A Brief History of the Celts (32 page)

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Authors: Peter Berresford Ellis

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As an Indo-European people, the Celts used a solar symbol of well-being, which in Sanskrit was called the swastika, a symbol perverted by Nazi Germany in the
1930s. The motif is seen here in a 2nd century
BC
embossed silver horse harness found at the Villa Vecchia Manerbio.

Generally regarded as ‘The Father of the Gods’ in Celtic terms, Cernunnos, the horned god, is equivalent to the Irish ‘The Dagda’. This
is a panel from the Gundestrup cauldron.

A Celtic inscription from Gaul, written in Greek letters, from Vaison-la-Romaine. A Celt named Segomaros states he has dedicated a shrine to Belisma, a Celtic
goddess whose name means ‘the shining one’. 2nd/1st century
BC
.

In the Hallstatt period the Celts stylized heads. This bearded head from the 5th century
BC
is from a bronze ornament on a wooden jug
and may well have been that of a king or warrior.

In the Le Tène period, Celtic heads began to be more realistic and this may be a portrait of a prominent leader or chieftain from the 3rd century
BC
found in Aix-en-Provence.

In trying to denigrate Celtic society, Caesar claimed that the Celts conducted human sacrifices and put victims into a large man-like object made of wicker and
burnt them alive. This reconstruction of the idea comes from Aylett Sammes’
Britannia Antiqua Illustrata
, 1676. There was no evidence of such practices.

The Druidic teaching on Celtic afterlife is depicted on the Gundestrup cauldron showing a god dipping the dead bodies in the cauldron of life and restoring
them to the world of the living.

From the 17th century, and particularly into the 18th and 19th centuries, Druids were ‘reinvented’ and seized popular imagination. This
illustration from
Costumes of the British Isles
(1821), Meyrick and Smith, shows how people fondly imagined Druids. The reality was quite different.

One of the most spectacular pieces of Celtic military art, the bronze shield found at Battersea, in the Thames, dating from the 1st century
BC
. Note the swastika designs in the enamelling.

Celtic war helmets were highly decorated. This one, bearing horns, was found in the Thames and is thought to have been placed there as a votive offering. It
is dated to the 1st century
BC
.

A female figure of the early Celtic period in the Po valley, found in Caldevigo.

A bucket found at Aylesford, Kent, made of bronze and wood and dated to the 1st century
BC
. An essential item for farming and domestic
use.

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