Five Rare Iron Shackles Unearthed, Illuminating Celtic Slave Trade in Ancient France

Archaeologists have uncovered five pairs of iron shackles at a 2,300‑year‑old Celtic settlement in Allonnes, Loire Valley, France. The find, disclosed on July 9 by the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), points to a community that attracted skilled metalworkers and potentially engaged in slave trading.

Allonnes, established in the third century B.C., featured a religious complex and small workshops where artisans such as blacksmiths, coppersmiths, bronze workers and sheet‑metal workers practiced their crafts. In addition to a wealth of high‑quality metal objects—including swords, spearheads, keys and horse‑harness fittings—the excavation revealed a double‑wrist restraint, an ankle restraint and three other components of metal restraints.

The presence of the shackles suggests that Allonnes may have functioned as a hub for the slave trade during the Late Iron Age (450‑50 B.C.), according to the statement. “Identification of restraints and weapons indicates a hierarchical social organization where dominant and subordinate groups existed—prisoners or slaves,” noted Thierry Lejars, a specialist in Celtic metalwork.

While the Gauls, a loose association of Celtic tribes, are known to have enslaved prisoners of war, convicts, and debtors, limited historical records mean little is known about pre‑Roman Gaulish slavery. The Allonnes shackles provide tangible evidence of the lives of people often omitted from written accounts.

The small diameter of the wrist restraint—2.4 inches (6 cm)—suggests it may have been used on a woman or child, while the ankle restraint weighed over 2.2 pounds (1 kg), underscoring the burdens carried by enslaved individuals, the statement added.

The excavation also uncovered a religious sanctuary, complete with offerings such as clothing, jewelry, rings, and amulets. Many of these items were deliberately deformed or mutilated, likely transforming them into offerings for the gods. Hundreds of coins, dated across more than five centuries, were recovered; about a third of them were modified—filed, sheared, or etched—to remove their commercial value and dedicate them to the sacred, according to Isabelle Bollard‑Raineau, an ancient‑coin expert with the French Ministry of Culture.

Allonnes was a significant Celtic site at the crossroads of major ancient roads, and the analysis of these metal finds has yielded new insights into the most powerless members of Gallic society.

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