This article is about the ancient and medieval peoples of Europe. For Celts of the present day, seeCelts (modern). For other uses, seeCelt (disambiguation).
Distribution of Celtic peoples over time, in the traditional view:
The Celts were often in conflict with theRomans, such as in theRoman–Gallic wars, theCeltiberian Wars, theconquest of Gaul andconquest of Britain. By the 1st century AD, most Celtic territories had become part of theRoman Empire. By c. 500, due toRomanisation andthe migration ofGermanic tribes, Celtic culture had mostly become restricted to Ireland, western and northern Britain, andBrittany. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, the Celtic-speaking communities in these Atlantic regions emerged as a reasonably cohesive cultural entity. They had a common linguistic, religious and artistic heritage that distinguished them from surrounding cultures.[19]
The first recorded use of the name 'Celts' – asΚελτοί (Keltoi) inAncient Greek – was by Greek geographerHecataeus of Miletus in 517 BC,[24] when writing about a people living nearMassilia (modernMarseille), southernGaul.[25] In the fifth century BC,Herodotus referred toKeltoi living around thesource of the Danube and in the far west of Europe.[26] The etymology ofKeltoi is unclear. Possible roots includeIndo-European *kʲel 'to hide' (seen also in Old Irishceilid, and Modern Welshcelu), *kʲel 'to heat' or *kel 'to impel'.[27] It may come from theCeltic language. Linguist Kim McCone supports this view and notes thatCelt- is found in the names of several ancient Gauls such as Celtillus, father ofVercingetorix. He suggests it meant the people or descendants of "the hidden one", noting the Gauls claimed descent from an underworld god (according toCommentarii de Bello Gallico), and linking it with the GermanicHel.[28] Others view it as a name coined by Greeks; among them linguistPatrizia de Bernardo Stempel, who suggests it meant "the tall ones".[29]
In the first century BC, Roman leaderJulius Caesar reported that theGauls called themselves 'Celts',Latin:Celtae, intheir own tongue.[30] Thus whether it was given to them by others or not, it was used by the Celts themselves. Greek geographerStrabo, writing about Gaul towards the end of the first century BC, refers to the "race which is now called bothGallic andGalatic", though he also usesCeltica as another name for Gaul. He reports Celtic peoples inIberia too, calling themCeltiberi andCeltici.[31]Pliny the Elder noted the use ofCeltici inLusitania as a tribal surname,[32] whichepigraphic findings have confirmed.[33][34]
A Latin name for the Gauls,Galli (pl.), may come from a Celtic ethnic name, perhaps borrowed into Latin during theCeltic expansion into Italy from the early fifth century BC. Its root may beProto-Celtic*galno, meaning "power, strength" (whenceOld Irishgal "boldness, ferocity", Welshgallu "to be able, power"). The Greek nameΓαλάται (Galatai, LatinizedGalatae) most likely has the same origin, referring to the Gauls whoinvaded southeast Europe and settled inGalatia.[35] The suffix-atai might be a Greek inflection.[36] Linguist Kim McCone suggests it comes from Proto-Celtic*galatis ("ferocious, furious"), and was not originally an ethnic name but a name foryoung warrior bands. He says "If the Gauls' initial impact on the Mediterranean world was primarily a military one typically involving fierce young*galatīs, it would have been natural for the Greeks to apply this name for the type ofKeltoi that they usually encountered".[28]
Because Classical writers did not call the inhabitants of Britain and IrelandΚελτοί (Keltoi) orCeltae,[5][8][9] some scholars prefer not to use the term for the Iron Age inhabitants of those islands.[5][8][9][10] However, they spoke Celtic languages, shared other cultural traits, and Roman historianTacitus says the Britons resembled the Gauls in customs and religion.[11]
Modern
For at least 1,000 years, the ethnonymCelt was not used at all. No ethnic group called themselves Celts or Celtic until about 1700. After the word 'Celtic' was rediscovered in classical texts, it was applied for the first time to the distinctive culture, history, traditions, and language of the modern Celtic nations – Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.[37] 'Celt' is a modern English word, first attested in 1707 in the writing ofEdward Lhuyd, whose work, along with that of other late 17th-century scholars, brought academic attention to the languages and history of the early Celtic inhabitants of Great Britain.[38] The English wordsGaul,Gauls (pl.) andGaulish (first recorded in the 16–17th centuries) come from FrenchGaule andGaulois, a borrowing fromFrankish *Walholant, 'Roman-land'(seeGaul: Name), the root of which isProto-Germanic*walha-, 'foreigner, Roman, Celt', whence the English wordWelsh (Old Englishwælisċ). Proto-Germanic*walha comes from the name of theVolcae,[39] a Celtic tribe who lived first in southern Germany and central Europe, then migrated to Gaul.[40] This means that EnglishGaul, despite its superficial similarity, is not actually derived from LatinGallia (which should have produced *Jaille in French),[citation needed] though it does refer to the same ancient region.
Celtic refers to alanguage family and, more generally, means 'of the Celts' or 'in the style of the Celts'. Several archaeological cultures are considered Celtic, based on unique sets of artefacts. The link between language and artefact is aided by the presence of inscriptions.[41] The modern idea of a Celticcultural identity or "Celticity" focuses on similarities among languages, works of art, and classical texts,[42] and sometimes also among material artefacts,social organisation,homeland andmythology.[43] Earlier theories held that these similarities suggest a common "racial" (race is now a contested concept) origin for the various Celtic peoples, but more recent theories hold that they reflect a common cultural and linguistic heritage more than a genetic one. Celtic cultures seem to have been diverse, with the use of a Celtic language being the main thing they had in common.[5]
Continental Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of mainland Europe and Insular Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of the British and Irish islands, and their descendants. The Celts of Brittany derive their language from migrating Insular Celts from Britain and so are grouped accordingly.[45]
TheCeltic languages are a branch of theIndo-European languages. By the time Celts are first mentioned in written records around 400 BC, they were already split into several language groups, and spread over much of western mainland Europe, theIberian Peninsula, Ireland and Britain. The languages developed intoCeltiberian,Goidelic andBrittonic branches, among others.[46][47]
The core Hallstatt territory (HaC, 800 BC) is shown in solid yellow.
The eventual area of Hallstatt influence (by 500 BC, HaD) in light yellow.
The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) in solid green.
The eventual area of La Tène influence (by 250 BC) in light green.
The territories of some majorCeltic tribes of the late La Tène period are labelled.
