Religion of the ancient Celts. Druids
World history has left humanity many mysteries in the form of unusual architectural structures that scientists find from time to time. Most of the questions about their existence were left to the descendants of the ancient Celts. Until now, information about this civilization reaches us in the form of fragmentary and not always reliable legends and myths.
Who are the Celts?
Europe has become a home for many tribes and nationalities. In the process of their development and spread across European territory, they often mixed and became a single whole. In this case, it was difficult to separate the traditions and culture of one people from another.
The history of the Celts looks quite different. They appeared in Europe unexpectedly and quickly filled almost all territories. The barbarian tribes were not afraid to attack the Greeks and Romans. Most often, their raids were successful and brought a large amount of booty to the tribes.
The name of the nationality was given by the Greeks, it was they who first introduced the word "Celts" into use. It is still unknown where this name came from. Historians come to the conclusion that only one of the many tribes could be called that way. But in the end, the name was assigned to the entire nation that settled on the territory of modern Britain and had a similar language. In the future, the tribes united, which affected the expansion of the vocabulary and the commonality of cultural traditions.
History of the Celts: several centuries of mystery
Traces of the Celts are found throughout Europe, archaeologists attribute this to the fact that they preferred a nomadic lifestyle and often moved long distances. It is still unknown how the Celtic tribes lived until the fifth century, there is no information about them.
Only from the period of their appearance in Europe they began to be spoken about and mentioned in written sources. It’s amazing that somewhere for many centuries there lived a people that no one knew about. After all, neither the Greeks nor the Romans had any idea who a Celt was. This seems incredible and is the reason for the myths about the mystical origin of the people.
Scientists know for sure that the Celts had a clear hierarchy, based not on military power, but on mythology and religious beliefs, which significantly distinguishes this people from other nomadic tribes.
At the moment, almost all data on cultural heritage Celts are counterfeit. All unusual finds of past centuries in Europe had one single explanation - the Celt. This has led to the fact that it is now incredibly difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Archaeologists and historians of our time are collecting material, bit by bit, that has a scientific basis. But studying the history of the Celts is complicated by the fact that they did not have a written language. This is another mystery of the Celtic civilization, because it had enough high level development. Why did the Celts not recognize written sources? This secret died with them.
The Celts' hierarchy was represented by three classes:
- Druids;
- warriors;
- peasants.
Each class was extremely separate and never intersected. Marriages between members of different classes were suppressed.
The decline of Celtic civilization is associated with the conquests of the Roman Empire. She managed to capture all the territories where the Celts lived. They were forced to hide in forests and caves. In Ireland they built entire underground cities, as they believed local residents, through ancient magic and sorcery.
Back then, the Irish were still in awe of the word “Celt”. This was due to the enormous power of the priests, who possessed extraordinary knowledge, transmitted only by word of mouth. With the spread of Christianity throughout Europe, the Celts began to disappear, and over time they became a civilization lost to the world.
Druids - bearers of ancient sacred knowledge
The Celts' priest was part of a special caste of Druids. They lived separately, but willingly shared their knowledge. Training at the Druid school took twenty years; boys were selected from childhood and knowledge was passed on to them orally.
Until now, no one knows what was available to the priests. But throughout Europe there are legends about the abilities of the Druids, who could talk to trees and animals, move huge stones and build structures from them, as well as heal the most terrible wounds and move through the air.
The Druids performed sacrifices in a sacred oak grove and, based on the results of communication with the gods, made decisions on important matters in the tribe. The priests led moon calendar, according to which the whole tribe lived.
Religious beliefs and gods of the Celts: a set of paradoxes
The Druid religion is difficult to understand modern man. She combined high knowledge about existence and the spiritual with cruel rituals. Analyzing this fact, it is difficult to imagine that such actions were done by the same Celt. I can't wrap my head around this. After all, it is impossible to advocate for balance and protect all living things from one’s interference, and commit demonstrative killings of enemies that last several nights.
It is difficult to say how the beliefs in a single god, represented in three forms (which surprisingly resonates with Christianity), coexisted in the Celtic tribes with nightly orgies of priestesses, accompanied by torchlight processions.
Some scientists put forward the version that the Druids and Celts are completely different races. But so far this theory has found neither confirmation nor refutation.
The influence of the Celts on the culture of Europe
Despite the fact that in the minds of many Europeans the words “barbarian” and “Celt” are synonymous, this is fundamentally incorrect. The Germanic peoples, for example, borrowed Celtic technologies and motifs to make jewelry and ceramics. The Roman conquerors enjoyed established trade ties, and the Irish adopted from the Celts a unity with nature and the ability to find inspiration in it.
It is unknown how much the modern peoples of Europe learned from the Celts. Perhaps all our achievements and cultural values are just a faint reflection of the once magnificent and magical civilization of the Celts.
The Celts were first mentioned in texts about 2,500 years ago. However, many of the ancient sources were written by Greeks, Romans and other non-Celtics.
Evidence shows that the Celts were spread over a large area of continental Europe. They lived as far east as modern-day Turkey and even served as mercenaries for the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. They were never politically united as a single people, but consisted of different groups, including the Gauls (from areas including France) and the Celtiberi (based in Iberia).
They spoke different languages and, in fact, "given the size of the linguistic area, it is unlikely that all the people confirmed by the Greeks and Romans as Celts could communicate with each other in the same language",
- writes Felix Müll
er from the Historical Museum in Bern in his book The Art of the Celts: 700 BC. BC. 700".
He notes that identifying specific works of art as “Celtic” can also be difficult. But if we look at the art from the areas where the Celts were said to have flourished, we can see some of the wonders they produced. For example, over 2,500 years ago, at the Unsa mound in western Switzerland, they left a globe-shaped gold object less than an inch in diameter that was "decorated with approximately 3,600 granules," like the incredibly intricate gold work the Celts might have produced.
