Transcriber’s Notes:
Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_
in the original text.
Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold=
in the original text.
Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals.
Illustrations and footnotes have been moved so they do not break up
paragraphs.
Deprecated spellings have been preserved.
Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.
THE ANTIQUARY’S BOOKS
GENERAL EDITOR: J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A.
CELTIC ART IN PAGAN
AND CHRISTIAN TIMES
BY
J. ROMILLY ALLEN, F.S.A.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
_First Published in 1904_
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE xv
CHAPTER I
THE CONTINENTAL CELTS AND HOW THEY CAME TO BRITAIN 1
CHAPTER II
PAGAN CELTIC ART IN THE BRONZE AGE 22
CHAPTER III
PAGAN CELTIC ART IN THE EARLY IRON AGE 61
CHAPTER IV
PAGAN CELTIC ART IN THE EARLY IRON AGE 90
CHAPTER V
PAGAN CELTIC ART IN THE EARLY IRON AGE 129
CHAPTER VI
CELTIC ART OF THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD 162
CHAPTER VII
CELTIC ART OF THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD 232
CHAPTER VIII
CELTIC ART OF THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD 254
INDEX 305
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
The Hallstatt Sword 8
Ornament on bronze sword-sheath from La Tène 11
Gaulish helmet of bronze from Gorge-Meillet 12
Chevron patterns of the Bronze Age 27-36
Bronze spear-heads ornamented with rows of dots 39
Gold lunula from Killarney 40
Longitudinal section of chamber and passage of Tumulus
at Newgrange, Co. Meath 45
Plan of chamber and passage of Tumulus at Newgrange, Co. Meath 47
Spiral ornament at Newgrange, Co. Meath 48
Slab with spiral ornament outside entrance to passage of
Tumulus at Newgrange, Co. Meath 49
Spiral ornament on bronze axe-head from Denmark 51
Bronze axe-head with spiral ornament from Sweden 52
Winding-band (curved swastika), sculptured on rock near
Ilkley, Yorkshire 58
Cup-and-ring sculptures on rock at Ilkley, Yorkshire 59
Bronze sword-sheaths from Hunsbury 97
Silver-gilt fibulæ found in Northumberland 104
Bronze beaded torque from Lochar Moss, Dumfriesshire 112
Late-Celtic bronze spoon from Brickhill Lane, London 119
Late-Celtic bronze spoon from Crosby Ravensworth, Westmoreland 119
Late-Celtic spoon, one of a pair, from Weston, near Bath 120
Late-Celtic urns from Shoebury, Essex 123
Late-Celtic bronze mirror from Trelan Bahow, Cornwall 131
Bronze sword-sheath from Hunsbury 132
Late-Celtic pottery from the Glastonbury Lake Village 142
Late-Celtic wooden tub found at the Glastonbury Lake Village 147
Handles of pair of Late-Celtic spoons from Weston, near Bath 147
Engraved bone object from Slieve-na-Caillighe, Co. Meath 150
Fibula of bronze-gilt from Æsica 152
Collar from Broighter, Limavady, Co. Londonderry 153
Spiral ornament in illuminated MS copied from repoussé metalwork 154
Shading of parallel lines 156
Cross-hatching placed diagonally 156
Cross-hatching placed diagonally, with dots 157
Cross-hatching of double lines placed diagonally 157
Chequerwork grass-matting shading 157
Engine-turned shading 158
Dotted shading 158
Swastika design on shield from the Thames 159
Engraved ornament found at the Glastonbury Lake village 161
Handles of bronze bowl found at Barlaston, Staffordshire 166
Handle of bronze bowl from Chesterton-on-Fossway, Warwickshire 167
Handle of bronze bowl from Chesterton-on-Fossway, Warwickshire 168
Spiral ornament from the Book of Durrow 169
Cross-slab from Pen-Arthur, Pembrokeshire 181
Erect cross-slab at St. Madoes, Perthshire 183
Cross at Penmon, Anglesey 185
Great wheel-cross of Conbelin at Margam Abbey, Glamorganshire 187
Cross at Neuadd Siarman, near Builth, Brecknockshire 189
Cross at Nevern, Pembrokeshire 191
Pin-brooch from Clonmacnois, King’s Co. 221
Pierced marble screen at Ravenna 245
Regular plaitwork without any break 259
Method of making breaks in plaitwork 259
Regular plaitwork, with one vertical break and one
horizontal break 260
Six-cord plait, with horizontal breaks at regular intervals 260
Cross-shaft at Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire 261
Cross-shaft at Llantwit Major, Glamorganshire 261
Eight-cord plaits, with cruciform breaks 262, 263
Six-cord plait, with cruciform breaks 264
Ten-cord plait, with cruciform breaks 264
Knots derived from a three-cord plait 264
Diagrams of knotwork 265, 266
