The vast 25-hectare site was unearthed during a survey for a new motorway near the city of Hradec Králové.

The settlement has yielded an extraordinary trove of artefacts, including several hundred gold and silver coins and over 1,000 pieces of jewellery. Items such as bronze and iron brooches, fragments of armlets, glass beads, and fine pottery have been catalogued, Live Science reports.

Experts believe the site dates to the La Tène culture, an Iron Age culture that flourished from approximately 450 to 40 B.C. and is associated with the Celts. The lack of fortifications suggests the inhabitants were not warriors but likely influential figures in regional trade.

Alongside the treasures, the excavation revealed the remains of dwellings, production facilities, and at least one religious sanctuary. Tomáš Mangel of the University of Hradec Králové, who is co-leading the dig, stated that the find provides crucial insight into how settlements were organised during this period.