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mention the celts today and no doubt
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someone will bring up their proud irish
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or scottish heritage
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the celts have a renowned culture but
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how much do you really know about these
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ancient people
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one
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they didn't originate from ireland or
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scotland the greeks first mentioned the
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celts in around 540 bce
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these early sources only identify them
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as western people whose territory spread
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from the south coast of france to the
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atlantic and included most of the
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iberian peninsula
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however it is important to note that
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this was based on information from
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travelers and traders to the area and
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may not be strictly accurate
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in truth no one is certain where the
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culture came from or how it spread
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throughout europe
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it has been hypothesized that an
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indo-european civilization arrived from
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the middle east through greece around
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6000 bce and developed into the celtic
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culture
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this theory suggests that by 5500 to
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5000 bce a kelto italic culture had
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formed throughout italy southern france
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and spain before developing into the
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distinct celtic culture in 3000 bce
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the celts then spread from northern
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spain ireland and western and northern
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britain into the rest of britain and
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mainland europe by 2000 bce
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of course this is just one of the many
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theories about the celts and we may
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never know the truth about the origins
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of these elusive peoples
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two
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we don't really know much about them
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the only information we have on the
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celts is through the descriptions of
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their enemies and archaeological
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evidence
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the majority of recorded reports come
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from the greeks and the romans
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since the celts were enemies of both
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cultures we should take what they say
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with a grain of salt
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celtic tribes tried to invade greece
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during the 3rd century bce and were a
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constant thorn in the side of roman
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forces for 5 centuries
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in 390 bce a celtic army managed to
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occupy rome for seven months until the
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romans paid them to leave
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due to being bitter enemies the greeks
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and romans often portrayed the celts as
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mindless brutes
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many people today will still think of
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the roman view of the celts despite
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archaeological evidence to the contrary
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historians are still formulating
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opinions about the celtic culture and
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theories are constantly evolving
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a dna study of britons suggests that the
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cults were not a unique genetic group as
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people with celtic ancestry living in
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scotland and cornwall had more
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similarities with the english than other
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celtic groups
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this finding suggests that while the
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people shared a similar culture and
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lifestyle separate tribes came from
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different backgrounds
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three
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we don't know if they identified as
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celts
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the name celt is derived from the greek
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word caltoi which is how the greeks
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describe the tribes of europe
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the romans also referred to them as
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gauls due to the region in modern day
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france where some tribes resided
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caesar claimed that the people of gaul
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referred to themselves as celte
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however it is unknown whether this is
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actually how they identified or merely
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how they referred to themselves in
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communications with the romans
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conceivably only the tribes who came
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into contact with the greeks knew the
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moniker kelt
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as the celtic population spanned an
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extensive area it is likely that they
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identified themselves by their
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individual tribe names and were grouped
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together by their contemporaries due to
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a shared culture
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while there were probably hundreds of
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tribes only 20 or so celtic tribal names
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have survived including belgae britain's
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icini and damnani
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4. the celts probably had a common
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language
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due to the spread of a distinctive
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culture over such a large area it seems
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that all celts were able to communicate
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complex ideas with each other
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this is evidence of an extensive trade
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network that spanned the celtic regions
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the spread of intricate skills suggests
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celtic peoples from different areas and
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countries could communicate effectively
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across europe interlinked symbolism
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knowledge and beliefs are found in
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celtic architecture and art
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each tribe probably had its distinct
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dialect but their languages were most
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likely similar if not the same
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of course it may have been that there
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were people in the tribes that were
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multilingual and could communicate ideas
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with others before translating them to
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the rest of their clan
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however the celtic languages that have
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survived have striking similarities
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5. celtic languages are still spoken
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today
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of the six languages still spoken four
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have been living languages for some time
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meaning they were in use and two have
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been revived in recent years
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welsh breton irish and scottish gaelic
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are the older living languages with
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cornish and manx being revived in the
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21st century
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this is no small feat since the romans
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and subsequent rulers tried to wipe out
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the celtic language and identity these
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languages are grouped into two branches
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the gaelic or goethelec branch consists
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of irish scottish gaelic and mex from
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the isle of man located in the irish sea
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the second branch the britonic branch
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includes welsh cornish and breton
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the languages in the same branch have
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many similarities while the two branches
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have distinct differences
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however this does not mean that they did
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not develop from the same root language
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as the two branches had thousands of
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years to diverge
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6. the celts were wealthy
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while the ancient celts are often
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portrayed as primitive barbarians they
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had a monetary system in place that
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aided their economy and trade network
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the earliest celtic coins were made of
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pure gold and were copies of greek coins
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used by philip ii of macedon
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it is thought that the knowledge of
