Ireland's OWN: Culture

The Celts*

Origins

At the start of the first millennium BC, a civilisation developed from Indo-European roots around the waters of the Rhine, the Rhone and the Danube. Their advanced use of metalworking, particularly iron weapons, made them a force with whom to be reckoned. Greek merchants, first encountering them in the sixth century BC, called them "Keltoi" or "Galatai." Later, the Romans would echo these names in "Celte," "Galatae" and "Galli." Today, they are generally referred to as "Celts."

From where the Greeks derived the name "Keltoi" is not known, but many theories abound. It may have originated from the Celts themselves, as Julius Caesar refers to them as, "The Gauls who refer to themselves as Celts." One theory notes that the Indo-European word "quel" means "elevated," and thus the Celts may have thought themselves elevated, noble, exalted. One historian suggests that it may derive from the Sanskrit word "cerati," which means "to surround," and is found in the Old Irish term �imme-e-chella." But most sources think "Celt" means "the hidden people." The reasons for this included that the Old Irish word for " hide" was "celim" and the Old Welsh word was "celaf." Many believe the Celts called themselves the hidden people because their religion was so secretive; for example, they were forbidden from recording in writing any teachings, practices or rituals. Lastly, it should be noted that the modern word "kilt," a word that means a form of dress or mantle designed to conceal the genitalia, was original spelled "celt."

The ancient Celts have been described as the first Europeans, the first transalpine civilisation to emerge into recorded history. At the height of their greatest expansion, the third century BC, they were as far west as Ireland and as far east as the plains of Turkey; and they had expanded as far north as Belgium and as far south as Cadiz in Spain and across the Alps into the Po valley. Moreover, Celtic settlements have been found in Poland, Russia and the Ukraine. Recent evidence has caused some to argue that the Celts were also the ancestors of the Tocharian people, and Indo-European people who settled in the Xinjiang province of China, north of Tibet. . [See also Genes link Celts to Basques]

Warfare

In 475 BC, the Celts defeated the armies of the Etruscan empire at Ticino and took control throughout the Po valley; in 390 BC, they defeated the Romans and occupied the city for seven months. In 279 BC, they invaded the Greek peninsula and defeated every Greek army sent against them, after which they sacked the holy Delphi sanctuary. Some crossed into Asia Minor and established a Celtic kingdom in what are now the central plains of Turkey.

So great was Greek respect for Celtic fighting ability, that they recruited Celtic units into their armies -- from Epiros and Syria to the Ptolemy pharaohs of Egypt. Even Queen Cleopatra had an elite bodyguard of 300 Celtic warriors, which on her defeat and death, served Herod the Great. Hannibal used Celtic warriors as well; and after their conquest of Gaul, the Celts even served the armies of their archenemies, the Romans. [See also Celtic Warriors 'Were Bisexual']

Agriculture

The Celts were farmers engaged in advanced agricultural techniques. Moreover, it was the Celts who developed irrigation systems along the Po valley. And, the Celts invented a double-ploughing plough, which included a coulter, a sharp knife attached to the plough beam that made a vertical cut through the soil at the same time the share made the horizontal cut. The Celts also practiced crop rotation and manuring, long before other cultures caught on. They invented the first harvesting machine, the "messor," later called the "vallus" by the Romans. [See also Ancient Irish Farm Unearthed]

Medicine

Their Medical knowledge was highly sophisticated, particularly in the practice of surgery. Celtic digs in Germany, Ireland and Sussex have yielded surgical instruments used by the Celts, including retractors, probes and trephining saws -- a cylindrical skull drill. Skeleton skulls indicated the Celts made circular cuts in skulls, presumably to alleviate pressure on the head in the case of head injuries, or even perhaps to treat psychological disorders. The Celts were also highly knowledgeable in the uses of herbal medicines.

Transportation

As road builders, they were also talented and it was the Celts who cut the first roads through the previous impenetrable forests of Europe. Moreover, most of the Latin words involving roads and transport were borrowed from the Celts.

Art, language and literature

The Celts are best known for their artisanship in jewellery and design. They mined for gold, silver, lead and iron. Celtic art was a design-centred technique with zoomorphic emblems and representations. Much of their artwork centers on goddesses, warriors and symbology. [See Celtic Symbols]

The Celtic culture is a civilisation with at least 3,000 years of cultural continuum, and has not yet perished from Europe. Today it is estimated that some 2.5- million people still speak a Celtic language as their mother tongue. The Celtic peoples survive in the northwest of Europe, confined now to the Irish, Manx and Scots (Goidelic Celts), and the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons (Brythonic Celts).

And of course, the Celts, particularly of Ireland and Wales, produced a mass of vibrant legends and myths. [See Myths and Magic]

Philosophy

Celtic philosophers and men of learning were highly regarded by the early Greeks; much of the Greek Alexandrian school of thought is considered to have been borrowed from the Celts. Even the Romans, who could never forgive the Celts for initially defeating them and occupying Rome, begrudgingly acknowledged their learning. Their advanced calendrical computations, their astronomy and "speculation from the stars," also impressed the classical works. [See also Druids, Bards and Filidh in Irish Society]

*Summarised from The Celts: A History by Peter Berresford Ellis. Carroll & Graf: 2004.

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