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Early Celtic History - c 1300 BC- c 1 AD
Origins of the Celts
The Celts, it is believed, originated in what is now Eastern Europe, and moved west along the main trading arteries of the time, especially the river Danube, into modern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. By about 500 BC, they were a large group of tribes and races spread over a wide area of Europe, from Scotland and Ireland in the north-west to Russia and Turkey in the east, and to the Mediterranean in the south.
Like the other people associated with that region, the ancient Celts spoke a common Indo-European language and from their very early beginnings were renowned for their skill as horsemen. From 1300 to 800 BC these people developed the first system of organised agriculture in northern Europe. They were also excellent artisans and used advanced bronze casting techniques to make highly decorated body armour, shields and swords. It was from around 750-50BC that they were at their zenith. During this period of expansion they even sacked Rome and invaded Greece. It was also during this time that they first appear in written historic records, being referred to as the Keltoi by the Greeks around 500BC. (It is from this word that we get the name "Celts".) The first artistic phase began around 1200 BC and is named after the town Hallstatt in Austria where many finds occurred. It peaked at around 500BC in what is now known as the La Tène period, after the town in Switzerland where many finds occurred. Whereas the Hallstatt culture probably consisted of many different peoples and language groups, the La Tène culture can truly be termed "Celtic".
This was the beginning of the Celtic art that is famous the world over and which was to continue for 1500 years as a unique style and which is still copied and provides inspiration for jewellery designers today. From Ireland in the NW, down to Turkey and Russia in the east and Spain in the SW, the Celtic tribes formed a single nation that controlled most of western Europe, before being beaten back by the combined pressure of the Greeks, Romans and later the Germanic peoples. It was with their energy and skills as miners, artisans, traders and inventors that they contributed so much to the rest of Europe.
Celtic Art and Artefacts
The artefacts the Celts left behind include: weapons, jewellery, religious manuscripts, stone crosses, plates and chalices. The distinctiveness of early Celtic art is that artists and scribes made extensive use of knotwork decoration, zoomorph and spiral designs, and other techniques and styles from their Pagan past. The most famous historical relic is the Book of Kells (currently located at Trinity College, Dublin) from which the image above was taken.
Celtic Languages
The languages of the Celts belong to the great Indo-European family of languages, which also includes Anatolian, Hellenic, Italic, Illyrian, Slavonic, Baltic, Germanic, Armenian, Indo-Iranian, and Tocharian. This resulted in five distinct dialects emerged, which may be subdivided as follows: Hispano-Celtic (now obsolete); Gallic (now obsolete); Lepontic (now obsolete); Goidelic or ‘Q-Celtic' (which includes Irish, Scots Gaelic, and Manx); and Brythonic or ‘P-Celtic' (which includes Welsh, Breton, and Cornish).
The early Celts did not leave any written records but they did develop a form of writing called Ogham, which may have been used by certain members of Celtic society, such as the Druids, to record important information. Like most illiterate societies, the art of poetry and song were developed to convey historical and ancestral stories, and involved great feats of memory.
Ogham Script consists of a 25-letter alphabet and is writter either bottom-to-top or right-to-left. Each letter is named after a tree or other plant and the letters of each word are linked together by a solid line, which represents the trunk of a tree, while the letters themselves represent branches or twigs.
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