Ancient writers tended not to discuss Celtic artistic achievements, but rather their reputation for brutality in war. The Gauls managed to sack Rome in 390 BC. In the same century, when Alexander the Great was campaigning, he received the support of the Celts.
“The king received them kindly and asked them, while drinking, what was what they feared most, thinking that they would say themselves, but that they answered that they were not afraid of anyone, if it were not that Heaven might fall on them,” wrote the Greek writer Strabo
Fighting in the buff?
It was said that some Celts would be completely naked before going into battle; it was meant for psychological impact on your enemies.
“They were also very terrifying appearance and the gestures of naked warriors in front, all in the prime of life, and finely built men, and all in leading companies, richly decorated with gold skeins and bracelets,” wrote Polybius (200-118 BC), in the account of the battle that they fought against the Romans.
Perhaps not coincidentally, ancient sources also say that the Celts hated and were against being overweight. Strabo, quoting another writer named Ephorus, wrote:
“They try to be potbellied fat, and any young person who exceeds the standard measure of excess weight is punished.”
While the Celts were eventually Christianized along with for the most part Roman Empire (eventually the Romans regained their lands), ancient sources give hints about the religious beliefs of the Celts.
A poem from Lucan (39-65 AD) describes a grove that was sacred to the Celts. He, along with other sources, suggests that human sacrifice was practiced.
“There was a grove there,
which from the earliest times no human hand
dared to break; hidden from the sun..."
“No sylvan nymphs.
There was no home here, no Pan, but wild rituals
and barbaric worship, terrible altars.
Raised on massive stones; sacred with blood
there were people in every tree..."
The Celts were interested in Druidry. Robert Wisniewski of the University of Warsaw notes in an article published in the journal Palemedes that in 43 AD Pomponius Mela wrote about the Gauls as follows:
“And yet they have their own eloquence, and their own teachers of wisdom, the Druids. These people claim to know the size and shape of the earth and the universe, the movements of the sky and stars, and what the gods intend...” he wrote. “One of the commandments they teach—apparently to make them better for war—has become common knowledge, namely, that their souls are eternal, and that there is a second life for the dead.”
Celts in ancient Britain!?
It is noteworthy that a number of scientists now believe that the ancient Celts did not live in Britain, but were confined to the European continent, with settlements located in the east, like Turkey.
John Collis, professor of archeology at the University of Sheffield, notes in his book The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions that ancient writers refer to Celtic people living in continental Europe, but not to the British Isles. He notes that Strabo actually "distinguishes the Britons from the Celts."
He writes that terms such as Celt and Gallic "were never used for the inhabitants of the British Isles, except in the most general way for all Western Europeans, including non-Indo-European speakers such as the Basques."
His analysis is supported by University of Leicester professor Simon James, who says that "many people are surprised to find that although they 'know' that Britain was inhabited by ancient Celts in pre-Roman times, most British Iron Age scholars have given up on the idea for decades ago,” he writes in a 2004 review of Collis’s book published in the journal British Archaeology.
“The question is not why so many British (and Irish) archaeologists have abandoned the concept of ancient Insular Celts, but how and why did we come to think there was ever anything in the first place? The idea is modern; the ancient islanders never described themselves as Celts, a name reserved for some continental neighbors."
Celts in Turkey?
However, although scholars reject the idea of Celts in ancient Britain, they do find evidence that Celts flourished in Turkey.
“In 278 BC, King Nicomedes I of Bithynia welcomed as allies 20,000 European Celts, veterans who had successfully invaded Macedonia two years earlier. These warriors, who called themselves Galatians, marched into northwestern Anatolia with 2,000 baggage cars and 10,000 non-conspirators: pharmacists and merchants, as well as wives and children."
, write researchers Jeremiah Dandoy, Paige Selinsky and Mary Voigt in a 2002 Journal of Archeology article.
In excavations in Gordion, Turkey, they found evidence of cultural practices that they interpret as Celtic. They found “chilling evidence of strangulation, decapitation and bizarre arrangements of human and animal bones. This practice is well known at Celtic sites in Europe and is now documented for the Anatolian Celts."
Normanists believe that the Celts belong to the Germanic tribes. Let's look at how the term “Celts” came about. Neither the Romans nor the Greeks indicate this. They were first mentioned by the Romans and the Celts were called “Selts”. In later times, under Julius Caesar, the Celts were characterized as “a ferocious people, terrible with their axes,” who were difficult to defeat. They were a harsh and warlike tribe. From Roman authors, the nickname of this little-known people (who lived to the northwest of the Greeks) passed on to the Greeks and began to be pronounced by them in their own way, according to the phonetic features of the language - Keltoi (according to Strabo - Keltai).
When the Greek language became scientific and classical, this word entered history. This is how the Latin “Celta” was replaced by the Greek “Celta”. According to the concepts of ancient authors, the Selts are descendants of the Cymry or Cimmerians (some called them the Cimbri), but these are features of the phonetics of different languages.
Before the advent of the Romans as conquerors of Europe, it was believed that the Celts were a numerous people of Europe, which they inhabited all over, from the north of Germany to the “Pillars of Hercules” or Gibraltar. When Rome took possession of all of Europe, capturing lands up to the Rhine, this territory was divided into three main regions: Celtica, Gaul and Belgica, each of which was divided into provinces, districts and other small entities.
