Editing Celts

{{Short description|Indo-European ethnolinguistic group}}
{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{About|the ancient and medieval peoples of Europe|Celts of the present day|Celts (modern)|other uses|Celt (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Celts in Europe.png|upright=1.5|thumb|right|Distribution of Celtic peoples over time, in the traditional view:
{{legend-col|thumb size=narrow
|{{legend|#ffff43|Core [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] territory, by the sixth century BC}}
|{{legend|#97ffb6|Greatest Celtic expansion by 275 BC}}
|{{legend|#d2ffd2|[[Lusitanians|Lusitanian]] area of Iberia where Celtic presence is uncertain}}
|{{legend|#27c600|Areas in which [[Celtic languages]] were spoken throughout the Middle Ages}}
|{{legend|#1A8000|Areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today}}
}}]]
{{Indo-European topics}}
[[File:Dying gaul.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''[[The Dying Gaul]]'', an [[Roman sculpture|ancient Roman statue]] at the [[Capitoline Museums]] of [[Rome]], Italy.]]
The '''Celts''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɛ|l|t|s}} {{respell|KELTS}}, see [[Names of the Celts#Pronunciation|pronunciation]] for different usages) or '''Celtic peoples''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|l|t|ɪ|k}} {{respell|KEL|tik}}) were<!--this article is about the historic Celts--> a collection of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European peoples]]<ref name="Indo-European">{{harvnb|Mac Cana|Dillon}}. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apogee of their influence and territorial expansion during the 4th century BC, extending across the length of Europe from Britain to Asia Minor."; {{harvnb|Puhvel|Fee|Leeming|2003|p=67}}. "[T]he Celts, were Indo-Europeans, a fact that explains a certain compatibility between Celtic, Roman, and Germanic mythology."; {{harvnb|Riché|2005|p=150}}. "The Celts and Germans were two Indo-European groups whose civilizations had some common characteristics."; {{harvnb|Todd|1975|p=42}}. "Celts and Germans were of course derived from the same Indo-European stock."; {{harvnb|Encyclopedia Britannica. Celt}}. "Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe."</ref> in [[Europe]] and [[Anatolia]], identified by their use of [[Celtic languages]] and other cultural similarities.<ref name="Drinkwater_Definition">{{harvnb|Drinkwater|2012|p=295}}. "Celts, a name applied by ancient writers to a population group occupying lands mainly north of the Mediterranean region from Galicia in the west to Galatia in the east. (Its application to the Welsh, the Scots, and the Irish is modern.) Their unity is recognizable by common speech and common artistic traditions.</ref><ref name="WM_Definition">{{harvnb|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=144}}. "Celts, in its modern usage, is an encompassing term referring to all Celtic-speaking peoples."</ref><ref name="EB_Definition">{{harvnb|Encyclopedia Britannica. Celt}}. "Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe. Their tribes and groups eventually ranged from the British Isles and northern Spain to as far east as Transylvania, the Black Sea coasts, and Galatia in Anatolia and were in part absorbed into the Roman Empire as Britons, Gauls, Boii, Galatians, and Celtiberians. Linguistically they survive in the modern Celtic speakers of Ireland, Highland Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, and Brittany.</ref><ref name="Koch encyclopedia">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |date=2005 |location=Santa Barbara, California |page=xix–xxi |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&q=peoples%20and%20countries |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |access-date=9 June 2010 |quote=This Encyclopedia is designed for the use of everyone interested in Celtic studies and also for those interested in many related and subsidiary fields, including the individual CELTIC COUNTRIES and their languages, literatures, archaeology, folklore, and mythology. In its chronological scope, the Encyclopedia covers subjects from the HALLSTATT and LA TENE periods of the later pre-Roman Iron Age to the beginning of the 21st century.}}</ref> Major Celtic groups included the [[Gauls]]; the [[Celtiberians]] and [[Gallaeci]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luján |first1=E. R. |title=Pueblo Celtas y no Celtas de la Galicia antigua:: Fuentes literarias frente a fuentes epigráficas |journal=XXII seminario de lenguas y epigrafía antigua |date=2006 |url= http://www.racv.es/files/07_Lujan.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091225113903/http://www.racv.es/files/07_Lujan.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref><ref>"If, as is the first criterion of this Encyclopedia, one bases the concept of 'Celticity' on language, one can apply the term 'Celtic' to ancient Galicia", {{cite book |editor-last=Koch |editor-first=John T. |title=Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia |url= https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=1-85109-440-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n833 790]}}</ref> of Iberia; the [[Celtic Britons|Britons]], [[Picts]], and [[Gaels]] of Britain and Ireland; the [[Boii]]; and the [[Galatians (people)|Galatians]]. The interrelationships of ethnicity, language and culture in the Celtic world are unclear and debated;<ref name="SJames">{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Simon |title=The Atlantic Celts – Ancient People or Modern Invention |date=1999 |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin Press]]}}</ref> for example over the ways in which the [[Iron Age Europe|Iron Age]] people of Britain and Ireland should be called Celts.<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis">{{cite book |last1=Collis |first1=John |title=The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions |date=2003 |location=Stroud |publisher=[[Tempus Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-7524-2913-7}}</ref><ref name="FPryor">{{cite book |last1=Pryor |first1=Francis |title=Britain BC |date=2004 |publisher=[[Harper Perennial]] |isbn=978-0-00-712693-4}}</ref> In current scholarship, 'Celt' primarily refers to 'speakers of Celtic languages' rather than to a single ethnic group.<ref name="Sims-Williams" />

[[File:Parade helmet.jpg|thumb|La Tène–style ceremonial [[Agris Helmet]], 350 BC, [[Musée d'Angoulême|Angoulême city Museum]] in France.]]
The history of [[pre-Celtic]] Europe and Celtic origins is debated. The traditional "Celtic from the East" theory, says the [[proto-Celtic language]] arose in the late [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]] [[Urnfield culture]] of central Europe, named after grave sites in southern Germany,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Louwen |first=A. J. |date=2021 |type=PhD |publisher=[[Leiden University]] |title=Breaking and making the ancestors. Piecing together the urnfield mortuary process in the Lower-Rhine-Basin, ca. 1300 – 400 BC |url= https://www.academia.edu/85067342 |access-date=13 January 2023 |archive-date=11 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230411091655/https://www.academia.edu/85067342 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Probst|1996|pp=258}} which flourished from around 1200 BC.<ref name="ChadCorc">{{cite book |last1=Chadwick |last2=Corcoran |first1=Nora |first2=J. X. W. P. |title=The Celts |date=1970 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |pages=28–33}}</ref> This theory links the Celts with the Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture]] which followed it ({{circa|1200}}–500 BC), named for the rich grave finds in [[Hallstatt]], Austria,<ref name="ChadCorc" /><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Barry Cunliffe |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Ancient Celts |pages=39–67 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |date=1997}}</ref> and with the following [[La Tène culture]] ({{circa|450 BC}} onward), named after the [[La Tène (archaeological site)|La Tène site]] in Switzerland. It proposes that Celtic culture spread westward and southward from these areas by [[Trans-cultural diffusion|diffusion]] or [[Human migration|migration]].<ref name="koch2010_core">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Celtic from the West Chapter 9: Paradigm Shift? Interpreting Tartessian as Celtic – see map 9.3 The Ancient Celtic Languages c. 440/430 BC – see third map in PDF at URL provided which is essentially the same map |date=2010 |url= http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/ODonnell.pdf |publisher=[[Oxbow Books]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-84217-410-4 |page=193 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120709032557/http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/ODonnell.pdf |archive-date=9 July 2012}}</ref> A newer theory, "[[Celtic from the West]]", suggests proto-Celtic arose earlier, was a ''[[lingua franca]]'' in the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] coastal zone, and spread eastward.<ref name="koch2010_expansion">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Celtic from the West Chapter 9: Paradigm Shift? Interpreting Tartessian as Celtic – see map 9.2 Celtic expansion from Hallstatt/La Tene central Europe – see second map in PDF at URL provided which is essentially the same map |date=2010 |url= http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/ODonnell.pdf |publisher=[[Oxbow Books]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-84217-410-4 |page=190 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120709032557/http://www.wales.ac.uk/Resources/Documents/Research/ODonnell.pdf |archive-date=9 July 2012}}</ref> Another newer theory, "Celtic from the Centre", suggests proto-Celtic arose between these two zones, in Bronze Age Gaul, then spread in various directions.<ref name="Sims-Williams">{{cite journal |last=Sims-Williams |title=An Alternative to 'Celtic from the East' and 'Celtic from the West' |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=511–529 |doi=10.1017/S0959774320000098 |date=August 2020 |doi-access=free |hdl=2160/317fdc72-f7ad-4a66-8335-db8f5d911437 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> After the [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe]] in the 3rd century BC, Celtic culture reached as far east as [[Central Anatolia Region|central Anatolia]], [[Turkey]].

[[File:Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave reconstruction.jpg|250px|thumb|Reconstruction of the [[Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave]], [[Stuttgart]], [[Germany]], c. 530 BC.]]

The earliest undisputed examples of Celtic language are the [[Lepontic language|Lepontic]] inscriptions from the 6th century BC.<ref name="Stifter">{{cite book |last=Stifter |first=David |title=Old Celtic Languages |date=2008 |pages=24–37 |url= http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/download/Stifter/oldcelt2008_2_lepontic.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110630102715/http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/download/Stifter/oldcelt2008_2_lepontic.pdf |archive-date=30 June 2011}}</ref> [[Continental Celtic languages]] are attested almost exclusively through inscriptions and place-names. [[Insular Celtic languages]] are attested from the 4th century AD in [[Ogham inscription]]s, though they were being spoken much earlier. Celtic literary tradition begins with [[Old Irish]] texts around the 8th century AD. Elements of [[Celtic mythology]] are recorded in [[Early Irish literature|early Irish]] and [[Medieval Welsh literature|early Welsh]] literature. Most written evidence of the early Celts comes from [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] writers, who often grouped the Celts as [[barbarian]] tribes. They followed an [[ancient Celtic religion]] overseen by [[druid]]s.

The Celts were often in conflict with the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], such as in the [[Roman–Gallic wars]], the [[Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula|Celtiberian Wars]], the [[Gallic Wars|conquest of Gaul]] and [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest of Britain]]. By the 1st century AD, most Celtic territories had become part of the [[Roman Empire]]. By c. 500, due to [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanisation]] and [[Migration Period|the migration]] of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes, Celtic culture had mostly become restricted to Ireland, western and northern Britain, and [[Brittany]]. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, the Celtic-speaking communities in these Atlantic regions emerged as a reasonably cohesive cultural entity. They had a common linguistic, religious and artistic heritage that distinguished them from surrounding cultures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Cunliffe |title=The Celts – a very short introduction |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=109}}</ref>

Insular Celtic culture diversified into that of the [[Gaels]] ([[Irish people|Irish]], [[Scottish people|Scots]] and [[Manx people|Manx]]) and the [[Celtic Britons]] ([[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Cornish people|Cornish]], and [[Bretons]]) of the medieval and modern periods.<ref name="Drinkwater_Definition" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC |date=2000 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |page=179 |isbn=978-0-313-30984-7 |quote=The [[Cornish people|Cornish]] are related to the other Celtic peoples of Europe, the [[Bretons]], [[Irish people|Irish]], [[Scottish people|Scots]], [[Manx people|Manx]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], and the [[Galicians]] of northwestern Spain |access-date=11 July 2018 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230116024421/https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James |title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC |date=2000 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |page=766 |isbn=978-0-313-30984-7 |quote=Celts, 257, 278, 523, 533, 555, 643; [[Bretons]], 129–33; [[Cornish people|Cornish]], 178–81; [[Galicians]], 277–80; [[Irish people|Irish]], 330–37; [[Manx people|Manx]], 452–55; [[Scottish people|Scots]], 607–12; [[Welsh people|Welsh]] |access-date=11 July 2018 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230116024421/https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC |url-status=live}}</ref> A modern [[Celts (modern)|Celtic identity]]<ref name="WM_Scope">{{harvnb|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=144}}. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic</ref> was constructed as part of the Romanticist [[Celtic Revival]] in Britain, Ireland, and other European territories such as [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=McKevitt |first=Kerry Ann |title=Mythologizing Identity and History: a look at the Celtic past of Galicia |journal=E-Keltoi |date=2006 |volume=6 |pages=651–73 |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_13/mckevitt_6_13.pdf |access-date=8 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110624075328/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_13/mckevitt_6_13.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2011}}</ref> Today, [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]], and [[Breton language|Breton]] are still spoken in parts of their former territories, while [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Manx language|Manx]] are undergoing a revival.

