Ancient Civilizations
Ancient Celt Civilization
Posted by cosmic • Filed under ancient civilizations, cultures
The Celts
The Celts are probably one of the less known civilizations. The Celts dominated eastern, western, and central Europe, along with Asia Minor. The people that are descendants of the Celts now live in some areas of France, Spain, Cornwall, Turkey, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The earliest evidence of Celtic history is around the area of present day France and Germany around 1200 BC. This civilization was quite huge, stretching from the British Isles all the way to Turkey. This empire was greater than the size of present day Russia. However there are now only three true surviving Celtic nations, which are Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
The Celtic people weren't really bound so much by a central government but more so as religion, culture, and language. The Celtic government was a feudal system, where each tribe has a King and was divided by classes. These classes generally included Priests, Nobles, Warriors, Commoners, and then Slaves.
The Celtic government has traces of democracy, and gave equal rights to men and women. If it was decided the King was not suitable, he would be thrown down and secession would not necessarily come through bloodlines.
The Celts are also very famous for their art. They are considered to be the starters of European art from a non-Mediterranean area. The Celtic art mostly began during the Iron Age, and has suggestions of Roman, Greek, Persian, and Etruscan arts. The Celtic art is famous for its elaborate depictions of animals, humans, and geometrical shapes. They are also noted for their elaborate use of colours, making of jewellery, weapons, and burial gifts.
The Celts were a religious people, and they generally practiced Christianity brought to them by the Roman Missionaries after Roman converted to Christianity. The Celts however didn't use religion the same way as the Romans. The Romans used it in an obedience way, and the Celts used it for meditation and spiritual enlightenment. Christianity, however, was not brought into Celtic culture until the later years of the Celtic reign.
The Celts were famous for some inventions such as the handsaw, soap, rotary reaper, and rotary mill. They were also quite famous for starting a currency system consisting of gold coins and they developed trading centres.