Since the war of Julius Caesar with the Selts-Gulli-Belgae, a lot of different peoples and tribes have appeared in history, ending in “chi”: Lemovichi, Lyakhovichi, Norichi, Illyrichi, etc., and then with “i”, “y”: Belovaki , Wends, Rutheni, Belgians. Then the Lemovichs turned into Poles, the Noriches into Noriks, etc. At first they were all considered Celts. When the division into regions began, they began to be considered either Seltians or Gauls, and those who managed to flee across the Rhine to Germany were considered Germans. It is known that the Lyakhovichs at one time lived to the southwest of the Sequani (Seine) River, the Lyutichs to the east of them along the same river (their main city is Lutetia, now Paris).
Under the onslaught of the Roman legions, the Poles went to the sources of the Danube River and settled along its tributary Lyakhu, which was named by them and their neighbors by their personal nickname. The sources of the Danube River were in Germany. The Lyakhovichs became Poles and, moreover, Germans.
The Lyutichs went to the lower reaches of the Danube, later we find them next to the Tivertsi near the Black Sea.
Until the third or second centuries BC. Rutenes, Lemovichs, Kadurians, Gebals lived north of the Pyrenees along the Garumna River and its tributaries. They still live there. These are the Rusyns, Lemkos (Lemko Rus), Khabals and Kadurs, being on the way of the Huns, they were captured by them and, apparently, disappeared into them. In present-day Hungary, two villages of Khabaly and Kakadury have survived. IN Leningrad region in the Kingisepp (Yamsky) district there is Lake Khabalovskoye and the Khabalovka River. This is all that remains of these tribes.
Along the Liger River (now Laura) lived the Boii, and to the south, east of Garumna (now the Garona River) lived the “Tectosagi wolves.” This was in the 3rd – 2nd centuries. BC. These peoples also lived in other places. So the Boii became Bohemians, and the “Tektosaga wolves” became Moravians who settled along the Morava River. All these peoples, called Celts or Selts, living in the south of present-day France (in ancient times - Seltia), turned out to be close to us in language. Their languages became part of the Slavic language group. We must not forget the testimony of ancient authors that the Selts were European descendants of the Cymrs or Cimmerians, whose lands are occupied by the Russian People today. They became part of it as the most ancient and basic ethnic element. We must also remember the instructions of the author of the Book of Veles that the Kimry are our fathers. F.M. Appendini pointed out that the Celts and Getae spoke a Slavic language.
That the Celts are Slavs is confirmed by the instructions of some chronicles, where it is said that Scythian swears by the highest gods and the sword, in particular Zamolok - the god of the wind. The nickname of the Celts as Celts existed in German chronicles in the 7th century. and referred to the Sorbs or Sorabes of Lusatia and the Sorbs in the city of Sorava.
The ending “chi” exists only in Slavic dialects (Rusichi, Bodrichi, Lyutichi, etc.).
The Romans called the Celts Celto-Scythians, and the Scythians were the ancestors of the Slavs. Even German chronicles speak about this. Consequently, this once again confirms that most likely the Celts were Slavs. (* Note: Historian Georgy Sidorov considers the Celts to be hybrids of local European peoples and Slavs who migrated from the East). “Shut up” is a Slavic word denoting the good attitude of the deity when it stopped blowing fiercely.
Most of the Celtic cities and tracts near Nitara are Slavic names. For example: Chepyana, Ruda, Tula, Lake Plesso, Mount Shar, Bryansk, Brislavl.
The closest connection between the Slavs, Veneti, Celts, which can be traced at all times - from the 3rd millennium BC. e. until the Middle Ages, the absence of a clear ethnic and geographical boundary between them is reflected in the works of A. G. Kuzmin and A. L. Nikitin.
The famous discovery by archaeologist V.V. Khvoiko of the Tripoli culture 20 versts from Kyiv on the right bank of the Dnieper fully confirms the kinship of the Selts with the Cimmerians, for these Selts were actually Cimmerians who moved to the west. These new places for them were called by the Greek word Germany - “foreign land”. This is the most important discovery of V.V. Khvoiko, changing the entire initial history of Europe and proving that the Russian people had a different initial history, different from the one that was invented for us. The discovery was, of course, rejected by the Normanists and is not recognized to this day.
The Slavs spread to various Eurasian destinations. This is evidenced by latest discoveries. Thus, the famous British historian Howard Reed proved that the character of knightly legends, King Arthur, the owner of the famous Round Table, was a Slavic-Russian prince (Sarmatian). He is in the 2nd century. AD Together with his squad, he was part of the army of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and crossed from the continent to the British Isles. Before that, he was the leader of one of the South Russian Slavic tribes, famous for its tall and blond horsemen, who terrified the steppe inhabitants.
Arthur's cavalrymen, as the 8,000th “barbarian” auxiliary detachment, were taken into imperial service, participated in many battles, and after the conquest of Britain remained on its territory. The main evidence of Horward Reid is: previously unpublished fragments of Geoffrey of Monmouth's poem about King Arthur, as well as a comparative analysis of symbolism from ancient burials in Russia and in the drawings of the banners under which the warriors of the legendary Arthur, the Russian prince, fought.
Archaeologists have traced the path of these Cimmerian or Celt migrants through open ancient settlements or villages, which goes straight to the west, towards Germany. All this is synchronized chronologically by things, the remains of the residential layer of these settlements. Foreign scientists claim that the Cimmerians left the Trypillian culture, and our Normanists say that this culture cannot belong to the Russian People.
Later, new monuments of this culture were discovered in the village of Usatovo, in the village of Vladimirovka and many other places. The study of the remains of the residential layer indicated that there was a continuous connection between this and later cultures right up to the time of the glades. This consistently progressive culture with the addition large quantity new phases of development.
Now we know that the Scythians came from the Balkan Peninsula to the Ister River, and then further. Their movement went on for centuries and was noted in the residential layers and their stratigraphy, which is documented. Over time, the Scythians merged with the Cimmerians, and the descendants of the Suromatians also joined them. The Krivichi, northerners and other peoples passing by also left their traces. All this is our beginning, our initial history. This is the initial history of the Russian south.
