The Celts
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Celts in Europe
This map shows
yellow -the core Hallstatt
territory, expansion before
500 BC
bright green maximum Celtic
expansion by the 270s BC
pale green- Lusitanian area of
Iberia, "Celticity" uncertain
emerald green -the
boundaries of the six
commonly-recognized 'Celtic
nations', which remained
Celtic speaking throughout
the Middle Ages (viz. Brittany,
Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man,
Ireland, Scotland)
dark green-areas that remain
Celtic-speaking today
Atlas of the Celtic World, by John Haywood; London Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2001,
pp.30-3
Where
from?
Time line
• 1200 BCE Celtic way of life in Central Europe begins
• 700 BCE The ‘Hallstatt’ transition from bronze to Iron
• 450 BCE Iron age La Tène phase of Celtic culture. Celts under attack
from Germanic tribes from east and Romans from south
• 390 BCE Gauls sack Rome
• 58BCE Julius Caesar invades Gaul – see Caesar’s Gallic Wars
• 55 BCE Caesar invades Britain and is repulsed
• AD/CE 43 Claudius invades
• AD51 Caractacus capture
• 60-61 Boudicca’s revolt
• AD/ CE 400 Roman withdrawal from Britain begins
• Late 400s Saxon incursions begin Celtic stronghold in the west
• 433 AD/CE St Patrick in Ireland and Dai Riada ( SW Scotland)- what
about Celtic culture in Ireland- flourished c 600, 700s and *d
Sources of evidence- bias
• Written sources from Greeks
and Roman
• Herodotus- 485-425 BCE
Penguin edn. 108 , 256 brief
mention ‘the most westerly
people in Europe’.. ‘ along the
Danube and ‘Beyond the
pillars of Heracles.’
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( Roman) Pliny the Elder 77
AD/CE
• The druids consider nothing
more sacred than the
mistletoe and the tree that it
grows on, so long as it is an
oak. Mistletoe is actually very
rare ion an oak tree and when
it is found it is gathered with
great ceremony in the first
place the collection must take
place on the 6th day of the
moon.. A priest dressed in
white climbs the tree, cuts the
mistletoe with a golden hook
and catches it on a white cloak
Strabo a Greek Geographer and traveller c.64 BCE
‘ Most of the island is flat and
overgrown with forests,
although many of its districts
are hilly. It produces grain,
cattle silver and iron. These
things according are exported
from the island, as also hides
,and slaves and dogs that are
by their nature suitable for
hunting… besides some small
islands round about Britain,
there is also a large island,
Ierne [Ireland] which stretches
parallel to Britain
• They wear ornaments of gold,
torcs on their necks, and
bracelets on their arms and
wrists, while people of high rank
wear dyed garments besprinkled
with gold. It is this vanity which
makes them unbearable in victory
and so completely downcast in
defeat.’
• Forest thickets are their ‘cities’
The fe4nce round a wide clearing
with felled trees and here they
make them selves huts and keep
their cattle
Roman written evidence
• Caesar – Gallic Wars
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. "In chariot fighting the Britons
begin by driving all over the
field, hurling their spears. The
terror caused by the horses and
the noise are enough to throw
their enemies into disorder". The
chariot drivers also impressed
Caesar: "Even on a steep slope
they are able to control the
horses at full gallop and turn
them in a moment".
• Tacitus Annals of Imperial Rome
(Penguin edn.) 328-331
Suetonius attacks the Celtic religious
stronghold of Anglesey ( Mona)
• On the shore stood the opposing
army with its dense array of
armed warriors, while between
the ranks dressed women
dressed in black like the furies,
with hair dishevelled, waving
torches, All around the druids,
lifting up their hands to the
heavens and pouring forth
dreadful curses, scared our
soldiers
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Chariot lynch pin
Mid-Late Iron Age, about 300BC-43AD
Linch pins were used to hold the wheels in
place on the axles of Iron Age chariots or Found with a metal detector at Upham,
carts, and were often elaborately
decorated.. The Romans were very
impressed by the Celts' use of chariots in
battleWe can only speculate on how this
lynch pin came to be lost at Upham. Could
it have become detached from a chariot in
the heat of a long-forgotten battle, or did
it perhaps fall off of an old abandoned
cart at the side of an ancient track way?
Length 120mm. Diameter
Warfare , transport
Caractacus- resistance to Rome
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caractacus
• http://resourcesforhistory.com/caractacus.htm
• Caractacus selected a hill fort, to fight a decisive battle with the Romans,
where it was both easy for the Britons to move forward to attack the
Romans but also to retreat if things did not go well in the battle. At the
same time it would be hard for the Romans to attack or retreat. On the
more gentle slopes the Britons piled up stones to make a rampart. The
British warriors positioned themselves in front of these defences but they
were still protected by a river which was in front of them.
• The chieftains of the various tribes moved amongst their men encouraging
them. Caractacus, darted everywhere, telling his men that this battle
would be the beginning of the recovery of their freedom or else of
everlasting slavery. He recalled how their ancestors had driven back Julius
Caesar, and through their bravery the British were freed from the threat of
being ruled by the Roman military and government. While he was
speaking, the warriors shouted applause; every warrior swore not to flee
from weapons or wounds.
Archaeology
Defence , power organisation, hill forts
http://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/
Houses, farming, food, clothes
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_obj
ects/pe_prb/l/lindow_man.aspx
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The conditions in the peat bog meant that the
man’s skin, hair and many of his internal organs
are well preserved. Radiocarbon dating shows
that he died between 2 BC and AD 119. He was
about 25 years of age, around 168 cm tall and
weighed 60-65 kg. He had probably done very
little hard, manual work, because his finger nails
were well manicured. His beard and moustache
had been cut by a pair of shears. There is no
evidence that he was unwell when he died, but
he was suffering from parasitic worms. His last
meal probably included unleavened bread made
from wheat and barley, cooked over a fire on
which heather had been burnt.
The man met a horrific death. He was struck on
the top of his head twice with a heavy object,
perhaps a narrow bladed axe. He also received a
vicious blow in the back – perhaps from
someone’s knee – which broke one of his ribs.
He had a thin cord tied around his neck which
may have been used to strangle him and break
his neck. By now he was dead, but then his
throat was cut. Finally, he was placed face down
in a pool in the bog. This elaborate sequence of
events suggests that his death may have been
ritual killing. Some people have argued that he
was the victim of a human sacrifice possibly
carried out by Druids.
Uffington White Horse- religion?
Cerne Abbas Giant
Evidence form Archaeology
• http://www.britishmus
eum.org/learning/scho
ols_and_teachers/resou
rces/all_resources1/resource_celtic_desig
n.aspx
• Jewellery, design, coins,
military objects
Ogham an ancient language found on
Celtic stones
Celtic place names
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Car or Caer= fortress
Tre= farmstead, town
Aber = river mouth
Pen= head
Kil=church
Avon= river
Llan= religious enclosure
Din, den, don dun stronghold
Pol= pool
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts
• www.butserancientfarm.co.uk
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts/factfile/webguide.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/homework/celts.htm
www.history.org.uk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistory/ancient-britain.shtml
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-celts
http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/stj/intro.htm
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/maiden-castle/
www.keystagehistory
ideas
• Houses, food farming,
• tribes, chieftains, druids, farmers social
organisation
• Jewellery and other objects
• War
• Religion pre Christian – sacrifices, river Gods.
Horse images, Celtic Christianity
• burials
• Hill forts
• language