==Names and terminology==
[[File:Galician Celtic Stele - Estela Galaica.jpg|thumb|Celto-Latin [[stele]] from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], 2nd century, referring to "<small>[[Celtici Supertamarici|CELTICA SUPERTAM(''arica'')]]</small>".]]
{{Main|Names of the Celts}}

===Ancient===
The first recorded use of the name 'Celts' – as ''{{lang|grc|Κελτοί}}'' ({{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}}) in [[Ancient Greek]] – was by Greek geographer [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] in 517 BC,<ref>Sarunas Milisauskas, {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=31LFIITb3LUC&pg=PA363 |title=European prehistory: a survey |page=363 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |access-date=7 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-306-47257-2 |date=2002}}</ref> when writing about a people living near [[Massilia]] (modern [[Marseille]]), southern [[Gaul]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rankin |first=H. David |title=Celts and the Classical World |date=1998 |pages=1–2 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |access-date=7 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-415-15090-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fdqk4vXqntgC&q=%22celts%22}}</ref> In the fifth century BC, [[Herodotus]] referred to {{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}} living around the [[source of the Danube]] and in the far west of Europe.<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'', 2.33; 4.49.</ref> The etymology of {{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}} is unclear. Possible roots include [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] *''kʲel'' 'to hide' (seen also in Old Irish {{lang|sga|ceilid}}, and Modern Welsh {{lang|cy|celu}}), *''kʲel'' 'to heat' or *''kel'' 'to impel'.<ref>John T. Koch (ed.), ''Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia''. 5 vols. 2006. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, p. 371.</ref> It may come from the [[Proto-Celtic language|Celtic language]]. Linguist Kim McCone supports this view and notes that ''Celt-'' is found in the names of several ancient Gauls such as Celtillus, father of [[Vercingetorix]]. He suggests it meant the people or descendants of "the hidden one", noting the Gauls claimed descent from an underworld god (according to ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]''), and linking it with the Germanic ''[[Hel (location)|Hel]]''.<ref name="McCone2013">McCone, Kim (2013). "The Celts: questions of nomenclature and identity", in ''Ireland and its Contacts''. [[University of Lausanne]]. pp.21–27</ref> Others view it as a name coined by Greeks; among them linguist [[Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel]], who suggests it meant "the tall ones".<ref>P. De Bernardo Stempel 2008. "Linguistically Celtic ethnonyms: towards a classification", in ''Celtic and Other Languages in Ancient Europe'', J. L. García Alonso (ed.), 101–18. Ediciones Universidad Salamanca.</ref>

In the first century BC, Roman leader [[Julius Caesar]] reported that the [[Gauls]] called themselves 'Celts', {{langx|la|Celtae}}, in [[Gaulish language|their own tongue]].<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 1#1|1.1]]: "All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae live, another in which the Aquitani live, and the third are those who in their own tongue are called {{lang|la|Celtae}}, in our language {{lang|la|Galli}}."</ref> Thus whether it was given to them by others or not, it was used by the Celts themselves. Greek geographer [[Strabo]], writing about Gaul towards the end of the first century BC, refers to the "race which is now called both ''Gallic'' and ''Galatic''", though he also uses ''Celtica'' as another name for Gaul. He reports Celtic peoples in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] too, calling them ''[[Celtiberians|Celtiberi]]'' and ''[[Celtici]]''.<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'', 3.1.3; 3.1.6; 3.2.2; 3.2.15; 4.4.2.</ref> [[Pliny the Elder]] noted the use of ''Celtici'' in [[Lusitania]] as a tribal surname,<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|The Natural History]]'' [[s:Lusitania/Book 4#35|21]]: "the Mirobrigenses, surnamed Celtici" ("Mirobrigenses qui Celtici cognominantur").</ref> which [[Epigraphy|epigraphic]] findings have confirmed.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://revistas.ucm.es/est/11326875/articulos/HIEP0101110006A.PDF |title=España |access-date=9 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100402141724/http://revistas.ucm.es/est/11326875/articulos/HIEP0101110006A.PDF |archive-date=2 April 2010}}</ref><ref>Fernando De Almeida, ''Breve noticia sobre o santuário campestre romano de Miróbriga dos Celticos (Portugal)'': D(IS) M(ANIBUS) S(ACRUM) / C(AIUS) PORCIUS SEVE/RUS MIROBRIGEN(SIS) / CELT(ICUS) ANN(ORUM) LX / H(IC) S(ITUS) E(ST) S(IT) T(IBI) T(ERRA) L(EVIS).</ref>

A Latin name for the Gauls, ''{{lang|la|Galli}}'' ({{abbr|pl.|plural}}), may come from a Celtic ethnic name, perhaps borrowed into Latin during the [[Cisalpine Gaul|Celtic expansion into Italy]] from the early fifth century BC. Its root may be [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] ''*galno'', meaning "power, strength" (whence [[Old Irish]] ''gal'' "boldness, ferocity", Welsh ''gallu'' "to be able, power"). The Greek name ''[[Galatians (people)|Γαλάται]]'' ({{transliteration|grc|''Galatai''}}, Latinized ''Galatae'') most likely has the same origin, referring to the Gauls who [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe|invaded southeast Europe]] and settled in [[Galatia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |url= https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n837 794]–95}}</ref> The suffix ''-atai'' might be a Greek inflection.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spencer and Zwicky |first=Andrew and Arnold M |title=The handbook of morphology |date=1998 |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-631-18544-4 |page=148}}</ref> Linguist Kim McCone suggests it comes from Proto-Celtic ''*galatis'' ("ferocious, furious"), and was not originally an ethnic name but a name for [[Kóryos|young warrior bands]]. He says "If the Gauls' initial impact on the Mediterranean world was primarily a military one typically involving fierce young ''*galatīs'', it would have been natural for the Greeks to apply this name for the type of ''Keltoi'' that they usually encountered".<ref name="McCone2013" />

Because Classical writers did not call the inhabitants of Britain and Ireland {{lang|grc|Κελτοί}} ({{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}}) or {{lang|la|Celtae}},<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis" /> some scholars prefer not to use the term for the Iron Age inhabitants of those islands.<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis" /><ref name="FPryor" /> However, they spoke Celtic languages, shared other cultural traits, and Roman historian [[Tacitus]] says the Britons resembled the Gauls in customs and religion.<ref name="Sims-Williams" />

===Modern===
For at least 1,000 years, the ethnonym ''Celt'' was not used at all. No ethnic group called themselves Celts or Celtic until about 1700. After the word 'Celtic' was rediscovered in classical texts, it was applied for the first time to the distinctive culture, history, traditions, and language of the modern Celtic nations – Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/who-were-the-celts-it-s-complicated-1.2410501 Who were the Celts? It's complicated] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230417195847/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/who-were-the-celts-it-s-complicated-1.2410501 |date=17 April 2023 }}, ''Irish Times'', Denis Staunton, 20 October 2015, accessed 17 April 2023.</ref> 'Celt' is a modern English word, first attested in 1707 in the writing of [[Edward Lhuyd]], whose work, along with that of other late 17th-century scholars, brought academic attention to the languages and history of the early Celtic inhabitants of Great Britain.<ref>Lhuyd, E. ''Archaeologia Britannica; An account of the languages, histories, and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain.'' (reprint ed.) Irish University Press, 1971, p. 290. {{ISBN|0-7165-0031-0}}.</ref> The English words ''Gaul'', ''Gauls'' ({{abbr|pl.|plural}}) and ''Gaulish'' (first recorded in the 16–17th centuries) come from French {{lang|fr|Gaule}} and {{lang|fr|Gaulois}}, a borrowing from [[Frankish language|Frankish]] *{{lang|frk|Walholant}}, 'Roman-land' {{crossref|(see [[Gaul#Name|Gaul: Name]])}}, the root of which is [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[walhaz|walha-]]}}, 'foreigner, Roman, Celt', whence the English word ''Welsh'' ([[Old English]] {{lang|ang|wælisċ}}). Proto-Germanic {{lang|gem-x-proto|walha}} comes from the name of the [[Volcae]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |url= https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n567 532]}}</ref> a Celtic tribe who lived first in southern Germany and central Europe, then migrated to Gaul.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mountain |first=Harry |title=The Celtic Encyclopedia |volume=1 |date=1998 |publisher=[[uPublish.com|uPublish]] |isbn=978-1-58112-889-5 |page=252}}</ref> This means that English ''Gaul'', despite its superficial similarity, is not actually derived from Latin {{lang|la|Gallia}} (which should have produced *{{lang|fr|Jaille}} in French),{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} though it does refer to the same ancient region.

''Celtic'' refers to a [[language family]] and, more generally, means 'of the Celts' or 'in the style of the Celts'. Several archaeological cultures are considered Celtic, based on unique sets of artefacts. The link between language and artefact is aided by the presence of inscriptions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kruta |first=Venceslas |title=The Celts |date=1991 |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |pages=95–102 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> The modern idea of a Celtic [[culture|cultural]] identity or "Celticity" focuses on similarities among languages, works of art, and classical texts,<ref>Paul Graves-Brown, Siân Jones, Clive Gamble, {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9BsG0pXp61sC&pg=PA242 |title=Cultural Identity and Archaeology: The Construction of European Communities |pages=242–244 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-10676-4 |date=1996}}</ref> and sometimes also among material artefacts, [[social organisation]], [[homeland]] and [[Celtic mythology|mythology]].<ref>Carl McColman, {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=71oefF7-73MC&q=%22Celticity%22&pg=PA32 |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Celtic Wisdom |pages=31–34 |publisher=[[Alpha Books]] |access-date=7 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-02-864417-2 |date=2003}}</ref> Earlier theories held that these similarities suggest a common "racial" ([[Race (human categorization)|race]] is now a contested concept) origin for the various Celtic peoples, but more recent theories hold that they reflect a common cultural and linguistic heritage more than a genetic one. Celtic cultures seem to have been diverse, with the use of a Celtic language being the main thing they had in common.<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" />

Today, the term 'Celtic' generally refers to the languages and cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, [[Cornwall]], the [[Isle of Man]], and [[Brittany]]; also called the [[Celtic nations]]. These are the regions where Celtic languages are still spoken to some extent. The four are [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]], and [[Breton language|Breton]]; plus two recent revivals, [[Cornish language|Cornish]] (a [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic language]]) and [[Manx language|Manx]] (a [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic language]]). There are also attempts to reconstruct [[Cumbric]], a Brittonic language of northern Britain. Celtic regions of mainland Europe are those whose residents claim a Celtic heritage, but where no Celtic language survives; these include western Iberia, i.e. [[Portugal]] and north-central [[Spain]] ([[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], [[Cantabria]], [[Castile and León]], [[Extremadura]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Patricia |title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore |date=2008 |publisher=[[Facts on File Inc.]] |isbn=978-0-8160-7556-0}}</ref>

Continental Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of mainland Europe and Insular Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of the British and Irish islands, and their descendants. The Celts of Brittany derive their language from migrating Insular Celts from Britain and so are grouped accordingly.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Nora |title=The Celts with an introductory chapter by J.X.W.P. Corcoran |date=1970 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |page=81}}</ref>

==Origins==
{{main|Pre-Celtic|Celticization}}

The [[Celtic languages]] are a branch of the [[Indo-European languages]]. By the time Celts are first mentioned in written records around 400 BC, they were already split into several language groups, and spread over much of western mainland Europe, the [[Iberian Peninsula]], Ireland and Britain. The languages developed into [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]], [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] and [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] branches, among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Celtic language Branch - Origins & Classification - MustGo |url= https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/celtic-branch/ |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=MustGo.com |language=en-US |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221024221253/https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/celtic-branch/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62381207 |title=Celtic culture : a historical encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |first=John T. |last=Koch |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |location=Santa Barbara, California |pages=34, 365–366, 529, 973, 1053 |oclc=62381207 |access-date=25 August 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221007170317/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62381207 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Urnfield-Hallstatt theory===
[[File:Hallstatt LaTene.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Overview of the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] cultures.<small>
{{legend|#f6bc0a|The core Hallstatt territory (HaC, 800 BC) is shown in solid yellow.}}
{{legend|#d5c089|The eventual area of Hallstatt influence (by 500 BC, HaD) in light yellow.}}
{{legend|#80da34|The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) in solid green.}}
{{legend|#9bce9b|The eventual area of La Tène influence (by 250 BC) in light green. }}
The territories of some major [[List of Celtic tribes|Celtic tribes]] of the late La Tène period are labelled.</small>]]

The mainstream view during most of the twentieth century is that the Celts and the [[proto-Celtic language]] arose out of the [[Urnfield culture]] of [[central Europe]] around 1000 BC, spreading westward and southward over the following few hundred years.<ref name="ChadCorc" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Nora |title=The Celts |date=1970 |page=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kruta |first=Venceslas |title=The Celts |date=1991 |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |pages=89–102}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stifter |first=David |title=Old Celtic Languages - Addenda |date=2008 |page=25}}</ref> The Urnfield culture was preeminent in central Europe during the late [[Bronze Age]], [[wikt:circa|circa]] 1200 BC to 700 BC. The [[Iron Age|spread of iron-working]] led to the [[Hallstatt culture]] (c. 800 to 500 BC) developing out of the Urnfield culture in a wide region north of the Alps. The Hallstatt culture developed into the [[La Tène culture]] from about 450 BC, which came to be identified with [[Celtic art]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=La Tene Culture is the archaeological name for "Celts" in Europe |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/la-tene-culture-iron-age-europe-171362 |access-date=2025-05-25 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref>

In 1846, [[Johann Georg Ramsauer]] unearthed an ancient [[grave field]] with distinctive grave goods at [[Hallstatt]], Austria. Because the burials "dated to roughly the time when Celts are mentioned near the [[Danube]] by [[Herodotus]], Ramsauer concluded that the graves were Celtic".<ref name="Koch 386">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |page=386}}</ref> Similar sites and artifacts were found over a wide area, which were named the 'Hallstatt culture'. In 1857, the archaeological site of [[La Tène (archaeological site)|La Tène]] was discovered in Switzerland.<ref name="Koch 386" /> The huge collection of artifacts had a distinctive style. Artifacts of this 'La Tène style' were found elsewhere in Europe, "particularly in places where people called Celts were known to have lived and early Celtic languages are attested. As a result, these items quickly became associated with the Celts, so much so that by the 1870s scholars began to regard finds of the La Tène as 'the archaeological expression of the Celts'".<ref name="Koch 386" /> This cultural network was overrun by the Roman Empire, though traces of La Tène style were still seen in [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman artifacts]]. In Britain and Ireland, the La Tène style survived precariously to re-emerge in [[Insular art]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The Urnfield-Hallstatt theory began to be challenged in the latter 20th century, when it was accepted that the oldest known Celtic-language inscriptions were those of [[Lepontic language|Lepontic]] from the 6th century BC and [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] from the 2nd century BC. These were found in northern Italy and Iberia, neither of which were part of the 'Hallstatt' nor 'La Tène' cultures at the time.<ref name="Sims-Williams" /> The Urnfield-Hallstatt theory was partly based on ancient [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] writings, such as the ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' of Herodotus, which placed the Celts at the [[source of the Danube]]. However, [[Stephen Oppenheimer]] shows that Herodotus seemed to believe the Danube rose near the [[Pyrenees]], which would place the Ancient Celts in a region which is more in agreement with later classical writers and historians (i.e. in Gaul and Iberia).<ref>{{cite book |last=Oppenheimer |first=Stephen |title=The Origins of the British |pages=21–56 |date=2007 |publisher=[[Robinson (publisher)|Robinson]]}}</ref> The theory was also partly based on the abundance of inscriptions bearing Celtic personal names in the Eastern Hallstatt region ([[Noricum]]). However, Patrick Sims-Williams notes that these date to the later Roman era, and says they suggest "relatively late settlement by a Celtic-speaking elite".<ref name="Sims-Williams" />