Method of deriving knots Nos. 3 and 6 from a four-cord plait 267
Knots Nos. 4, 5, 7, and 8 derived from a four-cord plait 268
Knot No. 1, derived from either a three-cord or a six-cord plait 268
Knots 3 and 4, derived from a six-cord plait 269
Evolution of knot No. 1 from a six-cord plait 269
Evolution of knot No. 7 from an eight-cord plait 271, 272
Diagrams of knotwork 273
Knotwork from Ramsbury, Wilts, and Nigg, Ross-shire 274
Circular knotwork from Tarbet, Ross-shire 276
Circular knotwork from Monasterboice, Co. Louth 276
Triangular knotwork from Ulbster, Caithness 277
Triangular knotwork from Dunfallandy, Perthshire 278
Key-patterns 280, 282
Shaft of cross of Eiudon at Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire 283
Erect cross-slab at Rosemarkie, Ross-shire 284
Methods of connecting spirals 285
Tree key-pattern, Meigle, Perthshire 286
Key-pattern border from the Book of Kells 287
Method of connecting spirals 288
LIST OF PLATES
------------------------------------------------------
Grave of a Gaulish warrior at Sesto-Calende,
I. Italy _To face page_ 8
Bronze fibulæ of La Tène type from the
cemeteries of the Marne
------------------------------------------------------
Bronze armlet of the La Tène period from
Germany
II. Bronze armlet of the La Tène period from ” 10
Longirod (Vaud)
Bronze armlet of the La Tène period from the
cemeteries of the Marne
------------------------------------------------------
III. Gaulish helmet of bronze from Berru (Marne) ” 12
------------------------------------------------------
IV. Cinerary urn of Bronze Age from Lake, Wilts,
now in the British Museum. Height 1 ft. 3¼ ins. ” 22
------------------------------------------------------
Bronze Age urn of “Incense-Cup” type from
Aldbourne, Wilts, now in the British Museum.
Height 3½ ins.
V. Bronze Age urn of “Food-Vessel” type from ” 24
Alwinton, Northumberland, now in the British
Museum. Height 5 ins.
------------------------------------------------------
VI. Bronze Age urn of “Drinking-Cup” type from
Lakenheath, Suffolk, now in the British
Museum. Height 7½ ins. ” 26
------------------------------------------------------
Spiral ornament on stone ball from Towie,
Aberdeenshire, now in the Edinburgh Museum.
Scale 1/1 linear
VII. Winding-band curved swastika on sword-hilt
from Denmark ” 58
Bronze sword-hilt with winding-band pattern
from Denmark
Bronze sword-hilt with spiral ornament from
Denmark
-------------------------------------------------------
VIII. Bronze mirror from Birdlip, Gloucestershire, now
in the Gloucester Museum. R. W. Dugdale, photo ” 68
-------------------------------------------------------
IX. Iron dagger with bronze hilt and sheath from
the River Witham ” 92
-----------------------------------------------------------
X. Bronze harness-rings from Polden Hill, Somersetshire,
now in the British Museum. Scale ¾ linear ” 94
-----------------------------------------------------------
Late-Celtic bronze fibula from Walmer, Kent,
now in the British Museum. Scale ¾ linear
Late-Celtic fibula from Ireland, now in the
Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin
XI. Enamelled bronze fibula from Risingham, ” 98
Northumberland, now in the Newcastle Museum
Bronze fibula from Water Eaton, Oxon, now in
the British Museum. Scale ¼ linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bronze fibula from Clogher, Co. Tyrone, now
in the British Museum. Scale 1/1 linear
Late-Celtic bronze fibula (locality unknown),
now in the British Museum. Scale 1/1 linear
XII. S-shaped enamel bronze fibula (locality unknown), ” 100
now in the British Museum. Scale 1/1 linear
S-shaped fibula of enamelled bronze from Norton,
E. Riding of Yorkshire, now in the British
Museum. Scale 1/1 linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bronze fibula from Polden Hill, Somersetshire, now
in the British Museum, side view. Scale ¾ linear
Bronze fibula from Polden Hill, Somersetshire, now
XIII. in the British Museum, front view. Scale ¾ linear
Bronze fibula from River Churn, now in the ” 102
British Museum, front view. Scale 1/1 linear
Bronze fibula from River Churn, now in the
British Museum, side view. Scale 1/1 linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bronze hook-and-disc ornament from Ireland, now
in the Dublin Museum
Bronze pin enamelled from Danes’ Graves near
XIV. Driffield, Yorkshire ” 108
Bronze disc fibula with Late-Celtic ornament
from Silchester, now at Strathfieldsaye House.
