Celts
6546
225670534
2008-07-14T20:46:20Z
80.166.180.126
:''This article is about the ancient peoples of Europe; for Celts of the present day, see [[Modern Celts]]; for the archaeological artefact, see [[Celt (tool)]]''.
[[Image:Celts in Europe.png|300px|thumb|right|Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples: <br>
{{legend|#ffff43|core [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] territory, by the 6th century BC}}
{{legend|#97ffb6|maximal Celtic expansion, by the 3rd century BC}}
{{legend|#27c600|the "six [[Celtic nations]]" which retained significant numbers of Celtic speakers into the [[Early Modern period]]}}
{{legend|#1a8000|areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today}}
]]
{{Indo-European topics}}
'''Celts''' ({{pronEng|ˈkɛlts}} or <span title="Pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA">[[Help:pronunciation|/ˈsɛlts/]]</span>, see [[Names of the Celts]]) is a modern term used to describe any of the [[European peoples]] who spoke, or speak, a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Koch | first = John | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Celtic Culture : A Historical Encyclopedia | publisher = ABL-CIO | date = 2005 | location = | pages = xx | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA196&dq=belgae+celtic+language&ei=p1VGSJmxDISKjAGgo52VDQ&client=firefox-a&sig=q67mipDviazKodbhM9IudJPmCTQ#PPR20,M1 | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-1851094400 }}</ref> The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the [[Modern Celts|modern descendants]] of those peoples, notably those who participate in a [[Celtic culture]].
The historical Celts were a diverse group of [[tribal societies]] in [[Iron Age Europe]]. [[Proto-Celtic]] culture formed in the [[Early Iron Age]] in [[Central Europe]] ([[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] period, named for the site in present-day Austria). By the later Iron Age ([[La Tène culture|La Tène]] period), Celts had expanded over wide range of lands: as far west as [[Ireland]] and the [[Iberian Peninsula]], as far east as [[Galatia]] (central [[Anatolia]]), and as far north as [[Scotland]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-209125/Turkey Britannica] (Turkey) People and Culture</ref>
The earliest direct attestation of a Celtic language are the [[Lepontic language|Lepontic]] inscriptions, beginning from the 6th century BC. [[Continental Celtic]] languages are attested only in inscriptions and place names. [[Insular Celtic]] is attested from about the 4th century AD in [[ogham inscription]]s. Literary tradition begins with [[Old Irish]] from about the 8th century. Coherent texts of [[Early Irish literature]], such as the ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]'', survive in 12th century recensions.
By the early centuries AD, following the expansion of the [[Roman Empire]] and the [[Great Migrations]] of [[Germanic peoples]], Celtic culture had become
restricted to the [[British Isles]] and [[Ireland]] ([[Insular Celtic]]), with the [[Continental Celtic]] languages extinct by the mid-1st millennium AD. "[[Celtic Europe]]" today refers to the lands surrounding the [[Irish Sea]], as well as [[Cornwall]] and [[Brittany]] on either side of the [[English Channel]].
==Names and terminology==
{{main|Names of the Celts}}
The origin of the various names used since [[Classical antiquity|classical times]] for the people known today as the Celts is obscure and has been controversial. In particular, there are actually 19 records of the term '[[pict]]ish' being used in connection with the inhabitants of Ireland and Britain prior to the 18th century{{fact|date=May 2008}}.
The Latin name ''Celtus'' (pl. ''Celti'' or ''Celtae''; Greek Κέλτης pl. Κέλται or Κελτός pl. Κελτοί, ''Keltai'' or ''Keltoi'') seems to be based on a native Celtic ethnic name.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 1#1|1.1]]: "All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae live, another in which the Aquitani live, and the third are those who in their own tongue are called Celts (''Celtae''), in our language Gauls (''Galli'').</ref> However, the first literary reference to the Celtic people, as Κελτοί (''Κeltoi''), is by the [[Greece|Greek]] [[historian]] [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] in 517 BC; he says that the town of ''Massilia'' ([[Marseille]]) is near the Celts and also mentions a Celtic town of ''Nyrex'' (possibly Noreia in Austria). [[Herodotus]] seems to locate the Keltoi at the source of the [[Danube]] and/or in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], but the passage is unclear.
The English word ''Celt'' is modern, attested from 1707 in the writings of [[Edward Lhuyd]] whose work, along with that of other late 17th century scholars, brought academic attention to the languages and history of these early inhabitants of Great Britain.<ref>(Lhuyd, p. 290) Lhuyd, E. ''"Archaeologia Britannica; An account of the languages, histories, and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain."'' (reprint ed.) Irish University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-7165-0031-0</ref>
Latin ''Gallus'' might originally be from a Celtic ethnic or [[tribal name]], perhaps borrowed into Latin during the early 400s BC Celtic expansions into Italy. Its root may be the Common Celtic ''*galno'', meaning 'power' or 'strength'. The Greek ''Galatai'' seems to be based on the same root, borrowed directly from the same hypothetical Celtic source which gave us ''Galli'' (the suffix ''-atai'' is simply an ethnic name indicator). ''(see [[Galatia]] in Anatolia)''
The English form ''Gaul'' comes from the French ''Gaule'' and ''Gaulois'', which is the traditional rendering of Latin ''Gallia'' and ''Gallus, -icus'' respectively. However, the diphthong ''au'' points to a different origin, namely a Romance adaptation of the Germanic *''Walha-''. ''(see [[Gaul#Name|Gaul: Name]])'' The English word 'Welsh' originates from the word ''wælisc'', the [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] form of ''[[walha|walhiska-]]'', the Germanic word for "foreign".<ref>{{cite book
|author=Neilson, William A. (ed.)
|title= Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, second edition
|publisher= G & C Merriam Co.
|year= 1957|
pages= p.2903
}}</ref>
'Celticity' generally refers to the [[culture|cultural]] commonalities of these peoples, based on similarities in language, material artifacts, social organisation and [[Celtic mythology|mythological]] factors. Earlier theories were that this indicated a common racial origin but more recent theories are reflective of culture and language rather than race. Celtic cultures seem to have had numerous diverse characteristics but the commonality between these diverse peoples was the use of a Celtic language.
'Celtic' is a descriptor of a family of languages and, more generally, means 'of the Celts,' or 'in the style of the Celts'. It has also been used to refer to several archaeological cultures defined by unique sets of artifacts. The link between language and artifact is aided by the presence of inscriptions. ''(see [[Celtic (disambiguation)]] for other applications of the term)''
Today, the term 'Celtic' is generally used to describe the languages and respective cultures of [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], [[Cornwall]], the [[Isle of Man]] and [[Brittany]], also known as the [[Celtic nations|Six Celtic Nations]]. These are the regions where four Celtic languages are still spoken to some extent as mother tongues: [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]], [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], and [[Breton language|Breton]] plus two recent revivals, [[Cornish language|Cornish]] (one of the [[Brythonic language]]s) and [[Manx language|Manx]] (one of the [[Goidelic languages]]). There are also attempts to revive the [[Cumbric language]] (a [[Brythonic]] language from Northwest England and Southwest Scotland). 'Celtic' is also sometimes used to describe regions of [[Continental Europe]] that have Celtic heritage, but where no Celtic language has survived; these areas include the western [[Iberian Peninsula]], i.e. [[Portugal]], and north-central [[Spain]] ([[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], [[Cantabria]], [[Castile and León]], [[Extremadura]]), and to a lesser degree, [[France]]. ''(see [[Modern Celts]])''
'Continental Celts' refers to the Celtic-speaking people of mainland Europe. 'Insular Celts' refers to the Celtic-speaking people of the [[British Isles]] and their descendants. The Celts of Brittany derive their language from migrating insular Celts from southwest Britain and so are grouped accordingly.