==='Celtic from the West' theory===
[[File:Europe late bronze age.png|thumb|upright=1.5|A map of Europe in the Bronze Age, showing the Atlantic network in red.]]
In the late 20th century, the Urnfield-Hallstatt theory began to fall out of favour with some scholars, which was influenced by new archaeological finds. 'Celtic' began to refer primarily to 'speakers of Celtic languages' rather than to a single culture or ethnic group.<ref name="Sims-Williams" /> A new theory suggested that Celtic languages arose earlier, along the Atlantic coast (including Britain, Ireland, [[Armorica]] and [[Iberia]]), long before evidence of 'Celtic' culture is found in archaeology. [[Myles Dillon]] and [[Nora Kershaw Chadwick]] argued that "Celtic settlement of the British Isles" might date to the [[Bell Beaker culture]] of the [[Copper Age|Copper]] and Bronze Age (from c. 2750 BC).<ref>Myles Dillon and Nora Kershaw Chadwick, ''The Celtic Realms'', 1967, 18–19</ref><ref name="cunliffewest">{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=Celtic from the West Chapter 1: Celticization from the West – The Contribution of Archaeology |date=2010 |publisher=[[Oxbow Books]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-84217-410-4 |page=14}}</ref> [[Martín Almagro Gorbea]] (2001) also proposed that Celtic arose in the [[3rd millennium BC]], suggesting that the spread of the Bell Beaker culture explained the wide dispersion of the Celts throughout western Europe, as well as the variability of the Celtic peoples.<ref>2001 p 95. La lengua de los Celtas y otros pueblos indoeuropeos de la península ibérica. In Almagro-Gorbea, M., Mariné, M. and Álvarez-Sanchís, J.R. (eds) Celtas y Vettones, pp. 115–21. Ávila: Diputación Provincial de Ávila.</ref>

[[John T. Koch]]<ref name="Koch2009">{{cite journal |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Tartessian: Celtic from the Southwest at the Dawn of History in Acta Palaeohispanica X Palaeohispanica 9 |journal=Palaeohispánica: Revista sobre lenguas y culturas de la Hispania antigua |date=2009 |pages=339–51 |url= http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/29/54/26koch.pdf |issn=1578-5386 |access-date=17 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100623034727/http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/29/54/26koch.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2010}}</ref> and [[Barry Cunliffe]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=A Race Apart: Insularity and Connectivity in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 75 |date=2008 |publisher=[[Prehistoric Society]] |pages=55–64 [61]}}</ref> have developed this 'Celtic from the West' theory. It proposes that the proto-Celtic language arose along the Atlantic coast and was the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] cultural network, later spreading inland and eastward.<ref name="Sims-Williams" /> More recently, Cunliffe proposes that proto-Celtic had arisen in the Atlantic zone even earlier, by 3000 BC, and spread eastwards with the Bell Beaker culture over the following millennium. His theory is partly based on [[glottochronology]], the spread of ancient Celtic-looking placenames, and thesis that the [[Tartessian language]] was Celtic.<ref name="Sims-Williams" /> However, the proposal that Tartessian was Celtic is widely rejected by linguists, many of whom regard it as unclassified.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sims-Williams |first=Patrick |date=2 April 2020 |title=An Alternative to 'Celtic from the East' and 'Celtic from the West' |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=511–529 |doi=10.1017/s0959774320000098 |s2cid=216484936 |issn=0959-7743 |doi-access=free |hdl=2160/317fdc72-f7ad-4a66-8335-db8f5d911437 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Hoz |first=J. de |title=Method and methods |date=28 February 2019 |url= http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198790822.003.0001 |work=Palaeohispanic Languages and Epigraphies |pages=1–24 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198790822.003.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-879082-2 |access-date=29 May 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==='Celtic from the Centre' theory===
Celticist Patrick Sims-Williams (2020) notes that in current scholarship, 'Celt' is primarily a linguistic label. In his 'Celtic from the Centre' theory, he argues that the proto-Celtic language did not originate in central Europe nor the Atlantic, but in-between these two regions. He suggests that it "emerged as a distinct Indo-European dialect around the [[second millennium BC]], probably somewhere in [[Gaul]] [centered in modern France] ... whence it spread in various directions and at various speeds in the [[first millennium BC]]". Sims-Williams says this avoids the problematic idea "that Celtic was spoken over a vast area for a very long time yet somehow avoided major dialectal splits", and "it keeps Celtic fairly close to Italy, which suits the view that [[Italo-Celtic|Italic and Celtic were in some way linked]]".<ref name="Sims-Williams" />

===Linguistic evidence===
{{Main|Proto-Celtic language}}
{{Further|Celtic toponymy}}

The [[Proto-Celtic language]] is usually dated to the Late Bronze Age.<ref name="ChadCorc" /> The earliest records of a Celtic language are the [[Lepontic]] inscriptions of [[Cisalpine Gaul]] (Northern Italy), the oldest of which pre-date the [[La Tène period]]. Other early inscriptions, appearing from the early La Tène period in the area of [[Marseille|Massilia]], are in [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]], which was written in the [[Greek alphabet]] until the Roman conquest. [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] inscriptions, using their own Iberian script, appear later, after about 200 BC. Evidence of [[Insular Celtic]] is available only from about 400 AD, in the form of [[Primitive Irish]] [[Ogham inscriptions]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Besides epigraphic evidence, an important source of information on early Celtic is [[toponymy]] (place names).<ref>e.g. Patrick Sims-Williams, ''Ancient Celtic Placenames in Europe and Asia Minor'', Publications of the [[Philological Society]], No. 39 (2006);
Bethany Fox, 'The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland', ''The Heroic Age'', 10 (2007), {{cite web |url= http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html |title=Fox—The P-Celtic Place-Names of North-East England and South-East Scotland |access-date=9 January 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20180111041001/http://www.heroicage.org/issues/10/fox.html |archive-date=11 January 2018}} (also available at [http://www.alarichall.org.uk/placenames/fox.htm Fox: P-Celtic Place-Names]).{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
See also [[List of Celtic place names in Portugal]].</ref>

===Genetic evidence===
{{See also|Corded Ware culture#Genetic studies}}
Arnaiz-Villena et al. (2017) demonstrated that Celtic-related populations of the European Atlantic (Orkney Islands, Scottish, Irish, British, Bretons, Basques, Galicians) shared a common [[HLA system]].{{clarify|date=January 2022}}<ref>International Journal of Modern Anthropology Int. J. Mod. Anthrop. (2017) 10: 50–72 HLA Genes in Atlantic Celtic populations: Are Celts Iberians? Available online at: www.ata.org.tn</ref>

Other genetic research does not support the notion of a significant genetic link between these populations, beyond the fact that they are all West Europeans. [[Early European Farmers]] did settle Britain (and all of Northern Europe) in the [[Neolithic]]; however, recent genetics research has found that, between 2400 and 2000 BC, over 90% of British DNA was overturned by [[Western Steppe Herders|European Steppe Herders]] in a migration that brought large amounts of Steppe DNA (including the [[Haplogroup R-L21|R1b haplogroup]]) to western Europe.<ref name="Olalde et al.">{{cite bioRxiv |last1=Olalde |first1=I |display-authors=et. al |date=May 2017 |title=The Beaker Phenomenon and the Genomic Transformation of Northwest Europe |biorxiv=10.1101/135962}}</ref> Modern autosomal genetic clustering is testament to this fact, as both modern and Iron Age British and Irish samples cluster genetically very closely with other North Europeans, and less so with Galicians, Basques or those from the south of France.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Novembre |first1=J |last2=Johnson |first2=T |last3=Bryc |first3=K |title=Genes mirror geography within Europe |journal=Nature |volume=456 |issue=7218 |pages=98–101 |date=November 2008 |pmid=18758442 |doi=10.1038/nature07331 |pmc=2735096 |bibcode=2008Natur.456...98N |display-authors=1 |last4=Kutalik |last5=Boyko |first5=AR |last6=Auton |first6=A |last7=Indap |first7=A |last8=King |first8=KS |last9=Bergmann |first9=S |last10=Nelson |first10=MR |last11=Stephens |first11=M |last12=Bustamante |first12=CD}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |vauthors=Lao O, Lu TT, Nothnagel M |title=Correlation between genetic and geographic structure in Europe |journal=Curr. Biol. |volume=18 |issue=16 |pages=1241–48 |date=August 2008 |pmid=18691889 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2008.07.049 |s2cid=16945780 |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free |bibcode=2008CBio...18.1241L}}</ref>

===Archaeological evidence===
{{Further|Iron Age Europe}}
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = Reconstruction of a late La&nbsp;Tène period settlement in Altburg near [[Bundenbach]], Germany<br />(first century BC)
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| caption2 = Reconstruction of a late La&nbsp;Tène period settlement in [[Havranok]], Slovakia<br />(second–first century BC)
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}}
The concept that the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures could be seen not just as chronological periods but as "Culture Groups", entities composed of people of the same ethnicity and language, had started to grow by the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century the belief that these "Culture Groups" could be thought of in racial or ethnic terms was held by [[Gordon Childe]], whose theory was influenced by the writings of [[Gustaf Kossinna]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EZ7Gj2ocIEsC&pg=PA346 |title=Milestones in Archaeology: A Chronological Encyclopedia |page=346 |date=2007 |access-date=2 October 2010 |isbn=978-1-57607-186-1 |last1=Murray |first1=Tim |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222214917/http://books.google.com/books?id=EZ7Gj2ocIEsC&pg=PA346&dq=%22Gordon+Childe%22+la+tene |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> As the 20th century progressed, the ethnic interpretation of La Tène culture became more strongly rooted, and any findings of La Tène culture and flat inhumation cemeteries were linked to the Celts and the Celtic language.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=bQMxOC66jvsC&pg=PA48 |title=Prehistoric Europe: Theory and Practice |page=48 |access-date=2 October 2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-2597-0 |last1=Jones |first1=Andrew |date=2008 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]}}</ref>
<!-- The Iron Age [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] (c. 800–475 BC) and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] (c. 500–50 BC) cultures are typically associated with Proto-Celtic and Celtic culture.<ref>F. Fleming, ''Heroes of the Dawn: Celtic Myth'', 1996. pp. 9, 134.</ref> -->

In various{{Clarify|date=July 2010}} [[List of academic disciplines|academic disciplines]], the Celts were considered a Central European Iron Age phenomenon, through the cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène. However, archaeological finds from the Halstatt and La Tène culture were rare in Iberia, southwestern France, northern and western Britain, southern Ireland and Galatia<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jEJyWT1gwg0C&pg=PA5 |title=pg5 |access-date=2 October 2010 |isbn=978-0-415-35177-5 |last1=Harding |first1=Dennis William |date=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222210715/http://books.google.com/books?id=jEJyWT1gwg0C&pg=PA5&dq=no+la+tene+in+western+france |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA386 |title=Celtic Culture: A-Celti |page=386 |access-date=2 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222191026/http://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA386&dq=no+la+tene+in+south+ireland#v=onepage&q=no%20la%20tene%20in%20south%20ireland&f=false |archive-date=22 December 2011 |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]}}</ref> and did not provide enough evidence for a culture like that of Central Europe. It is equally difficult to maintain that the origin of the Iberian Celts can be linked to the preceding Urnfield culture. This has resulted in a newer theory that introduces a 'proto-Celtic' substratum and a process of Celticisation, having its initial roots in the Bronze Age [[Bell Beaker culture]].<ref name="Lorrio">{{cite web |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |title=Center for Celtic Studies &#124; UW-Milwaukee |access-date=27 April 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060819015554/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |archive-date=19 August 2006}} The Celts in Iberia: An Overview – Alberto J. Lorrio (Universidad de Alicante) & Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero ([[Complutense University of Madrid|Universidad Complutense de Madrid]]) – Journal of Interdisciplinary [[Celtic studies]], Volume 6: 167–254 The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula, 1 February 2005</ref>

The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC) in eastern France, Switzerland, Austria, southwest Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It developed out of the Hallstatt culture without any definite cultural break, under the impetus of considerable Mediterranean influence from [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], and later [[Etruscan civilisation]]s. A shift of settlement centres took place in the 4th century. The western La Tène culture corresponds to historical [[Gaul|Celtic Gaul]]. Whether this means that the whole of La Tène culture can be attributed to a unified Celtic people is difficult to assess; archaeologists have repeatedly concluded that language and material culture do not necessarily run parallel. Frey notes that in the 5th century, "burial customs in the Celtic world were not uniform; rather, localised groups had their own beliefs, which, in consequence, also gave rise to distinct artistic expressions".<ref>*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110517084539/http://www.ria.ie/publications/journals/journaldb/index.asp?select=fulltext&id=100427.  Otto Hermann Frey, "A new approach to early Celtic art"]. Setting the Glauberg finds in context of shifting iconography, [[Royal Irish Academy]] (2004)</ref> Thus, while the La Tène culture is certainly associated with the [[Gauls]], the presence of La Tène artefacts may be due to cultural contact and does not imply the permanent presence of Celtic speakers.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

===Historical evidence===
[[File:Herodotus world map-en.svg|thumb|The world according to [[Herodotus]].]]
The Greek historian [[Ephorus]] of Cyme in [[Asia Minor]], writing in the 4th century BC, believed the Celts came from the islands off the mouth of the [[Rhine]] and were "driven from their homes by the frequency of wars and the violent rising of the sea". [[Polybius]] published a [[history of Rome]] about 150 BC in which he describes the Gauls of Italy and their conflict with Rome. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] in the 2nd century AD says that the Gauls "originally called Celts", "live on the remotest region of Europe on the coast of an enormous tidal sea". [[Posidonius]] described the southern Gauls about 100 BC. Though his original work is lost, later writers such as [[Strabo]] used it. The latter, writing in the early 1st century AD, deals with Britain and Gaul as well as Hispania, Italy, and Galatia. [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] wrote extensively about his [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Gallic Wars]] in 58–51 BC. [[Diodorus Siculus]] wrote about the Celts of Gaul and Britain in his 1st-century history.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

[[Diodorus Siculus]] and [[Strabo]] both suggest that the heartland of the people they call Celts was in [[Southern France|southern Gaul]]. The former says that the Gauls were to the north of the Celts, but that the Romans referred to both as Gauls (linguistically the Gauls were certainly Celts). Before the discoveries at Hallstatt and La Tène, it was generally considered that the Celtic heartland was southern Gaul, see [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] for 1813.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

==Distribution==
===Continental===
====Gaul====
[[File:Celtic Gold-plated Disc, Auvers-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise.jpg|thumb|A 4th century BC gold-plated disk from Gaul.]]
{{Main|Gauls}}