The mainstream view during most of the twentieth century is that the Celts and theproto-Celtic language arose out of theUrnfield culture ofcentral Europe around 1000 BC, spreading westward and southward over the following few hundred years.[14][48][49][50] The Urnfield culture was preeminent in central Europe during the lateBronze Age,circa 1200 BC to 700 BC. Thespread of iron-working led to theHallstatt culture (c. 800 to 500 BC) developing out of the Urnfield culture in a wide region north of the Alps. The Hallstatt culture developed into theLa Tène culture from about 450 BC, which came to be identified withCeltic art.[citation needed]
In 1846,Johann Georg Ramsauer unearthed an ancientgrave field with distinctive grave goods atHallstatt, Austria. Because the burials "dated to roughly the time when Celts are mentioned near theDanube byHerodotus, Ramsauer concluded that the graves were Celtic".[51] Similar sites and artifacts were found over a wide area, which were named the 'Hallstatt culture'. In 1857, the archaeological site ofLa Tène was discovered in Switzerland.[51] The huge collection of artifacts had a distinctive style. Artifacts of this 'La Tène style' were found elsewhere in Europe, "particularly in places where people called Celts were known to have lived and early Celtic languages are attested. As a result, these items quickly became associated with the Celts, so much so that by the 1870s scholars began to regard finds of the La Tène as 'the archaeological expression of the Celts'".[51] This cultural network was overrun by the Roman Empire, though traces of La Tène style were still seen inGallo-Roman artifacts. In Britain and Ireland, the La Tène style survived precariously to re-emerge inInsular art.[citation needed]
The Urnfield-Hallstatt theory began to be challenged in the latter 20th century, when it was accepted that the oldest known Celtic-language inscriptions were those ofLepontic from the 6th century BC andCeltiberian from the 2nd century BC. These were found in northern Italy and Iberia, neither of which were part of the 'Hallstatt' nor 'La Tène' cultures at the time.[11] The Urnfield-Hallstatt theory was partly based on ancientGreco-Roman writings, such as theHistories of Herodotus, which placed the Celts at thesource of the Danube. However,Stephen Oppenheimer shows that Herodotus seemed to believe the Danube rose near thePyrenees, which would place the Ancient Celts in a region which is more in agreement with later classical writers and historians (i.e. in Gaul and Iberia).[52] The theory was also partly based on the abundance of inscriptions bearing Celtic personal names in the Eastern Hallstatt region (Noricum). However, Patrick Sims-Williams notes that these date to the later Roman era, and says they suggest "relatively late settlement by a Celtic-speaking elite".[11]
'Celtic from the West' theory
A map of Europe in the Bronze Age, showing the Atlantic network in red
In the late 20th century, the Urnfield-Hallstatt theory began to fall out of favour with some scholars, which was influenced by new archaeological finds. 'Celtic' began to refer primarily to 'speakers of Celtic languages' rather than to a single culture or ethnic group.[11] A new theory suggested that Celtic languages arose earlier, along the Atlantic coast (including Britain, Ireland,Armorica andIberia), long before evidence of 'Celtic' culture is found in archaeology.Myles Dillon andNora Kershaw Chadwick argued that "Celtic settlement of the British Isles" might date to theBell Beaker culture of theCopper and Bronze Age (from c. 2750 BC).[53][54]Martín Almagro Gorbea (2001) also proposed that Celtic arose in the3rd millennium BC, suggesting that the spread of the Bell Beaker culture explained the wide dispersion of the Celts throughout western Europe, as well as the variability of the Celtic peoples.[55]
John T. Koch[56] andBarry Cunliffe[57] have developed this 'Celtic from the West' theory. It proposes that the proto-Celtic language arose along the Atlantic coast and was thelingua franca of theAtlantic Bronze Age cultural network, later spreading inland and eastward.[11] More recently, Cunliffe proposes that proto-Celtic had arisen in the Atlantic zone even earlier, by 3000 BC, and spread eastwards with the Bell Beaker culture over the following millennium. His theory is partly based onglottochronology, the spread of ancient Celtic-looking placenames, and thesis that theTartessian language was Celtic.[11] However, the proposal that Tartessian was Celtic is widely rejected by linguists, many of whom regard it as unclassified.[58][59]
'Celtic from the Centre' theory
Celticist Patrick Sims-Williams (2020) notes that in current scholarship, 'Celt' is primarily a linguistic label. In his 'Celtic from the Centre' theory, he argues that the proto-Celtic language did not originate in central Europe nor the Atlantic, but in-between these two regions. He suggests that it "emerged as a distinct Indo-European dialect around thesecond millennium BC, probably somewhere inGaul [centered in modern France] ... whence it spread in various directions and at various speeds in thefirst millennium BC". Sims-Williams says this avoids the problematic idea "that Celtic was spoken over a vast area for a very long time yet somehow avoided major dialectal splits", and "it keeps Celtic fairly close to Italy, which suits the view thatItalic and Celtic were in some way linked".[11]
Arnaiz-Villena et al. (2017) demonstrated that Celtic-related populations of the European Atlantic (Orkney Islands, Scottish, Irish, British, Bretons, Basques, Galicians) shared a commonHLA system.[clarification needed][61]
Other genetic research does not support the notion of a significant genetic link between these populations, beyond the fact that they are all West Europeans.Early European Farmers did settle Britain (and all of Northern Europe) in theNeolithic; however, recent genetics research has found that, between 2400 and 2000 BC, over 90% of British DNA was overturned byEuropean Steppe Herders in a migration that brought large amounts of Steppe DNA (including theR1b haplogroup) to western Europe.[62] Modern autosomal genetic clustering is testament to this fact, as both modern and Iron Age British and Irish samples cluster genetically very closely with other North Europeans, and less so with Galicians, Basques or those from the south of France.[63][64]
Reconstruction of a late La Tène period settlement in Altburg nearBundenbach, Germany (first century BC)
Reconstruction of a late La Tène period settlement inHavranok, Slovakia (second–first century BC)
The concept that the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures could be seen not just as chronological periods but as "Culture Groups", entities composed of people of the same ethnicity and language, had started to grow by the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century the belief that these "Culture Groups" could be thought of in racial or ethnic terms was held byGordon Childe, whose theory was influenced by the writings ofGustaf Kossinna.[65] As the 20th century progressed, the ethnic interpretation of La Tène culture became more strongly rooted, and any findings of La Tène culture and flat inhumation cemeteries were linked to the Celts and the Celtic language.[66]