==Origins==
[[Image:Hallstatt LaTene.png|thumb|300px|Overview of the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] cultures.
{{legend|#f6bc0a|The core Hallstatt territory (HaC, 800 BC) is shown in solid yellow, }}
{{legend|#d5c089|the eventual area of Hallstatt influence (by 500 BC, HaD) in light yellow.}}
{{legend|#80da34|The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) is shown in solid green, }}
{{legend|#9bce9b|the eventual area of La Tène influence (by 50 BC) in light green. }}
The territories of some major [[Celtic tribes]] of the late La Tène period are labelled.]]
The [[Celtic languages]] form a branch of the larger [[Indo-European family]]. By the time speakers of Celtic languages enter history around 400 BC ([[Brennus (4th century BC)|Brennus]]'s attack on [[Rome]] in 387 BC), they were already split into several language groups, and spread over much of Central Europe, the [[Iberian peninsula]], Ireland and Britain.
Some scholars think that the [[Urnfield|Urnfield culture]] of northern Germany and the Netherlands represents an origin for the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European family. This culture was preeminent in central [[Europe]] during the late [[Bronze Age]], from ca. 1200 BC until 700 BC, itself following the [[Unetice culture|Unetice]] and [[Tumulus cultures]]. The Urnfield period saw a dramatic increase in population in the region, probably due to innovations in technology and agricultural practices. The Greek historian [[Ephorus|Ephoros]] of Cyme in Asia Minor, writing in the fourth century BC, believed that the Celts came from the islands off the mouth of the [[Rhine]] who were "driven from their homes by the frequency of wars and the violent rising of the sea".
The spread of [[Iron Age|iron-working]] led to the development of the [[Hallstatt culture]] directly from the Urnfield (c. 700 to 500 BC). [[Proto-Celtic]], the latest common ancestor of all known Celtic languages, is considered by this [[School (discipline)|school of thought]] to have been spoken at the time of the late Urnfield or early Hallstatt cultures, in the early [[first millennium BC]]. The spread of the Celtic languages to Iberia, Ireland and Britain would have occurred during the first half of the [[1st millennium]], the earliest [[chariot burial]]s in Britain dating to ca. 500 BC. Over the centuries they developed into the separate [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]], Goidelic and [[Brythonic languages]].
The Hallstatt culture was succeeded by the La Tène culture of central Europe, and during the final stages of the [[Iron Age]] gradually transformed into the explicitly Celtic culture of early historical times. Celtic river-names are found in great numbers around the upper reaches of [[Danube|the Danube]] and Rhine, which led many Celtic scholars to place the [[ethnogenesis]] of the Celts in this area.
[[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Strabo]] both suggest that the Celtic heartland was in southern France. The former says that the Gauls were to the north of the Celts but that the Romans referred to both as Gauls. Before the discoveries at Hallstatt and La Tene, it was generally considered that the Celtic heartland was southern France, see Encyclopedia Britannica for 1813.
Almagro-Gorbea<ref>2001 p 95. La lengua de los Celtas y otros pueblos indoeuropeos de la península ibérica. In Almagro-Gorbea, M., Mariné, M. and Álvarez-Sanchís, J.R. (eds) Celtas y Vettones, pp. 115-121. Ávila: Diputación Provincial de Ávila.</ref> proposed the origins of the Celts could be traced back to the third millennium BC, seeking the initial roots in the [[Bell Beaker culture]], thus offering the wide dispersion of the Celts throughout western Europe, as well as the variability of the different Celtic peoples, and the existence of ancestral traditions an ancient perspective.
===Linguistic evidence===
{{main|Proto-Celtic language}}
The [[Proto-Celtic language]] is usually dated to the early [[European Iron Age]]. The earliest records of a Celtic language are the [[Lepontic]] inscriptions of [[Cisalpine Gaul]], the oldest of which still predate the [[La Tène period]]. Other early inscriptions are [[Gaulish]], appearing from the early La Tène period in inscriptions in the area of [[Massilia]], in the Greek alphabet. [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] inscriptions appear comparatively late, after about 200 BC. Evidence of [[Insular Celtic]] is available only from about AD 400, in the form of [[Primitive Irish]] [[Ogham inscriptions]].
Besides epigraphical evidence, an important source of information on early Celtic is [[toponymy]].<ref>e.g. Patrick Sims-Williams, ''Ancient Celtic Placenames in Europe and Asia Minor'', Publications of the Philological Society, No. 39 (2006);
Bethany Fox, ''[http://www.alarichall.org.uk/placenames/fox.htm The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland]''
See also [[List of Celtic place names in Portugal]].
</ref>
Very few references to the language of the Celts are found in ancient [[ethnography]]. [[Jerome]] (AD 342-419) in his commentary on [[Paul of Tarsus|St Paul's]] [[epistle to the Galatians]] notes that the language of the Anatolian [[Galatia]]ns in his day was still very similar to the language of the [[Treveri]].<ref>''Galatas excepto sermone Graeco, quo omnis oriens loquitur, propriam linguam eamdem pene habere quam Treviros'' ("That the Galatians, apart from the Greek language, which they speak just like the rest of the Orient, have their own language, which is almost the same as the Treverans'.") S. Eusebii Hieronymi commentariorum in epistolam ad Galatas libri tres, in ''Migne, Patrologia Latina'' 26, 382.</ref> St Jerome probably had first-hand knowledge of these Celtic languages, as he had visited both [[Trier|Augusta Treverorum]] and [[Galatia]].<ref>Birkan, Kelten, p. 301.</ref>
===Archaeological evidence===
{{see|Iron Age Europe}}
[[Image:Hallstatt culture.png|thumb|300px|map of the Hallstatt culture]]
Traditionally the Celts were considered a Central European Iron Age phenomenon, through the cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène. However, archaeological finds from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures were rare in the Iberian Peninsula, and did not provide enough evidence for a cultural scenario comparable to that of Central Europe. It is considered equally difficult to maintain that the origin of the Peninsular Celts can be linked to the preceding Urnfield culture, leading to a more recent approach that introduces a 'proto-Celtic' substratum and a process of Celticization having its initial roots in the Bronze Age [[Bell Beaker culture]].<ref name=Lorrio>[http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html] The Celts in Iberia: An Overview - Alberto J. Lorrio (Universidad de Alicante) & Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) - Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies, Volume 6: 167-254 The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula, February 1, 2005</ref>
The Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] (c. 800-475 BC) and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] (c. 500-50 BC) cultures are typically associated with Proto-Celtic and Celtic culture.<ref>F. Fleming, ''Heroes of the Dawn: Celtic Myth'', 1996. p. 9 & 134.</ref>
The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BCE to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BCE) in eastern [[France]], [[Switzerland]], [[Austria]], southwest [[Germany]], the [[Czech Republic]], Slovakia and [[Hungary]]. It developed out of the Hallstatt culture without any definite cultural break, under the impetus of considerable Mediterranean influence from [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], and later [[Etruscan civilization]]s. A shift of settlement centres took place in the 4th century.
The western La Tène culture corresponds to historical [[Celtic Gaul]]. Whether this means that the whole of La Tène culture can be attributed to a unified Celtic people is difficult to assess; archaeologists have repeatedly concluded that language, material culture, and political affiliation do not necessarily run parallel. Frey notes that in the 5th century, "burial customs in the Celtic world were not uniform; rather, localised groups had their own beliefs, which, in consequence, also gave rise to distinct artistic expressions".<ref>*[http://www.ria.ie/publications/journals/journaldb/index.asp?select=fulltext&id=100427. Otto Hermann Frey, "A new approach to early Celtic art"]. Setting the Glauberg finds in context of shifting iconography, Royal Irish Academy (2004)</ref> Thus, while the La Tène culture is certainly associated with the [[Gauls]], the presence of La Tène artefacts may be due to cultural contact and does not imply the permanent presence of Celtic speakers.