The Romans knew the Celts then living in present-day France as Gauls. The territory of these peoples probably included the [[Low Countries]], the Alps and present-day northern Italy. [[Julius Caesar]] in his ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Gallic Wars]]'' described the 1st-century BC descendants of those Gauls.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Eastern Gaul became the centre of the western La Tène culture. In later Iron Age Gaul, the social organisation resembled that of the Romans, with large towns. From the 3rd century BC the Gauls adopted coinage. Texts with Greek characters from southern Gaul have survived from the 2nd century BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arrival of Celts - France - SpottingHistory.com |url= https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/celts-arrival-france/ |access-date=14 October 2022 |website=www.spottinghistory.com |language=en |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221014141240/https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/celts-arrival-france/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Greek traders founded [[Marseille|Massalia]] about 600 BC, with some objects (mostly drinking ceramic vessels) being traded up the [[Rhône]] valley. But trade became disrupted soon after 500 BC and re-oriented over the Alps to the Po valley in the Italian peninsula. The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] arrived in the Rhone valley in the 2nd century BC and encountered a mostly Celtic-speaking Gaul. Rome wanted land communications with its Iberian provinces and fought a major battle with the [[Saluvii]] at [[Entremont (oppidum)|Entremont]] in 124–123 BC. Gradually Roman control extended, and the [[Roman province]] of [[Gallia Narbonensis|Gallia Transalpina]] developed along the Mediterranean coast.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dietler |first=Michael |title=Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France |date=2010 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-26551-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dietler |first=Michael |title=Consumption and Colonial Encounters in the Rhône Basin of France: A Study of Early Iron Age Political Economy |date=2005 |series=Monographies d'Archéologie Meditérranéenne |volume=21 |publisher=[[French National Centre for Scientific Research]] |isbn=978-2-912369-10-9}}</ref> The Romans knew the remainder of Gaul as {{lang|la|[[Gallia Comata]]}}, 'Long-haired Gaul'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gallia Comata {{!}} Gaul, Celtic Tribes, Julius Caesar |url= https://www.britannica.com/place/Gallia-Comata |website=[[Britannica.com]]}}</ref>

In 58 BC, the [[Helvetii]] planned to migrate westward but Julius Caesar forced them back. He then became involved in fighting the various tribes in Gaul, and by 55 BC had overrun most of Gaul. In 52 BC, [[Vercingetorix]] led a revolt against Roman occupation but was defeated at the [[Battle of Alesia]] and surrendered.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vercingetorix {{!}} Gallic chieftain {{!}} Britannica |url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vercingetorix |access-date=22 October 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221022001419/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vercingetorix |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the Gallic Wars of 58–51 BC, Caesar's ''[[Gallia Celtica|Celtica]]'' formed the main part of Roman Gaul, becoming the province of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]]. This territory of the Celtic tribes was bounded on the south by the Garonne and on the north by the Seine and the Marne.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=75}}</ref> The Romans attached large swathes of this region to neighbouring provinces [[Belgica]] and [[Aquitania]], particularly under [[Augustus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Drinkwater |first=John |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AfpQAwAAQBAJ&q=Belgica+and+Aquitania+augustus |title=Roman Gaul (Routledge Revivals): The Three Provinces, 58 BC-AD 260 |date=8 April 2014 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-317-75074-1 |language=en}}</ref>

Place- and personal-name analysis and inscriptions suggest that [[Gaulish]] was spoken over most of what is now France.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dietler |first=Michael |title=Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France |date=2010 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-26551-6 |pages=75–94}}</ref>

====Iberia====
[[File:Iberia 300BC-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Main language areas in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], showing Celtic languages in beige, c. 300 BC.]]
{{Main|Celtiberians|Gallaeci}}
{{See also|Castro culture|Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula|Prehistoric Iberia|Hispania|Lusitania|Gallaecia|Celtici|Vettones}}

Until the end of the 19th century, traditional scholarship dealing with the Celts did acknowledge their presence in the Iberian Peninsula<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=K_fmF-Rpt0QC&q=celts+portuguese&pg=PA50 |title=Chambers's information for the people |page=50 |access-date=2 October 2010 |last1=Chambers |first1=William |last2=Chambers |first2=Robert |date=1842 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722091012/http://books.google.com/books?id=K_fmF-Rpt0QC&pg=PA50&dq=celts+portuguese |archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rTEEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA505 |title=Brownson's Quarterly Review |page=505 |access-date=2 October 2010 |last1=Brownson |first1=Orestes Augustus |date=1859 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222192128/http://books.google.com/books?id=rTEEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA505&dq=portuguese+celts |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> as a [[Archaeological culture|material culture]] relatable to the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] cultures. However, since according to the definition of the [[Iron Age]] in the 19th century Celtic populations were supposedly rare in Iberia and did not provide a cultural scenario that could easily be linked to that of Central Europe, the presence of Celtic culture in that region was generally not fully recognised. Modern scholarship, however, has proven that Celtic presence and influences were most substantial in what is today Spain and [[Portugal]] (with perhaps the highest settlement saturation in Western Europe), particularly in the central, western and northern regions.<ref name="Quintela">{{cite journal |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_10/garcia_quintela_6_10.html |title=Celtic Elements in Northwestern Spain in Pre-Roman times |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |last=Quintela |first=Marco V. García |date=2005 |publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, [[University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]] |access-date=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110106071447/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_10/garcia_quintela_6_10.html |archive-date=6 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_12/olivares_6_12.html |title=Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |last=Pedreño |first=Juan Carlos Olivares |date=2005 |access-date=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090924025843/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_12/olivares_6_12.html |archive-date=24 September 2009}}</ref>

In addition to [[Gauls]] infiltrating from the north of the [[Pyrenees]], the Roman and Greek sources mention Celtic populations in three parts of the Iberian Peninsula: the eastern part of the ''Meseta'' (inhabited by the [[Celtiberians]]), the southwest ([[Celtici]], in modern-day [[Alentejo]]) and the northwest ([[Gallaecia]] and [[Asturias]]).<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8PsWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32 |title=Researches into the Physical History of Mankind |access-date=2 October 2010 |last1=Prichard |first1=James Cowles |date=1841 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222184305/http://books.google.com/books?id=8PsWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32&dq=celtiberian+celtici |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> A modern scholarly review<ref>{{cite journal |first=Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero |last=Alberto J. Lorrio |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |title=The Celts in Iberia: An Overview |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=167–254 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110624075310/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=12 August 2010}}</ref> found several archaeological groups of Celts in Spain:
* The [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] group in the Upper-Douro Upper-Tagus Upper-Jalón area.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Francisco |last=Burillo Mozota |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_8/burillo_6_8.html |title=Celtiberians: Problems and Debates |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=411–80 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090214010846/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_8/burillo_6_8.html |archive-date=14 February 2009 |access-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> Archaeological data suggest a continuity at least from the 6th century BC. In this early period, the Celtiberians inhabited in hill-forts (''Castros''). Around the end of the 3rd century BC, Celtiberians adopted more urban ways of life. From the 2nd century BC, they minted coins and wrote inscriptions using the [[Celtiberian script]]. These inscriptions make the [[Celtiberian Language]] the only Hispano-Celtic language classified as Celtic with unanimous agreement.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |first=Carlos |last=Jordán Cólera |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_17/jordan_6_17.pdf |title=Celtiberian |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=749–850 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110624081159/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_17/jordan_6_17.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> In the late period, before the Roman Conquest, both archaeological evidence and Roman sources suggest that the [[Celtiberians]] were expanding into different areas in the Peninsula (e.g. Celtic Baeturia).
* The [[Vettones|Vetton]] group in the western Meseta, between the Tormes, Douro and Tagus Rivers. They were characterised by the production of ''Verracos'', sculptures of bulls and pigs carved in granite.
* The [[Vaccei|Vaccean]] group in the central Douro valley. They were mentioned by Roman sources already in the 220 BC. Some of their funerary rituals suggest strong influences from their [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] neighbours.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

[[File:Torque de Santa Tegra 1.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|Triskelion and spirals on a Galician [[torc]] terminal, Museum of Castro de Santa Tegra, [[A Guarda]].]]
* The ''Castro Culture'' in northwestern Iberia, modern day [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and Northern [[Portugal]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Manuel |last=Alberro |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_20/alberro_6_20.html |title=Celtic Legacy in Galicia |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=1005–35 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090417174506/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_20/alberro_6_20.html |archive-date=17 April 2009 |access-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> Its high degree of continuity, from the Late Bronze Age, makes it difficult to support that the introduction of Celtic elements was due to the same process of Celticisation of the western Iberia, from the nucleus area of Celtiberia. Two typical elements are the sauna baths with monumental entrances, and the "Gallaecian Warriors", stone sculptures built in the 1st century AD. A large group of Latin inscriptions contain Celtic linguistic features, while others are similar to those found in the non-Celtic [[Lusitanian language]].<ref name="auto" />
* The [[Astures]] and the [[Cantabri]]. This area was romanised late, as it was not conquered by Rome until the [[Cantabrian Wars]] of 29–19 BC.
* Celts in the southwest, in the area [[Strabo]] called Celtica<ref>{{cite journal |first=Luis |last=Berrocal-Rangel |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html |title=The Celts of the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=481–96 |date=2005 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090416055457/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html |archive-date=16 April 2009}}</ref>

The origins of the Celtiberians might provide a key to understanding the Celticisation process in the rest of the Peninsula. The process of Celticisation of the southwestern area of the peninsula by the Keltoi and of the northwestern area is, however, not a simple Celtiberian question. Recent investigations about the [[Gallaeci|Callaici]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=Eugenio |last=R. Luján Martínez |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_16/lujan_6_16.html |title=The Language(s) of the Callaeci |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=715–48 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090417174908/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_16/lujan_6_16.html |archive-date=17 April 2009 |access-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> and [[Bracari]]<ref>Coutinhas, José Manuel (2006), ''Aproximação à identidade etno-cultural dos Callaici Bracari'', Porto.</ref> in northwestern [[Portugal]] are providing new approaches to understanding Celtic culture (language, art and religion) in western Iberia.<ref>[http://arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Archeological site of Tavira] {{webarchive|url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110223153840/http://arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm |date=23 February 2011 }}, official website</ref>

John T. Koch of [[Aberystwyth University]] suggested that [[Tartessian language|Tartessian]] inscriptions of the 8th century BC might be classified as Celtic. This would mean that Tartessian is the earliest attested trace of Celtic by a margin of more than a century.<ref>John T. Koch, ''Tartessian: Celtic From the South-west at the Dawn of History'', Celtic Studies Publications, (2009)</ref>

====Germany, Alps and Italy====
{{Main|Golasecca culture|Lepontii|Cisalpine Gaul}}
[[File:Heuneburg 600 B.C..jpg|thumb|left|The Celtic city of [[Heuneburg]] by the Danube, Germany, c. 600 BC, the oldest city north of the Alps.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.heuneburg-pyrene.de/en/celtic-city#:~:text=This%20Celtic%20hilltop%20settlement%20is,was%20built%20of%20mud%20bricks |title=Celtic City: Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg |access-date=8 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230307030355/https://www.heuneburg-pyrene.de/en/celtic-city#:~:text=This%20Celtic%20hilltop%20settlement%20is,was%20built%20of%20mud%20bricks |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[Image:Germanic tribes (750BC-1AD).png|right|thumb|250px|
Expansion of [[early Germanic culture|early Germanic tribes]] into [[Central Europe]],<ref>{{citation |last=Kinder |first=Hermann |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=London |date=1988 |title=Penguin Atlas of World History |volume=I |page=108}}.</ref> helping press its previous Celts further south and southeast.]]
[[File:Gallia Cisalpina-en.svg|thumb|Peoples of Cisalpine Gaul during the 4th to 3rd centuries BC.]]
{{Further|History of the Alps}}

In Germany by the late [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]], the [[Urnfield culture]] ({{Circa|1300 BC|750 BC}}) had replaced the [[Bell Beaker culture|Bell Beaker]], [[Unetice culture|Unetice]] and [[Tumulus culture]]s in central Europe,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iñigo Olalde |date=8 March 2018 |title=The Beaker Phenomenon and the Genomic Transformation of Northwest Europe |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |publisher=[[Nature Portfolio]] |volume=555 |issue=7695 |pages=190–196 |bibcode=2018Natur.555..190O |doi=10.1038/nature25738 |pmc=5973796 |pmid=29466337}}</ref> whilst the [[Nordic Bronze Age]] had developed in Scandinavia and northern Germany. The [[Hallstatt culture]], which had developed from the Urnfield culture, was the predominant Western and Central European culture from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and during the early [[Iron Age Europe|Iron Age]] (8th to 6th centuries BC). It was followed by the [[La Tène culture]] (5th to 1st centuries BC).

The people who had adopted these cultural characteristics in central and southern Germany are regarded as Celts. Celtic cultural centres developed in central Europe during the late Bronze Age ({{circa|1200 BC}} until 700 BC). Some, like the [[Heuneburg]], the oldest city north of the Alps,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heuneburg – Celtic city of Pyrene |url= https://www.heuneburg-pyrene.de/en/celtic-city}}</ref> grew to become important cultural centres of the Iron Age in Central Europe, that maintained trade routes to the [[Mediterranean]]. In the 5th century BC the Greek historian [[Herodotus]] mentioned a Celtic city at the Danube – ''Pyrene'', that historians attribute to the Heuneburg. Beginning around 700 BC (or later), [[Germanic peoples]] (Germanic tribes) from [[Archaeology of Northern Europe|southern Scandinavia and northern Germany]] expanded south and gradually replaced the Celtic peoples in Central Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heuneburg (Herbertingen-Hundersingen) |url= http://www.landeskunde-online.de/rhein/geschichte/antike/kelten/heuneburg/genese.htm |access-date=17 April 2020 |work=Landeskunde Online}}</ref><ref name="Herodotus1857">{{Cite book |author=Herodotus |editor1-first=Georg Friedrich |editor1-last=Creuzer |editor2-first=Johann Christian Felix |editor2-last=Bähr |title=Herodoti Musae |volume=2 |date=1857 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t9rfAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Lipsiae in Bibliopolio Hahniano}}</ref><ref name="Herodotus1829">{{Cite book |last=Herodotus |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=q45PxRGLB5sC&pg=PA110 |title=Herodoti historiarum libri IX |date=1829 |publisher=G. Fr. Meyer |pages=110–}}</ref><ref name="Gimbutas2011">{{Cite book |first=Marija |last=Gimbutas |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BvtRdigDtFoC&pg=PA312 |title=Bronze Age cultures in Central and Eastern Europe |date=25 August 2011 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |isbn=978-3-1116-6814-7 |pages=100–}}</ref><ref name="Milisauskas2002">{{Cite book |first=Sarunas |last=Milisauskas |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=31LFIITb3LUC&pg=PA363 |title=European Prehistory: A Survey |date=30 June 2002 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |isbn=978-0-3064-7257-2 |pages=363–}}</ref><ref name="Rankin1996">{{Cite book |first=H. David |last=Rankin |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fdqk4vXqntgC |title=Celts and the Classical World |date=1996 |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |isbn=978-0-4151-5090-3}}</ref>

