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The Celts were a group of peoples that occupied lands
stretching from the British Isles to Gallatia. The Celts
had many dealings with other cultures that bordered
the lands occupied by these peoples, and even though
there is no written record of the Celts stemming from
their own documents, we can piece together a fair
picture of them from archeological evidence as well
as historical accounts from other cultures.
The first historical recorded encounter of a people
displaying the cultural traits associated with the Celts
comes from northern Italy around 400 BC, when
a previously unkown group of barbarians came down
from the Alps and displaced the Etruscans from
the fertile Po valley, a displacment that helped to push
the Etruscans from history's limelight. The next
encounter with the Celts came with the still young
Roman Empire, directly to the south of the Po.
The Romans in fact had sent three envoys to the
beseiged Etruscans to study this new force. We know
from Livy's The Early History of Rome that this first
encounter with Rome was quite civilized:
[The Celts told the Roman envoys that] this was indeed
the first time they had heard of them, but they assumed
the Romans must be a courageous people because it
was to them that the [Etruscans] had turned to in their
hour of need. And since the Romans had tried to help
with an embassy and not with arms, they themselves
would not reject the offer of peace, provided
the [Etruscans] ceded part of their seperfluous
agricultural land; that was what they, the Celts,
wanted.... If it were not given, they would launch
an attack before the Romans' eyes, so that the Romans
could report back how superior the Gauls were in battle
to all others....The Romans then asked whether it was
right to demand land from its owners on pain of war,
indeed what were the Celts going in Etruria in the first
place? The latter defiantly retorted that their right lay
in their arms: To the brave belong all things.
The Roman envoys then preceded to break their good
faith and helped the Etruscans in their fight; in fact,
one of the envoys, Quintas Fabius killed one of the
Celtic tribal leaders. The Celts then sent their own
envoys to Rome in protest and demand the Romans
hand over all members of the Fabian family, to which
all three of the original Roman envoys belonged,
be given over to the Celts, a move completely in line
with current Roman protocol. This of course
presented problems for the Roman senate, since
the Fabian family was quite powerful in Rome.
Indeed, Livy says that:
The party structure would allow no resolution to
be made against such noblemanm as justice would
have required. The Senate...therefore passed
examination of the Celts' request to the popular
assembly, in which power and influence naturally
counted for more. So it happened that those who
ought to have been punished were instead appointed
for the coming year military tribunes with consular
powers (the highest that could be granted).
The Celts saw this as a mortal insult and a host marched south
to Rome. The Celts tore through the countryside and several
battalions of Roman soilders to lay seige to the Capitol of the Rom
an Empire. Seven months of seige led to negotiations wherby
the Celts promised to leave their seige for a tribute of one
thousand pounds of gold, which the historian Pliny tells was
very difficult for the entire city to muster. When the gold was
being weighed, the Romans claimed the Celts were cheating
with faulty weights. It was then that the Celts' leader, Brennus,
threw his sword into the balance and and uttered the words
vae victis "woe to the Defeated". Rome never withstood another
more humiliating defeat and the Celts made an initial step
of magnificent proportions into history.
Other Roman historians tell us more of the Celts.
Diodorus notes that:
Their aspect is terrifying...They are very tall in stature, with
ripling muscles under clear white skin. Their hair is blond,
but not naturally so: they bleach it, to this day, artificially,
washing it in lime and combing it back from their foreheaads.
They look like wood-demons, their hair thick and shaggy
like a horse's mane. Some of them are cleanshaven, but
others - especially those of high rank, shave their cheeks
but leave a moustache that covers the whole mouth and,
when they eat and drink, acts like a sieve, trapping particles
of food...The way they dress is astonishing: they wear
brightly coloured and embroidered shirts, with trousers
called bracae and cloaks fastened at the shoulder with a
brooch, heavy in winter, light in summer. These cloaks
are striped or checkered in design, with the seperate checks
close together and in various colours
[The Celts] wear bronze helmets with figures picked out on
them, even horns, which made them look even taller than they
already are...while others cover themselves with breast-armour
made out of chains. But most content themselves with the
weapons nature gave them: they go naked into battle...Weird,
discordant horns were sounded, [they shouted in chorus with
their] deep and harsh voices, they beat their swords rythmically
against their shields.
The Celtic settlement of
Britain and Ireland is
deduced mainly from
archaeological and linguistic
considerations. The only
direct historical source for
the identification of an
insular people with the Celts
is Caesar's report of the
migration of Belgic tribes to
Britain, but the inhabitants
of both islands were
regarded by the Romans
as closely related to
the Gauls
There was a unifying language spoken by the Celts,
called not suprisingly, old Celtic. Philogists have
shown the descendence of Celtic from the original
Ur-language and from the Indo-European language
tradition. In fact, the form of old Celtic was the closest
cousin to Italic, the precursor of Latin.
The Serpent's Stone is a symbol of an ancient wisdom
and fidelity; touchstone of universal truths. The
complexity of earthly life sometimes obscures a simple
truth. The four serpent heads emerge from the
labyrinth of Creation to point the way through
self-examination. The brilliant colours convey a sense
of drama and intrigue. As a meditative glyph, it
endorses the need for self-examination. Thus when
truth becomes entangled in a moral dilemma, evoke
the secret wisdom of the Serpent's Stone.
The ancient Celts had a form of writing called
ogham (pronounced OH-yam). It was the writing
of Druids and Bards. Ogham is also called
'Tree Alphabet' because each letter corresponds to
a tree and an associated meaning. The letters were,
in fact, engraved onto sticks as well as larger standing
stones.
