Since the beginning of the human saga on this planet, nature and its elements such as forests, lakes, rivers and mountains were greatly revered and worshiped as divine, and several societies around the world had their genesis with these central elements, until they became more secular and less sensitive to the natural world, this being the preponderant idiosyncrasy of our modern society. In Europe, more than 2700 years ago, a society emerged that knew how to mix its attachment to the natural world with its material and secular culture, the Celts. And in this video, we will understand more about this rich and ancient European society, and what legacy they left for us today.
Who were the Celts? The definition of Celts is the amalgamation of several distinct groups who lived in parts of western and central Europe in the late Bronze Age and during the Iron Age (c. 700 BCE to c.
400 CE). The origin of this name – Celtic – initially appears from ancient writers, such as Hecataeus of Miletus, where the first record of this name appears in Greek – Κελτοί (Keltoi) – when he writes about a people who lived near Massilia in southern Gaul. These groups and their culture established themselves in territories ranging from Portugal to Türkiye.
Although they were never unified as a single state, the ancient Celts were connected by language, arts, war customs, religion, and burial practices. Although Celtic culture was absorbed into the Roman Empire from the first century AD onwards, the Celtic people continued to thrive in more remote parts of Europe, such as Ireland and northern Britain, where Celtic languages are still spoken. spoken today.
The Origins of the Celts Most scholars agree that the origins of Celtic culture can be traced to three earlier, closely related and overlapping cultural groups. The first of these is the Urn Fields culture (c. 1300 - 750 BCE) of the late Bronze Age present around the upper Danube from c.
1300 BCE. The name of this culture derives from the common practice of burying cremated remains in urns and burying them, and it was a society that remains obscure for lack of further archaeological evidence. Starting 3 thousand years ago, the most advanced metallurgical technology spread across Europe, and consequently, iron replaced bronze as the metal of choice for making stronger and more durable tools and weapons.
The second proto-Celtic group was the Hallstatt culture (1200 - 450 BCE), which emerged in Austria between 1200 - 450 BCE and reached its peak in the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The Hallstatt culture spread to cover what is today Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland and eastern France, as well as Bohemia and parts of the Balkans. It was the western side of this area that would eventually develop into what today we might call the ancient Celts.
Hallstatt culture probably spread in several ways, through trade, tribal alliances, intermarriage, and migration. I even have a video where I explain this culture in detail, and I will leave it in the final cards, if you want to watch it. The third significant group in the formation of Celtic culture proper is the La Tène culture (c.
450 - 50 BCE), which was recently discovered on the northern shores of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland and is identified as a group of several communities unified by characteristics common in art and religion. This culture covered a wide region that ranged from Western and Central Europe, from Ireland to Romania. Cultural characteristics include the custom of making votive offerings in water fountains, depositing weapons in tombs, and stylized art with swirling and geometric designs.
And as was the case in the Hallstatt culture, there were commercial interactions with the Mediterranean states. La Tène centers were particularly successful around major river points such as the River Loire, Marne, Moselle and Elbe. The La Tène culture does not exactly correspond to the Celtic peoples, since it expanded into areas outside the influence that the Celts would exert, for example in Denmark.
However, the term La Tène, originally coined by archaeologists to classify artifacts, is still commonly (if inaccurately) used as a synonym for Celtic culture in Europe during the second half of the first millennium. before our era. The Celtic Language One of the striking points of connection between many of the peoples of Iron Age Europe is the Celtic language.
The Celtic language is a branch of the Indo-European language family and can be divided into two groups: insular Celtic and continental Celtic. Continental ceased to be widely spoken after the Roman imperial period and, unfortunately, the only surviving examples are mentions in works by Greek and Roman writers and some small epigraphic remains, such as ceramic graffiti and votive and funerary stelae. The best-documented language of this group is Gaulish.
There are two groups of insular Celtic languages: the Brythonic languages, which include Breton, Cornish and Welsh, and Goidelic – which is Irish and its medieval derivatives, Scottish Gaelic and Manese. Brittonic was spoken throughout Britain in the Roman period. From it evolved Cumbrian, which became extinct in the European Middle Ages, Cornish, Breton and Welsh.
The earliest evidence of Goidelic-Irish dates back to the 5th century AD, and it later evolved into Middle Irish between 950-1200 CE and subsequently morphed back into Modern Irish, which is spoken today. The Celtic Religion The second common characteristic of these Celtic people is their religion. This was a polytheistic religion with a vast pantheon, but our knowledge of them is limited to classical authors, given the lack of works written by the Celts themselves.
