Early Origins

Edward T. Wimberley, Ph.D.

The Celts: Blood, Iron, and Sacrific (2015) with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver Anthropologist Prof. Alice Roberts and archaeologist Neil Oliver go in search of the Celts - one of the world's most mysterious ancient people. In Britain and Ireland, we are never far from our Celtic past but in this series Neil and Alice travel much further afield, discovering the origins and beliefs of these Iron Age people in artefacts and human remains right across Europe, from Turkey to Portugal. What emerges is not a wild people on the western fringes of Europe, but a highly sophisticated tribal culture that influenced vast areas of the ancient world - and even Rome. Rich with vivid drama reconstruction, we recreate this pivotal time and meet some of our most famous ancient leaders - from Queen Boudicca to Julius Caesar - and relive the battles they fought for the heart and soul of Europe. Alice and Neil discover that these key battles between the Celts and the Romans over the best part of 500 years constituted a fight for two very different forms of civilization - a fight that came to define the world we live in today.

Part one of this film series portrays the origins of the Celts in the Alps of central Europe and relive the moment of first contact with the Romans in a pitched battle just north of Rome - a battle that the Celts won and that left the imperial city devastated.

The five-part BBC Film Series, The Celts, (2001) explores the origins and beliefs of the Celts in artifacts and human remains across Europe. What emerges is not a portrait of wild people on the western fringes of Europe, but a highly sophisticated tribal culture that influenced vast areas of the ancient world - and even Rome.

Episode one of The Celts - "In the Beginning" - looks at how the Celts were the first European people north of the Alps to rise from anonymity. This program explores who the Celts were, where they came from and what made their culture so distinctive. For 800 years, a proud, vibrant, richly imaginative warrior people swept ruthlessly across Europe. The ancient Greeks called them "Keltoi" and honored them as one of the great barbarian races. Follow their fascinating story from their earliest roots 2,500 years ago through the flowering of their unique culture and their enduring heritage today, enhanced with stunning reconstructions of iron-age villages, dramatizations of major historical events and visits to modern Celtic lands. The Celts were the first European people north of the Alps to rise from anonymity. This program looks at who the Celts were, where they came from and what made their culture so distinctive.

Video:

• The Celts: Blood, Iron & Sacrifice, Part One;
• The Celts: Episode 1: In the Beginning;
• Neil Oliver's History of Ancient Britain: Episode One - The World of Stonehenge;
• Neil Oliver's History of Ancient Britain: Episode Two - The World of Stonehenge;
• Neil Oliver's History of Ancient Britain: Episode 3 - The World of Stonehenge;
• Neil Oliver's History of Ancient Britain, Episode 4 - The World of Stonehenge;
• Kevin MacLean'sThe Proto-Celts.

Readings:

• Proto-Celtic Culture
• Early Celts;
• Overview of the History of Celts;
• A Brief History of the Celts by Peter B. Ellis (Chapters 1-3),
• Evolution of the Celts (Maps);
• Timeline of Prehistoric Britain;
• Celtic Timeline;
• Chronology and Bell Beaker Common Ware;
• Beaker People in Britain;
• Background of Celtic Languages;
• Bell Beaker Jewelry;
• Bell Beaker & Celtic Art;
• Bell Beaker People Map;

Study Questions:

1. From where did the Celts emerge?
2. What was the significance of the Graves unearthed at Halstatt?
3. What were the early Celts mining at Halstatt and why were they mining?
4. What role did Celtic language play throughout Europe and the modern British Isles?
5. What rituals have archeologists concluded that the Celts participated in?
6. What was the importance of copper, iron and tin in Celtic culture?