Did I already discuss this? I don't remember. The previous view was that the Celts entered Europe at the same time as the Italic tribes, coming in north of the Alps and settling Austria and southern Germany, then eventually Romania, Hungary, France, Iberia, and the British Isles. They were then pushed westwards as the Germanic tribes came in, eventually clinging to their few remaining areas of Scotland/Manx/Ireland and Wales/Cornwall/Breton. The second half of that story may still be true, because there is at least some recorded history that attests to this. Though even this is under revision, as the DNA record is somewhat different.
As to the first part of the story, it is greatly imperiled. The DNA evidence suggests that the Celts came from the western Mediterranean and migrated into Ireland and Cornwall from Iberia directly. They then moved eastward into England, France, and Germany. If you want to catch a long discussion of this, Barry Cunliffe of Oxford is your man. You can catch one of his videos here, but he is a little difficult to listen to, so I didn't embed it. Nice man. Probably better to talk to live than listen to speaking at a conference. Most of you will be happy just to have the new conventional wisdom in my little summary.
That seems odd. Unless the area was un/sparsely populated before they came, what's the benefit in going so far west? Were they after tin?
ReplyDeletePretty much due north. Tin from Cornwall was likely a reason, and slaves are always valuable to a seafaring people. Beyond that I don't know. They went around the curve of the bay to Brittany, but some evidence suggests that a lot of it was direct from the north coast of now-Spain to Ireland.
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