Variations existed between specific regions and periods, but common characteristics of ancient Celtic religion include reverence for woods that were considered sacred due to some unique feature of the location such as a very old tree or peculiar rock formations, as well as rivers and springs. There were also dedications of votive offerings to the gods, such as food, weapons, animal sacrifices and - more rarely - human sacrifices. As for funeral customs, it was common to deposit valuable and everyday goods with the deceased in their tombs, indicating a belief in an afterlife.
In addition to the belief in the afterlife, there was also the belief in the protective power of totems, representations made of wood which particularly depicted animals such as deer and wild boar. Many religious ceremonies were led by druids, people who had access to the spiritual world and often spoke to the gods. And the absence of written records is attributed to the druids, who were reluctant to pass on their knowledge in written form.
Key gods were given overarching powers or characteristics, for example Cernunnos, “the horned god” who probably represented nature and fertility. Another important figure is Lugus or Lugh, perhaps the only god universally worshiped in the Celtic world, who represented the sun and who was considered all-wise and omnipresent. There were many female goddesses associated with healing springs and rivers, such as Sequana, a personification of the River Seine, and Epona, who was linked to horses.
An unusual feature of the Celtic gods was that some were seen as a trio, perhaps representing three different aspects of the same deity. An example of a trinity are the three mother goddesses, the Matronae, who individually represent similar concepts of strength, power and fertility. Even the number 3 was very recurrent in their religious traditions, such as the circular Celtic spiral called Triskel.
Therefore, the number three was sacred and mysterious and by seeing their goddesses and gods with three names or three aspects, the Celts were alluding to that great unknown from which we came and to which we return. Of the numerous local and regional gods , many were associated with those things of primary concern to everyday life, such as warfare, sovereignty, tribal identity, healing, hunting, and the protection of specific groups such as mothers and children. There was a Greek and Roman influence on Celtic religion from the 2nd century BCE when Celtic sacred sites, which had previously been mere hand-cleared clearings, began to use larger stone temples.
Thus, too, some Greco-Roman gods were incorporated into the Celtic pantheon. Celtic Art Alongside language and religious practices, another common characteristic of Celts throughout Europe it is the art they produced. Celtic art was influenced by the indigenous Iron Age cultures mentioned above – such as those of Hallstatt and La Tene – and by neighboring cultures or trading partners such as the Thracians, Scythians, Greeks, Etruscans and Romans, and through these peoples, ideas from the East Next.
Materials used include ceramics, stone, iron, bronze and gold with extra decoration achieved using exotic imported materials such as glass, coral and amber. The metals were cast, engraved, drilled, traced, embedded and worked in a technique called repoussé, which is when a shape is placed behind a malleable metal plate to create a relief on the other side. Typical art objects include ornate cauldrons, human figures of sandstone or wood, bronze shields, gold torcs, and penannular brooches with a pin and ring.
His works often included representations of animals (real or imaginary), with emphasis on deer, wild boar, horses and hunting dogs, as well as abstract patterns and swirling intertwined lines, which generally conveyed some message of power and religious ideas, as we saw before. . And as already mentioned, proto-Celtic cultures in western and central Europe had already established commercial ties with Mediterranean cultures, and this continued with the Celts.
Tin from Britain, amber from the Baltic, and horses from Eastern Europe and the Balkans were also imported and used throughout the Celtic influence zone. Celtic resources that were traded included salt, slaves, iron, gold, woolen cloth, and furs. These goods were exchanged for wine, silver, luxury manufactured goods such as bronze standards, Greek pottery, Etruscan bronze kraters, silk, and the precious materials for use in art objects and jewelry, and this allowed for new ideas related to art.
, religion and technology were passed on. They even started to mint their own coins. There was also an increase in competition between Celtic groups to acquire the resources needed for trade.
The Celtic world was expanding its horizons and the creation of an increasingly wealthy elite would have consequences for the wider continent, as the Celts began to look enviously at their wealthy trading partners and vice versa. Celtic Society Again, without first-hand written records, it is difficult to reconstruct the intricacies of ancient Celtic society. However, we know that society in many Celtic tribes was hierarchical.
At the top were elite rulers and warriors, then there were the religious leaders, the aforementioned druids, who served as a repository of the community's collected knowledge, who were exempt from taxes and military service. Then there were specialized artisans, traders, slaves and farmers, by far the largest group as they were essentially rural and agrarian societies. The political division varied by location or specific period, and in many of these Celtic societies, leadership was under monarchs and/or chiefs elected by a small council of elders.
