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Interesting reading in the following series of lecturers from an American professor who studies Irish anthropolgy and archaeology. http://www.rbfilm.com/courses_pdf/UT129.pdf
Prof Susan A. Johnston discusses in depth the idea of the Celts, or Celtic peoples, and shows how much the theories of Celtic Civilisation have evolved in the last few decades- even since I studied it at university.
Back then there was a current of theory which suggested that a Celtic peoples had migrated to Ireland and thus we had a Celtic tradition.
Prof Johnston however excellenty takes apart the myths of the idea of Celtic Ireland on a number of levels- lingustically, documentary and archaeological evidence.
Of relevance,
1. Ireland was/ is not a Celtic country. That term itself was assigned to Ireland in the eighteenth century by a Welsh linguist- and was seized by the fledgling Irish nationalist movement as evidence of an us and them heritage (us Celtic- them British/Roman)
2. The historical documents/evidence suggest that the true Celts were limited to an area of Gaul, the Rhine, Eastern Europe and western Turkey. This can be proven by a combination of historical evidence/archaeological finds/art and languages/ and the peoples own myths/foundation stories.
3. Ireland and Britain (collectively the British isles in ancient sources) were instead an Iron age culture- which adapted and acquired La Tene (later Celtic) art. A lack of wealthy burial sites, evidence of Celtic existence leads Prof Johnston to observe that rather like the wealthy Californias who become au fait in all things European, they may acquire pieces of European design, but cannot be called Celtic. She concludes that the knowledge of Celtic culture by ancient Irelands wealthy trading elites, should not be confused with a widespread Celtic people/culture exisiting in Ireland. Instead Prof Johnston points out that throughout Iron age Europe, dominat cultures influenced each other- so that parts of Gaul adapted Roman elements, parts of Ireland adapted Celtic elements from trade, and minor settlements.
4. Prof Johnston (and by association me) warn that this is not to deny those who claim to "be Celtic", or to have "Celtic blood" in places like Scotland and Ireland, the right to this claim. However she is making the point that these people need to understand what they are claiming heritage from. That would be a core Celtic culture in Gaul/Germany/Switz. With decreasing circles of Celticness as it would later be defined. The fact that the origins of this widely accepted strand of anthropology were from British academics led to virulent and over the top attacks by "Celtic" nationalists. I agree with Johnston, we need to of course accept that people can claim Celticness. But is a modern label, that would have meant nothing to the Iron Age peoples of the time. Funnily enough, she points out that England- of all the British Isles nations, has the richest tradition of Celtic art, archaeology, and historicaly recorded existence. I think these contradictions should be acknowledged by the anti-immigration heads out there who claim that there is such a thing as pure Irish- Celtic blood. Prof Johnston says such claims do not stand up to the evidence- great series of lectures- well worth downloading...
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Originally Posted by Captain Con O'Sullivan