In various[clarification needed]academic disciplines, the Celts were considered a Central European Iron Age phenomenon, through the cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène. However, archaeological finds from the Halstatt and La Tène culture were rare in Iberia, southwestern France, northern and western Britain, southern Ireland and Galatia[67][68] and did not provide enough evidence for a culture like that of Central Europe. It is equally difficult to maintain that the origin of the Iberian Celts can be linked to the preceding Urnfield culture. This has resulted in a newer theory that introduces a 'proto-Celtic' substratum and a process of Celticisation, having its initial roots in the Bronze AgeBell Beaker culture.[69]
The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) 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 fromGreek, and laterEtruscan civilisations. A shift of settlement centres took place in the 4th century. The western La Tène culture corresponds to historicalCeltic 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 and material culture 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".[70] Thus, while the La Tène culture is certainly associated with theGauls, the presence of La Tène artefacts may be due to cultural contact and does not imply the permanent presence of Celtic speakers.[citation needed]
The Greek historianEphorus of Cyme inAsia Minor, writing in the 4th century BC, believed the Celts came from the islands off the mouth of theRhine and were "driven from their homes by the frequency of wars and the violent rising of the sea".Polybius published ahistory of Rome about 150 BC in which he describes the Gauls of Italy and their conflict with Rome.Pausanias in the 2nd century AD 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, later writers such asStrabo used it. The latter, writing in the early 1st century AD, deals with Britain and Gaul as well as Hispania, Italy, and Galatia.Caesar wrote extensively about hisGallic Wars in 58–51 BC.Diodorus Siculus wrote about the Celts of Gaul and Britain in his 1st-century history.[citation needed]
Diodorus Siculus andStrabo both suggest that the heartland of the people they call Celts was insouthern Gaul. The former says that the Gauls were to the north of the Celts, but that the Romans referred to both as Gauls (linguistically the Gauls were certainly Celts). Before the discoveries at Hallstatt and La Tène, it was generally considered that the Celtic heartland was southern Gaul, seeEncyclopædia Britannica for 1813.[citation needed]
The Romans knew the Celts then living in present-day France as Gauls. The territory of these peoples probably included theLow Countries, the Alps and present-day northern Italy.Julius Caesar in hisGallic Wars described the 1st-century BC descendants of those Gauls.[citation needed]
Eastern Gaul became the centre of the western La Tène culture. In later Iron Age Gaul, the social organisation resembled that of the Romans, with large towns. From the 3rd century BC the Gauls adopted coinage. Texts with Greek characters from southern Gaul have survived from the 2nd century BC.[71]
Greek traders foundedMassalia about 600 BC, with some objects (mostly drinking ceramic vessels) being traded up theRhône valley. But trade became disrupted soon after 500 BC and re-oriented over the Alps to the Po valley in the Italian peninsula. TheRomans arrived in the Rhone valley in the 2nd century BC and encountered a mostly Celtic-speaking Gaul. Rome wanted land communications with its Iberian provinces and fought a major battle with theSaluvii atEntremont in 124–123 BC. Gradually Roman control extended, and theRoman province ofGallia Transalpina developed along the Mediterranean coast.[72][73] The Romans knew the remainder of Gaul asGallia Comata, 'Long-haired Gaul'.[74]
In 58 BC, theHelvetii planned to migrate westward but Julius Caesar forced them back. He then became involved in fighting the various tribes in Gaul, and by 55 BC had overrun most of Gaul. In 52 BC,Vercingetorix led a revolt against Roman occupation but was defeated at theBattle of Alesia and surrendered.[75]
Following the Gallic Wars of 58–51 BC, Caesar'sCeltica formed the main part of Roman Gaul, becoming the province ofGallia Lugdunensis. This territory of the Celtic tribes was bounded on the south by the Garonne and on the north by the Seine and the Marne.[76] The Romans attached large swathes of this region to neighbouring provincesBelgica andAquitania, particularly underAugustus.[77]
Place- and personal-name analysis and inscriptions suggest thatGaulish was spoken over most of what is now France.[78][79]
Iberia
Main language areas inIberia, showing Celtic languages in beige, c. 300 BC
Until the end of the 19th century, traditional scholarship dealing with the Celts did acknowledge their presence in the Iberian Peninsula[80][81] as amaterial culture relatable to theHallstatt andLa Tène cultures. However, since according to the definition of theIron Age in the 19th century Celtic populations were supposedly rare in Iberia and did not provide a cultural scenario that could easily be linked to that of Central Europe, the presence of Celtic culture in that region was generally not fully recognised. Modern scholarship, however, has proven that Celtic presence and influences were most substantial in what is today Spain andPortugal (with perhaps the highest settlement saturation in Western Europe), particularly in the central, western and northern regions.[82][83]
In addition toGauls infiltrating from the north of thePyrenees, the Roman and Greek sources mention Celtic populations in three parts of the Iberian Peninsula: the eastern part of theMeseta (inhabited by theCeltiberians), the southwest (Celtici, in modern-dayAlentejo) and the northwest (Gallaecia andAsturias).[84] A modern scholarly review[85] found several archaeological groups of Celts in Spain:
TheCeltiberian group in the Upper-Douro Upper-Tagus Upper-Jalón area.[86] Archaeological data suggest a continuity at least from the 6th century BC. In this early period, the Celtiberians inhabited in hill-forts (Castros). Around the end of the 3rd century BC, Celtiberians adopted more urban ways of life. From the 2nd century BC, they minted coins and wrote inscriptions using theCeltiberian script. These inscriptions make theCeltiberian Language the only Hispano-Celtic language classified as Celtic with unanimous agreement.[87] In the late period, before the Roman Conquest, both archaeological evidence and Roman sources suggest that theCeltiberians were expanding into different areas in the Peninsula (e.g. Celtic Baeturia).
TheVetton group in the western Meseta, between the Tormes, Douro and Tagus Rivers. They were characterised by the production ofVerracos, sculptures of bulls and pigs carved in granite.
TheVaccean group in the central Douro valley. They were mentioned by Roman sources already in the 220 BC. Some of their funerary rituals suggest strong influences from theirCeltiberian neighbours.[citation needed]
Triskelion and spirals on a Galiciantorc terminal, Museum of Castro de Santa Tegra,A Guarda
TheCastro Culture in northwestern Iberia, modern dayGalicia and NorthernPortugal.[88] Its high degree of continuity, from the Late Bronze Age, makes it difficult to support that the introduction of Celtic elements was due to the same process of Celticisation of the western Iberia, from the nucleus area of Celtiberia. Two typical elements are the sauna baths with monumental entrances, and the "Gallaecian Warriors", stone sculptures built in the 1st century AD. A large group of Latin inscriptions contain Celtic linguistic features, while others are similar to those found in the non-CelticLusitanian language.[87]
TheAstures and theCantabri. This area was romanised late, as it was not conquered by Rome until theCantabrian Wars of 29–19 BC.
