9. The Celts traded with the Greeks
The Hallstatt Celts prospered from farming and industry in their territories. However, commanding commodities like salt opened up trade routes with other lands and cultures. By the sixth century BC, the Greek Dark Age that followed the fall of Mycenae was over, and Greece once again began to expand its territories and establish new trading outposts on the outskirts of the Mediterranean. One of those outposts was Massilia — modern Marseilles —which was developed by Adriatic Greeks. Massilia bordered Celtic territory, and soon a trade route was established along the Rhone between the Greek colony and Hallstatt territory in south-west Germany. The Celts used this route to barter salt and iron for Greek wine, pottery and inadvertently, ideas.