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coins traveled to the celtic regions
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after encounters with the greeks
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especially as philip ii and alexander
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the great used celtic mercenaries
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before coin usage it is thought that
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some of the celtic tribes used swords as
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currency
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celts used gold and silver for coins and
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various combinations of tin and copper
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and hordes of up to 40 000 celtic coins
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have been found throughout europe
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historians now believe that the real
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motive for caesar starting the gallic
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wars was to get his hands on the gold
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deposits in gaul
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7. the celts were well groomed
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hygiene was especially important to the
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celts as was style
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the celts washed regularly and are
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credited with introducing soap to the
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romans celts cleaned their hands using
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soap and many bathed every day combing
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and styling their hair afterward
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kels also used oil and scented herbs to
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help keep them smelling fresh it often
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carried combs and tweezers to ensure
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that they looked tip top when they were
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out and about
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both men and women kept their nails in
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good order and women used an herb called
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ruan to redden their nails as well as
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their cheeks and lips
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both sexes like to adorn themselves with
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brightly colored jewelry
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celtic clothes made from wool linen or
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animal skins tended to be also brightly
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colored and were of such high quality
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that they were exported into the roman
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republic even before the roman invasion
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of celtic lands the celts prized
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physical fitness and had penalties
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against being overweight
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some sources say that tribes had a belt
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or girdle that was expected to fit all
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members of the tribe
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tribe members were punished for being
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too soft or growing a belly that did not
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fit into the belt
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but it was the celt's hair that was at
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the forefront of their fashion
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the celts generally wore their hair long
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and they would often use chalk or lime
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to lighten the color
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men would also use these materials to
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shape their hair into spikes to
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intimidate their enemy when going into
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battle although they could not do so
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until they killed an enemy
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men wore beards often styled into forks
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or squares and long mustaches curled at
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the ends both men and women braided gold
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strands into their hair and used
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decorative pins beads ribbons and stones
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8. women's rights were protected by
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celtic law
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the celts had a more egalitarian society
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than their enemies
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celtic women enjoyed more rights and
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freedoms than those in roman or greek
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culture
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the romans used this equality between
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the sexes to indicate that the celts
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were barbaric as they felt any society
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that saw men and women as equal was
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primitive
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celtic women could be rulers and
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soldiers with girls being trained to
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fight alongside the boys
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legendary irish hero kukalene was taught
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by a woman named skahok
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both skahawk and her female rival afe
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led armies and were considered fierce
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warriors
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although most rulers were men women were
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not prohibited from becoming leaders the
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most famous female celtic ruler was
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boudicca who led the last major british
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uprising against the romans
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there weren't any professions in the
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celtic world that were forbidden to
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women and they could conduct business on
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their own without needing to consult
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their husbands or fathers
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while roman law decreed that once
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married a woman was the property of her
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husband
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celtic marriage was seen as a
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partnership between a man and a woman
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under celtic law a woman could not be
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married against her will and they were
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allowed to choose their husband
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while political marriages were still a
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common way of forming alliances these
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marriages were not forced
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women were allowed to divorce as well as
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own and inherit property
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these rights gave celtic women economic
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independence that most women in the
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greek or roman cultures were not
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afforded
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9. the celts were not one unified people
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although the celts are often classified
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as one culture defined by their beliefs
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language customs and art they were not
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one people
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which means there was likely more than
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one celtic culture
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the celts were made up of numerous
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individual tribes who were often at war
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this division is the main reason they
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could not overcome the roman army
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although the celts outnumbered the
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romans and were undoubtedly accomplished
00:10:06
warriors the tribes were never united
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enough to organize themselves
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sufficiently
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this shortcoming is demonstrated in the
00:10:13
defeat of baudica at wattling street in
00:10:15
61 ce
00:10:17
although the clans had united under
00:10:19
bodicum they had no unified strategy and
00:10:21
were beaten by the romans despite
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outnumbering them
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no one knows precisely how many tribes
00:10:27
there were throughout the celtic regions
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still given the large area they
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inhabited it is assumed there would have
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been hundreds
00:10:35
these tribes engaged in trade and
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warfare with their neighbors whether
00:10:38
celtic or foreign
00:10:40
we might be living in a very different
00:10:42
world today if the celts had ever truly
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unified against the romans
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10. the celts did write
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although they did not have their own
00:10:52
writing system until around the 4th
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century ce the celts borrowed the
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alphabet of others to write inscriptions
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in their own language celtic texts have
00:11:01
been found etched on stone using latin
00:11:03
or greek
00:11:04
one such engraving is at a memorial
00:11:06
stone and dates from the 7th or 6th
00:11:08
century bce
00:11:10
the stone was found in lagos southern
00:11:12
portugal and was written in the celtic
00:11:14
language using phoenician script
00:11:16
most celtic writing appears to be
00:11:18
memorials and does not offer much
00:11:20
insight into their day-to-day lives
00:11:22
around the 4th to the 6th century ce the
00:11:25
celts developed agam a writing system
00:11:28
thought to have been inspired by either
00:11:29
greek roman or rudix script
00:11:32
inscriptions in ogam have been found on
00:11:34
stone but historians also believe that
00:11:36
they would have used sticks stakes or
00:11:38
trees to write on
00:11:40
these inscriptions are predominantly
00:11:41
people's names and were mainly used to
00:11:43
denote ownership
00:11:45
we hope you found these 10 facts about
00:11:47
the celts interesting
00:11:49
do you know any unusual facts about the
00:11:51
celts that we missed let us know in the
00:11:53
comments below
00:11:54
to learn more about the celts check out
00:11:56
our book
00:11:57
celts a captivating guide to ancient
00:11:59
celtic history and mythology including
00:12:01
their battles against the roman republic
00:12:03
in the gallic wars
00:12:05
it's available as an e-book paperback
00:12:07
and audiobook also grab your free
00:12:09
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00:12:11
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00:12:13
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00:12:14
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