===Historical evidence===
[[Polybius]] published a history of Rome about 150 BC in which he describes the Gauls of Italy and their conflict with Rome. [[Pausanias]] in the second century BC says that the Gauls "originally called Celts live on the remotest region of Europe on the coast of an enormous tidal sea". [[Posidonius]] described the southern Gauls about 100 BC. Though his original work is lost it was used by later writers such as [[Strabo]]. The latter, writing in the early first century AD, deals with Britain and Gaul as well as Hispania, Italy and Galatia. [[Caesar]] wrote extensively about his [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Gallic Wars]] in 58-51 BC. [[Diodorus Siculus]] wrote about the Celts of Gaul and Britain in his first century History.
==Distribution==
===Continental Celts===
====Gaul====
[[Image:Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png|thumb|200px|<center>Repartition of Gaul ca. 54 BC]]
{{main|Gaul}}
At the dawn of history in Europe, the Celts then living in what is now France were known as Gauls to the Romans. The territory of these peoples probably included the low countries, the Alps and what is now northern Italy. Their descendants were described by Julius Caesar in his ''[[Gallic Wars]]''. Eastern Gaul was the centre of the western La Tene culture. In later Iron Age Gaul, the social organization was similar to that of the Romans, with large towns. From the third century BC the Gauls adopted coinage, and texts with Greek characters are known in southern Gaul from the second century.
Greek traders founded Massalia in about 600BC, with exchange up the Rhone valley, but trade was disrupted soon after 500BC and re-oriented over the Alps to the Po valley in Italy. The Romans arrived in the Rhone valley in the second century BC and encountered a Gaul that was mostly Celtic-speaking. Rome needed land communications with its Iberian provinces and fought a major battle with the Saluvii at Entremont in 124-123 BC. Gradually Roman control extended, and the Roman Province of Gallia Transalpina was formed along the Mediterranean coast. The remainder was known as Gallia Comata - "Hairy Gaul".
In 58 BC, the Helvetii planned to migrate westward but were forced back by Julius Caesar. He then became involved in fighting the various tribes in Gaul, and by 55 BC, most of Gaul had been overrun. In 52 BC, [[w:Vercingetorix|Vercingetorix]] led a revolt against the Roman occupation but was defeated at the siege of Alesia and surrendered.
Following the Gallic Wars of 58-51 BC, Celticia formed the main part of Roman Gaul. Place name analysis shows that Celtic was used east of the Garonne river and south of the Seine and Marne{{fact|date=May 2008}}.
====Iberia====
[[Image:Ethnographic Iberia 200 BCE.PNG|thumb|left|200px|Main language areas in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], showing Celtic languages in blue, circa 200 BC.]]
{{main|Celtiberians}}
{{See also|Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula|Prehistoric Iberia|Hispania|Lusitania|Gallaecia|Celtici}}
Traditional 18th/19th centuries scholarship surrounding the Celts virtually ignored the [[Iberian Peninsula]], since [[Archaeological culture|material culture]] relatable to the [[Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène]] cultures that has defined [[Iron Age]] Celts was rare in Iberia, and did not provide a cultural scenario that could easily be linked to that of Central Europe.
Modern scholarship, however, has proven that Celtic presence and influences were very substantial in Iberia. The Celts in Iberia were divided in two main archaeological and cultural groups{{fact|date=May 2008}}, even if the divide is not very clear:
*One group, from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and along the Iberian [[Atlantic Europe|Atlantic shores]]. They were made up of the [[Lusitanians]] (in [[Portugal]] and the Celtic region that [[Strabo]] called [[Celtica]] in the southwest including the [[Algarve]], inhabited by the [[Celtici]]), the [[Vettones]] and [[Vacceani]] peoples (of central west [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]), and the [[Gallaecia]]n, [[Astures]] and [[Cantabri]]an peoples of the [[Castro culture]] of north and northwest Spain and Portugal).
*The [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] group of central Spain and the upper Ebro valley. The group originated when Celts migrated from what is now [[France]] and integrated with the local [[Iberians|Iberian people]].
The origins of the Celtiberians might provide a key to unlocking the Celticization process in the rest of the Peninsula. The process of celticization of the southwest by the Keltoi and of the northwest is however not a simple celtiberian question. Recent investigation about the [[Callaici]] [[Bracari]] in northwest Portugal is bringing new approaches to understanding Celtic culture (language, art and religion) in western Iberia.<ref>[http://arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Archeological site of Tavira], official website</ref>
====Alps and Po Valley====
{{main|Cisalpine Gaul}}
{{see|History of the Alps}}
There was an early Celtic presence in northern Italy since inscriptions dated to the sixth century BC have been found there. In 391 BC Celts "who had their homes beyond the Alps streamed through the passes in great strength and seized the territory that lay between the Appeninne mountains and the Alps" according to [[Diodorus Siculus]]. The [[River Po|Po Valley]] and the rest of northern Italy (known to the Romans as [[Cisalpine Gaul]]) was inhabited by Celtic-speakers who founded cities such as [[Milan]]. Later the Roman army was routed at the battle of Allia and Rome was sacked in 390 BC by the [[Senones]].
At the battle of Telemon in 225 BC a large Celtic army was trapped between two Roman forces and crushed.
The defeat of the combined [[Samnium|Samnite]], Celtic and Etruscan alliance by the Romans in the [[Samnite Wars|Third Samnite War]] sounded the beginning of the end of the Celtic domination in mainland Europe, but it was not until 192 BC that the Roman armies conquered the last remaining independent Celtic kingdoms in Italy.
The Celts settled much further south of the Po River than many maps show. Remnants in the town of Doccia, in the province of [[Emilia-Romagna]], showcase Celtic houses in very good condition dating from about the 4th century BC.
====Eastward expansion====
The Celts also expanded down the [[Danube]] river and its tributaries. One of the most influential tribes, the [[Scordisci]], had established their capital at [[Singidunum]] in 3rd century BC, which is present-day [[Belgrade]], [[Serbia]]. The concentration of hill-forts and cemeteries shows a density of population in the [[Tisza]] valley of modern-day [[Vojvodina]], [[Serbia]], [[Hungary]] and into [[Ukraine]]. Expansion into [[Romania]] was however blocked by the [[Dacians]].
Further south, Celts settled in [[Thrace]] ([[Bulgaria]]), which they ruled for over a century, and [[Anatolia]], where they settled as the [[Galatia]]ns. Despite their geographical isolation from the rest of the Celtic world, the Galatians maintained their Celtic language for at least seven hundred years. [[St Jerome]], who visited Ancyra (modern-day [[Ankara]]) in 373 AD, likened their language to that of the [[Treveri]] of northern Gaul.
The [[Boii]] tribe gave their name to [[Bohemia]] and [[Bologna]], and Celtic artefacts and cemeteries have been discovered further east in what is now [[Poland]] and [[Slovakia]]. A celtic coin ([[Biatec]]) from [[Bratislava]]'s mint is displayed on today's Slovak 5 crown coin.
As there is no archaeological evidence for large scale invasions in some of the other areas, one current school of thought holds that Celtic language and culture spread to those areas by contact rather than invasion{{fact|date=May 2008}}. However, the Celtic invasions of Italy, Greece, and western Anatolia are well documented in Greek and Latin history.
There are records of Celtic mercenaries in Egypt serving the Ptolemies. Thousands were employed in 283-246 BC and they were also in service around 186 BC. They attempted to overthrow Ptolemy II.
