The concept that the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures could be seen not just as chronological periods but as "Culture Groups", entities composed of people of the same ethnicity and language, started to grow by the end of the 19th century.
Ko je Johann Ramsauer leta 1846 odkril prazgodovinsko pokopališče v Hallstatu, leta 1857 pa Hansli Kopp še najdišče La Tène, se je pozornost zgodovinarjev preusmerila na vzhod.