The Ancient Scribe

Posted By The Ancient Scribe on March 16, 2010

I’ve been learning lots about the Celts lately, so I feel compelled to share my (mostly) new-found knowledge with all of you.

Celtic culture, though it is a part of the ancient world, but its beliefs and practices can still be felt in the modern world, especially in the regions of northwestern, central, and Western Europe. Celtic culture dates backs to more than 2700 years back, and amazingly enough, it still drives numerous lives in the modern world, thanks to some of its livelier aspects like Celtic music, Celtic art and Celtic spirituality. The ancient Welsh and Irish scriptures and writings are the best sources of the age-old Celtic culture. The prime factor that has kept the Celtic culture revived and rejuvenated is its ever-changing nature and progressiveness to maintain its pace with the changing world.

The Celtic culture draws its name from the ancient Greeks. The Celts were a cultural linguistic group in the broader sense of the term. In fact, they were never a nation with a government. They were more like a group of tribal nations. The Celts draw their roots from the people belonging to the Urnfield culture, who believed in burying their deceased in the flat grounds in vaults. Celtic culture spread from its origin from western European lands into modern Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France between 1200 and 700 BC.

The initial stages of the Celtic culture are known as Hallstatt, as the archeologists found artifacts in a village at the Austrian Salzkammergut.  The wealth of the Celts was based on the extraction and sale of salt. Their settlements date back to the later Bronze Age. The recent archeological findings reflect the origin of the Celts who were from Europe. They were people with dark hair and dark complexion, and so you can explain their origin with the help of the migratory theory. They settled in the Danube River basin and began raiding the neighboring lands. Their conquests continued, until they had conquered the majority of the western European regions. Their domination in Hallstatt is considered as the Celtic Golden Age. The Celtic people had to move out of Athens, Macedonia and Rome, due to other conquerors. Finally, they were pushed to the South into Gaul and Iberia.

Unlike the Barbarian society, Celtic society was highly developed and had specific divisions. The Celts in Hallstatt had become quite prosperous in 7^th c. B.C, thanks to their salt and iron businesses. The Celtic art style emerged as a blend of Graeco-Etruscan elements in the Hallstatt elements. This is how the Celtic developments took place in Switzerland, northeastern France and the mid of Rhine.

Related posts:

1. Cultural Aspects of the Ancient Celts
2. Celtic Mythology: Reflecting the Myths of Celtic Life
3. Ancient African History
4. Ancient Mythology: Religion Through The Ages
5. Ancient Mayan Culture: Unearthing the Golden Era

Category: Ancient History
Tags: bronze age, celtic, culture