Variably, some groups came together for mutual aid or became dependent on another more powerful group, paying some type of tribute. At the end of the period of Celtic hegemony in Europe, there were large confederations of tribes, united to face the common threat from the Romans. We know that some women were chiefs in Celtic Britain, for example Cartimandua (r.
43-69 CE), ruler of the Brigante people in northern England, and Boudicca (d. 61 CE), queen of the Icenis, who led a revolt of various tribes against Roman occupation in 60 CE. There is also evidence that some women were treated the same as men in terms of burial with precious goods.
There was a strong kinship system where rulers and their family dominated society through their land ownership and income from trade. Rulers maintained the loyalty of their followers through donations, organizing parties, and social display. Bonds were strengthened between families by raising children with other aristocratic families, a method also used to unite different tribes in alliances.
There was also a system in which the elite assumed the well-being and protection of those who provided some type of service in return, being an embryonic form of the feudal system that would emerge in the European Middle Ages. Julius Caesar (c. 100-44 BCE) noted in his Gallic Wars that Celtic women in Gaul brought their husbands a dowry and that this could be inherited by the woman if her partner died before her.
Caesar also noted that husbands had the power of life and death over their wives and their children. Whether these assessments are accurate and whether they applied to Celts elsewhere is hotly debated by scholars. Celtic Warfare That warfare was an important part of Celtic culture is clear from the number of gods in the ancient Celtic pantheon associated with warfare and the large number of weapons deposited in tombs.
Courage and prowess on the battlefield were also important in determining status within society. Celtic warriors in Gaul are described as bleaching their long hair using lime water, while in Britain, they painted designs on their bodies. Several classical authors also comment on the strange fact that Celtic warriors could go into battle naked and that they collected the heads of their victims.
Many Celtic warriors wore torcs, and these were likely a symbol of status and rank within the community. There is evidence that Celtic women participated in warfare, too. Celtic warriors used spears, long swords, and large rectangular or oval shields.
Celtic armies employed slings, chariots and light cavalry, while organization on the battlefield was achieved through the use of banners and horns made from horns. Celtic armies caused some problems for their neighbors from the 4th century BCE onwards, as the tribes moved west, south and east in waves to find new opportunities for wealth in what is sometimes called the Celtic Migration. Brennus, chief of the Gallic tribe of the Senones, sacked Rome in 390 BCE and the Celts again wreaked havoc when they sacked Delphi in 279 BCE, as they passed through Greece on their way to Asia, where they founded colonies and became known as the Galatians.
A confederation of Celtic tribes attacked the Romans again in 225 BCE and were present as mercenaries for Carthage during the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE). In the long term, however, the Celtic armies were no match for more disciplined and better equipped enemies such as the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Romans in large-scale battles. However, once conquered, Celtic warriors, who were always recognized for their bravery, fought successfully as mercenaries in many Greek and Roman armies Decline & Legacy The first real sign of the decline of Celtic society was a sharp increase in local competition for resources and commercial opportunities, and this was manifested in the construction of Oppides in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.
Oppidum or Oppidum was the Roman name for larger settlements that we now apply specifically to fortified sites, usually located on high points in the landscape or on plains at naturally defensible points such as river bends. Opides were used as a point of refuge in war and as a safe place to concentrate manufacturing workshops and store a community's resources. The increase in hostilities occurred when the Romans became intent on revenge for the damage caused by migrating Celtic tribes in the previous two centuries and, attracted by the promise of gold and other resources, the conquest was total.
In 125 BCE, the Romans attacked the Arveni tribe in Gaul, and less than a century later, Julius Caesar attacked and conquered Gaul, despite strong resistance from tribal leaders such as Vercingetorix (82-46 BCE). The Roman Empire continued to expand, and direct attacks were made against important community figures such as the Drids, and so the continental Celts and those in southern Britain were eventually assimilated into Roman culture. The Celts continued to prosper in more isolated places, such as Ireland and northern Britain.
And it is from these areas that Celtic culture would continue into the medieval period and would express itself more visibly in the epic poems of Irish, Welsh and Scottish medieval literature and art, which at this point was already Christianized. Ancient Celtic traditions survived within these epic poems and in the forms of complex, curvilinear designs in highly ornate manuscripts; They also survived in the mixtures of native languages with Roman Latin, and in the typical styles of dress with the ubiquitous feather brooches and sophisticated intricate plant motifs, artistic motifs seen in imposing crosses made of stone in the churchyards of medieval churches that have survived to this day. I hope you enjoyed this video and if you made it this far, leave a thumbs up and share it with more people.
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