Celt

:This article is about the European people. For the tool, see celt (tool).

Origins and geographical distribution

The Celtic language family is a branch of the larger Indo-European family, which leads some scholars to a hypothesis that the original speakers of the Celtic proto-language may have arisen in the Pontic-Caspian steppes (see Kurgan). However, as the Celts enter history from around 600 BC, they are already split into several languages groups, and spread over much of Central Europe, the Iberian peninsula, Ireland and Britain, and studies now suggest that some of the Celtic peoples had a largely pre-Celtic genetic ancestry, shared with the Basque people and possibly going back to the Palaeolithic. {{fn|1}}.

Related Topics:
Indo-European family - Pontic - Caspian - Steppes - Kurgan - 600 BC - Iberian peninsula - Ireland - Britain - Basque people

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Some scholars think that the Urnfield culture represents an origin for the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European family. This culture was preeminent in central Europe during the late Bronze Age, from ca. 1200 BC until 700 BC, itself following the Unetice and Tumulus cultures. The Urnfield period saw a dramatic increase in population in the region, probably due to innovations in technology and agricultural practices. The spread of iron-working led to the development of the Hallstatt culture directly from the Urnfield (c. 700 to 500 BC). Proto-Celtic, the latest common ancestor of all known Celtic languages, is thought to have been spoken at the time of the late Urnfield or early Hallstatt cultures, in the early 1st millennium BC.

Related Topics:
Urnfield culture - Europe - Bronze Age - 1200 BC - 700 BC - Unetice - Tumulus - Iron-working - Hallstatt culture - 500 BC - Proto-Celtic - 1st millennium BC

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The spread of the Celtic languages to Britain and to Iberia would have occurred during the first half of the 1st millennium, the earliest chariot burials in Britain dating to ca. 500 BC. Over the centuries they developed into the separate Celtiberian, Goidelic and Brythonic languages. Whether Goidelic and Brythonic are descended from a common Insular-Celtic language, or if they reflect two separate waves of migration is disputed. The La Tène culture, in any case, can be associated with the Gauls, but it is entirely too late for a candidate for the Proto-Celtic culture.

Related Topics:
Chariot burial - 500 BC - Celtiberian - Goidelic - Brythonic languages - Gaul

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The Hallstatt culture was succeeded by the La Tène culture, and during the final stages of the Iron Age gradually transformed into the explicitly Celtic culture of early historical times. The La Tène culture was distributed around the upper reaches of the Danube, Switzerland, Austria, southern and central Germany, eastern France, Bohemia and Moravia, and parts of Hungary.

Related Topics:
La Tène culture - Iron Age - The Danube - Switzerland - Austria - Germany

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The technologies, decorative practices and metal-working styles of the La Tène were to be very influential on the continental Celts. The La Tène style was highly derivative from the Greek, Etruscan and Scythian decorative styles with whom the La Tène settlers frequently traded.

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It is not known whether the Picts of Scotland were Celts or the remnant of an earlier population of the British Isles who had been pushed to the margin by Celtic invasions, or indeed whether they spoke a Brythonic language. In historical times western Scotland was colonised by Celtic Scotti from Ireland, who subsequently formed a political union with the Picts under Kenneth mac Alpin who had both Scots and Pictish ancestry.

Related Topics:
Picts - Scotland - Brythonic - Scotti - Kenneth mac Alpin

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Additional forays into Greece and central Italy during the historical period did not result in settlement, though the same movement that brought Celtic invaders to Greece pushed on through to Anatolia, where they settled as the Galatians.

Related Topics:
Greece - Italy - Galatia

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As there is no archaeological evidence for large scale invasions in some of the other areas, one current school of thought holds that Celtic language and culture spread to those areas by contact rather than invasion. However, the Celtic invasions of Italy, Greece, and western Anatolia are well documented in Greek and Latin history.

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Stonehenge and the other megalithic monuments long predate the Iron Age Celtic culture. The connection between these momuments and the Celts largely stems from 18th century romantics such as William Stukely, and there is no evidence that the Celts adopted these sites as areas of worship.

Related Topics:
Stonehenge - Megalithic monuments

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