The [[Canegrate culture]] represented the first migratory wave of the proto-Celtic<ref>Alfons Semler, ''Überlingen: Bilder aus der Geschichte einer kleinen Reichsstadt,''Oberbadische Verlag, Singen, 1949, pp. 11–17, specifically 15.</ref><ref>Kruta, Venceslas; ''La grande storia dei celti: La nascita, l'affermazione e la decadenza'', Newton & Compton, 2003, {{ISBN|88-8289-851-2|978-88-8289-851-9}}.</ref> population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through the [[Alpine passes]], had already penetrated and settled in the western [[Po River|Po]] valley between [[Lake Maggiore]] and [[Lake Como]] ([[Scamozzina culture]]). It has also been proposed that a more ancient proto-Celtic presence can be traced back to the beginning of the Middle [[Bronze Age]], when North Westwern Italy appears closely linked regarding the production of bronze artefacts, including ornaments, to the western groups of the [[Tumulus culture]].<ref>"
The Golasecca civilization is therefore the expression of the oldest Celts of Italy and included several groups that had the name of Insubres, Laevi, Lepontii, Oromobii (o Orumbovii)". (Raffaele C. De Marinis)</ref> La Tène cultural material appeared over a large area of mainland Italy,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Manufatti in ferro di tipo La Tène in area italiana: le potenzialità non-sfruttate |journal=Mélanges de l'École Française de Rome. Antiquité |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=575–605 |doi=10.3406/mefr.1996.1954 |date=1996 |last1=Vitali |first1=Daniele}}</ref> the southernmost example being the Celtic helmet from [[Canosa di Puglia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Piggott |first1=Stuart |title=Early Celtic Art From Its Origins to its Aftermath |date=2008 |url= http://www.transactionpub.com/title/Early-Celtic-Art-978-0-202-36186-4.html |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-202-36186-4 |page=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170219021009/http://www.transactionpub.com/title/Early-Celtic-Art-978-0-202-36186-4.html |archive-date=19 February 2017 |access-date=18 February 2017}}</ref>

Italy is home to [[Lepontic language|Lepontic]], the oldest attested Celtic language (from the 6th century BC).<ref name="Schumacher">{{cite book |last1=Schumacher |first1=Stefan |last2=Schulze-Thulin |first2=Britta |last3=aan de Wiel |first3=Caroline |title=Die keltischen Primärverben. Ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon |date=2004 |publisher=Institut für Sprachen und Kulturen, [[University of Innsbruck]] |isbn=978-3-85124-692-6 |pages=84–87 |language=de}}</ref> Anciently spoken in [[Switzerland]] and in Northern-Central [[Italy]], from the [[Alps]] to [[Umbria]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Percivaldi |first1=Elena |title=I Celti: una civiltà europea |date=2003 |publisher=[[Giunti Editore]] |page=82}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kruta |first=Venceslas |title=The Celts |date=1991 |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |pages=55}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stifter |first=David |title=Old Celtic Languages |date=2008 |page=12 |url= http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/download/Stifter/oldcelt2008_1_general.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121002035607/http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/download/Stifter/oldcelt2008_1_general.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2012 |access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref><ref>Morandi 2004, pp. 702–03, n. 277</ref> According to the ''[[Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises]]'', more than 760 Gaulish inscriptions have been found throughout present-day [[France]] – with the notable exception of [[Aquitaine]] – and in [[Italy]],<ref>Peter Schrijver, "Gaulish", in ''Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe'', ed. Glanville Price (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998), 192.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Landolfi |first1=Maurizio |title=Adriatico tra 4. e 3. sec. a.C. |date=2000 |publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider |page=43}}</ref> which testifies the importance of Celtic heritage in the peninsula.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

In 391 BC, Celts "who had their homes beyond the Alps streamed through the passes in great strength and seized the territory that lay between the [[Apennine Mountains]] and the Alps" according to [[Diodorus Siculus]]. The [[River Po|Po Valley]] and the rest of northern Italy (known to the Romans as [[Cisalpine Gaul]]) was inhabited by Celtic-speakers who founded cities such as [[Milan]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts – A Very Short Introduction |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=37}}</ref> Later the Roman army was routed at the [[Battle of the Allia|battle of Allia]] and Rome was sacked in 390 BC by the [[Senones]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|wstitle=Senones|volume=24|pages=647–648|inline=1}}</ref>

At the [[battle of Telamon]] in 225 BC, a large Celtic army was trapped between two Roman forces; the Celtic army was crushed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battle of Telamon, 225 BC |url= http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_telamon.html |access-date=1 December 2022 |website=www.historyofwar.org |archive-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221201014912/http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_telamon.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The defeat of the combined [[Samnium|Samnite]], Celtic and Etruscan alliance by the Romans in the [[Samnite Wars|Third Samnite War]] sounded the beginning of the end of the Celtic domination in mainland Europe, but it was not until 192 BC that the Roman armies conquered the last remaining independent Celtic kingdoms in Italy.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

====Expansion east and south====
[[File:3-bc map elznik.jpg|thumb|A map of Celtic invasions and migrations in the Balkans in the 3rd century BC.]]
{{Main|Gallic invasion of the Balkans}}

The Celts also expanded down the [[Danube]] river and its tributaries. One of the most influential tribes, the [[Scordisci]], established their capital at [[Singidunum]] (present-day [[Belgrade]], Serbia) in the 3rd century BC. The concentration of hill-forts and cemeteries shows a [[Population density|dense population]] in the [[Tisza]] valley of modern-day [[Vojvodina]], Serbia, Hungary and into [[Ukraine]]. Expansion into [[Romania]] was however blocked by the [[Dacians]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The [[Serdi]] were a Celtic tribe<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC'' by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, {{ISBN|0-521-22717-8}}, 1992, p. 600: "In the place of the vanished Treres and Tilataei we find the Serdi for whom there is no evidence before the first century BC. It has for long being supposed on convincing linguistic and archeological grounds that this tribe was of Celtic origin"</ref> inhabiting [[Thrace]]. They were located around and founded [[Serdika]] ({{langx|bg|Сердика}}, {{Langx|la|Ulpia Serdica}}, {{langx|el|Σαρδῶν πόλις}}), now [[Sofia]] in [[Bulgaria]],<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=serdica-geo&highlight=serdi |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), SE´RDICA |website=perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210224222301/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=serdica-geo&highlight=serdi |url-status=live}}</ref> which reflects their ethnonym. They would have established themselves in this area during the Celtic migrations at the end of the 4th century BC, though there is no evidence for their existence before the 1st century BC. ''Serdi'' are among traditional tribal names reported into the Roman era.<ref>M. B. Shchukin, ''Rome and the Barbarians in Central and Eastern Europe: 1st Century B.C.–1st Century A.D.''</ref> They were gradually Thracianized over the centuries but retained their Celtic character in material culture up to a late date.{{when|date=July 2015}}{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} According to other sources they may have been simply of Thracian origin,<ref>Britannica</ref> according to others they may have become of mixed Thraco-Celtic origin. Further south, Celts settled in [[Thrace]] ([[Bulgaria]]), which they ruled for over a century, and [[Anatolia]], where they settled as the [[Galatia]]ns ''(see also: [[Gallic invasion of the Balkans|Gallic Invasion of Greece]])''. Despite their [[geographical isolation]] from the rest of the Celtic world, the Galatians maintained their Celtic language for at least 700 years. [[St Jerome]], who visited Ancyra (modern-day [[Ankara]]) in 373 AD, likened their language to that of the [[Treveri]] of northern Gaul.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

For [[Venceslas Kruta]], Galatia in central Turkey was an area of dense Celtic settlement.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The [[Boii]] tribe gave their name to [[Bohemia]], [[Bologna]] and possibly [[Bavaria]], and Celtic artefacts and cemeteries have been discovered further east in what is now Poland and [[Slovakia]]. A Celtic coin ([[Biatec]]) from [[Bratislava]]'s mint was displayed on the old Slovak 5-crown coin.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Celts: A Very Short Introduction |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-280418-1 |page=71}}</ref> However, the Celtic invasions of Italy and the [[Gallic invasion of the Balkans|expedition in Greece and western Anatolia]], are well documented in Greek and Latin history.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pope |first=Rachel |date=1 March 2022 |title=Re-approaching Celts: Origins, Society, and Social Change |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=1–67 |doi=10.1007/s10814-021-09157-1 |issn=1573-7756 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Jeffrey |title=The Celtic Invasion of Greece |url= https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1401/the-celtic-invasion-of-greece/ |access-date=1 December 2023 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>

There are records of Celtic mercenaries in [[Egypt]] serving the [[Ptolemies]]. Thousands were employed in 283–246 BC and they were also in service around 186 BC. They attempted to overthrow [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy II]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=1 April 2021 |title=Ancient Celts |url= https://www.worldhistory.org/celt/ |access-date=6 August 2022 |website=World History Encyclopedia |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220814132538/https://www.worldhistory.org/celt/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Insular===
[[File:Map Gaels Brythons Picts.png|thumb|right|Britain & Ireland in the early–mid 1st millennium AD, before the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms]].
{{legend|#DE3333|outline=#676767|[[Celtic Britons]]}}
{{legend|#2272C4|outline=#676767|[[Picts]]}}
{{legend|#548556|outline=#676767|[[Gaels]]}}]]
{{main|Insular Celts}}

All living Celtic languages today belong to the [[Insular Celtic languages]], derived from the Celtic languages spoken in [[Iron Age Britain]] and [[Prehistoric Ireland|Ireland]].<ref>Ball, Martin, Muller, Nicole (eds.) The Celtic Languages, Routledge, 2003, pp. 67ff.</ref> They separated into a [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] and a [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] branch early on. By the time of the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] in the 1st century AD, the Insular Celts were made up of the [[Celtic Britons]], the [[Gaels]] (or [[Scoti]]), and the [[Picts]] (or [[Caledonians]]).{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} The renown of insular Celts has caused a popular belief that Celtic clans only lived in the British Isles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Solly |first=Meilan |date=27 December 2019 |title=Twelve Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2019 |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/twelve-fascinating-finds-revealed-2019-180973837/ |access-date=25 June 2024 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref>

Linguists have debated whether a Celtic language came to the British Isles and then split, or whether the two branches arrived separately. The older view was that Celtic influence in the Isles was the result of successive migrations or invasions from the European mainland by diverse Celtic-speaking peoples over several centuries, accounting for the [[P-Celtic]] vs. [[Q-Celtic]] [[isogloss]]. This view has been challenged by the hypothesis that the islands' Celtic languages form an [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]] dialect group.<ref>Koch, J.T., (2006) Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, {{ISBN|1-85109-440-7}}, p. 973.</ref> In the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars often dated the "arrival" of Celtic culture in Britain (via an invasion model) to the 6th century BC, corresponding to archaeological evidence of [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] influence and the appearance of [[chariot burial]]s in what is now England. Cunliffe and Koch propose in their newer [['Celtic from the West' theory]] that Celtic languages reached the Isles earlier, with the Bell Beaker culture c.2500 BC, or even before this.<ref>Cunliffe, Barry; Koch, John T. (eds.), ''Celtic from the West'', David Brown Co., 2012</ref><ref>Cunliffe, Barry, Facing the Ocean, Oxford University Press, 2004</ref> More recently, a major [[archaeogenetics]] study uncovered a migration into southern Britain in the Bronze Age from 1300 to 800 BC.<ref name="Patterson">{{cite journal |last1=Patterson |first1=N. |last2=Isakov |first2=M. |last3=Booth |first3=T. |title=Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=2021 |volume=601 |issue=7894 |pages=588–594 |doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4 |pmid=34937049 |pmc=8889665 |bibcode=2022Natur.601..588P |s2cid=245509501}}</ref> The newcomers were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from Gaul.<ref name="Patterson" /> From 1000 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain,<ref name="YorkUni">{{cite news |title=Ancient DNA study reveals large scale migrations into Bronze Age Britain |url= https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2021/research/ancient-dna-study-migration-bronze-age/ |access-date=21 January 2022 |publisher=[[University of York]] |date=22 December 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220118140218/https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2021/research/ancient-dna-study-migration-bronze-age/ |url-status=live}}</ref> but not northern Britain.<ref name="Patterson" /> The authors see this as a "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain".<ref name="Patterson" /> There was much less immigration during the Iron Age, so it is likely that Celtic reached Britain before then.<ref name="Patterson" /> Cunliffe suggests that a branch of Celtic was already spoken in Britain, and the Bronze Age migration introduced the Brittonic branch.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ancient mass migration transformed Britons' DNA |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59741723 |access-date=21 January 2022 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=22 December 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220121165716/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59741723 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Like many Celtic peoples on the mainland, the Insular Celts followed an [[Ancient Celtic religion]] overseen by [[druid]]s. Some of the southern British tribes had strong links with Gaul and [[Belgica]], and [[Celtic currency of Britain|minted their own coins]]. During the Roman occupation of Britain, a [[Romano-British culture]] emerged in the southeast. The Britons and Picts in the north, and the Gaels of Ireland, remained outside the empire. During the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]] in the 400s AD, there was significant [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Anglo-Saxon settlement]] of eastern and southern Britain, and some Gaelic settlement of its western coast. During this time, some Britons migrated to the [[Armorica]]n peninsula, where their culture became dominant. Meanwhile, much of northern Britain ([[Kingdom of Alba|Scotland]]) became Gaelic. By the 10th century AD, the Insular Celtic peoples had diversified into the Brittonic-speaking [[Welsh people|Welsh]] (in [[Wales]]), [[Cornish people|Cornish]] (in [[Cornwall]]), [[Breton people|Bretons]] (in [[Brittany]]) and Cumbrians (in the [[Hen Ogledd|Old North]]); and the Gaelic-speaking [[Irish people|Irish]] (in Ireland), [[Scottish people|Scots]] (in Scotland) and [[Manx people|Manx]] (on the [[Isle of Man]]).{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Classical writers did not call the inhabitants of Britain and Ireland {{lang|la|Celtae}} or ''{{lang|grc|Κελτοί}}'' ({{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}}),<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis" /> leading some scholars to question the use of the term 'Celt' for the Iron Age inhabitants of those islands.<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis" /><ref name="FPryor" /> The first historical account of the islands was by the Greek geographer [[Pytheas]], who sailed around what he called the "Pretannikai nesoi" (the "Pretannic isles") around 310–306 BC.<ref name="JCollis2">{{cite book |last1=Collis |first1=John |title=The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions |date=2003 |location=Stroud |publisher=[[Tempus Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-7524-2913-7 |page=125}}</ref> In general, classical writers referred to the Britons as ''Pretannoi'' (in Greek) or ''Britanni'' (in Latin).<ref name="JCollis4">{{cite book |last1=Collis |first1=John |title=The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions |date=2003 |location=Stroud |publisher=[[Tempus Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-7524-2913-7 |page=180}}</ref> Strabo, writing in Roman times, distinguished between the Celts and Britons.<ref name="JCollis3">{{cite book |last1=Collis |first1=John |title=The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions |date=2003 |location=Stroud |publisher=[[Tempus Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-7524-2913-7 |page=27}}</ref> However, Roman historian [[Tacitus]] says the Britons resembled the Celts of Gaul in customs and religion.<ref name="Sims-Williams" />