Celts in the southwest, in the areaStrabo called Celtica[89]
The origins of the Celtiberians might provide a key to understanding the Celticisation process in the rest of the Peninsula. The process of Celticisation of the southwestern area of the peninsula by the Keltoi and of the northwestern area is, however, not a simple Celtiberian question. Recent investigations about theCallaici[90] andBracari[91] in northwesternPortugal are providing new approaches to understanding Celtic culture (language, art and religion) in western Iberia.[92]
John T. Koch ofAberystwyth University suggested thatTartessian inscriptions of the 8th century BC might be classified as Celtic. This would mean that Tartessian is the earliest attested trace of Celtic by a margin of more than a century.[93]
The Celtic city ofHeuneburg by the Danube, Germany, c. 600 BC, the oldest city north of the Alps.[94] Expansion ofearly Germanic tribes intoCentral Europe,[95] helping press its previous Celts further south and southeastPeoples of Cisalpine Gaul during the 4th to 3rd centuries BC
The people who had adopted these cultural characteristics in central and southern Germany are regarded as Celts. Celtic cultural centres developed in central Europe during the late Bronze Age (c. 1200 BC until 700 BC). Some, like theHeuneburg, the oldest city north of the Alps,[97] grew to become important cultural centres of the Iron Age in Central Europe, that maintained trade routes to theMediterranean. In the 5th century BC the Greek historianHerodotus mentioned a Celtic city at the Danube –Pyrene, that historians attribute to the Heuneburg. Beginning around 700 BC (or later),Germanic peoples (Germanic tribes) fromsouthern Scandinavia and northern Germany expanded south and gradually replaced the Celtic peoples in Central Europe.[98][99][100][101][102][103]
TheCanegrate culture represented the first migratory wave of the proto-Celtic[104][105] population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through theAlpine passes, had already penetrated and settled in the westernPo valley betweenLake Maggiore andLake Como (Scamozzina culture). It has also been proposed that a more ancient proto-Celtic presence can be traced back to the beginning of the MiddleBronze Age, when North Westwern Italy appears closely linked regarding the production of bronze artefacts, including ornaments, to the western groups of theTumulus culture.[106] La Tène cultural material appeared over a large area of mainland Italy,[107] the southernmost example being the Celtic helmet fromCanosa di Puglia.[108]
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 theApennine Mountains and the Alps" according toDiodorus Siculus. ThePo Valley and the rest of northern Italy (known to the Romans asCisalpine Gaul) was inhabited by Celtic-speakers who founded cities such asMilan.[116] Later the Roman army was routed at thebattle of Allia and Rome was sacked in 390 BC by theSenones.[117]
At thebattle of Telamon in 225 BC, a large Celtic army was trapped between two Roman forces; the Celtic army was crushed.[118]
The defeat of the combinedSamnite, Celtic and Etruscan alliance by the Romans in theThird 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.[citation needed]
Expansion east and south
A map of Celtic invasions and migrations in the Balkans in the 3rd century BC
The Celts also expanded down theDanube river and its tributaries. One of the most influential tribes, theScordisci, established their capital atSingidunum (present-dayBelgrade, Serbia) in the 3rd century BC. The concentration of hill-forts and cemeteries shows adense population in theTisza valley of modern-dayVojvodina, Serbia, Hungary and intoUkraine. Expansion intoRomania was however blocked by theDacians.[citation needed]
TheSerdi were a Celtic tribe[119] inhabitingThrace. They were located around and foundedSerdika (Bulgarian:Сердика,Latin:Ulpia Serdica,Greek:Σαρδῶν πόλις), nowSofia inBulgaria,[120] which reflects their ethnonym. They would have established themselves in this area during the Celtic migrations at the end of the 4th century BC, though there is no evidence for their existence before the 1st century BC.Serdi are among traditional tribal names reported into the Roman era.[121] They were gradually Thracianized over the centuries but retained their Celtic character in material culture up to a late date.[when?][citation needed] According to other sources they may have been simply of Thracian origin,[122] according to others they may have become of mixed Thraco-Celtic origin. Further south, Celts settled inThrace (Bulgaria), which they ruled for over a century, andAnatolia, where they settled as theGalatians(see also:Gallic Invasion of Greece). Despite theirgeographical isolation from the rest of the Celtic world, the Galatians maintained their Celtic language for at least 700 years.St Jerome, who visited Ancyra (modern-dayAnkara) in 373 AD, likened their language to that of theTreveri of northern Gaul.[citation needed]
TheBoii tribe gave their name toBohemia,Bologna and possiblyBavaria, and Celtic artefacts and cemeteries have been discovered further east in what is now Poland andSlovakia. A Celtic coin (Biatec) fromBratislava's mint was displayed on the old Slovak 5-crown coin.[citation needed]
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.[123] However, the Celtic invasions of Italy and theexpedition in Greece and western Anatolia, are well documented in Greek and Latin history.[124][125]
There are records of Celtic mercenaries inEgypt serving thePtolemies. Thousands were employed in 283–246 BC and they were also in service around 186 BC. They attempted to overthrowPtolemy II.[126]
Linguists have debated whether a Celtic language came to the British Isles and then split, or whether the two branches arrived separately. The older view was that Celtic influence in the Isles was the result of successive migrations or invasions from the European mainland by diverse Celtic-speaking peoples over several centuries, accounting for theP-Celtic vs.Q-Celticisogloss. This view has been challenged by the hypothesis that the islands' Celtic languages form anInsular Celtic dialect group.[129] In the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars often dated the "arrival" of Celtic culture in Britain (via an invasion model) to the 6th century BC, corresponding to archaeological evidence ofHallstatt influence and the appearance ofchariot burials in what is now England. Cunliffe and Koch propose in their newer'Celtic from the West' theory that Celtic languages reached the Isles earlier, with the Bell Beaker culture c.2500 BC, or even before this.[130][131] More recently, a majorarchaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain in the Bronze Age from 1300 to 800 BC.[132] The newcomers were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from Gaul.[132] From 1000 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain,[133] but not northern Britain.[132] The authors see this as a "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain".[132] There was much less immigration during the Iron Age, so it is likely that Celtic reached Britain before then.[132] Cunliffe suggests that a branch of Celtic was already spoken in Britain, and the Bronze Age migration introduced the Brittonic branch.[134]
Like many Celtic peoples on the mainland, the Insular Celts followed anAncient Celtic religion overseen bydruids. Some of the southern British tribes had strong links with Gaul andBelgica, andminted their own coins. During the Roman occupation of Britain, aRomano-British culture emerged in the southeast. The Britons and Picts in the north, and the Gaels of Ireland, remained outside the empire. During theend of Roman rule in Britain in the 400s AD, there was significantAnglo-Saxon settlement of eastern and southern Britain, and some Gaelic settlement of its western coast. During this time, some Britons migrated to theArmorican peninsula, where their culture became dominant. Meanwhile, much of northern Britain (Scotland) became Gaelic. By the 10th century AD, the Insular Celtic peoples had diversified into the Brittonic-speakingWelsh (inWales),Cornish (inCornwall),Bretons (inBrittany) and Cumbrians (in theOld North); and the Gaelic-speakingIrish (in Ireland),Scots (in Scotland) andManx (on theIsle of Man).[citation needed]
Classical writers did not call the inhabitants of Britain and IrelandCeltae orΚελτοί (Keltoi),[5][8][9] leading some scholars to question the use of the term 'Celt' for the Iron Age inhabitants of those islands.[5][8][9][10] The first historical account of the islands was by the Greek geographerPytheas, who sailed around what he called the "Pretannikai nesoi" (the "Pretannic isles") around 310–306 BC.[135] In general, classical writers referred to the Britons asPretannoi (in Greek) orBritanni (in Latin).[136] Strabo, writing in Roman times, distinguished between the Celts and Britons.[137] However, Roman historianTacitus says the Britons resembled the Celts of Gaul in customs and religion.[11]
