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Lecture Notes The term "Celts" has developed many connotations through the use of classical Roman sources - but did it mean anything to those people at the time? Herodotus "the furthest west of all the peoples of Europe" - these people were beyond their knowledge, edge of their world, soldiers actually had to be forcibly compelled to land on British soil General Stereotypes - fair skin, golden hair and bright exotic clothing - brave, passionate, ferocious and warlike - childlike and naive, boastful, tragic in defeat - over indulgent, drank wine neat and prefered beer - druids, human sacrifice and head hunting, uncivilised Colonial Texts Hard Primivitism: Caesar in particular wanted to make his conquest of these savage people seem magnificient in order to secure his claim to the throne - was a way of defining Roman superiority in terms of what was opposite to it, so barbarian stereotype exaggerated Soft Primivitism: A romantic construct by writers who were sick of Roman self-importance, emphasized the passionate and tragic aspects of the Celtic image Modern day concepts - now used as a political tool e.g. gallery in Venice termed as the "first people to unify Europe" (Wells) - Irish or Welsh now use as a way to distinguish themselves from mainland English culture, a source of exclusive pride and solidarity after later confict (Thomas) and particularly for those far away from their roots e.g. American irish - also used on both sides of the religious conflict in Ireland, to assert a right to rule using the Irish warrior hero Cu Chulainn Cunliffe Without the classical sources alot of assertions would not have been made about the Celts, from the evidence alone can say they were a warrior society focused in west central Europe who showed status in burial Cunliffe From the 8th to 5th centuries new ways of displaying status introduced links across Europe, schools of fine metalwork from the mediterranean came to serve the elite Cunliffe Values and techonology dispersed, centres of trade intensification and larger settlements emerged, but still great variation due to the different ways culture was interpreted Cunliffe The classical sources can provide some information, such as of the Celtic raids into Greece in the third century but they must be treated critically - they are for an audience, provide a storyline and meant to be exciting Cunliffe Caesar said "we call them Gauls, but in their own language they are called Celts", mainly how they were known and Galli/Galatae were those who migrated from north of the Alps to to Po Valley Cunliffe Avienus: gives the names of Britain and Ireland in the Celtic language Cunliffe Ephorus: viewed them as one of the four great barbarian peoples, accepted they occupied large amounts of western Europe Cunliffe Aristotle: had used a variety of first-hand material in his assessment of the Celts, combines scraps of information with an image of how barbarians ought to be, so must have used some discretion Cunliffe To create an image of the "enemy from without", the antithesis of Rome but a worthy opponant who they conquered Thomas Archaeologists in Britain have been accused of "ethic cleansing" and "genocide" by deciding that the uniform group called the Celts never existed Thomas Shows emotive nature of identity, still of great political and social importance, assuming unbroken traditions and a collective "spirit" going back 2,000 years - threatening peoples beliefs about themselves and their world Thomas Evidence shows no one in Britain or ireland called themselves "Celt" before 1700BC - was used by the classical sources and by some continental peoples but not of the islanders Thomas "Celtic" only came into use in the 18th century, modern interpretation, we cannot use it as merely a cultural group because modern conceptions of ethnicity have distorted its use Thomas Most of the arguement relies on similarities in language which does not determine cultural affiliations or geneological decent Thomas Links the ancient Britons and Irish with those of the modern day, distinguishing them from their English neighbours and making them one of the most ancient ethnic groups in Europe Thomas Celtic art, now referred by many archaeologists as "La Tene" style which arose in central Europe in the 5th century - this and the preservation of the language by Christian clerics has allowed for the modern revival Thomas Ethnic identities are much less sharpely defined and more complicated than many think, own our culture and way we view things now affects how we construct the past - terms such as "ethnic group" are ambiguous, we only search for facts to fit already formed theories in our mind Edward Lhuyd and Pezron First ideas of insular "Celticness" appeared in the 18th century, Pezron tried to set the a geneology and migration of the continental celts in order to separate the bretons from the French - to establish separateness from a huge nation state in danger of englufing them, like Ireland to Britain Thomas Examples of Celtic art found in Britain are clearly re-interpretations of a known style, adapted to express their own culture - also idea of burial was imported but the