The Celts
The Celts were a group of different tribes (a group of people who share similar ideas or culture like language, food, clothing and religion) who lived in Western and Central Europe.
They settled in Britain around 750BC during the Iron Age.
They were skilled warriors and good farmers who grew and traded their food with other tribes.
Archaeologists (people who study the past) have used relics (a special object people keep because it belonged to somebody very important) and writings about the Celts to learn about how they may have lived.
Important words
Important words on The Celts.
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| Archaeologists | People who study the past. |
| Clan | A group of people, often families, who live and work together. |
| Iron Age | A time when people began to use tools and weapons made of iron. |
| Relic | A special object people keep because it is linked to someone or something important. |
| Tribe | A large group of people who share similar ideas or culture like language, food, clothing and religion. |
| Woad | A plant used to make blue dye. |
Who were the Celts?
Iron Age people, often referred to as ‘Celts’, were a number of tribes who had similar languages and religions.
The word ‘Celt’ comes from the Ancient Greeks.
It wasn’t a word the Iron Age people called themselves.
They lived in Western and Central Europe, including Britain and Ireland.
They lived in Britain from roughly 750BC to AD43.
This is during the end of the Bronze Age and through the Iron Age until the Roman invasion of Britain.
Watch: What was life like for the Celts?
Watch the video to learn more about life in Celtic Britain.
JONATHAN WEST: This is Butser Ancient Farm - a 30-year-old project researching the British Iron Age in the time of the Celts. When people come to Butser they learn a lot about the Celts and the Celtic way of life.
Before the Romans came, we're looking at a very different sort of countryside, covered in small settlements. It was made up of fields and woods and pastures. So try and put in your mind this sort of patchwork of different colours of green scattered across the whole countryside.
The Celts were a warrior-based society but they were very very good farmers and this led to an enormous amout of trade. Life in a Celtic village revolved around the production of food. If they weren't able to produce food, they starved. It's very seasonal work and even the building and maintenance of houses depended on doing it at the right time of year.
During the summer, all effort was spent on looking after the crops. In the autumn, that was the time to sort the animals out and decide which ones you wanted to keep through the winter. And during the winter, that was the time to cut the wood. There is very little evidence of Celtic houses in modern times because they were built out of wood and straw and that all rots away to nothing.
At Butser there are all sorts of activities. We learn about the differences between life lived under an empire, which is still very similar to what we do today, and life before the arrival of an empire, when there wasn't a nation. People lived a lot closer to the earth. They used natural materials to do their building and everything was based on farming.
What kind of people were the Celts?
The Celts' society was full of warriors and they were good at fighting.
They lived in clans (a group of people, often families, who live and work together) that belonged to a larger tribe.
Often tribes would fight against each other.
Celtic life was based around farming.
They made food to eat and to trade with other tribes.
Homes were in small settlements in the countryside.
They kept animals for both food and to make clothing from their hides (an animals skin).
Watch: What were Celtic homes like?
Watch the video to learn more about where the Celt's lived.
PRESENTER: This is Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire. No Celtic buildings survive, and so these buildings have been constructed using archaeological evidence. This is what archaeologists think Celtic homes might have looked like.
If you live in a country with trees growing everywhere, it makes sense to build with wood. And it seems that that's what the Celts did. Right - here's your DIY guide to building a Celtic house.
First, select some sturdy branches and trim them to make posts. Then put the posts in a circle and hammer them into the ground. Take some thin branches and weave them between the posts. This is called wattling.
A wall like this one could be a bit draughty in the winter. So what would you use to plug up the gaps? Well, there's plenty of soil lying around…
Make a pit of soil. Add some straw and dung and mix with water. Daub the mixture on the wall to fill in the gaps. Finally, for the roof, build a frame from branches and thatch it with straw.
Painting the wall with lime will help it to last longer.
Wood and thatch are materials which, over time, disintegrate. The only evidence which archaeologists used to construct this house, like others, was the pattern of holes left in the ground where the posts once stood. This gave them a plan to work from.
It's impossible now to know exactly who would have occupied a dwelling of this size. Perhaps here you would have found a Celtic chief or maybe the house was used as a community meeting place. We can't know what life was like in this house but we can get some idea from what was written about the Celts.
How do we know about the Celts?
We know about the Celtic tribes in Britain because archaeologists have found relics.
We also know about them because other people wrote about them at the time.
The Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wrote about the Celts in battle.
He wrote that they painted themselves blue from head-to-toe, using dye from a plant calledwoad, and screamed as they ran in to battle.
Remember that this writing was not always accurate.
The Romans described the Celts as ‘barbarians’, a word they used for people they believed were violent or uncivilised. They called them this because they wanted to be viewed as the civilised people invading Britain.
Watch: What the Greeks wrote about the Celts
Watch the video to learn more about how the Greeks saw the Celts.
"The feast was an occasion when the community could reminisce about the past: about its history and the exploits of its heroes."
"They wear astonishing clothes - dyed tunics displaying every colour."
"Their hair is not only naturally blond, but they also use artificial means to increase its natural quality of colour, for they continually wash their hair in lime wash."
Who were Boudicca and the Iceni tribe?
the
The Iceni tribe was a Celtic tribe led by Prasutagus.
When he died around AD60, his wife Boudicca became the tribe's new leader.
The Romans tried to take control of the Iceni tribe.
They Romans stole from the Iceni tribe and attacked Boudicca’s daughters.
Determined to remove the Romans from Britain, Boudicca's gathered and led an army of tribes and attacked the Roman cities of:
- Camulodunum (Colchester)
- Londinium (London)
- Verulamium (Saint Albans)
In AD60 or AD61, Boudicca and the Romans fought one last time, but Boudicca was unable to defeat them.
Think like a historian
Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.
The Celts built their houses out of wood and straw. Why do you think this makes it difficult for archaeologists to know exactly what Celtic life was like?
Why do you think people still remember Boudicca today even though she was defeated by the Romans?
The Celts were a group of many different tribes who fought and traded with each other. What do you think people can learn about the Celts from this?
Did you think that wood and straw would rot away over a long period of time? This means there is very little evidence left for archaeologists to use. Maybe you thought about how the holes where the posts were placed are the only clues archaeologists can use. These post holes can help archaeologists see what shape the house was, but it doesn’t tell them who may have lived there.
Maybe you thought people remember Boudicca because she was a Celtic queen who led her people against a powerful enemy for her tribe's freedom. Perhaps you thought that people remember her because she was a strong and important warrior queen because who was determined to remove the Romans from Britain and successfully attacked three major Roman cities.
Did you think that the fact that they fought and traded with each other tells us that the different tribes were not all the same? They shared a language and religion, but their clothing, way of life and leaders were different. Maybe you thought that if the many Celtic tribes were fighting each other, this meant they would be weaker when fighting a new enemy, such as the Romans.
Activity: Celts in Britain quiz
Let's find out about what you know about the Celts in this quiz.
Grown-ups corner
Are you a parent, carer or teacher?
Take a look at some of the links below on KS2 History which are packed full of knowledge, videos, quizzes and activities.
KS2 History: The Romans. 4: The Romans in Britain
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History: Iron Age Britain
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History: Ancient Voices
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade game! game
Play Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade KS2 History
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