans, and even modern Turkey.

The Mšecké Žehrovice Head. Photo: National Museum in Prague
The Mšecké Žehrovice Head. Photo: National Museum in Prague

They created art that is now known as “La Tène culture” between the fifth and first centuries BC. It is named after the site of La Tène in Switzerland, where thousands of objects deposited in a lake were found during the 19th century.

The Mšecké Žehrovice Head, also known as The Celtic Hero from Bohemia was probably created at the end of the third or at beginning of the second century BC.

The sculpture was buried in a pit on a southwest corner of a square enclosure located within the oppidum. The stone head, sculpted from local Cretaceous limestone, has a maximum height of 234mm and width of 174mm. The sculpture was broken into at least five pieces sometime in antiquity. Four pieces have been found in fairly good condition.

The Mšecké Žehrovice Head. Photo: National Museum in Prague

The face is quite flattened. Facial features are projected on an almost flat surface surrounded by braid-like shaped hair. It has little combed hairs in the area above the forehead. At the back of the head, the hair appears to be shaved in a tonsure. The most prominent are the bulging oval eyes, contoured by a curvilinear eyebrow matching a similarly imposing curvilinear mustache. The mouth is suggested by a mere downward bending line. The ears are not naturalistic but rather represented as lotus buds, a stylistic form representative of La Tène art. The neck is formed in a shape of a torc, a traditional Celtic necklace.

Unfortunately, some parts of this precious sculpture were never recovered, including the right-hand side of the head and the upper part of the ear.

Along with the Glauberg “Prince” and the Warrior of Hirschlanden, it is one of the most well-known pieces of Celtic art from Iron Age Europe.

Related Articles

Jiroft: The Mysterious Rival of Mesopotamia and the Dawn of an Ancient Civilization

24 March 2025

24 March 2025

Recent archaeological discoveries in southeast Iran are reshaping our understanding of early civilizations, particularly the Jiroft Civilization, which thrived around...

700 Years After Dante’s Death, His Handwritten Notes Are Discovered

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet, and scholar are best known for his masterwork La Commedia (also known as The Divine...

Spain’s little-known Viking history is being uncovered

9 August 2021

9 August 2021

Spain has been subjected to more invasions and conquests than any other European country. And, while the Roman, Visigothic, and...

The Nightmare of the Roman Soldiers “Carnyx”

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

The Carnyx was a brass musical instrument used as a psychological weapon of war by the ancient Celts between 300...

Ancient Greeks Built a Road to Haul Cargo Overland: The Father of the Railway: Diolkos

6 May 2024

6 May 2024

The Diolkos, an ambitious road that crossed the entire Isthmus of Corinth and was partially paved with stone, was built...

Khirbet Midras pyramid and  Archaeological Site in Israel

28 November 2022

28 November 2022

Khirbet Midras (Arabic) or Horvat Midras (Hebrew) is one of several antiquities sites located within the Adullam Grove National Park,...

Incredible Mayan Inventions and Achievements

31 July 2022

31 July 2022

The Mayans excelled at agriculture, pottery, writing, calendars, and arithmetic, leaving an incredible quantity of spectacular architecture and symbolic artwork...

Clarifying The Complexities Of Communication Across Millennia In Mesoamerica

20 February 2022

20 February 2022

The long-held consensus that the more populated and “civilized” a society, the more complex their communication may be more nuanced...

Unique work of Minoan art, the Pylos Combat Agate must be the David of the Prehistoric era

21 November 2021

21 November 2021

Found in a Greek tomb dating back 3,500 years, the artifact is so well designed that it looks as lively...

The Kyrgyz epic ‘Manas’ manuscripts were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World

10 June 2023

10 June 2023

Manuscripts of the Kyrgyz epic “Manas” by narrator Sagymbay Orozbakov have been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World...

Foundations laid with human blood “Foundation sacrifices”

5 September 2021

5 September 2021

The custom of sacrificing a human being at the erection of a new house or fortress is very old. Foundation...

“Oracle Bone Inscriptions”, the world’s oldest writing system that has not disappeared in history

5 June 2023

5 June 2023

“Jiaguwen,” or the oracle bone inscriptions, are thought to be the earliest fully-developed characters as well as the source of...

The World’s Largest Pyramid Is Hidden Within a Hill in Mexico

8 October 2022

8 October 2022

The largest and tallest pyramids in the world are incredible feats of design, engineering, and construction. The Great Pyramid of...

Sacred Seduction: Kamasutra Feminism and the Legacy of Ancient Erotic Temples

8 April 2025

8 April 2025

For many, the Kamasutra is merely a name linked to condom brands and erotic chocolates, often dismissed as just a...

Balkanatolia: The Forgotten Continent That Sheds Light On The Evolution Of Mammals

25 February 2022

25 February 2022

A team of French, American and Turkish paleontologists and geologists led by CNRS researchers has discovered the existence of a...