The Celts are an ancient and mysterious people who once inhabited a vast territory from the British Isles to Asia Minor. We will tell you what they looked like, why they were called bounty hunters and why they rushed into battle naked.
What the ancient Celts looked like
By a "Celtic type" person, we usually mean the owner of red hair, blue eyes and a light, almost white face covered with freckles. This is 2% of the population of Europe, mainly residents of the British Isles. But this appearance was hardly typical of the Celts during the heyday of their civilization, if it was at all peculiar to them.
During the time of Herodotus, the Greeks easily recognized the Celts among other barbarians by their national characteristics: tall stature, fair skin, blue eyes, blond hair and well-developed muscles. According to researchers, this type of appearance did not belong to the entire population, but to its most noticeable estates - leaders and free soldiers.
This is confirmed by archeology. Numerous Celtic burials have come down to us, in which both the remains of people corresponding to the descriptions of ancient authors have been found, and the Celts, who had a more stocky constitution, less tall, wide nose and dark hair. The latter, according to historians, belonged to the more ancient population of the Bronze Age, which occupied the North Alpine zone.
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Blondes also came from the newcomer population of Central Europe, who migrated to the west.
With the red-haired type, common in the British Isles, things are much more complicated. It is still unknown to whom the inhabitants of Britain, who are closest to the Celts, owe this rare color. According to one of the versions, this is the legacy of the Germanic and Scandinavian tribes, who repeatedly attacked Britain in the Middle Ages, according to the other - the traces of more ancient peoples who inhabited these lands even before the arrival of the Celts.
Who built Stonehenge
Megaliths or huge buildings of stone blocks, to which the famous Stonehenge belongs, contrary to popular belief, are not of Celtic origin. In Europe, they usually date from the Late Stone Age and Early Bronze Age (3-2 millennia BC), while the first Celtic archaeological culture, known as Hallstatt, did not appear until 900 BC.
However, no one could just walk past these impressive structures and leave them unattended. The Celts did the same, adapting many megaliths for the performance of their sacred practices. Stonehenge was a real "temple of druidism". Excavations have unearthed a huge amount of British and Roman-British ceramics, as well as many pagan burials from the Laten era, when Druidism ruled Britain.
This sanctuary played such a significant role in the life of the Britons that adherents of the Druid religion continued to visit this place after the Roman conquest.
In the ideas of the island Celts, megaliths often became the home of local deities. Thus, the famous Newgrange - a corridor tomb in the Boyne River Valley in Ireland, built in the third millennium BC, was considered the home of the supreme god Dagda and entered local mythology as a mound of fairies.
By the way, Newgrange, in terms of the complexity of construction and functionality, is in no way inferior to the Egyptian pyramids.
The height of the mound is 13.5 meters, the diameter is about 85. A long corridor leads to the burial chamber, at the base of which are vertically placed blocks, each weighing 20-40 tons.
It focuses on the exact location of the sunrise on the winter solstice. Through a special opening above the entrance, for several days (December 19 - 23), the rays of the sun rising through the tunnel reach the burial chamber and illuminate it for 17 minutes. Newgrange was closely associated with the cult of death. The entrance to the tomb was marked by a circle of stones depicting a triple spiral, a symbol associated with the cycle of death and rebirth. They marked the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
Sacrifices
The Celtic religion was far from the concept of humanism. Ancient authors testify that human sacrifice was a very common practice. Especially in times of danger. Julius Caesar wrote: “All Gauls are extremely devout. Therefore, people stricken with serious illnesses, as well as spending their lives in war and other dangers, make or vow to make human sacrifices; druids are in charge of this.
It is the Gauls who think that the immortal gods can be propitiated only by sacrificing another human life for human life."
For this, the Gauls even resorted to public sacrifices. According to the testimony of Caesar and Strabo, they built huge stuffed cages woven from willow, which were filled with living people and burned. True, the victims were usually criminals who had already been sentenced to death.
By the way, Druids and Celtic leaders could also become candidates for sacrifice. In one of the Irish legends, the Dessi tribe defeated the enemy due to the fact that one of the druids allowed himself to be sacrificed in the guise of a cow. The leader could be “given to the gods” if his rule was accompanied by military failures for the tribe or some natural disasters (crop failure, hunger, flood). The same practice existed among the ancient Scandinavians, who burned a king who was objectionable to the gods.
Naked warriors
The Celts were presented to the Roman authors as perfect berserkers with rather peculiar ideas about military uniforms and weapons. The ancient Greek historian Polybius said that some Celtic detachments - Gezats ("spearmen") rushed into battle naked, but with weapons in their hands. At the heart of this ancient Celtic tradition was the idea that in this way divine powers could be invoked for protection. In addition, such a spectacular exit served as a demonstration of military prowess, which was in the first place among the Celts.
Bounty hunters
A favorite war trophy of the Celts was the severed head of a worthy enemy. Diodorus Siculus wrote that, after killing the enemy, Celtic warriors cut off their heads and keep them in cedar oil. Some even, according to the historian, boasted that they would not give up these heads for any treasures of the world. In one of the Irish sagas, it is described that as a rite of initiation, the young man had to bring the severed head of the enemy.
The legendary Irish king Conchobar, who lived at the beginning of our era, died from being hit in the head by a ball that was a mixture of limestone and the brain of his slain opponent.
Often, such trophies were kept either at home or in special sanctuaries. At Roquepertuse in France, excavations have uncovered a low portico with niches filled with human skulls. According to the celtologist Terence Powell, the purpose of this practice was to bring wealth and abundance into the house, as well as to get spirits to serve the owner.