UnderCaesar, the Romans conquered CelticGaul, and fromClaudius onward the Roman empire absorbed parts of Britain. Roman local government of these regions closely mirrored pre-Roman tribal boundaries, and archaeological finds suggest native involvement in local government.[citation needed]
The native peoples under Roman rule became Romanised 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.[citation needed]
The Roman occupation ofGaul, and to a lesser extent ofBritain, led to Roman-Celticsyncretism. In the case of the continental Celts, this eventually resulted in alanguage shift toVulgar Latin, while the Insular Celts retained their language.[citation needed]
There was also considerable cultural influence exerted by Gaul on Rome, particularly in military matters and horsemanship, as the Gauls often served in theRoman cavalry. The Romans adopted the Celtic cavalry sword, thespatha, andEpona, the Celtic horse goddess.[138][139]
To the extent that sources are available, they depict a pre-ChristianIron Age Celticsocial structure based formally on class and kingship, although this may only have been a particular late phase of organisation in Celtic societies. Patron-client relationships similar to those of Roman society are also described by Caesar and others in the Gaul of the 1st century BC.[citation needed]
In the main, the evidence is of tribes being led by kings, although some argue that there is also evidence ofoligarchical republicanforms of government eventually emerging in areas which had close contact with Rome. Most descriptions of Celtic societies portray them as being divided into three groups: a warrior aristocracy; an intellectual class including professions such asdruid, poet, and jurist; and everyone else. In historical times, the offices of high and low kings in Ireland and Scotland were filled by election under the system oftanistry, which eventually came into conflict with the feudal principle ofprimogeniture in which succession goes to the first-born son.[citation needed]
The reverse side of theDesborough Mirror, with spiral and trumpet motifs typical of La Tène Celtic art in BritainA 4th century BC Celtic gold ring from southern Germany, decorated with human and rams heads
Little is known of family structure among the Celts. Patterns of settlement varied from decentralised to urban. The popular stereotype of non-urbanised societies settled inhillforts andduns,[140] drawn from Britain and Ireland (there are about 3,000hill forts known in Britain)[141] contrasts with the urban settlements present in the core Hallstatt and La Tène areas, with the many significantoppida of Gaul late in the first millennium BC, and with the towns ofGallia Cisalpina.[citation needed]
Slavery, as practised by the Celts, was very likely similar to the better documentedpractice in ancient Greece and Rome.[142] Slaves were acquired from war, raids, and penal and debt servitude.[142] Slavery was hereditary,[143] thoughmanumission was possible. TheOld Irish and Welsh words for 'slave',cacht andcaeth respectively, are cognate with Latincaptus 'captive' suggesting that theslave trade was an early means of contact between Latin and Celtic societies.[142] In the Middle Ages, slavery was especially prevalent in theCeltic countries.[144]Manumissions were discouraged by law and the word for 'female slave',cumal, was used as a general unit of value in Ireland.[145]
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. Theogham script, anEarly Medievalalphabet, 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 bybards in Ireland, and eventually recorded bymonasteries. Celtic art also produced a great deal of intricate and beautiful metalwork, examples of which have been preserved by their distinctive burial rites.[146]
In some regards the Atlantic Celts were conservative: for example, they still usedchariots in combat long after they had been reduced to ceremonial roles by the Greeks and Romans. However, despite being outdated, Celticchariot tactics were able to repel theinvasions of Britain attempted by Julius Caesar.[147]
According to Diodorus Siculus:
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 inlimewater and they pull it back from the forehead to the nape of the neck, with the result that their appearance is like that ofSatyrs andPans 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.
During the later Iron Age, the Gauls generally wore long-sleeved shirts ortunics and long trousers (calledbraccae by the Romans).[148] Clothes were made ofwool orlinen, with some silk being used by the rich.Cloaks were worn in the winter.Brooches[149] andarmlets were used, but the most famous item of jewellery was thetorc, a neck collar of metal, sometimes gold. The hornedWaterloo Helmet in theBritish Museum, which long set the standard for modern images of Celtic warriors, is in fact a unique survival; it may have been a piece for ceremonial rather than military wear.[150]
Trade and coinage
Archaeological evidence suggests that the pre-Roman Celtic societies were linked to the network of overlandtrade routes that spanned Eurasia. Archaeologists have discovered large prehistoric trackways crossing bogs in Ireland and Germany. Due to their substantial nature, these are believed to have been created for wheeled transport as part of an extensive roadway system that facilitated trade.[151] The territory held by the Celts containedtin, lead, iron, silver and gold.[152] Celtic smiths and metalworkers created weapons and jewellery forinternational trade, particularly with the Romans.[153]
The myth that the Celticmonetary system consisted of whollybarter is a common one, but is in part false. The monetary system was complex and is still not understood (much like the late Roman coinages), and due to the absence of large numbers of coin items, it is assumed that "proto-money" was used. This included bronze items made from the early La Tène period and onwards, which were often in the shape ofaxeheads, rings, orbells. Due to the large number of these present in some burials, it is thought they had a relatively highmonetary value, and could be used for "day to day" purchases. Low-value coinages ofpotin, a bronze alloy with high tin content, were minted in most Celtic areas of the continent and in South-East Britain prior to the Roman conquest of these lands. Higher-value coinages, suitable for use in trade, were minted in gold, silver, and high-quality bronze.Gold coinage was much more common thansilver coinage, despite being worth substantially more, as while there were around 100 mines in Southern Britain and Central France, silver was more rarely mined. This was due partly to the relative sparsity of mines and the amount of effort needed for extraction compared to the profit gained. As the Roman civilisation grew in importance and expanded its trade with the Celtic world, silver and bronze coinage became more common. This coincided with a major increase in gold production in Celtic areas to meet the Roman demand, due to the high value Romans put on the metal. The large number of gold mines in France is thought to be a major reason why Caesar invaded.[154]
Gender and sexual norms
Reconstruction of the dress and equipment of an Iron Age Celtic warrior fromBiebertal, Germany
Very few reliable sources exist regarding Celtic views ongender roles, though some archaeological evidence suggests their views may have differed from those of the Greco-Roman world, which tended to be lessegalitarian.[155][156] Some Iron Age burials in northeastern Gaul suggest women may have had roles in warfare during the earlierLa Tène period, but the evidence is far from conclusive.[157] Celtic individuals buried with both female jewellery and weaponry have been found, such as theVix Grave in northeastern Gaul, and there are questions about the gender of some individuals buried with weaponry. However, it has been suggested that the weapons indicate high social rank rather than masculinity.[158]
Most written accounts of the Ancient Celts are from the Romans and Greeks, though it is not clear how accurate these are. Roman historiansAmmianus Marcellinus andTacitus mentioned Celtic women inciting, participating in, and leading battles.[159]Plutarch reports that Celtic women acted as ambassadors to avoid a war among Celtic chiefdoms in thePo valley during the 4th century BC.[160] Posidonius' anthropological comments on the Celts had common themes, primarilyprimitivism, extreme ferocity, cruel sacrificial practices, and the strength and courage of their women.[161]Cassius Dio suggests there was greatsexual freedom among women in Celtic Britain:[162]
... a very witty remark is reported to have been made by the wife of Argentocoxus, aCaledonian, toJulia 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.