On the Ancient Valdai Upland, where most of the rivers of European Russia originate, there was a new, but equally ancient Fatyanovo culture. It starts south of the Sukhona River, goes along the Sheksna River to the Mologa River, covers the region of the cities of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, descends to Tver and Suzdal, covers Moscow, extends to the Ugra River and is lost in Transnistria. Both cultures developed around the time of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. How many cultures have not yet been discovered?
According to the testimony of a linguist, a specialist in ancient languages (Sumerian, Assyrian, Celtic, Cuman (Pechenegs), Gypsy and ancient dialects of the German language) Professor of Columbia University John D. Prince - the Celts or Selts in language belong to Slavic group, close in religion and customs.
To confirm the interethnic ties and contacts of the Neolithic and Bronze Age tribes, the finds on our lands of the centers of the Aryan and Ural culture, called Andronovskaya (II millennium BC), are especially indicative. They are found in vast areas up to the Right Bank of the Dnieper, where they were located surrounded by Slavic settlements.
In addition to the similarity of the language and religious cults of the Aryans and Slavs, a common sign system of symbols and magical inscriptions was developed for centuries before the written period, which were included in the ornament of utensils and other types of arts and crafts and fine arts.
At the turn of the 2nd–1st millennium BC. in the middle Dnieper region there existed the Chernolessk culture, certainly defined as Proto-Slavic, around the core, which formed a strong union of Slavic tribes in the lands from the Dnieper to the Bug. The tribes of this union are known in history under the name Skolote, already used by Herodotus, who reports deep rivers this land on which they float big ships, and about large villages and cities.
On the Valdai Hills, along the rivers that originate here, there were the tribes of Belarusians, Gelonians, Nerves, Roxolans, Yatsigs, Ludotsi and others. The Romans called them Sarmatians, and the Greeks Scythians, Suromatians - all these were Russian tribes.
The Lutich tribe came to the Baltic coast at the very beginning of our era from the Sequana River (the Seine River in present-day France) from the area where modern Paris is located, and from its banks. Here they had the city of Lutetia. In ancient times, this tribe was part of the 12 tribal federation of the state of Rasena, or as the Romans called them - Etruria, with its center in the city of Lutsa (Luka) on the Auzer (Ozer) river. From here the Latins drove them out and captured the city of Rasen. The Etrurians went to the Gaul Transpadida, settled for a short time near the city of Milinus, and then left with the Cymrogalls to the Sequane River. They apparently came to Russian territory in the 7th or early 8th centuries. AD from the Baltic Sea, where several of their tribes lived. Some of them remained in place, while others went east to the Russian lands. On Russian territory they lived in a corner of the northwestern coast of the Black Sea and were known as Ulichi. From here, during the time of the Grand Dukes Igor and Svyatoslav, they moved to the region of the Carpathian Mountains. Another part of them settled in central and northern Rus'.
About 400g. BC. the Celts moved east from the Rhine and Upper Danube regions. They moved in several waves down along the Danube and its tributaries.
Around 380–350 BC. the Celts settled in the area of Lake Balaton. The settlements of Vindoboka (modern Vienna), Singidunum (Belgrade), and others were built. At the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. one of the streams of the Celts headed for the Balkan Peninsula.
In 279 BC. under the leadership of Brennus, they passed through the lands of Illyria, devastated Macedonia, invaded Thrace and Greece and reached Delphi, where they were defeated by the Greeks.
Another group of Celts (Gauls) around 270 BC. BC. settled in Anatolia, in the area of modern Ankara, where she formed the state of Galatia. From Greece, Brenn's warriors retreated to the north and settled in the Danube region, between the Sava and Morava rivers. Here arose the state of the Celtic tribe of Scordisci with the main city of Singidun.
In the first half of the 3rd century. BC. some of the Celts settled in Transylvania, Olteni and Bukovina, and others on the lower Danube. The Celts easily mixed with the local population and spread La Tène culture everywhere.
In the II century. BC. Another group of Celts crossed the Carpathians and settled in Silesia and the upper Vistula, coming into contact with the Slavs.
The name La Tène culture comes from the settlement of La Tène near Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
In the V-I centuries. BC. the Celts contributed huge contribution in the development of metallurgy and metalworking. Celtic metallurgy became the basis for the development of all subsequent Central European metallurgy. The Celts had developed blacksmithing. They created an iron plow, scythes, saws, pliers, a file, spiral drills, scissors, and improved axes. Door locks and keys were invented. They also developed glass making. The Celts invented the lathe and used fertilizer and liming of soils in agriculture.
The strongest influence of the Celts on the development of the tribes of the Podklesche culture occurred in the 2nd century. BC. As a result, a new culture was created - Przeworskaya. It was named after the remains found near the city of Przeworsk in southeastern Poland. The culture spread and covered the areas of the middle reaches of the Oder and upstream Vistula. The Przeworsk culture existed until the first half of the 5th century. AD Under the influence of the Celts, new types of weapons became widespread in the Przeworsk environment: double-bladed swords, spear tips with a wavy edge, and hemispherical umber shields.
Research in recent decades has shown that the Slavic blacksmith craft of the 1st millennium AD. in its characteristics and technological culture it is closest to the metalworking production of the Celts and the provinces of the Roman Empire.
The area of the Przeworsk culture is from the right bank of the Oder in the west to the headwaters of the Bug in the east. Western neighbors are Germans. The settlements are not fortified. The buildings are cumulus, unsystematic, which were common in the Slavic world and in subsequent times in Rus'. Sometimes they were built in rows along river banks. The buildings were above ground, pillared or semi-dugout. This culture had a two-field farming system. The Slavs sowed rye. The Germans adopted the cultivation of rye from them.
