TheCelts (/kɛlts/KELTS, seepronunciation for different usages) orCeltic peoples (/ˈkɛltɪk/KEL-tik) were a collection ofIndo-European peoples inEurope andAnatolia, identified by their use ofCeltic languages and other cultural similarities. Major Celtic groups included theGauls; theCeltiberians andGallaeci of Iberia; theBritons,Picts, andGaels of Britain and Ireland; theBoii; and theGalatians. The interrelationships of ethnicity, language and culture in the Celtic world are unclear and debated; for example over the ways in which theIron Age people of Britain and Ireland should be called Celts. In current scholarship, 'Celt' primarily refers to 'speakers of Celtic languages' rather than to a single ethnic group.

The history ofpre-Celtic Europe and Celtic origins is debated. The traditional "Celtic from the East" theory, says theproto-Celtic language arose in the lateBronze AgeUrnfield culture of central Europe, named after grave sites in southern Germany, which flourished from around 1200 BC. This theory links the Celts with the Iron AgeHallstatt culture which followed it (c. 1200–500 BC), named for the rich grave finds inHallstatt, Austria, and with the followingLa Tène culture (c. 450 BC onward), named after theLa Tène site in Switzerland. It proposes that Celtic culture spread westward and southward from these areas bydiffusion ormigration. A newer theory, "Celtic from the West", suggests proto-Celtic arose earlier, was alingua franca in theAtlantic Bronze Age coastal zone, and spread eastward. Another newer theory, "Celtic from the Centre", suggests proto-Celtic arose between these two zones, in Bronze Age Gaul, then spread in various directions. After theCeltic settlement of Southeast Europe in the 3rd century BC, Celtic culture reached as far east ascentral Anatolia,Turkey. (Full article...)