===Insular Celts===
{{main|Iron Age Britain|Gaels|Britons (historic)|Genetic history of the British Isles}}
[[Image:Romanbritain.jpg|200px|thumb|Principal sites in Roman Britain, with indication of the Celtic tribes.]]
[[Image:CymruLlwythi.PNG|200px|thumb|Tribes of Wales at the time of the Roman invasion. Exact boundaries are conjectural.]]
[[Image:Celtic dagger, scabbard and buckle.JPG|thumb|Celtic dagger found in Britain.]]
A large portion of the indigenous populations of Britain and Ireland today may be partially descended from the ancient peoples that have long inhabited these lands, before the coming of Celtic and later Germanic peoples, language and culture. Little is known of their original culture and language, but remnants of the latter may remain in the names of some geographical features, such as the rivers [[River Clyde|Clyde]], [[River Tamar|Tamar]] and [[Thames]], whose etymology is unclear but possibly derive from a pre-Celtic [[Substratum|substrate]] (Gelling). By the Roman period, however, most of the inhabitants of the isles of Ireland and Britain were speaking [[Goidelic]] or [[Brythonic]] languages, close counterparts to the Celtic languages spoken on the European mainland.
Historians explained this as the result of successive [[invasion]]s from the European continent by diverse Celtic-speaking peoples over the course of several centuries, though this is now generally seen as only the elite{{clarifyme|date=May 2008}}. The [[Book of Leinster]], written in the twelfth century, but drawing on a much earlier Irish oral tradition, states that the first Celts to arrive in Ireland were from Iberia. In 1946 the Celtic scholar [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] published his extremely influential model of the [[early history of Ireland]] which postulated four separate waves of Celtic invaders. It is still not known what languages were spoken by the peoples of Ireland and Britain before the arrival of the Celts.
Later research indicated that the culture may have developed gradually and continuously between the Celts and the indigenous people of Britain or Spain. Similarly in Ireland little archaeological evidence was found for large intrusive groups of Celtic immigrants, suggesting to archaeologists such as [[Colin Renfrew]] that the native late Bronze Age inhabitants gradually absorbed European Celtic influences and language.
[[Julius Caesar]] wrote of people in Britain who came from Belgium (the [[Belgae]]), but archaeological evidence which was interpreted in the 1930s as confirming this was contradicted by later interpretations.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The archaeological evidence is of substantial cultural continuity through the first millennium BC, although with a significant overlay of selectively-adopted elements of La Tène culture. There are claims of continental-style states appearing in southern England close to the end of the period, possibly reflecting in part immigration by élites from various Gallic states such as those of the Belgae.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} However, this immigration would be far too late to account for the origins of Insular Celtic languages. In the 1970s the continuity model was popularized by [[Colin Burgess (author)|Colin Burgess]] in his book ''The Age of [[Stonehenge]]'' which theorised that Celtic culture in Great Britain "emerged" rather than resulted from invasion and that the Celts were not invading aliens, but the descendants of the [[Amesbury Archer|people of Stonehenge]].
[[Genetics|Genetic]] studies have supported the prevalence of native populations, ruling out any model of post-Bronze Age cultural and language intrusion that ignore a very high degree of genetic absorpsion. A study by Christian Capelli, David Goldstein and others at [[University College, London|University College]], [[London]] showed that genes associated with Gaelic names in Ireland and Scotland are also common in certain parts of Wales and England (in most cases, The Southeast of England with the lowest counts of these genes) are similar to the genes of the Basque people, who speak a non-Indo-European language. This similarity supported earlier findings in suggesting a large pre-Celtic genetic ancestry, possibly going back to the [[Paleolithic]]. They suggest that Celtic culture and the Celtic language may have been imported to Britain by cultural contact, not mass invasions around 600 BC.
Some recent studies have suggested that, contrary to long-standing beliefs, the Germanic tribes ([[Angles]], [[Saxons]]) did not wipe out the [[Romano-British]] of England but rather, over the course of six centuries, conquered the native Brythonic people of what is now England and [[Gododdin|south-east Scotland]] and imposed their culture and language upon them, much as the [[Gaels]] may have spread over Northern Britain. The [[Pennines]] remained a stronghold for Brythonic culture in England, the [[Cumbric language]] survived until the 12th Century, and parts of the Brythonic culture still survives in the form of the [[Northumbrian smallpipes]] and [[Wrestling]] (Lancashire and Cumbrian wrestling). Still, others maintain that the picture is mixed and that in some places the indigenous population was indeed wiped out while in others it was assimilated. According to this school of thought the populations of [[Yorkshire]], [[East Anglia]], [[Northumberland]] and the [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland Islands]] are those populations with the fewest traces of ancient (Celtic) British continuation, probably because these are eastern areas which were exposed to invasion from the East by Angles, Saxons and Vikings.<ref>"<cite>By analyzing 1772 Y chromosomes from 25 predominantly small urban locations, we found that different parts of the British Isles have sharply different paternal histories; the degree of population replacement and genetic continuity shows systematic variation across the sampled areas.</cite>"{{PDFlink|[http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/capelli2_CB.pdf A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles]|208 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 214000 bytes -->}}</ref>
The [[Celtic invasion of the British Isles]] is difficult to document genetically. Two published books - ''The Blood of the Isles'' by [[Bryan Sykes]] and ''The Origins of the British: a Genetic Detective Story'' by [[Stephen Oppenheimer]] - are based upon recent genetic studies, and show that the vast majority of Britons have ancestors from the [[Iberian Peninsula]], as a result of a series of migrations that took place during the [[Mesolithic]] and, to a lesser extent, the [[Neolithic]] eras.<ref>[http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1691416 How did pygmy shrews colonize Ireland? Clues from a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/7406.html Irish genes from Galicia]</ref>
Sykes sees little genetic evidence relating to people from the heartland of the Hallstatt and La Tene cultures. On the paternal side he finds that the "Oisin" (R1b) clan is in the majority which has strong affinities to Iberia, with no evidence of a large scale arrival from Central Europe. He considers that the genetic structure of Britain and Ireland is "Celtic":
==Romanisation==
Under Caesar the Romans conquered Celtic Gaul, and from [[Claudius]] onward the Roman empire absorbed parts of Britain. Roman local government of these regions closely mirrored pre-Roman '[[tribe|tribal]]' boundaries, and archaeological finds suggest native involvement in local government. [[Latin]] was the [[official language]] of these regions after the conquests.
The native peoples under Roman rule became Romanized and keen to adopt Roman ways. Celtic art had already incorporated classical influences, and surviving Gallo-Roman pieces interpret classical subjects or keep faith with old traditions despite a Roman overlay.
The Roman occupation of Gaul, and to a lesser extent of Britain, led to Roman-Celtic [[syncretism]] (see [[Roman Gaul]], [[Roman Britain]]). In the case of the continental Celts, this eventually resulted in a [[language shift]] to [[Vulgar Latin]] (see also [[Gallo-Roman culture]]), while the Insular Celts retained their language. However, the Celts were master horsemen,{{Fact|date=May 2007}} which so impressed the Romans{{Fact|date=May 2007}} that they adopted [[Epona]], the Celtic horse goddess, into their pantheon. During and after the fall of the Roman Empire many parts of France threw out their Roman administrators{{Fact|date=May 2008}}.
== Gaulish Calendar ==
The [[Coligny Calendar]], which was found in 1897 in [[Coligny, Ain|Coligny]], [[Ain]], was engraved on a [[bronze]] tablet, preserved in 73 fragments, that originally was 1.48 m wide and 0.9 m high (Lambert p.111). Based on the style of lettering and the accompanying objects, it probably dates to the end of the 2nd century.<ref>Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2003). ''La langue gauloise''. Paris, Editions Errance. 2nd edition. ISBN 2-87772-224-4. Chapter 9 is titled "Un calandrier gaulois"</ref> It is written in Latin inscriptional capitals, and is in the [[Gaulish language]]. The restored tablet contains sixteen vertical columns, with sixty-two months distributed over five years.