Przeworsk culture in Polish scientific literature began to be called “Vendian”.
The Veneds are the largest tribe of European Sarmatia. According to Ptolemy (second half of the 2nd century AD), it is located in the Vistula region. From the south, Sarmatia was limited by the Carpathians and the northern shore of the Pontus (Black Sea). From the north – Venedsky Bay of the Sarmatian Ocean (Baltic Sea).
In the last third of the third century. BC. the Celts developed the Zarubinets culture 2.3–1.7 thousand years ago (in the village of Zarubinets in the bend of the Dnieper). It covers Pripyat Polesie, the middle Dnieper region and adjacent lands of the upper Dnieper region.
P.N. Tretyakov draws attention to the presence of local Scythian and Milograd components in the Zarubinets antiquities. He considers the formation of the Zarubinets culture as a synthesis of local Dnieper and alien Western elements. This culture is characterized by semi-dug-out buildings, sank into the ground up to 1 meter. In the middle Dnieper region, above-ground dwellings were built with the floor lowered into the ground up to 30–50 centimeters. The walls were frame-wattle and covered with clay. All dwellings were square or rectangular in shape. Heating was carried out by open fireplaces. Most settlements consisted of 7–12 dwellings; large ones are also known - up to 80 residential buildings. The burial grounds were without burial mounds; cremation existed. Found were pottery, iron knives, sickles, scythes, chisels, chisels, drills, eyed needles, dart and arrow tips. The main occupation of the inhabitants was agriculture, and cattle breeding was also developed. In the southern regions of the middle Dnieper region, blacksmiths knew how to make steel; this skill came to them from the Scythians.
The Zarubinets culture in the Upper Dnieper region ended at the end of the 1st and beginning of the 2nd centuries. AD Part of the population near the middle Dnieper region at the beginning of the 3rd century. joined Kyiv culture. Most researchers consider the Zarubinets culture as early Slavic. This was first expressed by V.V. Khvoiko at the beginning of the twentieth century.
At the end of the 2nd century. in the Central Black Sea basin, through excavations of burial grounds, the Chernyakhov culture of the Slavs was discovered 1.8–1.5 thousand years ago (in the village of Chernyakhovo in the Kiev region). In the III–IV centuries. it spread from the lower Danube in the west to the northern Donets in the east. The tribes of this culture developed metalworking, pottery production and other crafts. The villages were located in 1, 2 or 3 rows along the coastline. Dwellings were built in the form of semi-dugouts with an area of 10–25 sq.m. Large dwellings of 40–50 sq.m. are known. Above-ground Chernyakhov dwellings had big sizes– 30–40 sq.m. The walls were frame-and-post. In the southern part of the habitat, stone dwellings were built with wall thicknesses from 3.5 to 50 cm. The dwellings were surrounded by a rampart and a ditch. The basis of the economy is agriculture and animal husbandry. They sowed wheat, barley, millet, peas, flax, and hemp. The bread was harvested with sickles. Blacksmiths mastered the technology of processing iron and steel. They also made plows with iron tips. A calendar was found with marked Vedic holidays associated with agricultural rituals. The year was divided into 12 months of 30 days each.
The history of the Sarmatians begins from the 1st–8th centuries. BC. The Sarmatians were allies of Mithridates, who fought with Rome. They destroyed Olbia. No chronological gap was found between the Sarmatian and Chernyakhov cultures. The bulk of the Sarmatian population belongs to the Chernyakhov culture.
In Volyn from the end of the 2nd century. AD lived tribes of the Wielbar culture. Its population included Slavs, Western Balts, Goths and Goth-Gepids.
Antami, known from historical works of the 6th–7th centuries, was the name of a group of Slavs that formed under the conditions of Slavic-Iranian symbiosis, mainly in the Podolsk-Dnieper region of the Chernyakhov culture.
The early medieval Penkov culture (V-VII centuries), formed on the basis of the remains of the Chernyakhov culture, is identified with the Antes and spreads, according to Procopius of Caesarea, from the northern bank of the Danube to Sea of Azov. It is known that in the 4th century. The Antes repelled the attack of the Goths, but after some time the Gothic king Venitarius defeated the Antes and executed their prince God with 70 elders.
The Chernyakhov culture ceased to exist after the invasion of the Huns.
All of the listed cultures were created by our ancestors, the superethnos from which all the peoples of Europe and a significant part of the peoples of Asia descended.
Despite the fact that both secular academic science and church historians show great interest in Celticology and the phenomenon of the Celtic church, the question: “Who were the Celts and where did they live?” There is still no clear and precise answer.
In ancient literature you can find several varieties of names for the Celts - these are “Gallatians”, and “Gauls”, and “Celts”. It is known that the historical formation of Northern and Central Europe took place precisely under the influence of this people. Celtic tribes of Indo-European origin came to Western Europe much earlier than other Aryans.
History of the Celts
The pages of history present the Celts as a barbarian people who were born in the Northern Alps around the 7th century BC. The history of the Celts begins with their conquest of European territories.
- In the 6th century BC, the fiery red Celts descended on Europe and swept their war chariots through the territories where France, Spain, and Britain are located today. The territory of modern France began to be called by their name - Gaul. Here the Celts created the core of their lands and the base of a new expansion towards the east.
- After some time, they managed to conquer Bohemia (modern Czech Republic), the Middle Danube basin, and then Greece.
- Famous history the assault on Rome (in 390 BC) was unsuccessful.
- Later, the Celts crossed to Asia Minor, forming their own state in its center. Around the same time, Ireland was settled by them.
