HIST 310-The Celts
This post comes www.celticart.com and Celtic Realms by Nora Chadwick about The Book of Kells. I have cited each souce. If every I get the chance I would love to see this "Book" I would have been great to see it when it was in its original condition.
The Book of Kells is a group of manuscripts (handwritten documents) that were created in the 9th century A.D. It has its origins in Ireland and the north British Isles. (celticart) It contains Latin text of the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Also enclosed are summaries of the gospels, cannon tables, a list of Hebrew names, a strange collection of lore and legend about evangelist, and the genealogy in the Gospel of St. Matthew. (celticart)
The book is bound by sewn by hand by the Irish monks. It is large in size and probably was used as an altar book. (celticart) The codex is made of this polished vellum. The handwriting is in round half-uncial, which is characteristic of other Irish manuscripts. (Realms 310)
It is not only a written document, but also an excellent display of Celtic art. It has complex decoration. The designs consist animals, spirals, mazes, and swirls contained on all of the pages, but two. (celticart) It also uses the angular human figures that resemble the human forms of early Greek black figure vases. (Realms 291) It has polycromed manuscript in blue. “It is an art of suggestion rather than of delineation, and the suggestion is the creation of the Celtic imaginations passing beyond the prescribed border of science.” (Realms 311)
) This chief treasure of all the Irish works was stolen and the raiders never appreciated its artistic value. (Realms 310) In the year 1006, the Gospel of Columbille was taken from it and stripped of its gold cover. (Realms 310) It is also missing several pages. In 1661 the Book of Kells was transferred to Trinity College in Dublin.
I have found a site calleed www.stonepages.com It has descriptions and pictures of Celtic hill forts. There is not much left of these, so it is hard to get a sense of what they orginally looked like, but you can get an idea of how large they were.
This post comes from the sources "The Celtic Causeway" a special on the discovery channel and www.24hourmuseum.org. If anyone gets a chance to watch the special, do. It was so very interesting. I just happened on to it one day and I really learned a lot.
In Fiskerton, England a young farmer was usuing a metal detector in one of his fields near the River Witham. His detector went off and he dug around to see why. He found a rusted old sword. He packed it back to the house and called his local historian, little did he know he had stumbled on to a great discovery.
The area the young farmer was searching had once been coverd by the River Witham. In a more recent time, the river had been drained to provide more area for farm land. Due to this draining we have stumbled on to a great Celtic discovery. In the Naomi Fields in the years 1981 and 2001, a dig found two rows of posts, evenly spaced apart, driven into the ground. As the dig proceded they found wooden planks laid crossways between the post, almost to form a walkway. Dendrologists have dated the causeway between 457 BC and 300 BC. (24hour) It was regualry kept up with improvements happening around every eighteen years.
The real discovery was not only witnessing the engineering feat, but the artifacts of weapons, a true form of Celtic art. The finds were in great condition, mainly because the river is so full of marshy peat. The peat seals the object away from oxygen. (24hour) The odd thing was why all the artifacts were found over the sides of the causeway. One theory was people had lost them over the sides, but this was discredited due to the great amounts that were found. It was decided that they were purposely placed over the side. They were made an offering to the gods and they were the Celts most prized possessions.
One of the greatest discoveries was of a log boat. It was in great condition. This boat baffled the archeologists. It was found in brand new condition, still had fresh cutting marks and no visible smoothness from traveling on the river. It also was found with its back end wedged into place. (24hour) The boat signifies that the site in which it was place was very important to its owners. (24hour)
More from www.celticcorner.com
The Halstatt culture was discovered at 1824 dig in an Iron Age cemetary. It was located in Hallstatt, Austria hence the name. This site became the chief souce of knowledge about the Celts in Europe. The dig lasted until 1963 which during this time (the website author tells us her/his sources conflict) anywhere from 1000-2000 graves were excavated.
The cemetary dates to the seventh and sixth centuries BCE and holds many graves of different classes of people. The graves of women contained clanking jewerly and bulky fibulae. The graves of the rich contained bronze buckets, bowls, cups. This cemetary is still one of the richest with respect to its finds of weapons, jewerly, and pottery.
The people buried at Hallstatt lives depended on the mining of rock salt. It was an important ingredient for preserving food. It also aided in preserving the bodies and biodegradable items in the graves. Evidence shows that around 600 BCE another salt mine opened near Hallstatt and there became fewer burials at the site.
The Hallstatt culture is broken down into four phases. Hallstatt A &B are in the late Bronze Age c.1200-800 BCE. Evidence shows that there was not a large scale political originazation. They were cheifdoms. Hallstatt C is in the very early Iron Age, c800-600 BCE. During this time is when fortified settlements on hill tops are beginning. They were built by noblemen. a Hallstatt D ranges from 600-500BCE it is during this time we see the richest graves.
I have been exploring the internet for great Celt websites these past two weeks and haven't logged on to post.
The first website is www.celticcorner.com . I don't know how I verntured on to this site, but I hit a link and it just popped up. It starts by giving a brief description of Celtic origin and then moves on to describe the Hallstatt and La Tene cultures.
The Celts are derived from two groups of people that came from Central Europe in the New Stone Age period. They are distingushed by their burial artifacts. The first group is the BEAKER FOLK. They are named after a Bell Beaker (a drink vessel) found in one of their grave sites. "They emerged as an independent culture around 3000 BCE" (www.celticcorner.com/origins.html)
The second group in called the Battle-Axe folk. Again they are named after a battle axe of stone found in a burial site. They came from the steppe lands of southern Russia. "The Battle Axe group may be attributed with the initial spread of the Indo-European group of languages" (www.celticcorner.com/origins.html)
In Central Europe these two groups came together to become one group. This happened just before the Bronze Age. From this grouping together the Celts can be traced back to by archeolgical evidence. (www.celticcorner.com) The cultures Unetice, Tumulus and Urnfield stemmed from the combination of these people.
The Unetice culture orginated directly from the mix of Battle Axe and Beaker folk. The Unetice people prospered because of the rich mineral deposits and their control of the trade routes between the South and East early mediterranean cultures and distant Europe. (www.celticcorner.com)
The Tumulus cuture, which came after the Unetice culture, dominated Central Europe during the second part of the second millenium BCE. This culture is distinguished by the their practice of burying their dead beaneath mounds. During their "rule" trade contact were probably expanded. (www.celticcorner.com)
The 'Proto-Celtic' Urnfield culture may have spoken an early form of Celtic. These people cremated their dead, put the remains in an urn, and buried them cemetaries. The period of the Urnfield culture was one of expansion. During this time the Bronze Age was at its height. From this culture the Celts emerged as an agricultural people. (www.celticcorner.com)