The French archaeologist J. Monard speculated that it was recorded by [[druid]]s wishing to preserve their tradition of timekeeping in a time when the [[Julian calendar]] was imposed throughout the [[Roman Empire]]. However, the general form of the calendar suggests the public peg calendars (or ''parapegmata'') found throughout the Greek and Roman world<ref> Lehoux, D. R. ''Parapegmata: or Astrology, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World'', pp63-5. [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ53766.pdf PhD Dissertation, University of Toronto, 2000].</ref>
There were four major festivals in the Gallic Calendar: "Imbolc" on [[1 February]], possibly linked to the lactation of the ewes and sacred to the Irish Goddess Brigid. "Beltaine" on [[1 May]], connected to fertility and warmth, possibly linked to the Sun God Belenos. "Lúnasa" on [[1 August]], connected with the harvest and associated with the God Lugh. And finally "Samhain" on [[1 November]], possibly the start of the year.<ref>James, Simon (1993). "Exploring the World of the Celts" Reprint, 2002. pp-155.</ref> Two of these festivals, Beltaine and ''Lúnasa'' are shown on the Coligny Calendar by sigils, and it is not too much of a stretch of the imagination to match the first month on the Calendar (Samonios) to Samhain. ''Imbolc'' does not seem to be shown at all however.<ref>The Coligny Calendar, Roman Britain, 2/10/01: [http://www.roman-britain.org/coligny.htm]</ref>
The Celtic Calendar seems to be based on astronomy<ref>Celtic Astrology [http://www.livingmyths.com/Celticyear.htm]</ref> but how any astrology system would have worked is harder to tell. We have to base our knowledge on [[Old Irish]] manuscripts, none of which have been published or fully translated. It seems to have been based on an indigenous Irish symbol system, and not that of any of the more commonly-known astrological systems such as [[Western astrology|Western]], [[Chinese astrology|Chinese]] or [[Jyotisha|Vedic]] astrology.<ref>{{cite journal| first =Peter Berresford | last =Ellis | authorlink = | coauthors = | title=Early Irish Astrology: An Historical Argument|journal=Réalta|volume=vol.3|issue=issn.3|year=1996 | url =http://www.radical-astrology.com/irish/miscellany/ellis.html}}</ref>
== Society ==
To the extent that sources are available, they depict a pre-Christian Celtic [[social structure]] based formally on class and kinship. Patron-client relationships similar to those of Roman society are also described by Caesar and others in the Gaul of the [[1st century BC|first century BC]].
In the main, the evidence is of tribes being led by kings, although some argue that there is evidence of oligarchical republican [[Form of government|forms of government]] eventually emerging in areas in close contact with Rome. Most descriptions of Celtic societies describe them as being divided into three groups: a warrior aristocracy; an intellectual class including professions such as druid, poet, and jurist; and everyone else. There are instances recorded where women participated both in warfare and in kingship, although they were in the minority in these areas. In historical times, the offices of high and low kings in Ireland and Scotland were filled by election under the system of [[tanistry]], which eventually came into conflict with the feudal principle of [[primogeniture]] where the succession goes to the first born son.
Little is known of family structure among the Celts. [[Athenaeus]] in his ''Deipnosophists,'' 13.603, claims that "the Celts, in spite of the fact that their women are the most beautiful of all the barbarian tribes, prefer boys as sexual partners. There are some of them who will regularly go to bed – on those animal skins of theirs – with a pair of lovers", implying a woman and a boy. Such reports reflect an outsider's observation of Celtic culture.<ref> Athenaeus ''The Deipnosophists, or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus'', Book XIII, pp. 961. [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Literature/Literature-idx?type=turn&entity=Literature.AthV3.p0149&q1=celt&pview=hide The Literature Collection, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections,].</ref> It is unknown whether Athenaeus, born in Egypt of Greek origin ever visited any Celts since little is known about him beyond his surviving writings.
Patterns of settlement varied from decentralised to the urban. The popular stereotype of non-urbanised societies settled in [[hillfort]]s and [[dun]]s, drawn from Britain and Ireland contrasts with the urban settlements present in the core Hallstatt and La Tene areas, with the many significant oppida of Gaul late in the first millennium BC, and with the towns of [[Cisalpine Gaul|Gallia Cisalpina]].
There is archaeological evidence to suggest that the pre-Roman Celtic societies were linked to the network of overland [[trade route]]s that spanned Eurasia. Large prehistoric trackways crossing bogs in Ireland and Germany have been found by archaeologists. They are believed to have been created for wheeled transport as part of an extensive roadway system that facilitated trade.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Neolithic wooden trackways and bog hydrology |journal= Journal of Paleolimnology |publisher =Springer Netherlands | volume =12 | date= January, 1994 | pages= 49–64 | doi=10.1007/BF00677989 | author=Casparie, Wil A.}}</ref> The territory held by the Celts contained tin, lead, iron, silver and gold.<ref> {{PDFlink|http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ar_r_wal.pdf|369 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 377990 bytes -->}} Beatrice Cauuet (Université Toulouse Le Mirail, UTAH, France)</ref> Celtic smiths and metalworkers created weapons and jewelry for international trade, particularly with the Romans.
Local trade was largely in the form of barter, but as with most tribal societies they probably had a reciprocal economy in which goods and other services are not exchanged, but are given on the basis of mutual relationships and the obligations of kinship. Low value coinages of potin, silver and bronze, suitable for use in trade, were minted in most Celtic areas of the continent, and in South-East Britain prior to the Roman conquest of these areas.
There are only very limited records from pre-Christian times written in Celtic languages. These are mostly inscriptions in the Roman, and sometimes Greek, alphabets. The [[Ogham]] script was mostly used in early Christian times in Ireland and Scotland (but also in Wales and England), and was only used for ceremonial purposes such as inscriptions on gravestones. The available evidence is of a strong oral tradition, such as that preserved by bards in Ireland, and eventually recorded by monasteries. The oldest recorded rhyming poetry in the world is of Irish origin and is a transcription of a much older [[Epic poetry|epic poem]], leading some scholars to claim that the Celts invented [[Rhyme]]. They were highly skilled in visual arts and Celtic art produced a great deal of intricate and beautiful metalwork, examples of which have been preserved by their distinctive burial rites.
In some regards the Atlantic Celts were conservative, for example they still used [[chariot]]s in combat long after they had been reduced to ceremonial roles by the Greeks and Romans, though when faced with the Romans in Britain, their [[chariot tactics]] defeated the invasion attempted by Julius Caesar.
[[Image:Dying gaul.jpg|300px|thumb|300px|The ''[[Dying Gaul]]'', a Roman marble copy of a [[Hellenistic]] work of the late third century BC [[Capitoline Museums]], Rome]]
According to Diodorus Siculus:
{{quotation|The Gauls are tall of body with rippling muscles and white of skin and their hair is blond, and not only naturally so for they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing colour which nature has given it. For they are always washing their hair in limewater and they pull it back from the forehead to the nape of the neck, with the result that their appearance is like that of Satyrs and Pans since the treatment of their hair makes it so heavy and coarse that it differs in no respect from the mane of horses. Some of them shave the beard but others let it grow a little; and the nobles shave their cheeks but they let the moustache grow until it covers the mouth.|[[Diodorus Siculus]]}}
===Clothing===
During the later Iron Age the Gauls generally wore long-sleeved shirts or tunics and long trousers (called ''[[braccae]]'' by the Romans<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica''</ref>). Clothes were made of wool or linen, with some silk being used by the rich. Cloaks were worn in winter. Broaches and armlets were used but the most famous item of jewellery was the torc.
