Who Were the Celts?

The Celts?

Who Were

500 BCE

52 BCE

430 CE

Timeline

2500 BCE

1300 BCE

800 BCE

793 CE

Urnfield Culture

La Tène Culture

Ages & Cultures

Bronze Age

Iron Age

Hallstatt Culture

The Celtic World

Stretching from the British Isles in the west to modern-day Turkey in the east, for more than 1000 years Celtic people lived, worked, traded, and wared across Europe. The Celtic people had no unified kingdom or culture but was instead made up of small tribes with their own local variations of the wider Celtic Culture. While there is no clearly defined 'Celtic Era' the mysterious and legendary Celtic people of antiquity continue to influence our world to this day.

Crime & Punishment

Warfare

Art

Economy & Trade

Clothing

Language

Gender Roles & Marriage

Social Order

Religion

The Tribe

Celtic Society

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Painting of a Celtic village based on an excavated site in Chysauster, Cornwall

Tribal Structure

The Tribe

The Sept

The Family

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Social Structure

Non-free Individuals

Non-land Owning Tribesmen

Land Owning Tribesmen & Specialists

Druids & Bards

Kings & Chieftains

Trade

Metalworking

Agriculture& Hunting

Economy & Trade

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Handfasting was a practice lasting for one year and one day that allowed a couple to try out the idea of marriage. In the end, the couple could choose to marry or go their separate ways as if they were never married. This practice has evolved and is often performed at marriage ceremonies today.

Marriage

In Celtic society, marriages were contractual agreements meant to protect children, make clear the rights of each spouse and protect the property rights of both parties.

Gender Roles & Marriage Bonds

Celtic culture had much more freedom when it came to gender roles. While men still typically held leadership positions, a woman could be elected chief, become a druid, and even a warrior. Women could also own their own property and divorce their husbands without shame.

Honour Price

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The majority of what is known about Celtic law comes from Ireland, where the Brehon Law of pre-Chrisitan Celts survived to be written down. Brehon Law served as the basis of common law in the Chrisitan period.

Hospitality

Anyone who owned property was legally bound to offer hospitality to anyone who needed it. This was subject to a reciprical agreement of mutual respect.

Fines, Fines, Fines

Law, Crime & Punishment

Jewellery

Womens Fashion

Mens Fashion

Clothing & Jewellery

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All Celtic people were connected by a common language family, known now as Old Celtic. They are derived from the same Indo-European language group as the Germanic languages.

Breton

Cornish

Welsh

Manx

Scottish

Irish

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Language

Brythonic

Goidelic

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Art

Poetry & Music

Visual Arts

Gods & Goddesses

Life, Death, & the Returned

Pre-Christian Celts were polytheistic, worshipping many Gods and parts of nature. The religious practices and beliefs varied over time and location. Much of what is known of Celtic myths and religious traditions comes down to us from Ireland and Wales

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Religion

Festivals & Holy Days

Weapons

Leadership Style & Stratgey

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Warfare

Armour

Gallic Wars

Celts in Gaul

Julius Caesar

The Celts were fearless warriors because they wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another.

Ogham

Iceni Rebellion

Celts in the British Isles

The Celtic culture of the ancient time never disappeared, they simply evolved into the modern culture of Europe. Though the culture has become distorted over time, it is still with us in many ways. Through language, art and a resurgence in the religious traditions of the past. Celtic culture changed the development of society and religion in ways we cannot begin to understand.

Influence Today

Scotland

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Cornwall

Brittany

Wales

Isle of Man

The Celtic Nations

Ireland

Galicia