The Celtic Question: An Assessment of Identity Definition in the European Iron Age

Abstract

________________________________________________________________The identity of the ''Celts'' has played an integral role in understandings of the Iron Age and the more recent socio-political history of Europe. However, the terms and attitudes which have been in place since the 19th century have created a field of research characterized by assumptions about a 'people' and a culture. Previous study of the ''Celts'' has been conducted in three main areas-genetics, linguistics, and material culture from the archaeological record. Through the reassessment of these three fields, substantial divergence in the patterns and trends between fields, as well as the highly regional nature of the evidence has been revealed within the vast interconnected trade and communication network that developed in Iron Age Europe. As a result, the unitary phenomenon identified under the term ''Celts'' is actually that network. This paper argues that ''Celtic'' should be redefined as the label for that trade and communication network, not as a label for a group, culture, or people, enabling the establishment of new identities for the regional populations of the European Iron Age. ________________________________________________________________ Résumé: L'identité des « Celtes » a joué un rô le essentiel pour la compréhension de l'Â ge du fer et de l'histoire sociopolitique plus récente de l'Europe. Toutefois, les termes et les attitudes utilisés depuis le XIXe siècle ont créé un domaine de recherche caractérisé par des hypothèses sur un « peuple » et une culture. Une précédente étude sur les « Celtes » a été réalisée dans trois domaines principaux: la génétique, la linguistique et la culture matérielle des données archéologiques. Grâce à une réévaluation de ces trois domaines, une divergence importante dans les caractéristiques et les tendances entre les domaines ainsi que l'aspect extrêmement régional des éléments d'information sont apparus dans le vaste réseau interconnecté et de commerce de communication qui s'est développée pendant l'Â ge de fer en Europe. Il en résulte que le phénomène unitaire identifié sous le terme de « Celtes » est en réalité ce réseau. Cet article soutient que le terme « celtique » devrait être redéfini comme la dénomination pour ce réseau de commerce et de communication et non comme une dénomination pour un groupe, une culture ou un peuple, afin de permettre

Grave goods from Sveta Lucija (Slovenia) in Groningen (the Netherlands). Contextualising old study collections

“…Džino 2007; Nijboer 2020). Donnelly (2015) even suggested that Celtic should become a label for the European Iron Age regional trading and communication network, rather than one for a culture or people. I would like to add that the term Celtic in Italy, but seemingly also in Slovenia, stands for disruption, exchange, warrior ideology, variability, assimilation and reduced archaeological visibility.…”

Texts, Politics and Identities: New Challenges on Iron Age Ethnicity. A Case from Northwest Iberia

“…Leaving aside the possible existence of an earlier common root (an issue that exceeds our goals), its use as a common ethnonym is rather a footprint of cultural history (Feinman & Neitzel 2020) that should not be considered in contemporary ethnic studies. Indeed, its use tend to confuse rather than clarify, especially if it is applied to different regional identities with different and even contradictory attributes (Donnelly 2015;Karl 2012). In terms of self-classification, the Celtic identity is closer to J.D.…”