are also characteristic of the period; it is possible that they also served a function in the warfare of this age, but the chariots are four-wheeled vehicles and they do not occur at all in Britain until the La Tène period. At the very end of the Hallstatt era, the longsword seemed to fall out of favor, ousted by shorter, thrusting daggers which are found in greater numbers among grave goods in high status burials. La Tène Culture 450 BC to 50 BC The La Tène period saw changing patterns of warfare. At the beginning of the La Tène period warfare was likely conducted on a small scale between elite warriors, perhaps in chariots, wielding a new type of Celtic longsword. During the succeeding centuries the design of the sword changed, characteristically becoming shorter, single-edged and lacking a thrusting point, designed purely to make a cut (although the Hallstatt era sword had also been primarily a slashing weapon). and greater regional variation in swords appeared: in Britain and Ireland even the longer sword designs were shorter and thinner than their Continental counterparts. It is possible that in the later La Tène era, an increasing population would have led to larger armies organized in ranks of spearmen, leading to a decline in the importance of the champion with his sword and hence a decline in sword functionality. The La Tène era also saw the development of armor in the form of chainmail, the familiar form in which a garment is constructed of linked metal rings. Finds of mail are rare, suggesting that it was a luxury restricted to high status warriors. Crested helmets of this period occur in greater numbers than of mail, but overall the picture is of Celtic armies being made up largely of lightly armored or unarmored fighters. Chariot burials continued well into the La Tène period, suggesting their continued importance in warfare. The La Tène chariot was a light, two-wheeled vehicle, unlike the heavier chariot of earlier times. The arrangement of the chariot poles in a reconstruction of the Wetwang Chariot suggests they were drawn by small ponies only 11 or 12 hands high and thus seem unlikely to be used in a frontal charge. Because chariot burials were never practiced in Ireland, the nature or existence of chariot warfare in that specific country remains unclear. In the Later La Tène period, Roman expansion into Celtic areas