What are the CELTS

The Celts were a group of peoples from the Iron Age., which is believed to have arisen from central Europe and from there spread to the north, Gaul, Denmark, Great Britain, Northern Italy, etc. We speak of Celtic peoples because they used a more or less common language, what we can say about all Celtic peoples is that they were sedentary, usually in fortified cities and their religion was based on the druids, who were priests and educators of the clans.

They were a very hierarchical society, the nobles, those who ruled in the faith that were the Druids, the artisans and finally the people who were in charge of agriculture. But if you want to know who were the celts Do not miss this lesson from a Professor on Celtic culture and practice with the exercises that we leave you below.

Index

1. Who were the Celts: a brief summary
2. Celtic peoples in Spain
3. Where the Celts lived: countries
4. Origin of the Celts
5. What is the religion of the Celts?
6. Celts culture

The Celts were a set of towns of the Iron Age characterized because they all spoke the so-called celtic languages, being one of the branches belonging to what are known as Indo-European languages. Therefore, we must understand that the term Celtic It is very wide and difficult to locate, since Celtic peoples existed throughout a large part of Europe and many of them had very different characteristics from each other.

The Celts were a cultural group with certain elements in common with each other, but which were not a State own. Therefore, when talking about its main characteristics, we must understand that these are highly variable because they come from towns that are far from each other.

Celts remained as a European culture for centuries, reaching these regions long before the Greeks or the Phoenicians, and staying until the arrival of the Roman Empire. Therefore, it is one of the cultures that greatest influence It has had in European history, since during much of the Ancient Age they occupied some of the most important European regions, and influenced those who arrived later with their culture.

The Celtic peoples arrived in Spain around the 900 B.C. c., occupying a large part of the region, and influencing the peoples that already inhabited the region. It is said that the importance of the Celts in Spain was such that many of the later peoples of the region came from them.

The Celtic peoples in Spain were very varied, and for this reason we must list them all and talk briefly about each one, in order to understand their existence.

The main Celtic peoples in Spain They were the following ones:

• Astures: A Celtic town located in the Asturian area and in León, so we can say that they are the ancestors of the Asturian settlers.
• caristios: Located in the area of ​​Álava and Vizcaya, so we can say that they were a mixture of Celts and Vascones, since the sources are not sure which group they belonged to.
• Cantabrians: Located in the Cantabria area, they share a name with some towns that inhabited the area later.
• Celtiberians: It is considered that it was the result of the union of Iberians and Celts, emerging from them a town with characteristics of both.
• Galaicos: A town located in the region of Galicia, it is considered to have a Celtic origin, although the sources have not confirmed this relationship.
• lusitanos: A key town for the history of Spain, since they were one of the most influential settlers in the region, and especially during the Roman invasion.

Although the Celts inhabited a large part of Spain, we must understand that they also inhabited much of Europe, being one of the towns with further expansion for this continent. For this reason, it is important to talk about the countries where the Celts had a presence, which were the following:

• France: In France lived the so-called Gauls, being a Celtic people well known for the influence they had in the French region for many centuries. The Gauls turned out to be one of the most complicated Celtic groups for the Romans and even after their victory, the Gallic influence remained for centuries in the French region.
• Ireland: The region where the Celts had the greatest influence was Ireland, since the Celts of this region They inhabited the region for centuries, laying the foundations of organization that for years would be the basis of this country.
• Britain: The Britons were the Celts of the English region, possessing great power until the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon invasions, which ended their culture.
• Swiss: The Celtic towns that inhabited the region of Switzerland were called Helvetii, which are considered as a group of various Celtic towns that came together to form a kind of confederation. For years they had great relevance, until the clashes against the Romans and Germans brought them to an end.
• Portugal: Some of the same Celtic peoples that existed in Spain had a presence in Portugal, but the case of the Lusitanos, a Celtic people that gives its name to the people of the Portuguese region, and that was very important both in Spain and in Portugal.
• Germany: The German region was largely occupied by the Celtic peoples, especially those known as Helvetii. For centuries the Celts and the Germans fought over the region, with the Germans being the final winners.
• Eastern Europe: In the area of ​​Eastern Europe there are so many nations that have their origin in the Celts, that we must group them under the term of the region. The first Celts, for whom we have little data, are thought to have emerged from this region, advancing from this area to Western Europe.