===Gender and sexual norms===
According to [[Aristotle]], most "belligerent nations" are strongly influenced by their women, but the Celts were unusual because of openly preferred male lovers (''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' II 1269b).<ref>{{cite book|author=Percy, William A.|title= Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece|publisher= University of Illinois Press|year= 1996|url=http://www.google.com/books?id=TCvoj1efp8UC&pg=PA18&dq=celts%2BAthenaeus%2Bboy%2Blover&sig=6jEo_4NaMuXlkX5Z-kpMCM6gOgo|pages= pp.18|id= ISBN 0252067401}}; Rankin, H.D. ''Celts and the Classical World'', p.55</ref> H. D. Rankin in ''Celts and the Classical World'' notes that "Athenaeus echoes this comment (603a) and so does [[Ammianus]] (30.9). It seems to be the general opinion of antiquity"<ref>Rankin, p. 55</ref> In book VIII of his ''[[Deipnosophists]]'', the Roman Greek rhetorician and grammarian [[Athenaeus]], repeating assertions made by [[Diodorus Siculus]] in the 1st century BC, wrote that Celtic women were beautiful but that the men preferred to sleep together and "the young men will offer themselves to strangers and are insulted if the offer is refused" (Diod 5:32). Rankin argues that the ultimate source of these assertions is likely to be [[Poseidonius]]<ref>Rankin, p.78</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Borris, Kenneth|title= Same-Sex Desire in the English Renaissance: A Sourcebook of Texts, 1470-1650|publisher= Routledge|year= 2003|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ao5Kg1Se3TIC&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=athenaeus+celt+boys&source=web&ots=NkCJ8drfIx&sig=_XMSTBPoOWj0TOg8mS5WVziMJQs|pages= pp.211|id= ISBN 0815336268}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Dynes, Wayne R.|title= Encyclopedia of Homosexuality|publisher= Garland Pub.|year= 1990|url=http://www.google.com/books?id=DpAYAAAAIAAJ&q=celt%2Bboy%2BAthenaeus&dq=celt%2Bboy%2BAthenaeus&pgis=1|pages= pp.209|id= ISBN 1410206203}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Forberg, Friedrich Karl|title= Manual of classical erotology (De figuris Veneris)|publisher= Medical Press of New York|year= 1963|url=http://www.google.com/books?id=QVRcu4UfrEoC&q=celt%2Bboy%2BAthenaeus&dq=celt%2Bboy%2BAthenaeus&pgis=1|pages= pp.93}}</ref>
There are no direct sources from ancient Celtic cultures to confirm or contradict these statements. Rankin speculates that these authors may be recording male "bonding rituals".
Under [[Brehon Law]], which was written down in early Medieval Ireland after conversion to Christianity, a woman had the right to divorce her husband and gain his property if he was unable to perform his maritial duties due to impotence, obesity, homosexual inclination or preference for other women.<ref name="Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law)">University College, Cork. '' Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law) ''. 2005.[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102030.html] Access date: 7 March 2006.</ref>
The [[Sexual norm|sexual freedom]] of women in Britain was noted by [[Cassius Dio]]:<ref name= "Dio Cassius"> Roman History Volume IX Books 71-80, Dio Cassiuss and Earnest Carry translator (1927), Loeb Classical Library ISBN-10: 0674991966.</ref>
{{quotation|...a very witty remark is reported to have been made by the wife of Argentocoxus, a Caledonian, to [[Livia|Julia Augusta]]. When the empress was jesting with her, after the treaty, about the free intercourse of her sex with men in Britain, she replied: "We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women; for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest." Such was the retort of the British woman.|[[Cassius Dio]]}}
Very few reliable sources exist regarding Celtic views towards gender divisions, though some archaeological evidence does suggest that their views towards gender roles may have been different from those of their contemporary classical counterparts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Evans, Thomas L.|title= Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern Frace 600 - 130 BC, BAR International Series 1226|publisher= Archaeopress|year= 2004|pages= pp.34-40, 158-188|}}</ref>
There are instances recorded where women participated both in warfare and in kingship, although they were in the minority in these areas. [[Plutarch]] reports Celtic women acting as ambassadors to avoid a war amongst Celts chiefdoms on the Po valley during the 4th century BC.<ref name=Ellis>
{{cite book
|author=Ellis, Peter Berresford
|title= ''The Celts: A History''
|pages= pp.49-50
|publisher=Caroll & Graf
|date= 1998
|id= ISBN 0-786-71211-2}}
</ref>
There are some general indications coming from Iron Age burial sites in the Champagne and Bourgogne regions of Northeastern France suggesting that women may have had roles in combat during the earlier portions of the La Tène period. The evidence is, however, far from conclusive.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Evans, Thomas L.
|title= Quantified Identities: A Statisical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern Frace 600 - 130 BC, BAR International Series 1226
|publisher= Archaeopress
|year= 2004|
pages= pp.34-37|
}}</ref>
Examples of individuals buried with both [[torc]]s (generally associated as being female grave goods{{Fact|date=March 2008}}), and weaponry have been identified, and there are some questions regarding the sexing of some skeletons that were buried with warrior assemblages.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Evans, Thomas L.
|title= Quantified Identities: A Statisical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern Frace 600 - 130 BC, BAR International Series 1226
|publisher= Archaeopress
|year= 2004|
pages= pp, 158-188|
}}</ref>
Among the insular Celts, there is a greater amount of historic documentation to suggest warrior roles for women however. In addition to commentary by [[Tacitus]] about [[Boudica]], there are indications from later period histories that also suggest a more substantial role for "women as warriors" in symbolic if not actual roles.
[[Posidonius]] and [[Strabo]] described an island of women where men could not venture to for fear of death and the women ripped each other apart.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Bitel, Lisa M.
|title= Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland
|publisher= Cornell University Press
|year= 1996|
pages= p.212|
id=ISBN 0-801-48544-4}}</ref> Other writers, such as [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] and [[Tacitus]], mentioned Celtic women inciting, participating, and leading battles.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Tierney, J. J.
|title=The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius, PRIA 60 C
|year=1960
|publisher=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy
|pages=pp1.89-275
}}</ref> Poseidonius' anthropological comments on the Celts had common themes, primarily primitivism, extreme ferocity, cruel sacrificial practices, and the strength and courage of their women.<ref>
{{cite book
|title = Celts and the Classical World
|author = Rankin, David
|publisher= Routledge
|year=1996
|pages=p.80
|id=ISBN 0-415-15090-6
}}</ref>
== Warfare and weapons ==
{{main|Celtic warfare}}
[[Endemic warfare|Tribal warfare]] appears to have been a regular feature of Celtic societies. While epic literature depicts this as more of a sport focused on raids and hunting rather than organised territorial conquest, the historical record is more of tribes using warfare to exert political control and harass rivals, for economic advantage, and in some instances to conquer territory.
