What do we know about the landscape and society of Iron Age Celtic Ireland c.500B.C to c.300AD?
What do we know about the landscape and society of Iron Age Celtic Ireland c.500B.C to c.300AD?
From about 300BC the roots of a Celtic Iron Age civilisation became established in Ireland.1 This period observed the emergence of kingdoms and the creation of Ireland’s finest archaeological landscape.2 We have evidence of a very highly organised society, of an Ireland that seemed to be flourishing. The first known reference to prehistoric Ireland is made; ‘The climate is unfavourable for the ripening of grain, but yet it is so fertile for grass, not only abundant but sweet, that livestock eat their fill in a small part of the day. Unless they were restrained from this pasturage they would burst from feeding too long’. ( The Romans,44AD).
Let us embark by taking a look at the society of this Celtic Ireland. By about 500BC, iron-using tribes led by wealthy chiefs were establishing themselves in Western Europe.3These people spoke their own Celtic language, an ancestor of the Irish that is spoken today.4 They were a group of different peoples linked by a common language and various characteristics in their appearance, dress and way of life.5 It is suggested that there could have been two movements by the Celts into Ireland- one to the western half, by people coming directly from the Continent, and another to north-east Ireland by a group coming from northern Britain.6 Ireland was entering a new phase of her history.7 The Celtic Iron Age civilisation was part of a European wide spread of peoples and technologies known as the ‘La Tene’ culture, so named after an important find-spot on Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland8. Halstatt, is the name given to the material culture of these early iron-using peoples.9 Unconquered by Rome, the ‘insular Celts’ were flourishing in Ireland and felt the influence of La Tene culture particularly around the third century BC.10 Evidence for this contact is mainly artifactual, based on a limited range of weapons, highly decorated horse trappings
From about 300BC the roots of a Celtic Iron Age civilisation became established in Ireland.1 This period observed the emergence of kingdoms and the creation of Ireland’s finest archaeological landscape.2 We have evidence of a very highly organised society, of an Ireland that seemed to be flourishing. The first known reference to prehistoric Ireland is made; ‘The climate is unfavourable for the ripening of grain, but yet it is so fertile for grass, not only abundant but sweet, that livestock eat their fill in a small part of the day. Unless they were restrained from this pasturage they would burst from feeding too long’. ( The Romans,44AD).
Let us embark by taking a look at the society of this Celtic Ireland. By about 500BC, iron-using tribes led by wealthy chiefs were establishing themselves in Western Europe.3These people spoke their own Celtic language, an ancestor of the Irish that is spoken today.4 They were a group of different peoples linked by a common language and various characteristics in their appearance, dress and way of life.5 It is suggested that there could have been two movements by the Celts into Ireland- one to the western half, by people coming directly from the Continent, and another to north-east Ireland by a group coming from northern Britain.6 Ireland was entering a new phase of her history.7 The Celtic Iron Age civilisation was part of a European wide spread of peoples and technologies known as the ‘La Tene’ culture, so named after an important find-spot on Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland8. Halstatt, is the name given to the material culture of these early iron-using peoples.9 Unconquered by Rome, the ‘insular Celts’ were flourishing in Ireland and felt the influence of La Tene culture particularly around the third century BC.10 Evidence for this contact is mainly artifactual, based on a limited range of weapons, highly decorated horse trappings