Chapter 2: Celts

Today Celts are a people, or their descendants, who are native speakers of a Celtic language. The Celtic languages include Breton, Cornish, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish Gaelic. The oldest evidence of the Celts comes from Hallstatt, Austria, near Salzburg. The Hallstatt Celts were one of the first peoples in northern Europe to make iron. By about 500 BC, the Celts or more likely their language, traditions and art had spread to France, Portugal, Spain, and the British Isles. They settled in northern Italy and raided as far south as Rome, which they looted in 390 BC.

The Celtic peoples were divided into many tribes throughout Europe and the British Isles. It was once thought that these tribes invaded Britain in several waves, with the earliest invading tribe, the Goidels, or Gaels, forming the first great migration. Then came the Brythons, or Britons, who gave their name to the island of Britain. Recent genetic research has however demonstrated that the genetic makeup of the modern populations on the northwestern fringe of Europe, in the 'Celtic countries' of Ireland, Wales and Scotland, indicate that there has been little genetic inflow in to these areas from outside. The Celtic invasions are therefore more likely to have been a of a cultural rather than physical kind.

From about 300 BC to AD 100, the Romans conquered much of Europe and largely wiped out the Celtic way of life. The Celtic traditions were however largely preserved in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Southwest England, and Brittany in Northwest France.

Early Celtic society had three classes: aristocrats or warrior nobles; common people; and a learned class that included lawyers, poets, and priests. The nobles fought on foot with swords and spears and were fond of feasting and drinking.

Iron Age burial

The Celts were bound together by common speech, customs, and religion, rather than by any well-defined central governments. The members of each tribe claimed a common ancestor. The Scottish clans developed from such tribes. Some tribes formed loose federations, but the early Celts never became a united nation. The absence of political unity contributed substantially to the extinction of their way of life, making them vulnerable to their enemies. The Celts built a few towns, but most of the people lived in small rural settlements, growing crops and raising livestock.

Iron Age Village

Some early Celts used the Greek alphabet to write in their own language, but almost no examples have been found. Information about the early Celts comes from ancient Greek and Roman authors and from remains discovered by archaeologists. In the early centuries of the Christian era, the Irish Celts used a primitive form of writing called ogam, which survives in stone inscriptions. During the early Middle Ages, the Celts adopted the Latin alphabet and developed a large body of written literature, including many ancient Celtic myths and legends.

In about 500 BC, the Celts developed the La Tene style of art. It was named after a site in Switzerland, at the eastern end of Lake Neuchatel, where much metalwork decorated in that style was discovered. The La Tene style emphasised elaborate patterns of interwoven curves and spirals. It also featured highly stylised plants and animals that had little resemblance to those in nature.

The La Tene style lasted into the Middle Ages and became a major element of medieval Celtic art. Celtic artists produced decorated manuscripts, elaborate metalwork, and sculptured stone crosses.

The Celts worshipped nature gods through priests called Druids. The Druids were judges and lawmakers as well as priests. They led religious ceremonies, settled legal disputes, and served as leaders and advisers to their people. Druidism, the religion of the Druids, involved the worship of many gods. The Druids regarded mistletoe and oak as sacred. They believed the soul was immortal and entered a new body after death. The Druids killed animals and possibly even human beings as sacrifices. They studied the flights of birds and the remains of sacrificed animals to foretell the future. The Romans, on conquering much of Europe, tried to stop Druidism. The religion finally died out after the Celts became Christians in the 400's and 500's, however Celtic mythology, which included earth gods, various woodland spirits, and sun deities, was particularly rich in elfin demons and tutelaries; beings that still pervade the lore of peoples of Celtic ancestry.