The Celts were described by classical writers such as [[Strabo]], [[Livy]], [[Pausanias]], and [[Florus]] as fighting like "wild beasts", and as [[hordes]]. [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysius]] said that their "manner of fighting, being in large measure that of wild beasts and frenzied, was an erratic procedure, quite lacking in [[military science]]. Thus, at one moment they would raise their swords aloft and smite after the manner of [[Boar|wild boars]], throwing the whole weight of their bodies into the blow like hewers of wood or men digging with mattocks, and again they would deliver crosswise blows aimed at no target, as if they intended to cut to pieces the entire bodies of their adversaries, protective armour and all".<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities''
p259 Excerpts from Book XIV</ref> Such descriptions have been challenged by contemporary historians.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Ellis, Peter Berresford
|title= ''The Celts: A History''
|pages= pp.60-3
|publisher=Caroll & Graf
|date= 1998
|id= ISBN 0-786-71211-2}}</ref>
===Swords===
{{main|Celtic sword}}
Polybius (2.33) indicates that the principal Celtic weapon was a long sword which was used for hacking edgewise rather than stabbing. Celtic warriors are described by Polybius and Plutarch as frequently having to cease fighting in order to straighten their sword blades.
===Celts as head-hunters?===
"Amongst the Celts the human head was venerated above all else, since the head was to the Celt the soul, centre of the emotions as well as of life itself, a symbol of divinity and of the powers of the other-world." —[[Paul Jacobsthal]], ''Early Celtic Art''.
Arguments for a Celtic cult of the severed head include the many sculptured representations of severed heads in La Tène carvings, and the surviving Celtic mythology, which is full of stories of the severed heads of heroes and the saints who carry their decapitated heads, right down to ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', where the [[Green Knight]] picks up his own severed head after Gawain has struck it off, just as [[St. Denis]] carried his head to the top of [[Montmartre]].
A further example of this regeneration after beheading lies in the tales of [[Connemara]]'s [[St. Feichin]], who after being beheaded by Viking pirates carried his head to the Holy Well on [[Omey Island]] and on dipping the head into the well placed it back upon his neck and was restored to full health.
[[Diodorus Siculus]], in his 1st century ''History'' had this to say about Celtic head-hunting:
{{quotation|They cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses. The blood-stained spoils they hand over to their attendants and striking up a paean and singing a song of victory; and they nail up these first fruits upon their houses, just as do those who lay low wild animals in certain kinds of hunting. They embalm in [[cedar oil]] the heads of the most distinguished enemies, and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display them with pride to strangers, saying that for this head one of their ancestors, or his father, or the man himself, refused the offer of a large sum of money. They say that some of them boast that they refused the weight of the head in gold}}
In ''[[Gods and Fighting Men]]'', a translation of early Irish mythology by prominent Irish translator [[Lady Gregory]], heads of men killed in battle are described in the beginning of the story ''The Fight With The Fir Bolgs'' as pleasing to [[Macha]], one aspect of the [[Morrigan|Morrigu]] (the Irish trinity of war-goddesses).
The Celts believed that if they attached the head of their enemy to a pole or a fence near their house, the head would start screaming when the enemy was near.
The Celtic headhunters venerated the image of the severed head as a continuing source of spiritual power. If the head is the seat of the soul, possessing the severed head of an enemy, honorably reaped in battle, added prestige to any warrior's reputation. According to tradition the buried head of a god or hero named [[Bran the Blessed]] protected Britain from invasion across the [[English Channel]]. However, the Celts only took heads of those which they deemed to be worthy of respect, and did not go to battle seeking to take them, so 'head hunters' is probably innacurate
==Religion==
===Polytheism===
{{main|Celtic polytheism}}
[[Image:BrigitteCelt.jpg|thumb|A statuette in the Museum of Brittany, Rennes, probably depicting Brigantia/Brigid: c2nd century BCE]]The Celts had an [[indigenous]], [[polytheistic]] religion and culture.
Many Celtic gods are known from texts and inscriptions from the Roman period, such as Aquae Sulis, while others have been inferred from place names such as Lugdunum "stronghold of Lug". Rites and sacrifices were carried out by priests, some known as Druids. The Celts did not see their gods as having a human shape until late in the Iron Age. Celtic Shrines were situated in remote areas such as hilltops, groves and lakes.
Celtic religious patterns were regionally variable, however some patterns of deity forms, and ways of worshiping these deities, appear over a wide geographical and temporal range. The Celts worshipped both gods and goddesses. In general, the gods were deities of particular skills, such as the many-skilled [[Lugh]] and [[Dagda]], and the goddesses associated with natural features, most particularly rivers, such as [[Boann]], goddess of the [[River Boyne]]. This was not universal, however, as Goddesses such as [[Brighid]] and [[Morrígan|The Morrígan]] were associated with both natural features ([[clootie well|holy wells]] and the River Unius) and skills such as blacksmithing, healing and warfare.<ref name="Sjoestedt">Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise (originally published in French, 1940, reissued 1982) ''Gods and Heroes of the Celts''. Translated by Myles Dillon, Berkeley, CA, Turtle Island Foundation ISBN 0-913666-52-1, pp. 24-46.</ref>
Triplicities are a common theme in Celtic cosmology and a number of deities were seen as threefold.<ref name="Sjoestedt2">Sjoestedt (1940) pp.16, 24-46.</ref>
The Celts had literally hundreds of deities, some unknown outside of a single family or tribe, while others were popular enough to have a following that crossed boundaries of language and culture. For instance, the Irish god Lugh, associated with storms, lightning, and culture, is seen in a similar form as [[Lugos]] in Gaul and [[Lleu]] in Wales. Similar patterns are also seen with the Continental Celtic horse goddess [[Epona]], and what may well be her Irish and Welsh counterparts, [[Macha (Irish mythology)|Macha]] and [[Rhiannon]], respectively.<ref name="Sjoestedt3">Sjoestedt (1940) pp.xiv-xvi, 14-46.</ref>
Roman reports of the druids mention ceremonies being held in [[sacred grove]]s. La Tène Celts built temples of varying size and shape, though they also maintained shrines at [[sacred tree]]s, and [[votive pool]]s.<ref name="Cunliffe">Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-815010-5, pp.202, 204-8.</ref>
Druids fulfilled a variety of roles in [[Celtic religion]], as priests and religious officiants, but also as judges, sacrificers, teachers and lore-keepers. In general, they were the "college professors" of their time. Druids organized and ran the religious ceremonies, as well as memorizing and teaching the [[Celtic calendar|calendar]]. Though generally quite accurate, the Celtic calendar required manual correction about every 40 years, therefore knowledge of mathematics was required. Other classes of druids performed ceremonial sacrifices of crops and [[animal sacrifice|animals]] for the perceived benefit of the community.<ref name="Sjoestedt5">Sjoestedt (1982) pp.xxvi-xix.</ref>
===Celtic Christianity ===
{{main|Celtic Christianity}}
[[Image:Ccross.svg|thumb|right|170px|A [[Celtic cross]].]]
While the regions under Roman rule adopted Christianity along with the rest of the Roman empire, unconquered areas of Ireland and Scotland moved from [[Celtic polytheism]] to [[Celtic Christianity]] in the fifth century AD. Ireland was converted under missionaries from Britain such as [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]]. Later missionaries from Ireland were a major source of [[Missionary|missionary work]] in Scotland, Saxon parts of Britain and central Europe (see [[Hiberno-Scottish mission]]). This brought the [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] renaissance of Celtic art between 390 and 1200 A.D.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}, developing many of the styles now thought of as typically Celtic, and found through much of Ireland and Britain, including the north-east and far north of Scotland, [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]]. This was brought to an end by [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Normans|Norman]] influence, though the Celtic languages, as well as some and some influences from Celtic art, continued.
The development of [[Celtic Christianity|Christianity]] in [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]] brought an early [[medieval]] renaissance of [[Celtic art]] between 400 and 1200, only ended by the [[Norman Conquest]] of Ireland in the late 12th century.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Notable works produced during this period include the [[Book of Kells]] and the [[Ardagh Chalice]]. [[Antiquarian]] interest from the 17th century led to the term 'Celt' being extended, and rising [[nationalism]] brought Celtic revivals from the 19th century in areas where the use of Celtic languages had continued.{{Fact|date=August 2007}}
==See also==
*[[Modern Celts]]
*[[Celtic nations]]
*[[Celtic languages]]
*[[Ethnic groups of Europe]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
* Alberro, Manuel and Arnold, Bettina (eds.), ''[http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/ e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies], [http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html Volume 6: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula]'', University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Center for Celtic Studies, 2005.