Barry Cunliffe writes that such references are "likely to be ill-observed" and meant to portray the Celts as outlandish "barbarians".[163] Historian Lisa Bitel argues the descriptions of Celtic women warriors are not credible. She says some Roman and Greek writers wanted to show that the barbarian Celts lived in "an upside-down world ... and a standard ingredient in such a world was the manly warrior woman".[164]
The Greek philosopherAristotle wrote in hisPolitics that theCelts of southeastern Europe approved of male homosexuality. Greek historianDiodorus Siculus wrote in hisBibliotheca historica that although Gaulish women were beautiful, the men had "little to do with them" and it was a custom for men to sleep on animal skins with two younger males. He further claimed that "the young men will offer themselves to strangers and are insulted if the offer is refused". His claim was later repeated by Greco-Roman writersAthenaeus andAmmianus.[165] H. David Rankin, inCelts and the Classical World, suggests some of these claims refer to bonding rituals in warrior groups, which required abstinence from women at certain times,[166] and says it probably reflects "the warlike character of early contacts between the Celts and the Greeks".[167]
UnderBrehon Law, which was written down inearly 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 marital duties due to impotence, obesity, homosexual inclination or preference for other women.[168][169][failed verification]
Celtic art
TheBattersea Shield, a ceremonial bronze shield dated 3rd–1st century BC, is an example of La TèneCeltic art from Britain
Celtic art is generally used by art historians to refer to art of the La Tène period across Europe, while theEarly Medieval art of Britain and Ireland, that is what "Celtic art" evokes for much of the general public, is calledInsular art in art history. Both styles absorbed considerable influences from non-Celtic sources, but retained a preference for geometrical decoration over figurative subjects, which are often extremely stylised when they do appear; narrative scenes only appear under outside influence. Energetic circular forms,triskeles and spirals are characteristic. Much of the surviving material is in precious metal, which no doubt gives a very unrepresentative picture, but apart fromPictish stones and the Insularhigh crosses, largemonumental sculpture, even with decorative carving, is very rare; possibly it was originally common in wood. Celts were also able to create developed musical instruments such as the carnyces, these famous war trumpets used before the battle to frighten the enemy, as the best preserved found inTintignac (Gaul) in 2004 and which were decorated with a boar head or a snake head.[170]
Theinterlace patterns that are often regarded as typical of "Celtic art" were characteristic of the whole of the British Isles, a style referred to asInsular art, or Hiberno-Saxon art. This artistic style incorporated elements of La Tène, Late Roman, and, most importantly,animal Style II of GermanicMigration Period art. The style was taken up with great skill and enthusiasm by Celtic artists in metalwork andilluminated manuscripts. Equally, the forms used for the finest Insular art were all adopted from the Roman world:Gospel books like theBook of Kells andBook of Lindisfarne, chalices like theArdagh Chalice andDerrynaflan Chalice, andpenannular brooches like theTara Brooch andRoscrea Brooch. These works are from the period of peak achievement of Insular art, which lasted from the 7th to the 9th centuries, before theViking attacks sharply set back cultural life.[citation needed]
In contrast the less well known but often spectacular art of the richest earlier Continental Celts, before they were conquered by the Romans, often adopted elements of Roman, Greek and other "foreign" styles (and possibly used imported craftsmen) to decorate objects that were distinctively Celtic. After the Roman conquests, some Celtic elements remained in popular art, especiallyAncient Roman pottery, of which Gaul was actually the largest producer, mostly in Italian styles, but also producing work in local taste, includingfigurines of deities and wares painted with animals and other subjects in highly formalised styles.Roman Britain also took more interest inenamel than most of the Empire, and its development ofchamplevé technique was probably important to the laterMedieval art of the whole of Europe, of which the energy and freedom of Insular decoration was an important element. Rising nationalism broughtCeltic revivals from the 19th century.[citation needed]
Gallic calendar
TheColigny calendar, which was found in 1897 inColigny, Ain, was engraved on abronze tablet, preserved in 73 fragments, that originally was 1.48 metres (4 feet 10 inches) wide and 0.9 metres (2 feet 11 inches) high (Lambert p. 111). Based on the style of lettering and the accompanying objects, it probably dates to the end of the 2nd century.[171] It is written in Latin inscriptional capitals, and is inGaulish. The restored tablet contains 16 vertical columns, with 62 months distributed over 5 years.[citation needed]
French archaeologist J. Monard speculated that it was recorded bydruids wishing to preserve their tradition of timekeeping in a time when theJulian calendar was imposed throughout theRoman Empire. However, the general form of the calendar suggests the public peg calendars (orparapegmata) found throughout the Greek and Roman world.[172]
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, foreconomic advantage, and in some instances to conquer territory.[citation needed]
manner of fighting, being in large measure that of wild beasts and frenzied, was an erratic procedure, quite lacking inmilitary science. Thus, at one moment they would raise their swords aloft and smite after the manner ofwild 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.
Polybius (2.33) indicates that the principal Celtic weapon was along bladed 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. This claim has been questioned by some archaeologists, who note thatNoric steel, steel produced in CelticNoricum, was famous in theRoman Empire period and was used to equip theRoman military.[175][176] However, Radomir Pleiner, inThe Celtic Sword (1993) argues that "the metallographic evidence shows that Polybius was right up to a point", as around one third of surviving swords from the period might well have behaved as he describes.[177] In addition to these long bladed slashing swords, spears and specializedjavelins were also used.[178]
Polybius also asserts that certain of the Celts fought naked: "The appearance of these naked warriors was a terrifying spectacle, for they were all men of splendid physique and in the prime of life."[179] According to Livy, this was also true of the Celts of Asia Minor.[180]
Celts had a reputation ashead hunters.[181]Paul Jacobsthal says: "Amongst the Celts thehuman 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."[182] Writing in the first century BC, Greek historiansPosidonius andDiodorus Siculus said Celtic warriors cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle, hung them from the necks of their horses, then nailed them up outside their homes.[181]Strabo wrote in the same century that Celtsembalmed the heads of their most esteemed enemies in cedar oil and put them on display.[181] Roman historianLivy wrote that theBoii beheaded a defeated Roman general after theBattle of Silva Litana, covered his skull in gold, and used it as a ritual cup.[181] Archaeologists have found evidence that heads were embalmed and displayed by the southern Gauls.[183][184]In another example, at the southern Gaulish site ofEntremont, there stood a pillar carved with skulls, within which were niches where human skulls were kept, nailed into position.[185]Roquepertuse nearby has similar carved heads and skull niches. Many lone carved heads have been found in Celtic regions, some with two or three faces.[186] Examples include theMšecké Žehrovice Head and theCorleck Head.