==Romanisation==
[[File:Cernunos phot Trompette 08637.jpg|thumb|A [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] sculpture of the Celtic god [[Cernunnos]] (middle), flanked by the Roman gods [[Apollo]] and [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]].]]
{{Main|Gallo-Roman culture|Romano-British culture}}

Under [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]], the Romans conquered Celtic [[Gaul]], and from [[Claudius]] onward the Roman empire absorbed parts of Britain. Roman local government of these regions closely mirrored pre-Roman tribal boundaries, and archaeological finds suggest native involvement in local government.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The native peoples under Roman rule became Romanised and keen to adopt Roman ways. Celtic art had already incorporated classical influences, and surviving Gallo-Roman pieces interpret classical subjects or keep faith with old traditions despite a Roman overlay.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The Roman occupation of [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]], and to a lesser extent of [[Roman Britain|Britain]], led to Roman-Celtic [[syncretism]]. In the case of the continental Celts, this eventually resulted in a [[language shift]] to [[Vulgar Latin]], while the Insular Celts retained their language.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

There was also considerable cultural influence exerted by Gaul on Rome, particularly in military matters and horsemanship, as the Gauls often served in the [[Roman cavalry]]. The Romans adopted the Celtic cavalry sword, the [[spatha]], and [[Epona]], the Celtic horse goddess.<ref name="Tristram">{{cite book |last=Tristram |first=Hildegard L. C. |title=The Celtic languages in contact |date=2007 |publisher=[[Potsdam University Press]] |page=5 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VgBtaDT-evYC&q=Celts%20were%20master%20horsemen&pg=PA5 |isbn=978-3-940793-07-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Ní Dhoireann |first=Kym |title=The Horse Amongst the Celts |url= http://www.cyberpict.net/horses/clthrs.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100514101456/http://www.cyberpict.net/horses/clthrs.htm |archive-date=14 May 2010}}</ref>

==Society==
[[File:10 2023 - Palazzo Altemps, Roma, Lazio, 00186, Italia - Galata suicida (Ludovisi Gaul) - Arte Ellenistica Greca - Copia Romana - Photo Paolo Villa FO232046 ombre gimp bis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|The [[Ludovisi Gaul]], [[Roman sculpture|Roman]] copy of a [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic]] sculpture of a dying Celtic couple, [[Palazzo Massimo alle Terme]].]]
To the extent that sources are available, they depict a pre-Christian [[Iron Age]] Celtic [[social structure]] based formally on class and kingship, although this may only have been a particular late phase of organisation in Celtic societies. Patron-client relationships similar to those of Roman society are also described by Caesar and others in the Gaul of the 1st century BC.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

In the main, the evidence is of tribes being led by kings, although some argue that there is also evidence of [[oligarchy|oligarchical]] republican [[form of government|forms of government]] eventually emerging in areas which had close contact with Rome. Most descriptions of Celtic societies portray them as being divided into three groups: a warrior aristocracy; an intellectual class including professions such as [[druid]], poet, and jurist; and everyone else. In historical times, the offices of high and low kings in Ireland and Scotland were filled by election under the system of [[tanistry]], which eventually came into conflict with the feudal principle of [[primogeniture]] in which succession goes to the first-born son.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

[[File:Romano-Celtic mirror (Desborough).jpg|thumb|The reverse side of the [[Desborough Mirror]], with spiral and trumpet motifs typical of La Tène Celtic art in Britain.]]
[[File:Ring MET tr409-1-2009s08.jpg|thumb|A 4th century BC Celtic gold ring from southern Germany, decorated with human and rams heads.]]

Little is known of family structure among the Celts. Patterns of settlement varied from decentralised to urban. The popular stereotype of non-urbanised societies settled in [[hillfort]]s and [[Dun (fortification)|duns]],<ref>"[http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/hist_periods/iron_age.htm The Iron Age]". Smr.herefordshire.gov.uk. {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090207021902/http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/hist_periods/iron_age.htm |date=7 February 2009 }}</ref> drawn from Britain and Ireland (there are about 3,000 [[List of hill forts in England|hill forts]] known in Britain)<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LspvFOZQTakC&pg=PA56 The Landscape of Britain]''. Reed, Michael (1997). [[CRC Press]]. p. 56. {{ISBN|0-203-44411-6}}</ref> contrasts with the urban settlements present in the core Hallstatt and La Tène areas, with the many significant ''[[oppida]]'' of Gaul late in the first millennium BC, and with the towns of [[Cisalpine Gaul|Gallia Cisalpina]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

[[Slavery]], as practised by the Celts, was very likely similar to the better documented [[Slavery in antiquity|practice in ancient Greece and Rome]].<ref name="Simmons 1615">{{cite book |last=Simmons |first=Victoria |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |editor-first=John T. |editor-last=Koch |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |volume=I |page=1615 |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |date=2006}}</ref> Slaves were acquired from war, raids, and penal and debt servitude.<ref name="Simmons 1615" /> Slavery was hereditary,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Holy Spirit - Gifts of the Holy Spirit |url= http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-483x_smuo_com_001832 |access-date=22 October 2021 |website=Sacramentum Mundi Online |doi=10.1163/2468-483x_smuo_com_001832|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though [[manumission]] was possible. The [[Old Irish]] and Welsh words for 'slave', ''cacht'' and ''caeth'' respectively, are cognate with Latin ''captus'' 'captive' suggesting that the [[History of slavery|slave trade]] was an early means of contact between Latin and Celtic societies.<ref name="Simmons 1615" /> In the Middle Ages, slavery was especially prevalent in the [[Celtic nations|Celtic countries]].<ref>Simmons, ''op. cit.'', citing: Davies, Wendy; ''Wales in the Early Middle Ages''; p. 64.</ref> [[Manumission]]s were discouraged by law and the word for 'female slave', ''cumal'', was used as a general unit of value in Ireland.<ref>Simmons, ''op. cit.'', p. 1616, citing: Kelly; ''Guide to Early Irish Law''; p. 96.</ref>

There are only very limited records from pre-Christian times written in Celtic languages. These are mostly inscriptions in the Roman and sometimes Greek alphabets. The [[ogham]] script, an [[Early Medieval]] [[alphabet]], was mostly used in early Christian times in Ireland and Scotland (but also in Wales and England), and was only used for ceremonial purposes such as inscriptions on gravestones. The available evidence is of a strong oral tradition, such as that preserved by [[bard]]s in Ireland, and eventually recorded by [[monastery|monasteries]]. Celtic art also produced a great deal of intricate and beautiful metalwork, examples of which have been preserved by their distinctive burial rites.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry W. |title=The Ancient Celts |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-875293-6 |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=49, 192, 200 |oclc=1034807416 |url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1034807416}}</ref>

In some regards the Atlantic Celts were conservative: for example, they still used [[chariot]]s in combat long after they had been reduced to ceremonial roles by the Greeks and Romans. However, despite being outdated, Celtic [[chariot tactics]] were able to repel the [[Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain|invasions of Britain attempted by Julius Caesar]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caesar |first=Julius |title=The Conquest of Gaul |edition=revised |date=1983 |translator-first=S. A. |translator-last=Handford |editor-first=Jane F. |editor-last=Gardner |location=London |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |at=Sect. 3, p. 33 |oclc=21116188 |isbn=9780140444339 |url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21116188}}</ref>

According to Diodorus Siculus:{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

{{blockquote|The Gauls are tall of body with rippling muscles and white of skin and their hair is blond, and not only naturally so for they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing colour which nature has given it. For they are always washing their hair in [[limewater]] and they pull it back from the forehead to the nape of the neck, with the result that their appearance is like that of [[Satyr]]s and [[Faun|Pans]] since the treatment of their hair makes it so heavy and coarse that it differs in no respect from the mane of horses. Some of them shave the beard but others let it grow a little; and the nobles shave their cheeks but they let the moustache grow until it covers the mouth.}}

===Clothing===
{{multiple image
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| image1 = 0877 Keltische Frau im 3. Jh. v. Chr.JPG
| width1 = 170
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| image2 = 0910 Tracht der Kelten in Südpolen im 3. Jh. v. Chr.JPG

| width2 = 170
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| footer = Celtic costumes in [[Przeworsk culture]], third century BC, [[La Tène culture|La&nbsp;Tène period]], [[Archaeological Museum of Kraków]]
}}

During the later Iron Age, the Gauls generally wore long-sleeved shirts or [[tunic]]s and long trousers (called ''[[braccae]]'' by the Romans).<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica''</ref> Clothes were made of [[wool]] or [[linen]], with some silk being used by the rich. [[Cloak]]s were worn in the winter. [[Brooch]]es<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - Wales - Education - Iron Age Celts - Factfile |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts/factfile/clothes.shtml |access-date=22 February 2023 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |archive-date=25 February 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230225211722/https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts/factfile/clothes.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[armlet]]s were used, but the most famous item of jewellery was the [[torc]], a neck collar of metal, sometimes gold. The horned [[Waterloo Helmet]] in the [[British Museum]], which long set the standard for modern images of Celtic warriors, is in fact a unique survival; it may have been a piece for ceremonial rather than military wear.<ref>{{Cite web |title=helmet {{!}} British Museum |url= https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1988-1004-1 |access-date=17 March 2024 |website=www.britishmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref>{{clear left}}

===Trade and coinage===
Archaeological evidence suggests that the pre-Roman Celtic societies were linked to the network of overland [[trade route]]s that spanned Eurasia. Archaeologists have discovered large prehistoric trackways crossing bogs in Ireland and Germany. Due to their substantial nature, these are believed to have been created for wheeled transport as part of an extensive roadway system that facilitated trade.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Neolithic wooden trackways and bog hydrology |journal=Journal of Paleolimnology |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] Netherlands |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=January 1994 |pages=49–64 |doi=10.1007/BF00677989 |last1=Casparie |first1=Wil A. |last2=Moloney |first2=Aonghus |bibcode=1994JPall..12...49C |s2cid=129780014}}</ref> The territory held by the Celts contained [[tin]], lead, iron, silver and gold.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ar_r_wal.pdf |title=Regional Reviews: Wales |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110604092735/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ar_r_wal.pdf |archive-date=4 June 2011}}&nbsp;{{small|(369 KB)}} Beatrice Cauuet (Université Toulouse Le Mirail, UTAH, France)</ref> Celtic smiths and metalworkers created weapons and jewellery for [[international trade]], particularly with the Romans.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeffers |first=Regina |date=10 June 2014 |title=The Scope and Influence of The Ancient Celts |url= https://reginajeffers.blog/2014/06/10/the-scope-and-influence-of-the-ancient-celts/ |access-date=26 June 2024 |website=Every Woman Dreams... |language=en}}</ref>

The myth that the Celtic [[monetary system]] consisted of wholly [[barter]] is a common one, but is in part false. The monetary system was complex and is still not understood (much like the late Roman coinages), and due to the absence of large numbers of coin items, it is assumed that "proto-money" was used. This included bronze items made from the early La Tène period and onwards, which were often in the shape of [[axe]]heads, rings, or [[bell (instrument)|bells]]. Due to the large number of these present in some burials, it is thought they had a relatively high [[Value (economics)|monetary value]], and could be used for "day to day" purchases. Low-value coinages of [[potin]], a bronze alloy with high tin content, were minted in most Celtic areas of the continent and in South-East Britain prior to the Roman conquest of these lands. Higher-value coinages, suitable for use in trade, were minted in gold, silver, and high-quality bronze. [[Gold coin]]age was much more common than [[silver coin]]age, despite being worth substantially more, as while there were around 100 mines in Southern Britain and Central France, silver was more rarely mined. This was due partly to the relative sparsity of mines and the amount of effort needed for extraction compared to the profit gained. As the Roman civilisation grew in importance and expanded its trade with the Celtic world, silver and bronze coinage became more common. This coincided with a major increase in gold production in Celtic areas to meet the Roman demand, due to the high value Romans put on the metal. The large number of gold mines in France is thought to be a major reason why Caesar invaded.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 January 2021 |title=The Gallic Wars: How Julius Caesar Conquered Gaul (Modern France) |url= https://www.thecollector.com/gallic-wars-how-julius-caesar-conquered-gaul/ |access-date=26 June 2024 |website=TheCollector |language=en}}</ref>

===Gender and sexual norms===
[[File:Celtic.warriors.garments-replica.jpg|thumb|upright|Reconstruction of the dress and equipment of an Iron Age Celtic warrior from [[Biebertal]], Germany.]]
{{see also|Ancient Celtic women}}

Very few reliable sources exist regarding Celtic views on [[gender role]]s, though some archaeological evidence suggests their views may have differed from those of the Greco-Roman world, which tended to be less [[egalitarian]].<ref>{{cite book |first=J. A. |last=MacCulloch |title=The Religion of the Ancient Celts |publisher=Morrison & Gibb |date=1911 |pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Thomas L. |title=Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600–130 BC, BAR International Series 1226 |publisher=[[Archaeopress]] |date=2004 |pages=34–40, 158–88}}</ref> Some Iron Age burials in northeastern Gaul suggest women may have had roles in warfare during the earlier ''La Tène'' period, but the evidence is far from conclusive.<ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Thomas L. |title=Quantified Identities: A Statistical Summary and Analysis of Iron Age Cemeteries in North-Eastern France 600–130 BC, BAR International Series 1226 |publisher=[[Archaeopress]] |date=2004 |pages=34–37}}</ref> Celtic individuals buried with both female jewellery and weaponry have been found, such as the [[Vix Grave]] in northeastern Gaul, and there are questions about the gender of some individuals buried with weaponry. However, it has been suggested that the weapons indicate high social rank rather than masculinity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Sarah M. |title=Gender in archaeology: analyzing power and prestige: Volume 9 of Gender and archaeology series |publisher=[[Rowman Altamira]] |date=2004 |page=119}}</ref>

Most written accounts of the Ancient Celts are from the Romans and Greeks, though it is not clear how accurate these are. Roman historians [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] and [[Tacitus]] mentioned Celtic women inciting, participating in, and leading battles.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tierney |first=J. J. |title=The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius |series=Proceedings of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] |volume=60 C |pages=1.89–275}}</ref> [[Plutarch]] reports that Celtic women acted as ambassadors to avoid a war among Celtic chiefdoms in the [[Po valley]] during the 4th century BC.<ref name="Ellis">{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |title=The Celts: A History |pages=49–50 |publisher=Caroll & Graf |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-7867-1211-3}}</ref> Posidonius' anthropological comments on the Celts had common themes, primarily [[primitivism]], extreme ferocity, cruel sacrificial practices, and the strength and courage of their women.<ref>
{{cite book |title=Celts and the Classical World |last=Rankin |first=H. David |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=1996 |page=80 |isbn=978-0-415-15090-3}}</ref> [[Cassius Dio]] suggests there was great [[sexual norm|sexual freedom]] among women in Celtic Britain:<ref name="Dio Cassius">[[List of Ancient Rome-related topics|Roman History]] Volume IX Books 71–80, Dio Cassiuss and Earnest Carry translator (1927), [[Loeb Classical Library]] {{ISBN|0-674-99196-6}}.</ref>

