THE CELTS

A Celtic culture established itself throughout the British Isles during the Iron Age.
The Celts were tribes of warriors who shared a similar language, religion and culture. The roman presented them as barbarians.They gradually settled in Britain between about 500 and 100 BC.They brought ironworking to the british isles.It affected trade and helped develop local independence because iron was quite cheap and easily available.Hill forts consisted of a small ditch and bank surrounding a hilltop.We don't know if the hill forts were built by the Celts.The basic unit of Celtic life was the clan, which was like today's extended family.Clans joined together with other clans to form tribes, each with its own social structure and customs.Celts lived in timber and thatched roofs huts.The Celts practised agricolture when they weren't in war.They introduced the iron plough.Women were almost equal to men.They could choose the man they wanted to marry and retained their own property.They could also lead other warriors in war.Celts relied on the oral trasmission of culture, especially through bards.They worshipped the natural elements, they held their religious rites in the woods and near the sacred water of wells and springs.