In the south-eastern Alps, especially in Styria (southern Austria), archaeological research on the La Tène culture has gathered new intensity through larger archaeological excavations. This new data, especially from newly excavated cemeteries like the one next to the so-called, well-known Early Iron Age burial mound Pommerkogel near Kleinklein, forms the basis for a PhD project that also deals with questions concerning the formation of Celtic culture. Together with new research from Styria and the Slovenian Štajerska region, new light will be shed on this subject on the basis of finds analysis and comparisons. Even the transition from the Hallstatt to the La Tène period and the question of the Celtic migrations will be in focus. The preliminary results of this study will be presented and will be discussed in a wider context.