Image: Universal History

The origin of the Celts is somewhat difficult to define, since no sources that confirm its origin 100%, so there are many studies that try to theorize about how the Celtic people could have started. Among all these studies there are three main theories, which we are going to mention to try to explain the origin of this town.

1. The first of these origins is the one that relates the Celts to the Urnfield culture of the Bronze Age, being a town located in the upper Danube region. This town was the first to use iron treatment technology, expanding its industry by a great deal. part of Europe, being the reason why many scholars consider that the Celts come from this culture.
2. The second source is related to Hallstatt culture, located in what we now know as Austria. This culture existed in what is often thought to be the original land of the Celts, and traded with many of the regions by which the Celts expanded, which is why many historians consider that this culture could be the origin of the celts.
3. Finally we have the third theory about the origin of the Celts, and it is the related to the Swiss culture of La Téne. This culture was a group of tribes that inhabited from Ireland to Romania, being a territory similar to what the Celts had later. Scholars consider that this culture may be the origin of the Celts because they had similar tools and pottery, which is why they consider that the Celts could have been born from them.

The religion of the Celts, although it tends to be called Celtic mythology, is a set of stories and stories belonging to the Celtic peoples, who transmitted these beliefs orally, so their myths changed over time.

The Celtic religion is very old, and there are few sources on this subject, so many of them the characteristics that we can comment on are theories of the historians who have spoken about the issue. Still, it is important to comment on the main features of this religion, which were the following:

• The religion of the Celts was centered on druid figure, being a kind of priests, who were in charge of the rites and sharing the oral myths of the Celts, for which reason they occupied an important role in society.
• Celtic religion was very related to natural elements since they based their myths and beliefs on nature, so elements such as rivers or mountains were of great importance.
• Like most religions in Prehistory and Antiquity, it was a polytheistic Mythology, that is, his pantheon was made up of numerous gods, which change and evolve over time.
• It was a very broad mythology, since the Celts inhabited a large part of Europe, so there were many sub-regions that were part of Celtic beliefs, so each town had its own religion, but at the same time related to the broader version of Celtic beliefs.
• The Celtic religion was able to hold out until the arrival of the Roman invaders, when these peoples were annihilated, and their religion was replaced by the Roman as predominant mythology in Europe.

In unProfesor we offer you a summary of celtic mythology and a review of celtic gods more important.

To conclude with this lesson we must talk about the main characteristics of the Celtic culture, since this will help us to understand much better what this town was, the differences they kept with other towns, and how their culture could affect other towns later.

The main features of celtic culture are the following:

• The culture of the Celts was transmitted orally., this being the reason why we do not have oral sources that speak about it.
• The feasts were very common in Celtic peoples, being used for parties or to celebrate something.
• The houses of the Celts were very basic, small and with few elements, since they used it basically to sleep, doing little life inside.
• The language was something very important, since it was similar to all the towns known as Celts.
• It was common for them to use symbols, since it was a way of representing various elements, and that people could understand even if they did not know how to write or read.
• They had slavery very similar to that of the Greeks and Romans, although it does not seem that there was a relationship between them before.
• It was a culture closely linked to trade, being very important for them to travel and exchange their culture with that of other peoples, being the reason why they expanded so much.

If you want to read more articles similar to What are the Celts: Summary, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• Kruta, v. (1981). The Celts (Vol. 195). Edaf.
• Green, M. (1995). Celtic Myths (Vol. 5). Akal Editions.
• Gorbea, M. TO. (1992). The origin of the Celts in the Iberian Peninsula: Proto-Celts and Celts. Polis: magazine of ideas and political forms of Antiquity, (4), 5-31.