{{blockquote|...&nbsp;a very witty remark is reported to have been made by the wife of Argentocoxus, a [[Caledonians|Caledonian]], to [[Livia|Julia Augusta]]. When the empress was jesting with her, after the treaty, about the free intercourse of her sex with men in Britain, she replied: "We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women; for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest". Such was the retort of the British woman.}}

Barry Cunliffe writes that such references are "likely to be ill-observed" and meant to portray the Celts as outlandish "barbarians".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunliffe |first1=Barry |title=The Ancient Celts |date=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=236}}</ref> Historian Lisa Bitel argues the descriptions of Celtic women warriors are not credible. She says some Roman and Greek writers wanted to show that the barbarian Celts lived in "an upside-down world&nbsp;... and a standard ingredient in such a world was the manly warrior woman".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bitel |first=Lisa M. |title=Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland |url= https://archive.org/details/landofwomentales00bite |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |date=1996 |page=[https://archive.org/details/landofwomentales00bite/page/212 212] |isbn=978-0-8014-8544-2}}</ref>

The Greek philosopher [[Aristotle]] wrote in his ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' that the [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe|Celts of southeastern Europe]] approved of male homosexuality. Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] wrote in his ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' that although Gaulish women were beautiful, the men had "little to do with them" and it was a custom for men to sleep on animal skins with two younger males. He further claimed that "the young men will offer themselves to strangers and are insulted if the offer is refused". His claim was later repeated by Greco-Roman writers [[Athenaeus]] and [[Ammianus Marcellinus|Ammianus]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Percy |first=William A. |title=Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |date=1996 |url= https://archive.org/details/pederastypedagog00perc/page/18 |page=[https://archive.org/details/pederastypedagog00perc/page/18 18] |isbn=978-0-252-06740-2 |access-date=18 September 2009}}; Rankin, H. David; ''Celts and the Classical World''; p. 55.</ref> H. David Rankin, in ''Celts and the Classical World'', suggests some of these claims refer to bonding rituals in warrior groups, which required abstinence from women at certain times,<ref>Rankin, p. 78.</ref> and says it probably reflects "the warlike character of early contacts between the Celts and the Greeks".<ref>Rankin, p. 55.</ref>

Under [[Early Irish law|Brehon Law]], which was written down in [[early Medieval Ireland]] after conversion to Christianity, a woman had the right to divorce her husband and gain his property if he was unable to perform his marital duties due to impotence, obesity, homosexual inclination or preference for other women.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Law in Ireland {{!}} The Courts Service of Ireland |url= https://www.courts.ie/history-law-ireland#:~:text=In%20many%20respects%20Brehon%20law,punishment%20was%20prescribed%20for%20wrongdoing. |access-date=26 June 2024 |website=www.courts.ie}}</ref><ref name="Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law)">University College, Cork. '' Cáin Lánamna (Couples Law) ''. 2005.{{cite web |url= http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102030.html |title=Cáin Lánamna |access-date=20 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081216104108/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G102030.html |archive-date=16 December 2008}} Access date: 7 March 2006.</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2022}}

===Celtic art===
[[File:Scuto Battersea BritMu252a.jpg|thumb|The [[Battersea Shield]], a ceremonial bronze shield dated 3rd–1st century BC, is an example of La Tène [[Celtic art]] from Britain.]]
{{main|Celtic art}}

Celtic art is generally used by art historians to refer to art of the La Tène period across Europe, while the [[Early Medieval]] art of Britain and Ireland, that is what "Celtic art" evokes for much of the general public, is called [[Insular art]] in art history. Both styles absorbed considerable influences from non-Celtic sources, but retained a preference for geometrical decoration over figurative subjects, which are often extremely stylised when they do appear; narrative scenes only appear under outside influence. Energetic circular forms, [[triskele]]s and spirals are characteristic. Much of the surviving material is in precious metal, which no doubt gives a very unrepresentative picture, but apart from [[Pictish stones]] and the Insular [[high crosses]], large [[monumental sculpture]], even with decorative carving, is very rare; possibly it was originally common in wood. Celts were also able to create developed musical instruments such as the carnyces, these famous war trumpets used before the battle to frighten the enemy, as the best preserved found in [[Tintignac]] ([[Gaul]]) in 2004 and which were decorated with a boar head or a snake head.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://tintignac.wix.com/tintignac-naves#!english/c11e3 |title=Accueil |trans-title=Home |work=Site archéologique de Tintignac-Naves |language=fr |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150801011716/http://tintignac.wix.com/tintignac-naves |archive-date=1 August 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[interlace (art)|interlace]] patterns that are often regarded as typical of "Celtic art" were characteristic of the whole of the British Isles, a style referred to as [[Insular art]], or Hiberno-Saxon art. This artistic style incorporated elements of La Tène, Late Roman, and, most importantly, [[Germanic animal style|animal Style II]] of Germanic [[Migration Period art]]. The style was taken up with great skill and enthusiasm by Celtic artists in metalwork and [[illuminated manuscript]]s. Equally, the forms used for the finest Insular art were all adopted from the Roman world: [[Gospel book]]s like the [[Book of Kells]] and [[Book of Lindisfarne]], chalices like the [[Ardagh Chalice]] and [[Derrynaflan Chalice]], and [[Celtic brooch|penannular brooch]]es like the [[Tara Brooch]] and [[Roscrea Brooch]]. These works are from the period of peak achievement of Insular art, which lasted from the 7th to the 9th centuries, before the [[Viking]] attacks sharply set back cultural life.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

In contrast the less well known but often spectacular art of the richest earlier Continental Celts, before they were conquered by the Romans, often adopted elements of Roman, Greek and other "foreign" styles (and possibly used imported craftsmen) to decorate objects that were distinctively Celtic. After the Roman conquests, some Celtic elements remained in popular art, especially [[Ancient Roman pottery]], of which Gaul was actually the largest producer, mostly in Italian styles, but also producing work in local taste, including [[figurine]]s of deities and wares painted with animals and other subjects in highly formalised styles. [[Roman Britain]] also took more interest in [[vitreous enamel|enamel]] than most of the Empire, and its development of [[champlevé]] technique was probably important to the later [[Medieval art]] of the whole of Europe, of which the energy and freedom of Insular decoration was an important element. Rising nationalism brought [[Celtic Revival|Celtic revivals]] from the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laing |first=Lloyd |url=https://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/47406/excerpt/9780521547406_excerpt.pdf |title=The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland c. AD 400 - 1200 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-54740-6 |pages=8}}</ref>

===Gallic calendar===
The [[Coligny calendar]], which was found in 1897 in [[Coligny, Ain|Coligny]], Ain, was engraved on a [[bronze]] tablet, preserved in 73 fragments, that originally was {{convert|1.48|m|abbr=off}} wide and {{convert|0.9|m|abbr=off}} high (Lambert p.&nbsp;111). Based on the style of lettering and the accompanying objects, it probably dates to the end of the 2nd century.<ref>Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2003). ''La langue gauloise''. Paris, Editions Errance. 2nd edition. {{ISBN|2-87772-224-4}}. Chapter 9 is titled "Un calandrier gaulois"</ref> It is written in Latin inscriptional capitals, and is in [[Gaulish]]. The restored tablet contains 16 vertical columns, with 62 months distributed over 5 years.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

French archaeologist J. Monard speculated that it was recorded by [[druid]]s wishing to preserve their tradition of timekeeping in a time when the [[Julian calendar]] was imposed throughout the [[Roman Empire]]. However, the general form of the calendar suggests the public peg calendars (or ''[[Almanac#Hemerologies and parapegmata|parapegmata]]'') found throughout the Greek and Roman world.<ref>Lehoux, D. R.  ''Parapegmata: or Astrology, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World'', pp&nbsp;63–65. [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ53766.pdf PhD Dissertation, University of Toronto, 2000] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060923180849/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ53766.pdf |date=23 September 2006 }}.</ref>

==Warfare and weapons==
{{Main|Celtic warfare|Celtic sword}}
[[File:Celtic Warrior Naked in The Braganza Brooch.jpg|thumb|Celtic Warrior Represented in the [[Braganza Brooch]], [[Hellenistic art]], 250–200 BC.]]
[[Prehistoric warfare|Tribal warfare]] appears to have been a regular feature of Celtic societies. While epic literature depicts this as more of a sport focused on raids and hunting rather than organised territorial conquest, the historical record is more of tribes using warfare to exert political control and harass rivals, for [[Comparative advantage|economic advantage]], and in some instances to conquer territory.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}

The Celts were described by classical writers such as [[Strabo]], [[Livy]], [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], and [[Florus]] as fighting like "wild beasts", and as hordes. [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysius]] said that their:<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus,  ''Roman Antiquities'' p. 259 Excerpts from Book XIV</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |title=The Celts: A History |pages=60–63 |publisher=Caroll & Graf |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-7867-1211-3}}</ref>
{{blockquote|manner of fighting, being in large measure that of wild beasts and frenzied, was an erratic procedure, quite lacking in [[military science]]. Thus, at one moment they would raise their swords aloft and smite after the manner of [[wild boar]]s, throwing the whole weight of their bodies into the blow like hewers of wood or men digging with mattocks, and again they would deliver crosswise blows aimed at no target, as if they intended to cut to pieces the entire bodies of their adversaries, protective armour and all.}}

[[Polybius]] (2.33) indicates that the principal Celtic weapon was a [[Iron Age sword|long bladed sword]] which was used for hacking edgewise rather than stabbing. Celtic warriors are described by Polybius and Plutarch as frequently having to cease fighting in order to straighten their sword blades. This claim has been questioned by some archaeologists, who note that [[Noric steel]], steel produced in Celtic [[Noricum]], was famous in the [[Roman Empire]] period and was used to equip the [[Roman military]].<ref>"Noricus ensis", [[Horace]], Odes, i. 16.9</ref><ref>Vagn Fabritius Buchwald, Iron and steel in [[Ancient history|ancient times]], 2005, p. 127</ref> However, Radomir Pleiner, in ''The Celtic Sword'' (1993) argues that "the metallographic evidence shows that Polybius was right up to a point", as around one third of surviving swords from the period might well have behaved as he describes.<ref>Radomir Pleiner, in ''The Celtic Sword'', Oxford: Clarendon Press (1993), p. 159.</ref> In addition to these long bladed slashing swords, spears and specialized [[javelin]]s were also used.<ref>{{cite book |first=Kevin F. |last=Kiley |author-link=Kevin F. Kiley|date=2013 |title=Uniforms of the Roman world}}{{full citation needed|date=July 2022}}</ref>

Polybius also asserts that certain of the Celts fought naked: "The appearance of these naked warriors was a terrifying spectacle, for they were all men of splendid physique and in the prime of life."<ref>Polybius, ''Histories'' II.28</ref> According to Livy, this was also true of the Celts of Asia Minor.<ref>Livy, ''History'' XXII.46 and XXXVIII.21</ref>{{clear left}}

===Head hunting===
[[File:Stone sculpture of celtic hero.jpg|thumb|[[Mšecké Žehrovice Head|Stone head from Mšecké Žehrovice]], Czech Republic, wearing a [[torc]], late La Tène culture, 150-50 BC.]]
Celts had a reputation as [[Headhunting|head hunters]].<ref name="Koch head cult">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |pages=897–898}}</ref> [[Paul Jacobsthal]] says: "Amongst the Celts the [[human head]] was venerated above all else, since the head was to the Celt the soul, centre of the emotions as well as of life itself, a symbol of divinity and of the powers of the other-world."<ref>Jacobsthal, Paul; ''Early Celtic Art''.</ref> Writing in the first century BC, Greek historians [[Posidonius]] and [[Diodorus Siculus]] said Celtic warriors cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle, hung them from the necks of their horses, then nailed them up outside their homes.<ref name="Koch head cult" /> [[Strabo]] wrote in the same century that Celts [[Embalming|embalmed]] the heads of their most esteemed enemies in cedar oil and put them on display.<ref name="Koch head cult" /> Roman historian [[Livy]] wrote that the [[Boii]] beheaded a defeated Roman general after the [[Battle of Silva Litana]], covered his skull in gold, and used it as a ritual cup.<ref name="Koch head cult" /> Archaeologists have found evidence that heads were embalmed and displayed by the southern Gauls.<ref>Salma Ghezal, Elsa Ciesielski, Benjamin Girard, Aurélien Creuzieux, Peter Gosnell, Carole Mathe, Cathy Vieillescazes, Réjane Roure (2019), "[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440318303194 Embalmed heads of the Celtic Iron Age in the south of France] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190226211008/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440318303194 |date=26 February 2019 }}", ''[[Journal of Archaeological Science]]'', Volume 101, pp.181-188, {{doi|10.1016/j.jas.2018.09.011}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Gauls really did embalm the severed heads of enemies, research shows |url= https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/07/the-gauls-really-did-embalm-the-severed-heads-of-enemies-research-shows |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 November 2018 |access-date=19 May 2022 |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220519154329/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/07/the-gauls-really-did-embalm-the-severed-heads-of-enemies-research-shows |url-status=live}}</ref>

In another example, at the southern Gaulish site of [[Entremont (oppidum)|Entremont]], there stood a pillar carved with skulls, within which were niches where human skulls were kept, nailed into position.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Barry Cunliffe |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |date=1997 |title=The Ancient Celts |url= https://archive.org/details/ancientcelts00cunl_933 |url-access=limited |place=Oxford, UK; New York, NY |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientcelts00cunl_933/page/n116 202] |isbn=978-0-19-815010-7}}</ref> [[Roquepertuse]] nearby has similar carved heads and skull niches. Many lone carved heads have been found in Celtic regions, some with two or three faces.<ref name="Davidson heads">{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Hilda Ellis |author-link=Hilda Ellis Davidson |title=Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions |date=1988 |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |pages=72–75}}</ref> Examples include the [[Mšecké Žehrovice Head]] and the [[Corleck Head]].

