The Celts
Celtic England
Within a few generations of the Gauls’ defeat at Alesia in 52 BC, the Celtic culture of Europe vanished, its language, art and culture lost for ever – or was it? There was one place where the language and culture of the Celts survived the Roman onslaught and from which it would eventually return to Europe in glory – the British Isles.
The Romans never actually described the people of Britain as Celts, although they did say that the Britons spoke a language similar to that of the Gauls. Britain at that time was home to a complex network of tribes, just like mainland Europe. Yet today we think of the home of Celtic culture as surviving on the western fringes of the British Isles. So how did it get there? Did Celtic tribes migrate there before the Romans?
The Battersea shield and Waterloo helmet
In 1857, a remarkable object – a beautifully decorated bronze shield – was dredged from the Thames near Battersea power station, and just downriver at Waterloo, an extraordinary horned helmet was found. Because both objects were found under water, and their exotic decoration was similar to the Celtic finds uncovered in the same year at La Tène in Switzerland, Victorian archaeologists quickly put two and two together: Celtic tribes must have migrated to Britain from mainland Europe.
These were no doubt masterpieces of Celtic art. But experts today are less convinced about the Victorian theory of Celtic mass migration. According to Dr J D Hill of the British Museum, ‘It’s important to recognise that these are very British objects. The style of the decoration shares something with other parts of Europe, but at the same time it’s distinctly British.’
So both of these objects were made in Britain and are unique. But like most things in the Celtic world, they are not quite what they seem. ‘We call this a helmet and we call this a shield, but neither of them would ever have been used in battle,’ says Dr Hill. ‘The shield is essentially a show piece, a decorative object. And this isn’t really a helmet – it’s probably ceremonial head gear.’
Some of the finest examples of Celtic art in Europe were not imported but were made in Britain by British craftsmen. For instance, the Snettisham great torc, found in north-west Norfolk, is one of the most astonishing pieces of prehistoric metal work anywhere in Europe, and it’s a very British take on the art style we now call ‘Celtic’.
The Wetwang chariot burials
Wetwang male chariot burials: the photograph directly above is a detail of part of the middle one.
So if Celtic art is found all over Britain, is there any evidence that Celtic tribes from Europe came here as well?
In 1984, in a gravel pit at Wetwang in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a digger uncovered the first of a series of strange burials that offer an intriguing insight into Celtic migration. According to archaeologist Dr John Dent, ‘This valley in the Yorkshire Wolds has produced more chariots than virtually anywhere else. Of all the relatively few chariot burials that have been uncovered all over the world in the last 200 years, 20 were found in Britain and all but two of these were discovered on the Wolds.’
At Wetwang, they found three such burials in a row: at one end was a young man with his chariot, sword and shield; in the middle was a woman and her chariot; and beyond her, a second man with his sword and other weapons. If chariot burials are uncommon, female chariots burials are even more rare – only two have ever been found in Britain.
Buried along with the woman and her chariot in about 100 BC was a collection of extraordinary personal items, including an iron mirror and an iron pin with a piece of coral mounted on a gold strip. The horse harnesses and her finery were decorated in the familiar Celtic style and all were made in Britain, just like the chariot.
Reconstruction of the Wetwang chariot.
Burying the dead with a two-wheeled chariot is unknown anywhere else in Britain, but it was a common tradition among Celtic tribes in Europe. So is it possible that this was a tribe of Celtic settlers who had come from Europe, bringing their traditions with them? According to Dr Dent, ‘It does suggest that the ideas came from the Continent because there are many parallels to be found in parts of central and western Europe.’
A Celtic chariot in action.
The most intriguing parallel is that the Romans called this local tribe ‘the Parisii’ and a European tribe called the Parisii would eventually give Paris its name. And both tribes buried their dead with chariots.
