Bronze and Iron Age Britain

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 533.

Celtic culture and mythology

Celts on the British Isles. La Tene culture. The six Celtic languages. Ogham as a form of writing. Cornwall – a unique Celtic area in Britain. Celtic social structure: a Fine, a Tuath, the Nobility, the Aes Dana, the Churls. Appearance, clothing, and cultural characteristic of the Celts. Celtic Calendar, Religion and beliefs. The main festivals: Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasa and Samhain. Celtic mythology and gods: Lugh, Cernunnos, Goibhnui, Oghma, Brigid, Epona. Druids. The Celtic culture in Britain and Ireland. Celtic art and poetic works.

Questions

1. When were the British Isles invaded by Celts?

2. Give the examples of La Tene material culture.

3. What languages were spoken by the Celts?

4. What was a form of their writing?

5. What were the Celtic areas in Britain?

6. Why is Cornwall unique?

7. Describe the social structure of the Celts.

8. What was their appearance and clothes?

9. What was Celtic religion?

10. Describe the Celtic Calendar.

11. What were the main festivals?

12. What were the sacred things for the Celts?

13. Describe the Celtic Pantheon.

14. What role did the Druids play?

In Britain the Stone Age changed slowly into the Bronze Age from about 2100 BC. Metal started to be used for the first time instead of stone to make tools. The skill to make things with metal may have been brought to Britain soon after 2000 BC by the Beaker Folk who were named after the bell-shaped beakers found in their tombs. Copper was used at first, then bronze, a mixture of copper and tin. Tools were made by pouring the metal into the mould. In the latter part of the Bronze Age most settlements had their own smiths or skilled craftsmen.

Bronze Age people built the impressive stone circles still to be seen at Stonehenge and other places. On Dartmoor many stone rows extend in lines for distances up to two miles/ 3 km.

Important people were buried in round barrows made near the top of the hill. There was usually one person buried in each, together with metal goods and pottery.

In about 500 BC iron began to be used instead of bronze for making tools. Some time before it, Celts had begun arriving in the British Isles from Europe and had mixed with the population already living there. The Celts were best known for their metalwork, and there is archaeological evidence of metal workshops in southern England and near Grimsby on the east coast. Iron bars were used as currency before coins were introduced in the I-st century BC.