Severed heads are a common motif in Insular Celtic myths, and there are many tales in which 'living heads' preside over feasts or speak prophecies.[181][186] Thebeheading game is a motif in Irish myth and Arthurian legend, most famously in the taleSir Gawain and the Green Knight, where theGreen Knight picks up his own severed head afterGawain has struck it off. There are also many legends in Celtic regions of saints whocarry their own severed heads. In Irish myth, the severed heads of warriors are called themast or nuts of the goddessMacha.[187]
Like other European Iron Age societies, the Celts practised apolytheistic religion and believed in anafterlife.[188][189][unreliable source] Celtic religion varied by region and over time, but had "broad structural similarities",[188] and there was "a basic religious homogeneity" among the Celtic peoples.[190] Because the ancient Celts did not have writing, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts, and literature from the early Christian period.[191]
The names of over two hundredCeltic deities have survived (seelist of Celtic deities), although it is likely that many of these were alternative names, regional names or titles for the same deity.[188] Some deities were venerated only in one region, but others were more widely known.[188] According toMiranda Aldhouse-Green, the Celts were alsoanimists, believing that every part of the natural world had a spirit.[191]
The Celts seem to have had a father god, who was often a god of the tribe and of the dead (Toutatis probably being one name for him); and a mother goddess who was associated with the land, earth and fertility[192] (Dea Matrona probably being one name for her). The mother goddess could also take the form of a war goddess asprotectress of her tribe and its land.[192] There also seems to have been a male celestial god—identified withTaranis—associated with thunder, the wheel, and the bull.[192] There were gods of skill and craft, such as the pan-regional godLugus, and the smith godGobannos.[192] Celtic healing deities were often associated withsacred springs,[192] such asSirona andBorvo. Other pan-regional deities include the horned godCernunnos, the horse and fertility goddessEpona, the divine sonMaponos, as well asBelenos,Ogmios, andSucellos.[188][191] Caesar says the Gauls believed they all descended from a god of the dead and underworld.[188]Triplicity is a common theme in Celtic cosmology, and a number ofdeities were seen as threefold,[193] for examplethe Three Mothers.[194]
Celtic religious ceremonies were overseen by priests known asdruids, who also served as judges, teachers, and lore-keepers. Other classes of druids performed sacrifices for the perceived benefit of the community.[195] There is evidence that ancient Celtic peoplessacrificed animals, almost alwayslivestock orworking animals. It appears some were offered wholly to the gods (by burying or burning), while some were shared between gods and humans (part eaten and part offered).[196] There is also some evidence that ancient Celtssacrificed humans, and some Greco-Roman sources claim the Gauls sacrificed criminals byburning them in awicker man.[197]
The Romans said the Celts held ceremonies insacred groves and othernaturalshrines, callednemetons.[188] Some Celtic peoples built temples or ritual enclosures of varying shapes (such as theRomano-Celtic temple andviereckschanze), though they also maintained shrines at natural sites.[188] Celtic peoples often madevotive offerings: treasured items deposited in water and wetlands, or in ritual shafts and wells, often in the same place over generations.[188] Modernclootie wells might be a continuation of this.[198]
Insular Celtic mythology
Most survivingCeltic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples:Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed byWelsh mythology. These were written down in the early Middle Ages, mainly by Christian scribes.
The supernatural race called theTuatha Dé Danann are believed to represent the main Celtic gods of Ireland. Their traditional rivals are theFomóire, whom they defeat in theBattle of Mag Tuired.[199]Barry Cunliffe says the underlying structure in Irish myth was a dualism between the male tribal god and the female goddess of the land.[188]The Dagda seems to have been the chief god andthe Morrígan his consort, each of whom had other names.[188] One common motif is thesovereignty goddess, who represents the land and bestows sovereignty on a king by marrying him. The goddessBrigid was linked with nature as well as poetry, healing and smithing.[193]
Some figures in medieval Insular Celtic myth have ancient continental parallels: IrishLugh and WelshLleu are cognate with Lugus,Goibniu andGofannon with Gobannos,Macán andMabon with Maponos, whileMacha andRhiannon may be counterparts of Epona.[200]
In Insular Celtic myth, theOtherworld is a parallel realm where the gods dwell. Some mythical heroes visit it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, by going under water or across the western sea, or after being offered asilver apple branch by an Otherworld resident.[201] Irish myth says that the spirits of the dead travel to the house ofDonn (Tech Duinn), a legendary ancestor; this echoes Caesar's comment that the Gauls believed they all descended from a god of the dead and underworld.[188]
Insular Celtic peoples celebrated four seasonal festivals, known to the Gaels asBeltaine (1 May),Lughnasa (1 August),Samhain (1 November) andImbolc (1 February).[188]
The Roman invasion of Gaul brought a great deal of Celtic peoples into the Roman Empire. Roman culture had a profound effect on the Celtic tribes which came under the empire's control. Roman influence led to many changes in Celtic religion, the most noticeable of which was the weakening of the druid class, especially religiously; the druids were to eventually disappear altogether. Romano-Celtic deities also began to appear: these deities often had both Roman and Celtic attributes, combined the names of Roman and Celtic deities, or included couples with one Roman and one Celtic deity. Other changes included the adaptation of theJupiter Column, a sacred column set up in many Celtic regions of the empire, primarily in northern and eastern Gaul. Another major change in religious practice was the use of stone monuments to represent gods and goddesses. The Celts had probably only created woodencult images (including monuments carved into trees, which were known as sacred poles) before the Roman conquest.[194]
While the regions under Roman rule adopted Christianity along with the rest of the Roman empire, unconquered areas of Ireland and Scotland began to move fromCeltic polytheism to Christianity in the 5th century. Ireland was converted by missionaries from Britain, such asSaint Patrick. Later missionaries from Ireland were a major source ofmissionary work in Scotland, Anglo-Saxon parts of Britain, and central Europe (seeHiberno-Scottish mission).Celtic Christianity, the forms of Christianity that took hold in Britain and Ireland at this time, had for some centuries only limited and intermittent contact with Rome and continental Christianity, as well as some contacts withCoptic Christianity. Some elements of Celtic Christianity developed, or retained, features that made them distinct from the rest of Western Christianity, most famously their conservative method of calculating thedate of Easter. In 664, theSynod of Whitby began to resolve these differences, mostly by adopting the current Roman practices, which theGregorian Mission from Rome had introduced toAnglo-Saxon England.[citation needed]
