Celtic written history began with the Greeks in the 500's BC. But Archaeology has taken us farther back, to La Tene, to Hallstat... This page is dedicated to the history of the Celtic peoples.
The idea of Celt romanticism came about in the eighteenth century. Naked warriors overseen by their gentle priests who sat beneath oak trees and imparted words of wisdom somehow lost to us now...
Archaeology put to rest the Noble Celtic Savages with discoveries of beautiful and complex art, fine woodwrightings, mail shirts (one of the oldest examples of a shirt of mail is Celtic), metalsmithing to include Damascening, and glass inlay. Instead of the idyllic pastoral society, there emerged a civilized society which not only made war but traded with the Classical world, adopted and bettered Classical design, and through agricultural progress and a leap in population as well as contact with the Classical world, was becoming a world of city-states with client states and agreements solidified with hostages and marriages at the time of the Roman conquest of Gaul.
The ancient Celts had related languages, related religious beliefs, and a related history. And there were modern descendants: the Irish, the Welsh, the Scottish, Manx, Bretons, Cornish...
Or were there? Was there really a people known as Celt? Or were they just a figment of romantic assumption based on some fleeting whim of eighteenth century minds? Were they created in the image of emerging nationalism, a backlash against colonial aspirations?
Some scholars are beginning to believe that the differences between the tribes of the Celts is more important than the similarities. They feel that, to better understand the peoples of the Celtic society, these differences have to be explored and come to terms with. Others are of the opinion that this is merely a colonialist ploy to rob a people of their ancestry and culture, leaving them with nothing that the colonizers don't offer. Some even say that this theory is getting dangerously close to the U.N. definition of genocide.
Both sides have come out swinging. To prove points, both sides must put something down on the table to prove their theory. It's going to be interesting!
Links to other sites on the Web
| The Current Archaeology Homepage | Rivendell's Celtic History Page |
CELT- Irish Electronic Texts-- Early Irish, Norse, French, some Latin | Welsh History/ Hanes Cymru |
The Pictish Nation-- Information about the People who lived Over the Wall |
Castell Henllys Archaeological site for Iron Age Britain | Hooker and Perron art and antiquity page Coins, mythology, Pan magazine Virtual Museum and more | Simon James's Celtic History Page Celtic history and resources | The Coligny Calendar as found in Coligny, France | Cinaet's Page Picts and a pic or two | Dandalf's Celtic Heritage Site Links to essays about the Celts | Anglesey, Wales A thumbnail summary of Ynys Mon, the 'Mother of Wales' | The Galaic Celtic League Celts from the Iberian Penninsula | Celtic History | Welsh Coal Mines Pictures of miners in long-ago Wales |
Our Bards have submitted the following:
| "Bruce Before Bannockburn" by Burns | Pictish Kings List | Celtic Timeline | Numantia under siege | Business-Celts | Our Travel Page Travel seems to take a historic bent here! | Back to Main Page |
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