Chantre has shown that the two cultures which he described were existing at the same time, for the graves of one people sometimes contained objects belonging to the culture of the other;[390] not only, then, did the cultures synchronise, but the peoples had come into contact. There is no reason for believing that the Koban folk, militarist though they were, had conquered their humble neighbours. That the reverse had taken place is unthinkable. The evidence suggests that the contact had been peaceful, that trade relations had been established, and perhaps the Koban folk, who appear to have been new-comers in this region, may have taken wives from their neighbours. All this points to the fact that it was in the Koban region that the steppe-folk first learned the use of iron, and that they carried the knowledge of it thence to the Danube basin, rather than that the reverse process took place. But, it may be asked, how can we be sure that our Koban people are the steppe-folk, who have been the heroes of the last few chapters? Their culture closely resembles that of Hallstatt, which is but a development of the later bronze age culture of Central Europe, and even their earlier graves clearly belong to the same series. This is so obvious that Rostovtzeff is content merely to state that they had come from the west.[391] It may be well, however, to submit more precise proofs of this origin. During the later bronze age a certain type of pin had been used in Hungary, possibly, as some think, as a hair-pin, but used more probably, as Lissauer has suggested, to fasten the _chlamys_, _toga_ or plaid, which these steppe-folk appear to have worn. These pins are known to the Germans as _Rudernadln_[392] and to the French as _épingles à raquette_.[393] Lissauer recognises five types, which we will distinguish by the letter A to E. A developes into B, and this again into alternative forms, C and E. A also developes by stages, which are at present missing, into D. [Illustration: FIG. 20.--FIVE TYPES OF RACQUET PINS.] Now Types A and B have been found in North Italy, Switzerland, Wurtemberg and on the Rhine. They have also been found in Hungary, at Tökés, Gata, Versecz and Butta. Two have been found in Bohemia, at Noutonic and Krendorf, and one at Gaya in Moravia. Thus these two types are fairly well distributed over both halves of the Celtic cradle. Type D has been found at Andrasfalva in Hungary, and at Alt-Bydzow in Bohemia. Besides these several have been found further afield, one at Dexheim in Rhenish Hesse, one at Greisheim in Hesse-Darmstadt and one at Fritzen in East Prussia. Lastly several have been found in the Koban graves,[394] and these are larger and more developed than the others.