Unearthing La Tène's Celtic mysteriesAdd story to my swissinfo panel

n 1857 Swiss archaeologist Hans Kopp stumbled on a Celtic treasure trove, including 40 iron swords, at La Tène on the northeastern shores of Lake Neuchâtel.

To celebrate the 150-year anniversary of Kopp's important discovery, three Swiss museums with the largest La Tène collections have got together to launch the "Year of the Celts".

Alongside a series of exhibitions and events to mark the occasion, a three-year research project, financed by the National Science Foundation, will be attempting to shed new light on La Tène culture.

"We launched the project on two levels: for the general public to highlight the richness of our own collections, and on a scientific level to enable us to get much closer to the true meaning of La Tène," Madeline Betschart, director of the Schwab Museum in Biel, told swissinfo.