What Mysteries Surround the Celtic Civilization in History?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the Celtic civilization, exploring its historical context, cultural characteristics, and the complexities surrounding its identity. Participants examine various aspects of Celtic life, including their societal structure, economic activities, and interactions with other cultures, while acknowledging the incomplete historical record.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that the Celts existed alongside other ancient civilizations such as the Greeks and Romans, suggesting a rich but complex historical narrative.
  • It is proposed that the Celts were not a single empire but rather a collection of tribal nations with a shared cultural-linguistic identity.
  • Participants discuss the origins of the Celts, tracing them back to the Urnfield culture and highlighting their development through the Hallstatt and La Tène periods.
  • Some contributions emphasize the Celts' prowess in metallurgy and trade, particularly in salt and iron, and their military reputation as mercenaries.
  • There are references to the warrior culture of the Celts, with some participants suggesting that not all Celts were warriors, as there were also farmers, traders, and religious figures like Druids.
  • One participant shares a link that portrays the Celts as fierce fighters, mentioning their practice of taking trophies from their enemies.
  • Another participant humorously reflects on the notion of fighting naked, while expressing a personal aversion to violence, and speculates on the diversity of roles within Celtic society.
  • There are claims regarding the Druids' practices, including human sacrifices, and a suggestion that the Celts may have captured individuals from other tribes for these purposes.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the nature of Celtic society, with some emphasizing their warrior culture while others highlight the roles of farmers and religious figures. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the extent of these roles and the overall characterization of the Celts.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the historical record regarding the Celts, including missing assumptions and the dependence on interpretations of archaeological findings. The discussion reflects ongoing uncertainties about the cultural and social dynamics of the Celtic civilization.

Astronuc
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So how about those Celts?

They existed in parallel with the Greeks, Romans, Germanic and Norse tribes (not forgetting peoples of Central Asia, e.g. the Slavs and Turkic peoples). There is still a lot of mystery and perhaps some misinformation, but such happens with an incomplete or partial record.

One statement I found - "By the time the Celts first appear in history in the 6th century BC, they were already the dominant people of western and central Europe."

"Great migrations carried the Celts into Italy, the Balkans, Greece and as far east as the steppes of Ukraine and across the Bosporus to settle in Asia Minor (Anatolia). Smaller groups served as mercenaries for Greek rulers in Italy, Syria and Egypt. Although living as separate tribes, the Celts shared a common culture. Among the population were skilled farmers and metalworkers.

The "Atlas of the Celtic World" divides the discussion into the Continental Celts and the Atlantic Celts, the latter including Britain (England) and Ireland, then finishes with a discussion of modern Celts.
 
Science news on Phys.org
"T he name Celt originated with the ancient Greeks, who called the barbarian peoples of central Europe Keltoi. Rather that being a broad cultural genetic 'race,' the Celts were a broad cultural-linguistic group. The area where they lived became a constantly changing collection of tribal 'nations.' The Celts were never an 'empire' ruled by one government.
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The ancestors of the Celts were the people of the Urnfield culture, so-called because they buried their dead in cremation urns in flat ground. Between 1200 and 700 BC, they spread westward from their eastern European homeland into the area of modern Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Here, there culture developed into a recognizably Celtic form. The earliest stage of Celtic culture is called the Hallstatt, after a village in the Austrian Salzkammergut where archeologists discovered important artifacts. At hallstatt and other places with the 'hall' (salt) name - Hallein, Helle, Schwabisch Hall - the Celts' wealth was based upon salt extraction and sale. The technology of iron, too, was embraced by innovative Celtic blacksmiths, who produced the best metal in Europe, that was in great demand outside Celtic Areas. An important two-way trade developed between the Celts and the Greeks, both in their homeland, and their colonies inwhat is now southern France.
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By the seventh century BC, the Hallstatt people had become prosperous in the salt and iron businesses. In around 650 BC, the Celts began to re-exchange raids with the Greeks and Etruscans, elements of whose culture they adopted. By adding and adapting Graeco-Etruscan elements to the Hallstatt culture, the characteristically Celtic style of art came into being. As a result of this, in northeastern France, Switzerland, and the middle Rhine, a new stage of Celtic development took place.
Archeologists call it the early La Tene period, after the definitive artifacts found at La Tene, on Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland. During the Classical period of Greece and Rome, Celtic culture was predominant north of the Alps. Celtic technicians of the La Tene period were technically superior to their Greek and Roman counterparts. Their superior weaponry, including a new type of sword, chain mail, and chariots, enabled the Celts to mount miliatary expiditions against neighboring tribes and nations, including the Greeks and Romans. Celtic fighting men had such a good reputation that they were in great demand as mercenareis. The warrior culture was at the heart of Celtic society, as the heroic sagas of ancient Ireland record.
 
http://www.crystalinks.com/celts.html

This page paints a colorful picture of the Celts, they were a powerful
fighting force, preferring to fight naked with sword and spear, severing
the heads of their victims for trophies.
 
wolram said:
preferring to fight naked with sword and spear
:smile: I know the feeling. :biggrin: Just kidding. Actually, I do prefer a minimal amount of clothing when in combat, which is essentially limited to sparring. BTW, I abhor violence.

Celts were definitely a warrior culture, well at least some. I suspect there were those who preferred farming, trades, and perhaps religious activities, like the Druids.

Here a little on Druids and Celts - http://www.lost-civilizations.net/celts-druids.html

and - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druids

and - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts which has:
The first literary reference to the Celtic people, as keltoi or hidden people, is by the Greek Hecataeus in 517 BC. According to Greek mythology, Celtus was the son of Heracles and Celtine, the daughter of Bretannus. Celtus became the primogenitor of Celts (Ref.: Parth. 30.1-2, [1]). In Latin Celta, in turn from Herodotus' word for the Gauls, Keltoi. The Romans used Celtae to refer to continental Gauls, but apparently not to insular Celts, which were divided into Goidhels and Britons, and possibly other peoples.This is likely due to the posibility that, at those times, the term "Celta/Keltos" was tied to those cultures or people descendant from the Cental Europe Celts, while no ties were known to the insular people (especially the Gaels whose language was extremely different from that of Brythonic Celts).
 
Last edited:
Astronuc said:
:smile: I know the feeling. :biggrin: Just kidding. Actually, I do prefer a minimal amount of clothing when in combat, which is essentially limited to sparring. BTW, I abhor violence.
Celts were definitely a warrior culture, well at least some. I suspect there were those who preferred farming, trades, and perhaps religious activities, like the Druids.
Here a little on Druids and Celts - http://www.lost-civilizations.net/celts-druids.html
and - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druids
and - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts which has:
I think most of them where warriors the Druids did Human scarfices for religious porpous they might of captured people from other tribes.I think some of them might of been farmers or traders but that's somthing that what more civilsed cultures do you need cities where you can have an advance ecconmy.
 

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