People usually don’t think of Spain when they think of Celts, but other than Gaul it is the only other place where the use of the term “Celt” is documented in antiquity in the form of names such as “Celtius” and tribal names such as “Celti Praestamarici.” Celts seem to have been just one of […]
Category: Blast from the Past
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Druids
Originally Published February 2010 According to Julius Caesar The Druids were: “concerned with divine worship, the due performance of sacrifices, public and private, and the interpretation of ritual questions: a great number of young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold them in great honor. In fact it is they who […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Celtic Italy
While we normally think of the Celts in the British Isles, or northern Europe, an archeological site known as Monte Bibele in the province of Bologna, Italy revealed a picture of rural life in Celtic-ruled Italy. Unlike their northern relatives the “Italo-Celtic” people seem to have assimilated into a more “urban” life-style rather than the […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Isle of Lewis “Chessmen” Revisited
Originally Published December 2009 The month leans more toward an opinion piece than most articles. One of my first articles since taking over the Celtic History Newsletter was about the Isle of Lewis Chessmen (Original article) These have long been considered one of the more important early Chess sets found in Europe. There are about […]
Newsletter Blast from the past: Ancient Copper in Ireland
Originally published November 2009 The many copper and bronze objects found in Ireland, indicate its importance during the period between 2500 and 500 B.C. As a resource, copper ore is not that common in Ireland and the Cork-Kerry districts are where it is most concentrated. Of course, the ore first used by the early Bronze […]
Newletter Blast from the Past: Tartan Coats?
Originally published August 2009 Anyone familiar with the history of the kilt should be aware of the 1631 illustration of Scots arriving in Stettin to fight in the 30 Years War. This is well known as one of the earliest surviving illustrations of Scots in what is pretty clearly a great kilt / belted plaid […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Celtic Women
Originally Published June 2009 There is a certain amount of evidence that women in Celtic societies enjoyed more freedom and power in comparison to their Greek, or Roman sisters. While they were far from being treated as the equals of their men, marriages seem to have been a bit closer to a partnership than in […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Head Hunting
Although scholars debate the exact meaning and depth of the so-called “Head cult” of the Celtic peoples, it is said that the desecration of bodies by the taking of heads was a practice that outraged Classical writers. According the the first century historian Diodorus Siculus: “They (The Celts) cut off the heads of enemies slain […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: Lindow Man
Originally Published May 2009 In 1984 a preserved body found at Lindow Moss (15 km south of Manchester) re-awoke an interest in early Celtic religion and possible sacrifices. The top half of a male body was preserved so well that police feared it was a murder murder victim, but radio carbon dating indicated that the […]
Newsletter Blast from the Past: The Scots Musical Museum
Originally published April 2009 The Scots Musical Museum is probably the most significant early collections of Scottish tradition song. The first volume was published in 1787 and included three songs by Robert Burns. Burns eventually contributed about one third of the 600 songs contained in the final six volume collection, and in many ways is […]