Celtic Culture

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Celtic Culture
A Powerpoint Presentation by Catherine Chenoweth
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Who were the Celts?

• It is difficult to define what it is to be
  Celtic. Celtic culture is an umbrella term used
  to encompass cultures from modern England to the
  Mediterranean, from Spain to Turkey. While
  historians continue to refer to all of these
  people as Celts it is important to know that
  individual cultures within the Celtic
  over-culture are both distinct and sometimes very
  different. For example, while most Celtic
  societies were agricultural and rural some
  subsisted through hunter gathering and others
  created cities and even had written language.
  This presentation focuses on larger trends which
  hold up in most cultures considered Celtic and
  especially on Ireland and the area of modern
  Great Brittan because the most information is
  available in places which managed to avoid the
  Roman conquest such as Ireland.

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Where did they come from?

• Celtic culture is a hybridization of both
  indo-european culture and that of the people
  preceding the indo-europeans. This connection of
  cultures shows in archaeological findings and in
  religion as well as art. The Celts had both a
  strong female and male deity, the male from the
  indo-european culture and the female from an
  older, pre-existing culture.

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Appearance

• The Celts were fond of color and wore as many
  colors as possible. Men wore trousers and knee
  length tunics and women wore dresses or tunics
  over skirts. Both sexes wore long wool cloaks to
  keep warm. Women also wore make up to brighten
  their cheeks and eyes and sometimes paint stripes
  on their faces. During battle, warriors went
  naked or shirtless and covered their bodies with
  designs in a die called wode which was an indigo
  blue and was supposed to protect them from harm.
  

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Jewelry

• The Celts were fond of jewelry and both men and
  women used it to decorate themselves. Gold was
  the metal of choice. The women wore rings,
  bracelets, armbands belts, girdles and necklaces,
  while men wore bracelets, rings, and belts. They
  also wore toques around their necks. A torque is
  a piece of metal in the shape of a u or a circle
  that is worn around the neck and equated with a
  persons honor. Pictured to the right, a torque.
  

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Celtic Art

• The style usually associated with Celtic artwork
  is in fact a style particular to only some of the
  areas and cultures defined as Celtic. This La
  Tene style is by far the most recognizable and
  best preserved of all Celtic art because of the
  use of it by christians on manuscripts especially
  in Ireland.

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La Tene Style

• La Tene is a title referring to an area in
  modern Switzerland where there was a flourishing
  of Celtic culture and arts between 600BCE and the
  Roman conquest of the area after 100C.  The term
  La Tene is most frequently used to describe the
  artistic style typically associated with the
  Celts.  It is characterized by swirling geometric
  knot work and stylized animal and vegetal
  designs.

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Celtic Knots
Although Celtic knots have been described as
important religious symbols, most historians
agree that they are simply decorative. The use
of this distinctive style in later Christian
works comes from the idea that to depict sacred
things is a form of idolatry.
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Christian Art

• After St. Patrick converted much of Ireland to
  Christianity, Celtic artwork was preserved
  through the illuminated manuscripts created by
  monks and stone carvings used to decorate
  churches. The Christians, especially in Ireland
  where the culture had not already been overrun by
  Rome, preserved and the artistic style of the
  Celts even as their culture moved away from the
  traditional Celtic way of life. In many ways
  these religious orders perfected the elaborate
  and unique technique the Celts have become famous
  for.

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The Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an Irish illuminated
manuscript of the Four Gospels and other
Christian texts which is generally considered the
height and perfection of the Celtic La Tene style
of art. Each page is decorated in elaborate
designs and pictures that are both very beautiful
and show clearly the hybridization of both Celtic
and christian lifestyles and beliefs.
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More Pictures from the Book of Kells
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• Although usually thought of as preserving Celtic
  artwork and culture, these Irish monks were
  recording their own culture as it changed from
  more traditionally Celtic to christian,
  especially in Ireland the transition from
  polytheistic animism to christianity was a
  transition and not a death of culture.

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Celtic artwork and the La Tene style continue to
be passed on to this day through modern artwork.
People descended of the ancient Celts are working
to reclaim their cultural heritage through
artistic, spiritual, and historical means
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Class Structure
Celtic society was organized based on families,
it was very important to know at least four or
five generations worth of ancestors.  An
individual who was excommunicated from their
family was considered as a slave or outcaste. 
Although Celtic society was varied, most groups
were fluid in there allegiance with rulers,
allying themselves only when it benefited their
larger family.  They also have a system of three
social classes. The highest class was composed
of druids, bards, and skilled crafts people.  The
next class was made up of those who may have
owned land and the warriors.  Next came the
producers, the laborers and the freedmen.
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Connection to India

• Many striking connections and parallels have
  been found between the cultures of ancient Vedic
  India and the Celtic people of Europe.  Rituals,
  linguistic connections and similarities in social
  order all point to the fact that these seemingly
  different cultures split from each other
  relatively recently. Many historians believe the
  caste system in India to be the same as the three
  class social organization in Celtic society.

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Bibliography

• http//www.cs.ubc.ca/nest/imager/contributions/sch
  arein/celtic/sorta- celtic.html
• http//www.craytech.com/drew/knotwork/knotwork-mea
  ning.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_knot
• http//www.vedanet.com/HinduCeltic.htm
• http//www.angelfire.com/home/thefaery5/
• http//www.natall.com/national-vanguard/116/celts2
  .html
• http//www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/anceur/r
  elwale5.htm
• http//www.ares.u-net.com/celtindx.htm (the term
  celtic)
• http//www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/celtic
  /
• http//www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303/Ce
  lt1.jpg
• http//labyrinth.georgetown.edu/
• http//www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48449
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/art/verkerk/celtic/celtic
  /
• http//celticdejavu.tripod.com/celticculture.html
  

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Bibliography Continued

• Cahill, Thomas, How the Irish Saved Civilization,
  Anchor Books, New York, 1995.
• http//www.suite101.com/course.cfm/17702/seminar
• http//www.celtdigital.org/
• http//www.celticcorner.com/index.html
• http//members.optusnet.com.au/dwkneen/Celts/hist
  ory.htm
• http//www.geocities.com/dubricius/
• http//www.greyhawkes.com/text/celts.txt
• http//www.haverford.edu/engl/faculty/Sherman/Iris
  h/ardagh.htm
• http//celtdigital.org/Durrow.htm
• http//www.snake.net/people/paul/kells/
• http//www.ragnarokpress.com/artype/kells/
• http//www.virtualireland.ru/ivi/celts.jpg
• http//www.spa.edu/jjohnson/images/Celtic20Art.jp
  g