Even though during Protohistory symbolic meanings were as complex as the material world, they are nevertheless much more difficult to comprehend by means of archaeology. From the Atlantic to the Black Sea, many common characteristics of the Iron Age communities can be traced, for instance the symbolic dimension of space and architecture (defensive, sacred, and, sometimes, vernacular as well), the message which is hidden behind art (semiology of ornamentation) or the one which is more clearly visible in the written sources. The scholars focusing on topics related to European Iron Age are more and more interested in these aspects, which reveal the material and non-material expressions of ideologies (religions and rituals, symbols of war and power, cults of the ancestors etc.). This workshop aims to discuss the material manifestations of symbolical and ideological gestures, bringing into attention different forms of individual and collective behaviour (sacrifice, hoarding, iconography, ornaments, images and power/status symbols, monumental architecture). Its main goal is to determine whether there is a possible common symbolic language between the West (Celts and Mediterranean) and East (Thracians, Dacians, and the Steppes) or to identify the main differences among these cultural areas. Three major approaches have been chosen, covering a broad field of investigation: from the ostentatious expression of power to the forms of individual representation and self-representation, via a semiological analysis of material productions and their more or less codified use. Indeed, as a result of individual choices and/or collective conventions, the material expressions of the power/status of both the living and the deceased often involve social legitimization, leading to the possibility of distinguishing, more or less easily, the different roles played by individuals within their communities: warriors, merchants, elites, craftsmen. But this social legitimization can also be highlighted by a closer analysis of the art of furniture, whether in the form of ceramic decorations, ornaments and ornaments, or weapons, where the aesthetic and functional element is often combined with the desire to convey a more or less codified visual message relating to status, beliefs, identities, gender, etc. Last but not least, on the largest scale of protohistoric communities and their territories, the choice of whether or not to ostentatiously display wealth, power and/or cultural affiliation, or even the political organization of the community, can also be observed in the architecture that permanently marks the occupied land. The construction of fortifications, sanctuaries and other public buildings, as well as the layout of squares and open spaces for collective events such as meetings, feasts and public gatherings, are all indirect clues to the complexity of the social and political organization of ancient European societies