Distribution of Y-chromosomalHaplogroup R-M269 in Europe. The majority of ancient Celtic males have been found to be carriers of this sub-lineage.[202][203][204]
Genetic studies on the limited amount of material available suggest continuity between Iron Age people from areas considered Celtic and the earlierBell Beaker culture of Bronze Age Western Europe.[205][206][207] Like the Bell Beakers, ancient Celts carried a substantial amount ofWestern Steppe Herders ancestry, which is derived fromYamnaya pastoralists who expanded westwards from thePontic–Caspian steppe during the lateNeolithic and the early Bronze Age and associated with the initial spread ofIndo-European languages.[208] This ancestry was particularly prevalent among Celts ofNorthwest Europe.[207] Examined individuals overwhelmingly carry types of the paternalhaplogroup R-M269,[202][203][204] while the maternal haplogroupsH andU are frequent.[209][210] These lineages are associated with steppe ancestry.[202][209] The spread of Celts into Iberia and the emergence of theCeltiberians is associated with an increase innorth-central European ancestry in Iberia, and may be connected to the expansion of theUrnfield culture.[211] The paternal haplogrouphaplogroup I2a1a1a has been detected among Celtiberians.[212] There appears to have been significant gene flow among Celtic peoples of Western Europe during the Iron Age.[213][207] While the Gauls of southern France display genetic links with the Celtiberians, the Gauls of northern France display links with Great Britain and Sweden.[214] Modern populations of Western Europe, particularly those who still speakCeltic languages, display substantial genetic continuity with the Iron Age populations of the same areas.[215][216][217]
^Mac Cana & Dillon. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apogee of their influence and territorial expansion during the 4th century BC, extending across the length of Europe from Britain to Asia Minor.";Puhvel, Fee & Leeming 2003, p. 67. "[T]he Celts, were Indo-Europeans, a fact that explains a certain compatibility between Celtic, Roman, and Germanic mythology.";Riché 2005, p. 150. "The Celts and Germans were two Indo-European groups whose civilizations had some common characteristics.";Todd 1975, p. 42. "Celts and Germans were of course derived from the same Indo-European stock.";Encyclopedia Britannica. Celt. "Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe."
^abDrinkwater 2012, p. 295. "Celts, a name applied by ancient writers to a population group occupying lands mainly north of the Mediterranean region from Galicia in the west to Galatia in the east. (Its application to the Welsh, the Scots, and the Irish is modern.) Their unity is recognizable by common speech and common artistic traditions.
^Waldman & Mason 2006, p. 144. "Celts, in its modern usage, is an encompassing term referring to all Celtic-speaking peoples."
^Encyclopedia Britannica. Celt. "Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe. Their tribes and groups eventually ranged from the British Isles and northern Spain to as far east as Transylvania, the Black Sea coasts, and Galatia in Anatolia and were in part absorbed into the Roman Empire as Britons, Gauls, Boii, Galatians, and Celtiberians. Linguistically they survive in the modern Celtic speakers of Ireland, Highland Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, and Brittany.
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^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, p. 290.ISBN0-7165-0031-0.
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^Schumacher, Stefan; Schulze-Thulin, Britta; aan de Wiel, Caroline (2004).Die keltischen Primärverben. Ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon (in German). Institut für Sprachen und Kulturen,University of Innsbruck. pp. 84–87.ISBN978-3-85124-692-6.
^Percivaldi, Elena (2003).I Celti: una civiltà europea.Giunti Editore. p. 82.
^The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond,ISBN0-521-22717-8, 1992, p. 600: "In the place of the vanished Treres and Tilataei we find the Serdi for whom there is no evidence before the first century BC. It has for long being supposed on convincing linguistic and archeological grounds that this tribe was of Celtic origin"
^MacCulloch, J. A. (1911).The Religion of the Ancient Celts. Morrison & Gibb. pp. 4–5.
^Evans, Thomas L. (2004).Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600–130 BC, BAR International Series 1226.Archaeopress. pp. 34–40,158–88.
^Evans, Thomas L. (2004).Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600–130 BC, BAR International Series 1226.Archaeopress. pp. 34–37.
^Nelson, Sarah M. (2004).Gender in archaeology: analyzing power and prestige: Volume 9 of Gender and archaeology series.Rowman Altamira. p. 119.
^Tierney, J. J.The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius. Proceedings of theRoyal Irish Academy. Vol. 60 C. pp. 1.89–275.
^Ellis, Peter Berresford (1998).The Celts: A History. Caroll & Graf. pp. 49–50.ISBN978-0-7867-1211-3.
^University College, Cork. Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law). 2005."Cáin Lánamna".Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved20 November 2007. Access date: 7 March 2006.
^"Accueil" [Home].Site archéologique de Tintignac-Naves (in French).Archived from the original on 1 August 2015.
^Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2003).La langue gauloise. Paris, Editions Errance. 2nd edition.ISBN2-87772-224-4. Chapter 9 is titled "Un calandrier gaulois"
^abSjoestedt, Marie-Louise (originally published in French, 1940, reissued 1982).Gods and Heroes of the Celts. Translated by Myles Dillon, Turtle Island FoundationISBN0-913666-52-1, pp. 16, 24–46.
^abInse Jones, Prudence, and Nigel Pennick.History of pagan Europe. London: Routledge, 1995. Print.
Kruta, Venceslas, Otto Hermann Frey, Barry Raftery and M. Szabo. eds.The Celts. New York:Thames & Hudson, 1991.ISBN0-8478-2193-5. A translation ofLes Celtes: Histoire et dictionnaire 2000.
Laing, Lloyd.The Archaeology of Late Celtic Britain and Ireland c. 400–1200 AD. London: Methuen, 1975.ISBN0-416-82360-2
Laing, Lloyd and Jenifer Laing.Art of the Celts, London: Thames and Hudson, 1992ISBN0-500-20256-7
MacKillop, James.A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.ISBN0-19-280120-1
Probst, Ernst (1996).Deutschland in der Bronzezeit : Bauern, Bronzegiesser und Burgherren zwischen Nordsee und Alpen. Munich:C. Bertelsmann.ISBN9783570022375.
TheMadeira,Azores, andCanary Islands were not occupied by theRomans. The Madeira and Azores islands were unoccupied until thePortuguese in the 15th century; the Canary islands, theGuanches occupied the territory until the Castilians.
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