Severed heads are a common motif in Insular Celtic myths, and there are many tales in which 'living heads' preside over feasts or speak prophecies.<ref name="Koch head cult" /><ref name="Davidson heads" /> The [[beheading game]] is a motif in Irish myth and Arthurian legend, most famously in the tale ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'', where the [[Green Knight]] picks up his own severed head after [[Gawain]] has struck it off. There are also many legends in Celtic regions of saints who [[Cephalophore|carry their own severed heads]]. In Irish myth, the severed heads of warriors are called the [[Mast (botany)|mast]] or nuts of the goddess [[Macha]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Egeler |first1=Matthias |title=Celtic Influences in Germanic Religion |date=2013 |publisher=Utz |page=112}}</ref>

==Religion and mythology==
[[File:Gundestrupkedlen- 00054 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|The Celtic god [[Cernunnos]] on the [[Gundestrup cauldron]].]]

===Ancient Celtic religion===
{{Main|Ancient Celtic religion|Celtic mythology|Proto-Celtic religion}}
[[File:Keltenfuerst Glauberg.jpg|thumb|The Celtic "Prince of [[Glauberg]]", Germany, with a [[leaf crown]], perhaps indicating a priest, {{Circa|500 BC}}.]]
Like other European Iron Age societies, the Celts practised a [[Ancient Celtic religion|polytheistic religion]] and believed in an [[afterlife]].<ref name="Cunliffe religion">{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Cunliffe |title=The Ancient Celts |date=2018 |orig-date=1997 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=275–277, 286, 291–296 |edition=2nd |chapter=Chapter 11: Religious systems}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |type=undergraduate paper |last=Bell |first=Kristin |title=Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Celtic Culture |publisher=[[University of Georgia]] |via=Academia.edu |url= https://www.academia.edu/4956394 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{unreliable source|certain=y|date=October 2024|reason=Undergrad papers are categorically unreliable.}} Celtic religion varied by region and over time, but had "broad structural similarities",<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> and there was "a basic religious homogeneity" among the Celtic peoples.<ref>Ross, Anne (1986). ''The Pagan Celts''. London: B.T. Batsford. p. 103.</ref> Because the ancient Celts did not have writing, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts, and literature from the early Christian period.<ref name="Green, The Celtic World">[[Miranda Aldhouse-Green|Green, Miranda]] (2012). "Chapter 25: The Gods and the supernatural", ''The Celtic World''. Routledge. pp.465–485</ref>

The names of over two hundred [[Celtic deities]] have survived (see [[list of Celtic deities]]), although it is likely that many of these were alternative names, regional names or titles for the same deity.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Some deities were venerated only in one region, but others were more widely known.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> According to [[Miranda Aldhouse-Green]], the Celts were also [[Celtic Animism|animists]], believing that every part of the natural world had a spirit.<ref name="Green, The Celtic World" />

The Celts seem to have had a father god, who was often a god of the tribe and of the dead ([[Toutatis]] probably being one name for him); and a mother goddess who was associated with the land, earth and fertility<ref name="Koch religion">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |pages=1488–1491}}</ref> ([[Dea Matrona]] probably being one name for her). The mother goddess could also take the form of a war goddess as [[Tutelary deity|protectress]] of her tribe and its land.<ref name="Koch religion" /> There also seems to have been a male celestial god—identified with [[Taranis]]—associated with thunder, the wheel, and the bull.<ref name="Koch religion" /> There were gods of skill and craft, such as the pan-regional god [[Lugus]], and the smith god [[Gobannos]].<ref name="Koch religion" /> Celtic healing deities were often associated with [[sacred spring]]s,<ref name="Koch religion" /> such as [[Sirona (goddess)|Sirona]] and [[Borvo]]. Other pan-regional deities include the horned god [[Cernunnos]], the horse and fertility goddess [[Epona]], the divine son [[Maponos]], as well as [[Belenos]], [[Ogmios]], and [[Sucellos]].<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /><ref name="Green, The Celtic World" /> Caesar says the Gauls believed they all descended from a god of the dead and underworld.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> [[Triplicity]] is a common theme in Celtic cosmology, and a number of [[Triple deity|deities were seen as threefold]],<ref name="Sjoestedt">[[Marie-Louise Sjoestedt|Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise]] (originally published in French, 1940, reissued 1982). ''Gods and Heroes of the Celts''. Translated by Myles Dillon, Turtle Island Foundation {{ISBN|0-913666-52-1}}, pp. 16, 24–46.</ref> for example [[Matres and Matronae|the Three Mothers]].<ref name="Inse Jones 1995">Inse Jones, Prudence, and Nigel Pennick. ''History of pagan Europe''. London: Routledge, 1995. Print.</ref>

Celtic religious ceremonies were overseen by priests known as [[druid]]s, who also served as judges, teachers, and lore-keepers. Other classes of druids performed sacrifices for the perceived benefit of the community.<ref name="Sjoestedt5">Sjoestedt (1982) pp. xxvi–xix.</ref> There is evidence that ancient Celtic peoples [[Animal sacrifice|sacrificed animals]], almost always [[livestock]] or [[working animals]]. It appears some were offered wholly to the gods (by burying or burning), while some were shared between gods and humans (part eaten and part offered).<ref name="Green94-96">{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Miranda |author-link=Miranda Aldhouse-Green |title=Animals in Celtic Life and Myth |date=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=94–96}}</ref> There is also some evidence that ancient Celts [[Human sacrifice|sacrificed humans]], and some Greco-Roman sources claim the Gauls sacrificed criminals by [[Death by burning|burning them]] in a [[wicker man]].<ref name="koch687-690">{{Cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=The Celts: History, Life, and Culture |date=2012 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1598849646 |pages=687–690}}</ref>

The Romans said the Celts held ceremonies in [[sacred grove]]s and other [[Sacred natural site|natural]] [[shrine]]s, called [[nemeton]]s.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Some Celtic peoples built temples or ritual enclosures of varying shapes (such as the [[Romano-Celtic temple]] and [[viereckschanze]]), though they also maintained shrines at natural sites.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Celtic peoples often made [[votive offerings]]: treasured items deposited in water and wetlands, or in ritual shafts and wells, often in the same place over generations.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Modern [[clootie well]]s might be a continuation of this.<ref>{{cite web |title='It's upset a lot of people': outrage after tidy-up of Scottish sacred well |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/30/upset-a-lot-of-people-outrage-tidy-up-of-scottish-sacred-well-clootie-offerings |date=30 January 2022 |website=The Guardian |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220303160246/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/30/upset-a-lot-of-people-outrage-tidy-up-of-scottish-sacred-well-clootie-offerings |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Insular Celtic mythology===
Most surviving [[Celtic mythology]] belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples: [[Irish mythology]] has the largest written body of myths, followed by [[Welsh mythology]]. These were written down in the early Middle Ages, mainly by Christian scribes.

The supernatural race called the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] are believed to represent the main Celtic gods of Ireland. Their traditional rivals are the [[Fomorians|Fomóire]], whom they defeat in the ''[[Cath Maige Tuired|Battle of Mag Tuired]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |page=1326}}</ref> [[Barry Cunliffe]] says the underlying structure in Irish myth was a dualism between the male tribal god and the female goddess of the land.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> [[The Dagda]] seems to have been the chief god and [[the Morrígan]] his consort, each of whom had other names.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> One common motif is the [[sovereignty goddess]], who represents the land and bestows sovereignty on a king by marrying him. The goddess [[Brigid]] was linked with nature as well as poetry, healing and smithing.<ref name="Sjoestedt" />

Some figures in medieval Insular Celtic myth have ancient continental parallels: Irish [[Lugh]] and Welsh [[Lleu]] are cognate with Lugus, [[Goibniu]] and [[Gofannon]] with Gobannos, [[Aengus|Macán]] and [[Mabon ap Modron|Mabon]] with Maponos, while [[Macha (Irish mythology)|Macha]] and [[Rhiannon]] may be counterparts of Epona.<ref name="Sjoestedt3">Sjoestedt (1940) pp. xiv–xvi.</ref>

In Insular Celtic myth, the [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]] is a parallel realm where the gods dwell. Some mythical heroes visit it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, by going under water or across the western sea, or after being offered a [[Silver Branch|silver apple branch]] by an Otherworld resident.<ref>{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |page=1671}}</ref> Irish myth says that the spirits of the dead travel to the house of [[Donn]] (''Tech Duinn''), a legendary ancestor; this echoes Caesar's comment that the Gauls believed they all descended from a god of the dead and underworld.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" />

Insular Celtic peoples celebrated four seasonal festivals, known to the Gaels as [[Beltaine]] (1 May), [[Lughnasa]] (1 August), [[Samhain]] (1 November) and [[Imbolc]] (1 February).<ref name="Cunliffe religion" />

===Roman influence===
{{Further|Gallo-Roman culture}}

The Roman invasion of Gaul brought a great deal of Celtic peoples into the Roman Empire. Roman culture had a profound effect on the Celtic tribes which came under the empire's control. Roman influence led to many changes in Celtic religion, the most noticeable of which was the weakening of the druid class, especially religiously; the druids were to eventually disappear altogether. Romano-Celtic deities also began to appear: these deities often had both Roman and Celtic attributes, combined the names of Roman and Celtic deities, or included couples with one Roman and one Celtic deity. Other changes included the adaptation of the [[Jupiter Column]], a sacred column set up in many Celtic regions of the empire, primarily in northern and eastern Gaul. Another major change in religious practice was the use of stone monuments to represent gods and goddesses. The Celts had probably only created wooden [[cult image]]s (including monuments carved into trees, which were known as sacred poles) before the Roman conquest.<ref name="Inse Jones 1995" />

===Celtic Christianity===
{{Main|Celtic Christianity}}

While the regions under Roman rule adopted Christianity along with the rest of the Roman empire, unconquered areas of Ireland and Scotland began to move from [[Celtic polytheism]] to Christianity in the 5th century. Ireland was converted by missionaries from Britain, such as [[Saint Patrick]]. Later missionaries from Ireland were a major source of [[missionary|missionary work]] in Scotland, Anglo-Saxon parts of Britain, and central Europe (see [[Hiberno-Scottish mission]]). [[Celtic Christianity]], the forms of Christianity that took hold in Britain and Ireland at this time, had for some centuries only limited and intermittent contact with Rome and continental Christianity, as well as some contacts with [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic Christianity]]. Some elements of Celtic Christianity developed, or retained, features that made them distinct from the rest of Western Christianity, most famously their conservative method of calculating the [[Easter controversy|date of Easter]]. In 664, the [[Synod of Whitby]] began to resolve these differences, mostly by adopting the current Roman practices, which the [[Gregorian Mission]] from Rome had introduced to [[Anglo-Saxon England]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

==Genetics==
{{See also|Bell Beaker culture#Genetics|Hallstatt culture#Genetics|La Tène culture#Genetics|Gauls#Genetics|Celtic Britons#Genetics|Celtiberians#Genetics|Italic peoples#Genetics}}
[[File:Geographical distribution of haplogroup frequency of hgR1b1b2.png|upright=1.1|thumb|right|Distribution of Y-chromosomal [[Haplogroup R-M269]] in Europe. The majority of ancient Celtic males have been found to be carriers of this sub-lineage.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|pp=4-6}}{{sfn|Schiffels et al.|2016|p=3|loc=Table 1}}{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|p=3|loc=Table 1}}]]
Genetic studies on the limited amount of material available suggest continuity between Iron Age people from areas considered Celtic and the earlier [[Bell Beaker culture]] of Bronze Age Western Europe.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|pp=1, 14-15}}{{sfn|Brunel et al.|2020|pp=5-6}}{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022}} Like the Bell Beakers, ancient Celts carried a substantial amount of [[Western Steppe Herders]] ancestry, which is derived from [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] pastoralists who expanded westwards from the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] during the late [[Neolithic]] and the early Bronze Age and associated with the initial spread of [[Indo-European languages]].{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|pp=1, 4-6, 14-15}} This ancestry was particularly prevalent among Celts of [[Northwest Europe]].{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022}} Examined individuals overwhelmingly carry types of the paternal [[haplogroup R-M269]],{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|pp=4-6}}{{sfn|Schiffels et al.|2016|p=3|loc=Table 1}}{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|p=3|loc=Table 1}} while the maternal haplogroups [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H]] and [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)|U]] are frequent.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|p=7}}{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022|pp=5-6}} These lineages are associated with steppe ancestry.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2019|pp=4-6}}{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|p=7}} The spread of Celts into Iberia and the emergence of the [[Celtiberians]] is associated with an increase in [[Northern Europe|north]]-[[central Europe]]an ancestry in Iberia, and may be connected to the expansion of the [[Urnfield culture]].{{sfn|Olalde et al.|2019|p=3}} The paternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup I-M438|haplogroup I2a1a1a]] has been detected among Celtiberians.{{sfn|Olalde et al.|2019|loc=Supplementary Tables, Table 4, Row 91}} There appears to have been significant gene flow among Celtic peoples of Western Europe during the Iron Age.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|p=1}}{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022}} While the Gauls of southern France display genetic links with the Celtiberians, the Gauls of northern France display links with Great Britain and Sweden.{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022|p=8}} Modern populations of Western Europe, particularly those who still speak [[Celtic languages]], display substantial genetic continuity with the Iron Age populations of the same areas.{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|pp=1}}{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2018|pp=14-15}}{{sfn|Fischer et al.|2022|p=4}}

{{clear}}

==See also==
* [[List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes]]
* [[Ethnic groups in Europe]]
* [[Celtic F.C.]], soccer club in Glasgow

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

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{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Celts}}
{{Commons category|Celts}}
{{EB1911 poster|Celt}}
* [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Ancient_Celtic_music Ancient Celtic music] – in the ''[[Citizendium]]''
* [http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html Essays on Celtiberian topics] – in ''e-Keltoi'', [[University of Wisconsin, Madison]]
* [http://skyelander.orgfree.com/menu10.html Ancient Celtic Warriors in History]
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/celts-descended-from-spanish-fishermen-study-finds-416727.html Celts descended from Spanish fishermen, study finds]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20020221.shtml Discussion] – with academic [[Barry Cunliffe]], on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)|In Our Time]]'', 21 February 2002. (Streaming [[RealPlayer]] format)

'''Geography'''
* [http://resourcesforhistory.com/map.htm An interactive map showing the lands of the Celts between 800 BC and 305 AD.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081006160601/http://www.arqueotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC), showing the Celtic territories]
* [http://www.resourcesforhistory.com/map.htm Map of Celtic lands] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210225043915/http://www.resourcesforhistory.com/map.htm |date=25 February 2021 }}

'''Organisations'''
* [http://newworldcelts.org/ newworldcelts.org]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091030071249/http://www.celtic-congress-2007.com/ XIII. International Congress of Celtic Studies in Bonn]

{{Celts|state=collapsed}}
{{Gaels}}
{{Gallic peoples}}
{{Pre-Roman peoples in Iberia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Celts| ]]<!--please leave the empty space as standard-->