S. Victor White, of Reading, photo
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bronze beaded torque from Mowroad, near
XV. Rochdale. Scale ¾ linear ” 110
Bronze collar from Wraxhall, now in the
Bristol Museum
-----------------------------------------------------------
XVI. Bronze armlets from the Culbin Sands, now
at Altyre, near Forres, N.B. ” 112
-----------------------------------------------------------
XVII. Late-Celtic bronze mirror in the Mayer
Museum, Liverpool (locality unknown) ” 114
-----------------------------------------------------------
XVIII. Late-Celtic pottery from Hunsbury, now in
the Northampton Museum ” 122
-----------------------------------------------------------
Late-Celtic pottery from Yarnton, Oxfordshire,
now in the British Museum. Scale ¾ linear
XIX. Late-Celtic pottery from Kent’s Cavern near ” 124
Torquay, Devonshire, now in the British
Museum. Scale ¾ linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
Granite monolith with Late-Celtic sculpture at
Turoe, Co. Galway. Height of stone 4 ft.
XX. Reproduced from a photograph by Mr. A. McGoogan ” 128
illustrating Mr. George Coffey’s paper in the
_Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy_
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cruciform harness-mounting of bronze enamelled
(locality unknown), now in the British Museum.
XXI. Scale 1/1 linear ” 136
Bronze enamelled harness-mounting from Polden Hill,
Somersetshire, now in the British Museum.
Scale ¾ linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
Upper part of bronze sword-sheath from
Lisnacroghera Co., now in the British Museum
XXII. Lower part of bronze sword-sheath from ” 148
Lisnacroghera Co., now in the British Museum
-----------------------------------------------------------
Handle of Late-Celtic bronze tankard, Trawsfynydd,
Merionethshire, now in the Mayer Museum, Liverpool
XXIII. Bridle-bit of bronze enamelled, from Rise near ” 150
Hull, now in the British Museum. Scale ½ linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXIV. Detail of ornament on Late-Celtic bronze shield from
the Thames at Battersea, now in the British Museum ” 152
-----------------------------------------------------------
Circular disc of bronze with repoussé ornament
from Ireland, now in the British Museum
XXV. Bronze enamelled harness-ring from Westhall, Suffolk, ” 154
now in the British Museum. Scale ¾ linear
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cast of metal object (locality unknown) from the
Albert Way Collection, now in the Museum of the
XXVI. Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House
Cover of the Stowe Missal, in the Museum of the ” 170
Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (A.D. 1023 to 1052)
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXVII. Erect cross-slab in Aberlemno Churchyard, Forfarshire.
John Patrick, of Edinburgh, photo ” 184
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXVIII. Bronze bell with engraved ornament from Lough Lene
Castle, Co. Westmeath, in the Museum of the ” 202
Royal Irish Academy
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXIX. The shrine of the bell of St. Patrick’s Will, in the
Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin ” 204
(A.D. 1091 to 1105)
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXX. Head of the Lismore crozier at Lismore Castle,
Co. Waterford (A.D. 1090 to 1113) ” 206
-----------------------------------------------------------
Celtic quadrangular bell of bronze with zoömorphic
handles from Llangwynodl Church, Carnarvonshire,
now in the possession of Corbet Yale-Jones Parry,
Esq., of Madryn Castle, Pwllheli. Mr. Morgan
XXXI. Evans, of Pwllheli, photo. ” 210
Bronze reliquary from Lower Lough Erne, now in
the possession of T. Plunkett, Esq., of
Enniskillen. 7 ins. long by 5⅞ ins. high by 3½ ins.
wide. R. Welch, of Belfast, photo.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bronze fibula with plaitwork and Late-Celtic ornament
from the Ardakillen Crannog, near Strokestown, Co.
