The+Celts

=The Celts=

**__Celtic Definition__**

The Celts referred to groups of people in ancient Europe that spoke the Celtic languages, such as Gaelic (Ireland, Scotland, and Manx) or Brythonic (Welsh, Breton, and Cornish). Most people associate the term “Celtic” with the languages and the cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and the French region of Brittany. Most of the people from these places have a Celtic ancestry. The term actually corresponds with the Celtic language family, which are still living languages: Gaelic and Brythonic.

__**Origins and Geographical distribution**__

The Celtic language family is a branch of the Indo-European family, which may mean that the Celtic proto language may have came from the Pontic-Caspian steppes. The Celts appeared in history around 600 BC, but they were already split into distinct separate language groups. Studies suggest that the some of the Celtic peoples had a pre-Celtic genetic ancestry, shared with the Basque people, possibly going all the way back to the palaeolithic era. Stonehenge, as well as other megalithic monuments were built way before the Iron Age Celtic culture. The Celts were relatively stable for 6,000 years, which means the modern Celts are direct descendents of the monument’s builders. Of course, there is no evidence that the Celts used these places as a place to worship, the Druidic Celtic religions used groves of Oak trees as a place of worship.

**__Celtic Social System__**

The pre-Christian Celts had an organized social structure, based on kingship and class, based on Celtic polytheism. Women participated in warfare and kingship, and all offices of high and low kings. Celtic societies were organized around warfare, but it seems they were more interested in sport focussed raids and hunting, rather than organized territorial conquest.