There are many questions arising as to what
calendrical practice was used by the Celtic people.
Regarding this issue there are three primary schools
of thought. These three theories all attempt to offer
us a better understanding of the Celtic calendar.
To use the term 'Celtic calendar' is somewhat
inaccurate, as it were the Druids who were primarliy
concerned with calendar-keeping.
The Druids, who were occupied with magico-religious
duties, were recruited from families of the warrior
class but ranked higher. Thus Caesar's distinction
between Druides (man of religion and learning),
eques (warrior), and plebs (commoner) is fairly apt.
As in other Indo-European systems, the family
was patriarchal.
The basic economy of the Celts was mixed farming,
and, except in times of unrest, single farmsteads were
usual.
Owing to the wide variations in terrain and climate,
cattle raising was more important than cereal
cultivation in some regions.
There aren't a lot of textile remains found
for Celtic clothing from prehistoric times
through the 16th century; we mostly have
to rely on manuscripts and descriptions of
what was worn at various times. However,
I will make some educated guesses based
on textile construction techniques from
the few Celtic finds available, as well as
evidence from the bog finds in Denmark,
which could arguably be either Celtic or
Teutonic. Obviously, fashions varied from
place to place and time to time, so Celtic
clothing wasn't universally the same in all
places over the thousand or so years I'm
spanning; however, similar techniques of
constructing and decorating clothing were
used throughout Europe, and results can be inferred from these.
Hill forts provided places
of refuge, but warfare was
generally open and
consisted of single
challenges and combat
as much as of general
fighting.
Celtic warriors were drawn from what we would
describe as the middle and upper class. The warrior
class did the actual fighting: the free poor served
as chariot drivers. The Celt was a warrior in the heroic
sense. Everything had to be larger than life. He lived
for war. His glorification of bravery often led him
to recklessness. Part of a warriors ritual was to boast
of his victories, and fighting between warriors was
an important part of life.
Cloak pin. This is an early clothes
fastener that developes into the
Penannular Brooch
Fibula Brooch. This starts as a bent
wire pin and develops a sprung pin
and catch. First safety pin?
Bow back fibula. This is
a follow on from the
previous pin and gives
scope for elaborate decoration.
Wrist bangles. Worn by both sexes.
Jet Necklace. A variety of materials
are used and jet is a fossil of common
coal. In Britain it is only found in its
raw form on the N.East coast of
Yorkshire.
Gold Torc. Worn around the neck,
a Torc was a status symbol. Those for
the ladies were light weight, whilst
those worn by the men could be very
large and heavy, and perhaps only
worn on festive occasions.
Glass Beads. The Celts were
producing high quality
ceramic glass long before the
Greeks and Romans.
Gold Lunar. High class necklace
from Ireland, not found in
mainland Britain.
This is to give you an idea
of the range of styles and sizes
the pots are made in. The
smallest can be less than 2 cms
and the largest over 1 metre tall!
Decoration tends to be local
designs - but there are
always exceptions.
Most pottery finds are
'sherds' or pieces of
broken pots. It can be
quite a challenge to fit
them together.
Some of the finest decorations
on pottery in Britain come from
the area around Glastonbury
in Somerset. Two villages have
been excavated from the marshes,
the first known as the
Glastonbury Lake Village,
and the second as the Meare Lake
village. They are only 2 kilometres
apart.
Adze head. A hand tool
used for smoothing and
shaping wood.
Plough Share- or - Ard tip.
The iron point from an ancient
type of plough.
Axe head. Used as
a chopping tool for
felling and shaping timbers.
Bill hook. A hand tool used
in cutting small rods (coppicing),
and splitting wood for making
woven panels. (Hurdles)
Chisel used with a mallet
for cutting holes.
Draw knife. A shaping tool
used by drawing the sharp
edge towards you whilst
pulling on two handles.
Spokes for a Chariot or
a Cart Wheel. Turned on
a pole lathe, and the tenon
cut with a saw and a chisel.
Mallet. Wooden hammer for
knocking joints together, or
hammering chisels. The wooden
head does not cause any damage
to the woodwork.
Handle for a hand saw.
The blade fits into the slot
at the right hand end.
The hand saw looks like
a modern pruning saw,
and cuts on the pull !
This is a spoon turned on
a pole-lathe to get the basic
shape. One side is then cut
away and hollowed out
to create the bowl of the spoon.
Historical evidence.
Celtic chariots were a form of warfare that the Romans had serious
problems with. It took them some time to find a way of dealing' with
the devastating the effect the chariot had. Polybius, in his accounts
of the lead up to the battle of Telamon in 225 BC., reports that
the Gauls had 20,000 cavalry and chariots. This was the last
reference to the use of chariots on the mainland. By the time
Caesar encountered them in Britain, the method of fighting against
the chariot had been forgotten. Diodorus said that the chariot was
drawn by two horses, and could carry a driver and a warrior.
In battle the driver controlled the chariot, whilst the warrior would
throw javelins at his opponents. The warrior would then dismount
and fight on foot while the driver would take the chariot away to
a safe distance. At the first sign of difficulties, the driver would
dash into the battle, pick up the warrior, and withdraw to safety.
Caesar's account is similar, but adds that chariots were used against
cavalry with great effect, and only against infantry in short
skirmishes. Caesar admired the charioteer's skills, and described
warriors running along the chariot pole and standing on the
yoke over the horse's shoulders