- In the 3rd century BC. e. the Celts began to be plagued by misfortune. The countries they conquered recovered from their defeats and began to fight back against the enslavers.
- As a result, the Celts decided to begin developing the conquered territories. They connected their cities with the world's first network of roads and developed river navigation.
- However, in 60-50 BC, the Celts lost their dominance on the mainland, they were expelled from Central Europe, and subsequently Gaul was conquered by Caesar.
- Gaul came under the influence of Roman civilization, its population began to be called Gallo-Romans. During this period, the Gauls became one of the most developed and populous provinces of the empire, despite the fact that they were subjected to strong Romanization.
- The rest of the mainland Celts were subjected to a similar fate. The Celtic culture survived only in the territories of modern England and Ireland.
Video about the Celtic civilization
Celtic lifestyle
The lifestyle of the Celts is a peaceful creative work. They were well developed Agriculture. Since ancient times, Celtic tribes have been engaged in growing flax, hemp, breeding pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, poultry, as well as hunting and fishing.
The material culture, agricultural economic structure, social organization and languages of the Celts developed through the mixing of alien cultures.
Among other things, the Celts were also engaged in blacksmithing. Thanks to developed metallurgy, they made high-quality tools and weapons.
What did the Celts look like?
Thanks to military exercises and labor, the Celts had good health and endurance. If you want to know what the Celts looked like, then look at the current northern Europeans with golden hair - their appearance has quite a lot to do with it common features, which were inherent in the ancient Celts.
In the Ancient and Middle Ages, Celts wore red or auburn hair, shaved beards and long mustaches. Due to the constant physical exertion associated with military or peasant work, the physique of both men and women was distinguished by incredible strength and power.
Men wore wide checkered or striped colored tunics, trousers and woolen cloaks. Women's clothing consists of dresses decorated with bright patterns or fringes. An indispensable attribute of Celtic attire is a waist chain, which acts as an ordinary belt.
The Celts had an appearance that was unusual for the Mediterranean: Blue eyes, fair skin and hair. At the same time, it was customary to lubricate the hair with a solution of lime, which gave it extraordinary rigidity and similarity to a horse’s mane.
Where did the Celts live?
It is known that the Celts settled Ireland in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. However, different historians have different opinions about where the Celts lived before. According to the most common one, their homeland is the Northern Alps.
The Celts lived in rather primitive dwellings: as a rule, they were stone or wooden houses with a floor sunk into the ground. They covered the roofs of their houses with straw. Since such buildings could not protect villagers from enemy attacks, the Celts built shelters in the form of stone towers. Castles served as homes for the tribal nobility.
It is believed that the descendants of the Celts currently inhabit primarily the British Isles and in most cases they are Irish.
Celtic art
Celtic art was borrowed from the Illyrians, Iberians, Thracians, as well as from some other tribes with which they came into contact. The art of the Celts was distinguished by characteristic ornaments made on metal. Their first ornaments were made using the engraving technique, and later Celtic craftsmen learned to make relief images. A fairly developed direction among the Celts was the manufacture jewelry with characteristic ornaments.
Around the 1st century BC. e. as a material for manufacturing various items become ceramics, glass, bronze.
Music of the Celts
The music of the Celts has left its mark on the culture of modern descendants living in the following territories:
- Ireland.
- Scotland.
- Cornwall.
- Wales.
- Brittany.
- Galicia.
- Cantabria.
- Asturias.
Celtic traditional music was synthesized with popular music genres, resulting in the formation of a whole movement - Celtic fusion.
Today, Celtic music has the following varieties:
- Irish.
- Scottish.
- Isle of Man.
- Breton.
- Welsh et al.
The Celtic civilization was very powerful. This can be judged by the names of European cities and regions: French Gaul and Spanish Galicia. Belgium, Bohemia and Aquitaine were named after individual Celtic tribes.
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Despite the obvious interest in Celticology not only in secular academic science, but also among church historians talking about the phenomenon of the Celtic church, the answer to the fundamental question is not generally known and clear: who are the Celts? The author of this publication tries to answer this question.
The ancient writers called the people who played a key role in the historical formation of Central and Northern Europe by different names - “Celts” (keltoi/keltai/celtae), “Galls” (galli), “Galatians” (galatae). This group of tribes of Indo-European origin came to Western Europe earlier than other Aryans.
“Herodotus in the middle of the 5th century mentions this people, speaking about the location of the source of the Danube, and Hecataeus, who became famous a little earlier (c. 540-775 BC), but whose work is known only from quotations given by other authors, describes the Greek colony of Massalia (Marseille), located, according to him, on the land of the Ligurians next to the possessions of the Celts."
“About a quarter of a century after the death of Herodotus, northern Italy was invaded by barbarians who came along the Alpine passes. The description of their appearance and names indicate that they were Celts, but the Romans called them “galli” (hence Gallia Cis- and Transalpina - Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul). More than two centuries later, Polybius refers to the invaders under the name "galatae", a word used by many ancient Greek authors. On the other hand, Diodorus Siculus, Caesar, Strabo and Pausanias say that galli and galatae were identical designations for keltoi/celtae, and Caesar testifies that contemporary galli called themselves celtae. Diodorus uses all these names indiscriminately, but notes that the version keltoi is more correct, and Strabo reports that this word was known to the Greeks firsthand, since the keltoi lived in the vicinity of Massalia. Pausanias also prefers the name "Celts" in relation to the Gauls and Galatians. It is now impossible to establish what is causing this terminological uncertainty, but we can confidently conclude that the Celts called themselves keltoi for a long time, although other names may have appeared during the 5th and 4th centuries BC.”