* Collis, John. ''The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions.'' Stroud: Tempus Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7524-2913-2. Historiography of Celtic studies.
* Coutinhas, José Manuel. "Callaeci Bracari - aproximação à identidade etno-cultural". Porto: Universidade Portucalense. 2006.
* Cunliffe, Barry. ''The Ancient Celts.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-815010-5.
* Cunliffe, Barry. ''Iron Age Britain.'' London: Batsford, 2004. ISBN 0-7134-8839-5
* Cunliffe, Barry. ''The Celts: A Very Short Introduction.'' 2003
* del Giorgio, J.F. ''[[The Oldest Europeans]]: Who are we? Where do we come from? What made European women different?''. A.J.Place, 2006. ISBN 980-6898-00-1
* Freeman, Philip Mitchell ''The earliest classical sources on the Celts: A linguistic and historical study.'' Diss. Harvard University, 1994. [http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/pqdweb?did=740970711&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=3959&RQT=309&VName=PQD (link)]
* Gamito, Teresa J. ''The Celts in Portugal''. In E-Keltoi, Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies, vol. 6. 2005.
* Gelling, Margaret. ''Signposts to the Past'',Phillimore 1988.
* Green, Miranda. ''Celtic Goddesses'' British Museum Press 1998.
* Haywood. ''Historical Atlas of the Celtic World.'' 2001.
* James, Simon. ''Exploring the World of the Celts'' 1993.
* James, Simon. ''The Atlantic Celts - Ancient People Or Modern Invention?'' Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, August 1999. ISBN 0-299-16674-0.
* James, Simon & Rigby, Valerie. ''Britain and the Celtic Iron Age.'' London: British Museum Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7141-2306-4.
* Kruta, V., O. Frey, Barry Raftery and M. Szabo. eds. ''The Celts.'' New York: Thames & Hudson, 1991. ISBN 0-8478-2193-5. A translation of ''Les Celtes: Histoire et Dictionnaire'' 2000.
* Laing, Lloyd. ''The Archaeology of Late Celtic Britain and Ireland c. 400–1200 AD.'' London: Methuen, 1975. ISBN 0-416-82360-2
* Laing, Lloyd and Jenifer Laing. ''Art of the Celts'', London: Thames and Hudson, 1992 ISBN 0-500-20256-7
* MacKillop, James. ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-280120-1
* McEvedy, Colin. ''The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History''. New York: Penguin, 1985. ISBN 0-14-070832-4
* Mallory, J. P. ''In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth.'' London: Thames and Hudson, 1991. ISBN 0-500-27616-1.
* Morse, Michael. ''How the Celts came to Britain''.
* Oppenheimer Stephen. ''The Origins of the British''.
* O'Rahilly, T. F. ''Early Irish History'' Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946.
* Palmer, Douglas. ''The Neanderthal'' Channel 4 Books, 2000.
* Powell, T. G. E. ''The Celts.'' New York: Thames and Hudson, 1980. third ed. 1997. ISBN 0-500-27275-1.
* Raftery, Barry. ''Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 1994. ISBN 0-500-27983-7.
* Renfrew, Colin. ''Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-521-38675-6.
* Rosser, ZH et al. "Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language.", Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Dec;67(6):1376-81.
* Sykes, Bryan. ''The Blood of the British''.
* Ward-Perkins, Bryan. "Why Did The Anglo-Saxons Not Become More British?" in ''English Historical Review'', June 2000.
* Weale, M., et al. "Y Chromosome Evidence For Anglo-Saxon Mass Migration." in ''Society For Molecular Biology And Evolution'', 2002.
</div>
<!-- AWOL:
*Article On Study Re Celtic Population by Cristian Capelli, David Goldstein and others at University College London. http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=97790
-->
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Celts}}
'''Additional articles'''
*[http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Ancient_Celtic_music Ancient Celtic music] - in the ''[[Citizendium]]''
*[http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html Essays on Celtiberian topics] - in ''[[e-Keltoi]]'', [[University of Wisconsin, Madison]]
'''Geography'''
*[http://resourcesforhistory.com/map.htm An interactive map showing the lands of the Celts between 800BC and 305AD.]
*[http://www.arqueotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC), showing the Celtic territories]
*[http://www.resourcesforhistory.com/map.htm Map of Celtic lands]
'''Multimedia'''
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3932614824851254533&q=lost+treasures+of+the+ancient+world&total=106&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=5 "The Celts"] - part of ''Lost Treasures of the Ancient World'', Cromwell Productions, 2000.
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20020221.shtml Discussion] - with academician [[Barry Cunliffe]], on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)|In Our Time]]'', [[February 21]], [[2002]]. (Streaming [[Realplayer]] format)
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5738673982827673282&q=celts&total=1836&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4 "The Primitive Celts"] - part of ''Terry Jones' Barbarians'', June 2006.
'''Organisations'''
*[http://www.ordemgael.moonfruit.com Gael Order, group of study and cultural heritage]
*[http://newworldcelts.org newworldcelts.org]
*[http://www.celtic-congress-2007.com XIII. International Congress of Celtic Studies in Bonn]
'''Special interest'''
*[http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Nordic-Celtic Related Nordic-Celtic DNA material] - at FamilyTreeDNA.com
{{Celts|state=uncollapsed}}
{{link fa|it}}
[[Category:Ancient peoples]]
[[Category:Celts]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Europe]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ireland]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Europe]]
[[Category:Invasions of England]]
[[af:Kelte]]
[[als:Kelten]]
[[ar:كلت]]
[[an:Zelta]]
[[ast:Celta]]
[[be:Кельты]]
[[bar:Köitn]]
[[bs:Kelti]]
[[br:Kelted]]
[[bg:Келти]]
[[ca:Celtes]]
[[cs:Keltové]]
[[cy:Y Celtiaid]]
[[da:Kelterne]]
[[de:Kelten]]
[[et:Keldid]]
[[el:Κέλτικος πολιτισμός]]
[[es:Celta]]
[[eo:Keltoj]]
[[eu:Zelta]]
[[fa:سلتها]]
[[fr:Celtes]]
[[fy:Kelten]]
[[ga:Na Ceiltigh]]
[[gv:Ny Celtiee]]
[[gd:Ceilteach]]
[[gl:Celta]]
[[ko:켈트족]]
[[hr:Kelti]]
[[is:Keltar]]
[[it:Celti]]
[[he:קלטים]]
[[kw:Kelt]]
[[ku:Kelt]]
[[la:Celtae]]
[[lv:Ķelti]]
[[lb:Kelten]]
[[lt:Keltai]]
[[li:Kelte]]
[[hu:Kelták]]
[[mk:Келти]]
[[ms:Celt]]
[[nl:Kelten]]
[[ja:ケルト人]]
[[no:Keltere]]
[[nn:Keltarar]]
[[pl:Celtowie]]
[[pt:Celtas]]
[[ro:Celţi]]
[[rm:Celts]]
[[ru:Кельты]]
[[sco:Celtic Race]]
[[simple:Celt]]
[[sk:Kelti]]
[[sl:Kelti]]
[[sr:Келти]]
[[sh:Kelti]]
[[fi:Keltit]]
[[sv:Kelter]]
[[vi:Người Celt]]
[[tr:Kelt]]
[[uk:Кельти]]
[[vec:Celti]]
[[zh:凯尔特人]]