Celts was the name applied by ancient Greek writers, from the 5th century BC on, to a group of barbarian peoples who inhabited central and western Europe. From the 2d millennium to the 1st century BC these people, who spoke Indo-European dialects later classified as CELTIC LANGUAGES, spread through much of Europe.
From a heartland in central Europe, they settled the area of France (GAUL), penetrated northern Spain, and crossed to the British Isles probably in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Moving south and southwest, they sacked Rome c.390 BC and attacked Delphi in 279 BC. One group then crossed into Anatolia and established the state of GALATIA.
The modern populations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany retain strong Celtic elements. Accounts of the ancient Celts come from Roman and Greek writers, notably Julius CAESAR, STRABO, and Diodorus, who probably based much of their Celtic ethnography on the now lost writings of POSIDONIUS. These records are supplemented and corroborated by early IRISH LITERATURE, including the epic tales of the Ulster Cycle.
From these sources inferences may be drawn regarding the structure of Celtic society--its social institutions, classes, and obligations, as well as Celtic customs and beliefs. Recurrent themes include the high-spirited and boastful character of the Celtic warrior, the convention of the champion's portion at the feast, the practice of single combat, and the prizing of the severed heads of defeated foes.
DRUIDS and seers feature prominently in the sources, both classical and Celtic, and many of the traditions and tales of the Celts are imbued with supernatural aspects.

Archaeologically, the origins of the Celts have sometimes been sought in the URNFIELD CULTURE of the 2d millennium, but they are more generally associated with the widespread culture of the second Iron Age in Europe, designated LA TENE after the type site of the name in Switzerland. La Tene culture spanned the second half of the 1st millennium down to the period of Roman conquest north of the Alps, beginning in the 2d century BC.
Especially characteristic of this period is the emergence of a vigorous and exuberant art style in which earlier Celtic influences derived from native HALLSTATT antecedents were mixed with floral and formal classical motifs and even exotic oriental designs.
These elements were transmuted into a distinctive curvilinear style, which was displayed on metal goods such as gold and silver bracelets and neck torcs, wine flagons, parade armor, and weaponry.
Evidence of the La Tene culture of central and western Europe is drawn principally from fortified sites, as well as burial and cemetery sites. Grave goods include southern imports that indicate a flourishing trade with the Mediterranean world.
Celtic culture was largely extinguished by the onslaught of the Romans from the south and the Germanic and other groups from the north and east. Pressure from GERMANIC PEOPLES began in the late 2d century, as did the Roman invasions. Gaul was subjugated by Julius Caesar in the GALLIC WARS (58-51 BC), and the Romans conquered Britain in the 1st century AD.
Later, as Roman power declined, the Germanic tribes renewed their drive westward into the former Celtic lands. Only along the Atlantic fringe of Europe did Celtic culture survive in distinct form.


Bibliography:

Chadwick, Nora K., The Celts (1970)

Filip, Jan, Celtic Civilisation and Its Heritage, trans. by R. F. Samsour
(1960)

Finlay, Ian, Celtic Art (1973)

Hubert, Henri H., The Rise of the Celts (1934; repr. 1966)

Jackson, Kenneth H., A Celtic Miscellany, rev. ed. (1971)

Piggott, Stuart, Ancient Europe (1965)

Powell, Thomas G. E., The Celts (1958)

Ross, Anne, Everyday Life of the Pagan Celts (1970)

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