The polymath, lawyer and popularizer of history Jean Bodin (1530-1596) sets out the medieval view on this issue as follows: “Appian establishes their origin from Celt, the son of Polyphemus, but this is as stupid as the fact that our contemporaries establish the origin of the Franks from Frankino , son of Horus, a mythological personality... The word “Celt” is translated by many as “horseman”. The Gauls, inhabiting the temperate climatic regions of Europe, were called the first Celts, because among all peoples they were the most capable horsemen... Since many argued about the origin of the word "Celt", Caesar wrote that those who live between the rivers Seine and Garonne, truly and justly called Celts. Even despite the similarity of language, origin, birth, and repeated migrations, the Greeks always called our ancestors Celts, both in their own language and in the Celtic language. Where the name “Gauls” came from and what it means, as far as I know, no one can explain for sure... Strabo, relying on the opinions of the ancients, divided the world into four parts, placing the Indians in the east, the Celts in the west, the Ethiopians in the south , the Scythians in the north... The Gauls were located in the lands of the distant western region... In another passage, Strabo placed the Celts and Iberians in the west, and the Normans and Scythians in the north... It is a fact that Herodotus and then Diodorus expanded the Celtic borders in Scythia to the west, then Plutarch brought them to Pontus, showing quite clearly that the Celts managed to spread their tribe everywhere and fill the whole of Europe with their numerous settlements.”
The modern celtologist Hubert believes that Keltoi, Galatai and Galli may be three forms of the same name, heard in different times, in different environments, transmitted and written down by people who did not have the same spelling skills. However, Guyonvarch and Leroux take a different point of view: “Is it difficult to understand that the ethnonym Celts designates a set of ethnic groups, while other ethnonyms: Gauls, Welsh, Bretons, Galatians, Gaels, are used to designate different peoples?”
With reference to the era of the Roman conquests in northern Europe in the middle of the first century BC. Celts are the peoples of northwestern Europe who became part of the Roman Empire and separated from the Germanic tribes living east of the Rhine. Despite the fact that ancient writers did not call the inhabitants of the British Isles Celts, but used the names brettanoi, brittani, brittones, these were also Celtic tribes. The closeness and even identity of origin of the island and mainland inhabitants is confirmed by the words of Tacitus about the inhabitants of Britain. “Those living in the immediate neighborhood of Gaul are similar to the Gauls, either because the common origin still affects them or the same climate in these countries located opposite each other gives the inhabitants the same features. Having weighed all this, it may be considered probable that, on the whole, it was the Gauls who occupied and peopled the island nearest to them. Due to adherence to the same religious beliefs, one can see here the same sacred rites as among the Gauls; and the languages of both are not much different.” Julius Caesar also mentions the close relations between the inhabitants of Britain and the tribes of the Armorican Peninsula in his Notes on the Gallic War.
For a linguist, the Celts are peoples who speak Celtic languages that arose on the basis of the ancient common Celtic dialect. The so-called Celtic language is divided into two groups: Q-Celtic, called Gaelic or Goidelic. It contains the original Indo-European
To the archaeologist, the Celts are people who can be classified into a particular group on the basis of their distinctive material culture. Archaeologists distinguish two major phases in the evolution of Celtic society, which are called Hallstatt and La Tène. In the 19th century in Austria, near Lake Hallstatt in a beautiful mountainous area, a huge number of Celtic antiquities dating back to the 7th century BC were found. Ancient salt mines and a cemetery containing more than two thousand burials were discovered. Salt protected many objects and remains of bodies from destruction. Numerous "imported" items indicate trade relations with Etruria and Greece, as well as with Rome. Some items come from the regions where Croatia and Slovenia are located today. Amber indicates connections with the Baltic region. Traces of Egyptian influence can also be seen. Fragments of clothing made of leather, wool and linen, leather hats, shoes and gloves were found. Leftover food contains barley, millet, beans, varieties of apples and cherries.
“Halstatt was a settlement with a thriving local salt industry, and on it depended the wealth of the community, as evidenced by the cemetery. The Hallstatt people used iron, and it was in honor of this unusually rich and interesting place that the entire early Iron Age began to be called the Hallstatt era.” This civilization was far superior to that of the Bronze Age. The second phase of the evolution of the Celts is associated with archaeological discoveries in the town of La Tène in Switzerland. The number of finds and the nature of the site are less impressive than Hallstatt, but the quality of the objects found made the discovery no less significant. Analysis of the found objects showed their Celtic origin, dating back to a more recent era compared to Hallstatt. As an example, two-wheeled war chariots, which differed from the four-wheeled carts of Hallstatt. Thus, from the archaeologist's point of view, "the first people we can call Celtic are the tribes of Central Europe, who used iron and new technologies, who left impressive monuments in Hallstatt and in other areas of Europe."
Today, when we talk about the Celts, we represent the few peoples who are speakers of Celtic languages on the periphery of the western regions of Europe, but for historians “the Celts are a people whose culture covers vast territories and long periods of time.” After all, it was they who created most of the cities, borders or regional associations to which we are accustomed. “Their languages were not preserved in this vast space, but they left their traces. Major cities in Europe bear Celtic names: Paris (Lutetia), London (Londinium), Geneva (Genava), Milan (Mediolanum), Nijmegen (Noviomagus), Bonn (Bonna), Vienna (Vindobona), Krakow (Carrodunum). “We still find their tribal names in some modern place names that have already lost their Celtic connections: Boii (Bohemia), Belgae (Belgium), Helvetii (Helvetia - Switzerland), Treveri (Trier), Parisi (Paris), Redones (Rennes) , Dumnonii (Devon), Cantiaci (Kent), Brigantes (Brigsteer). Ukrainian Galicia, Spanish Galicia, Asia Minor Galatia and many other geographical names, such as Donegal, Caledonia, Paidegal, Galloway, with the root “gal-” in their names, testify to the Celts who once lived and ruled in these places.
