The ancient Celts / [print]
Barry Cunliffe.
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, (c)1997.
- 324 pages, 24. pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm
Visions of the Celts -- The Reality of the Celts -- Barbarian Europe and the Mediterranean: 1300-400 BC -- The Migrations: 400-200 BC -- Warfare and Society -- The Arts of the Migration Period -- Iberia and the Celtiberians -- The Communities of the Atlantic Facade -- The Communities of the Eastern Fringes -- Religious Systems -- The Developed Celtic World -- The Celts in Retreat -- Celtic Survival -- Retrospect.
[The author of this book] explores the nature of Celtic identity and presents the first thorough and up-to-date account of the tribes who were famous throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and whose origins still provoke heated debate. Fierce warriors and skilled craftsmen, the Celts were the archetypal barbarians from the north, feared by both Greek and Romans. Napoleon III spent much time and money searching for the ancestral Gauls, and the concept of the Celts has been used many times by nations fringing the Atlantic in their search for identity. In this volume, Professor Cunliffe explores the archaeological reality of the Iron Age inhabitants of barbarian Europe, tracing the emergence of chiefdoms, patterns of expansion and migration, and the development of a mature 'urbanized' society, thus assessing the disparity between the traditional vision of the Celts and the archaeological evidence. Through his consideration of cultural diversity, social and religious systems, art, language, law, and oral traditions, the author is able to draw a distinction between societies which conform to an ethnic 'Celtic' model and those subjected to 'Celtization', and tease out a fascinating new picture of the identity of the Celts.