Celts

I

Introduction

Celts, a people who dominated much of western and central Europe in the 1st millennium bc, giving their language, customs, and religion to the other peoples of that area. The ancient Greeks and Romans recognized the cultural unity of a people whose territory stretched from western Europe to the northern frontier of the Classical world. Their generic name appears in Roman sources as Celtae (derived from Keltoi, the name of these people recorded by Herodotus and other Greek writers), Galatae, or Galli.

The Celts spoke an Indo-European language (see Celtic Languages), and were thus ultimately of the same stock as their Italic, Hellenic, and Germanic neighbours. Celtic place-names, together with the names of Celtic peoples, individuals, and gods, enable us to plot their presence in the British Isles, and in a broad crescent across Europe from Spain to the Lower Danube.

II

Early History

The Celts are generally associated with the Iron Age in Europe. Their origins lie in the late Bronze Age Urnfield cultures (a group of related cultures characterized by clusters of cremation burials in pottery vessels), which were widely dispersed throughout eastern and central Europe during the period 1300-800 bc.

The earliest archaeological evidence associated with the Celts places them in what is now France and western Germany in the late Bronze Age, around 1200 bc. In the early Iron Age, they are associated with the Hallstatt culture (8th-5th century bc), named after an archaeological site in Upper Austria. The late Hallstatt period (6th century bc) is sometimes known as the Age of Princes, on account of spectacular burials (such as that as Hochdorf) and impressive hillforts (such as that as Heuneburg). Both these developments may have been caused by an explosion of wealth, which made possible rich burials and also necessitated more elaborate defensive building.

Between the 5th and 1st centuries bc, Celtic influence extended from Spain to the shores of the Black Sea. This later Iron Age phase is called La Tène, after a site in Switzerland. In the 4th to 3rd centuries bc, instability affected the Celtic world, perhaps caused by pressure from non-Celtic peoples to the north. Migrations occurred, and Celts invaded the Graeco-Roman world; they overran northern Italy Macedonia, and Thessaly. They plundered Rome in 390, and sacked Delphi in 279. Some migrated to Asia Minor.

The Celts of northern Italy were eventually subjugated by the Romans in the 2nd century bc; Transalpine Gaul (much of southern France) was subdued by Julius Caesar in the 1st century bc, and most of Britain came under Roman rule in the 1st century ad. On the Continent the Celts were assimilated into the Roman Empire, and lost their independent culture. In Britain, however, the Celtic language and culture survived better. In medieval and modern times the Celtic tradition and languages survived in Brittany (in western France), Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and Ireland.

III

Celtic Society

Celtic society was rurally based, centring on agriculture and pastoralism. Where wealth accumulated or competition for resources was strong, hill-forts were permanently occupied. Hill-forts comprised an enclosed area atop a hill or an outcrop of high ground, defended by ditches and ramparts. The interior was densely occupied by huts, and there were areas where craftsmen practised their craft. Grain was stored in pits dug in the ground and sealed with clay. The greatest accumulation of hill-forts in Britain is located in south-western England, the most impressive in Britain including Maiden Castle in Dorset, Danebury in Hampshire, and South Cadbury in Somerset. Each hill-fort would have dominated the surrounding area. The final centuries bc saw the beginnings of fortified towns, which Julius Caesar referred to as oppida. One impressively large oppidum is at Manching, in South Germany, in which streets were laid out and buildings arranged in rows, and in which particular areas were reserved for particular crafts.

The unit of Celtic society was the tribe. Within tribes, society was stratified, the principal groups being: the nobility, or ruling families in each tribe; free farmers who were also fighting men; artisans, manual workers, and other unfree people; and slaves. There was also a learned class which included druids. In early times, tribes were ruled by kings, and this situation seems to have persisted in Britain until the Roman conquest. In those parts of Celtic Europe most open to influence from the Classical world, elected magistrates later replaced kings.

Roman writers such as Strabo, Julius Caesar, and Diodorus describe the lifestyle of the Celts. Despite their brutalizing or romanticizing tendencies, these accounts suggest that the Celts were fond of feasting and drinking, storytelling, and boasting of daring exploits. Caesar, for example, mentions that men of the warrior class were exceedingly fond of fighting, were expert charioteers, and that, to appear more terrifying in battle, they painted their bodies with woad, a blue vegetable dye. The Celts also excelled in metallurgy, and lavished their artistic skills on such items as armour and harness for their horses (see Celtic Art). Trade was important; luxury goods and wine were imported in exchange for dogs, horses, hides, salt, and slaves.

IV

Celtic Religion

The Celtic tribe shared common religious bonds. Where kingship survived, the king had a sacral role, playing an active role in sacred rites. There were pan-Celtic gods, as well as local divinities associated with particular tribes or with holy places within their territory. Glimpses of Celtic mythology are provided by ritual objects such as the Gundestrup Cauldron, a great silver cauldron with relief decoration that was recovered from a bog in Jutland, Denmark. Fragments of ancient mythological narrative may also be detected in the Medieval literatures of Ireland and Wales.

The druids were the priests of Celtic society. Their name probably meant “true seers” and their functions included divination and augury as well as performing sacrifices and conducting rituals at religious festivals. Celtic religious sites included sanctuary enclosures, but evidence of more elaborate structures are sometimes found. Pit-shafts may have been related to the worship of the earth, and human and animal sacrificial victims, as well as ritually bent swords and other votive offerings, were cast into some of them. Certain natural sites also had religious significance. Holly and mistletoe were considered sacred, as were groves and oak trees. Animals were venerated as tribal totems and divination sought in the flight of birds or the entrails of sacrificial animals.