details of such ceremonies were completely different, could have easily been adopted as a way of showing veneration or status of the dead Thomas Evidence seems to suggest that the people of Britain had more cultural continuity with those of the Bronze Age e.g circular house, distancing the dead Megaw How people define themselves depends on context e.g. Australian aboriginals, nothing new about reshaping perceptions of the past to fit modern agendas - was used by European arrivals to cover all natives, covering hundreds of different tribes and languages - now used as a term of pride when used to be an insult Anderson, Smith and Renfrew Ethnicity is not fixed, not linguistically or genetically linked so has to be constantly re-asserted, even a matter of choice? Megaw Internal definitions are about what people are, external are about what they are not Megaw Allowed no middle ground, merely highlighting difficulty in reconstructing a group of people on material remains Megaw The Celts were illiterate so only evidence comes from outside sources - strongly disaggrees Celts were an invention of Roman propaganda Collis Rejects "La Tene" style term as an artificial construct used to describe very different groups - so not saying there were no Celts but that they shared cultural similarities not an ethnicity - they were a loosely related society, using craftmanships as symbolism of hierachies Chapman Recognises there is a continuity of the symbolic position of contension with a central defining power Megaw Product of need to re-define British identity in economic decline as the EU seen as threat to the image of England and its empire Kossina Claimed using material remains to identify a named group is racist - but this can be a positive force and denial seems racist Megaw Presence of an iron sword does not mean owner is a celt but shows the presence of those who created it Megaw "Ethnic cleansing" as the destructive denial of past identities Wells Problematic nature of the name makes archaeologists reluctant to use it in academic circles Wells The name has both linguistic links to Gaulish and Old Irish, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Breton - and to a tradition of myths, legends, music, metalwork and textiles Wells The word Celt and Celtic should not be confused, as have very different meanings, name of uncertain origin applied to many different peoples over a long period of time Wells "La Tene" site in Switzerland is used to demonstrate that all groups that used jewellery, weapons, pottery and burial practices are Celts Wells It is assumed that when the classical historians refers to the "Celts" that they name a specific ethnic entity - this may have meant something different in the 5th century - we don't know the intensions of the writers or how much they actually knew about the "Keltoi" Hallstatt - 750 BC using geometric styles and non-representational (Megaw) - the earlier of the two styles La Tene - classical, floral, geometric, vegetal and non-continuous patterns, asymmetrical - 500 BC Site in Switzerlang near lake Nechatal - has been characterised as a platform for votive deposits, a bridge overwhelmed in a flood or a fortified settlement (Cunliffe) - drew influence from Greek and Italian imported art though non-narrative and non-naturalistic - shape changing and ambiguous not divorced from other aspects of life - shapes of beasts and humans The Dragon Pair - a sword scabbard engraved with two dragons, of the type sometimes found on the continent - assumed by the Megaw's to be an import although its ritual deposition in the Thames shows it might have had an entirely different meaning - could have been votive deposits, not war weapons as none appeared to be damaged - the Britons might easily have admired some parts of Celtic culture and adapted it to their own but this does not mean they were Celts - lumping together, focusing on the similarities rather than the differences denies all the same differences in humanity Bronze Scabbard Mount in Thames near Standlake - has a looped vegetal design as the forefront to hatched/basketry designs which are usually in the forefront - vegetal design comes from classical prototypes of the lyre - has elements of the design but have been arranged in a different way James - or elite competition - people can show very similar cultural traits without in anyway viewing themselves as the same Hochdorf - is a late Hallstatt period "princely" grave used to show that in this period the Celts were moving away from an eglatarian society to a more hierachical one - origins of Celtic cultural identity and some form of social organisation - buried in a retangular chamber on top of a bronze table - buskins covered in gold leaf, a necklace of amber beads and a torc of sheet gold, a bag containing toilets items and fish hooks - two combs for grooming in his hat - bronze dagger decourated in gold leaf and a quiver with 14 arrows, another bronze one on his chest - 9 drinking horns, one with strips of gold to represent the perfect Greek symposium, cup and cauldron at feet - less than 5% buried in tumuli in this Hallstatt area - usually around fortified hill settlements with imported mediterranean pottery