One of " business cards» Celtic civilization is the Druidic religion. With all the diversity of the Celtic world, “... this heterogeneous ethnically huge composition of tribes was united [...] by the mysterious Celtic religion and a single sacred language, which has only an oral tradition of transmitting sacred knowledge, the custodians of which were no less mysterious Druid priests, standing in their own way position above tribal leaders."
Scientists say that the main “problem” of the Celtic civilization is caused by the fact that the Celtic people lived the longest and most interesting period for researchers outside of written, recorded history. Unlike the civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, the Celts were carriers of an oral cultural tradition. This order of things is not unique to regions that are peripheral compared to developed civilizations. It is explained by the fact that “the agrarian and aristocratic society of the Celts, like many other peoples, was not so complex as to require written recording of legal norms, financial statements and historical events.” Social norms, religious traditions and folk customs were transmitted through oral transmission from generation to generation. When it was necessary to preserve large amounts of information, continuity was supported by a corporation of specially trained experts in traditional wisdom - the Druids. In classical texts the word "Druids" appears only in the plural. "Druidai" in Greek, "druidae" and "druides" in Latin. Scientists debate the origin of this word. Today the most common point of view, coinciding with the opinion of ancient scientists, in particular Pliny, is that it is associated with the Greek name for oak - “drus”. The second syllable of the word is seen as coming from the Indo-European root "wid", equating to the verb "to know". Pigott states that "the special connection of the Druids with oak trees has been repeatedly confirmed."
Classical sources, as Pigott writes, attribute three important functions to the Druids. Firstly, they were bearers of traditional beliefs and rituals, as well as keepers of the history of the tribe and other information about the world, be it information about the gods, space and the afterlife, be it a set of everyday laws and practical skills such as drawing up a calendar. The bulk of this knowledge was transmitted orally, perhaps in poetry, and continuity of knowledge was ensured by strict apprenticeship. The second function was the practical application of laws or the administration of justice, although it is not explained how this power related to the power of the chiefs. The third function was control over the offering of sacrifices and other religious ceremonies. “It is hardly reasonable to absolve the Druids of blame for their faith and participation in human sacrifices, perhaps even very Active participation". In the civilized Roman world this was only done away with at the beginning of the 1st century BC. The Druids were the sages of a barbarian society, and the religion of that time was their religion with all its barbaric savagery and brutality. Defending the Celts, Poisson notes: “In any case, the Celts did not have the massacre that took place in the circuses and dedicated to the monstrous idol, which was called the “Roman people”.”
Mainly, the Druids were prophets, clairvoyants; they predicted, they interpreted omens. Celtic traditions indicate that the Druids spoke at public meetings and imposed punishments on those who did not accept their decisions or the decisions of the king. They played the role of ambassadors and thus, despite the rivalry of clans, cemented the spiritual union of the Celts. “The education of youth existed as far as it was connected with Druidry, Druids would exist in Roman Gaul as professors higher schools". This education took the form of countless poems learned by heart, including epics and historical works on the origin of the race, cosmological digressions, and journeys to another world. The ancients attributed to the Druids the creation of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The Celtic faith was so vibrant that it surprised the Romans. The teachings of the Druids were supplemented by mythology and corresponding funeral rites. Death for the Celts was only a transfer, when life continues in another world, “which they considered as a reservoir of souls.”
Here is what Caesar wrote about the Druids: “Druids take an active part in matters of worship, monitor the correctness of public sacrifices, interpret all questions related to religion; Many young people come to them to study science, and in general they are held in great esteem by the Gauls. Namely, they pronounce judgment on almost all controversial cases, public and private; whether a crime or murder has been committed, whether there is a dispute over inheritance or boundaries - the same Druids decide; They also assign rewards and punishments; and if anyone - whether it be a private person or a whole nation - does not obey their determination, then they excommunicate the culprit from the sacrifices. This is their heaviest punishment. Anyone who is excommunicated in this way is considered an atheist and a criminal, everyone shuns him, avoids meeting and talking with him, so as not to get into trouble, as if from an infectious disease; no matter how much he strives for it, no judgment is carried out for him; He also has no right to any position. At the head of all the Druids is one who enjoys the greatest authority among them. Upon his death, the most worthy one succeeds him, and if there are several of them, then the Druids decide the matter by voting, and sometimes the dispute about primacy is even resolved by force of arms. At certain times of the year, the Druids gather for meetings in a sacred place in the country of the Carnuts, which is considered the center of all Gaul. All litigants come here from everywhere and submit to their determinations and sentences. Their science is thought to have originated in Britain and from there carried into Gaul; and to this day, in order to get to know it more thoroughly, they go there to study it.
Druids usually do not take part in war and do not pay taxes on an equal basis with others; they are generally free from military service and from all other duties. As a result of such advantages, many people partly join them in science, partly they are sent by their parents and relatives. There, they say, they learn many poems by heart, and therefore some remain in the Druid school until they are twenty years old. They even consider it a sin to write down these verses, while in almost all other cases, namely in public and private records, they use the Greek alphabet. It seems to me that they have this order for two reasons: the Druids do not want their teaching to be made publicly available and so that their students, relying too much on writing, pay less attention to strengthening their memory; and indeed it happens to many people that, finding support for themselves in writing, they are less diligent in learning by heart and remembering what they read. Most of all, the Druids try to strengthen the belief in the immortality of the soul: the soul, according to their teaching, passes after the death of one body into another; they think that this faith eliminates the fear of death and thereby arouses courage. In addition, they talk a lot to their young students about the luminaries and their movement, about the size of the world and the earth, about nature and about the power and authority of the immortal gods.”