Roscommon, now in the Museum of the Royal Irish
XXXII. Academy, Dublin ” 216
Detail of ornament on the underside of the foot of
the Ardagh chalice, in the Museum of the Royal
Irish Academy, Dublin
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXXIII. Silver penannular brooch from Ireland, now in the
British Museum. Scale ¾ linear ” 222
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXXIV. Biskra woman wearing a pair of penannular brooches,
the ends of the pins pointing upwards ” 224
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXXV. Details of ornaments on the Tara brooch ” 226
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXXVI. Details of ornaments on the Tara brooch ” 228
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXXVII. Details of ornament on the Tara brooch, in the
Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin ” 230
-----------------------------------------------------------
Circular knotwork on slab in church of
Sta. Sabina, Rome
XXXVIII. Doorway of the chapel of S. Zeno in the church ” 244
of S. Prassede, showing broken plaitwork on
jambs (A.D. 772 to 795)
-----------------------------------------------------------
XXXIX. Key pattern, S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna Vine ” 246
scrolls, S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
-----------------------------------------------------------
Plaitwork of Romano-British pavement at Lydney Park,
XL. Gloucestershire ” 258
Plaitwork in ciborium in the church of San Clemente,
Rome (fifth century)
-----------------------------------------------------------
XLI. Erect cross-slab from Collieburn, Sutherland, now
in the Dunrobin Museum ” 274
-----------------------------------------------------------
XLII. Detail of ornament on erect cross-slab at Nigg,
Ross-shire ” 276
-----------------------------------------------------------
Four men placed swastika fashion on recumbent
pavement at Meigle, Perthshire. Scale ⅛ linear
XLIII. Spiral ornament on fragment of sculptured stone ” 288
from Tarbet, Ross-shire, now in the Edinburgh Museum
-----------------------------------------------------------
XLIV. Detail of ornament on erect cross-slab at Nigg, ” 292
Ross-shire
-----------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE
This work is an attempt—whether successful or not the critic must
decide—to give a concise summary of the facts at present available
for forming a theory as to the origin and development of Celtic art
in Great Britain and Ireland. By Celtic art is meant the art of the
peoples in Europe who spoke the Celtic language, but it must always
be borne in mind that although linguistically they were Celts, yet
racially they were of mixed Celtic and Iberian blood, so that their
art was possibly quite as much Iberian as Celtic. It is only since the
epoch-making discoveries of Schliemann in Greece, of Flinders Petrie
in Egypt, and of Arthur Evans in Crete that it has been possible
in a satisfactory manner to connect the culture of Britain in the
Bronze Age with the corresponding culture on the Continent. It is now
quite clear that certain characteristic decorative motives, such as
the divergent spiral, are of foreign origin instead of having been
invented in Ireland, as was at one time believed. Other discoveries
made in England, more especially those at Aylesford, Glastonbury,
Mount Caburn, and Hunsbury, have thrown an entirely new light on the
archæology of this country by showing that the Early Iron Age began
here two or three centuries at least before the Roman occupation.
Lastly, the explorations made by Continental antiquaries at Hallstatt
in Austria, La Tène in Switzerland, and in the Gaulish cemeteries of
the Marne district in France, point to the sources of the culture to
which the late Sir Wollaston Franks gave the name “Late-Celtic.”
Celtic art naturally divides itself into two distinct periods, the
Pagan and the Christian. With regard to the latter, the remains have
been so fully investigated that it is hardly probable any new facts
will be brought to light which will seriously alter the conclusions
now arrived at. With regard to the Pagan period the case is altogether
different, as most of the finds hitherto made have been due to
accident, and until the large number of inhabited and fortified sites
belonging to this period are systematically excavated our knowledge
must necessarily remain incomplete.
I have endeavoured to give in the footnotes all the sources whence my
information has been obtained, but I should like more especially to
acknowledge my indebtedness to A. Bertrand and S. Reinach’s _Les Celtes
dans les Vallées du Pô et du Danube_; J. Anderson’s _Scotland in Pagan
Times_ and _Scotland in Christian Times_; Arthur Evans’ papers on the
Aylesford, Æsica, and Limavady finds in the _Archæologia_; and George
Coffey’s papers on the ornament of the Bronze Age, Newgrange, etc., in
the _Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland_, and in
the _Transactions_ and _Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy_.
The theory of the evolution of Celtic knotwork out of plaitwork (as
explained on pages 257 to 278) is entirely original, and, simple as it
appears when explained, took me quite twenty years to think out whilst
classifying the patterns that occur on the early Christian monuments
of Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland, nearly all of which I have
examined personally.
No illustrations are given of the pages of the Celtic illuminated MSS.
on account of the difficulty of making satisfactory reproductions
of them on a small scale. I have thought it better to refer the
reader either to the MSS. themselves or to the _Publications of the
Palæographical Society_ and Professor J. O. Westwood’s _Miniatures of
the Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts_.
A large number of photographs of Late-Celtic metalwork in the British
Museum have been specially taken for this work by Mr. H. Oldland,
with the kind permission of Mr. C. H. Read, F.S.A. I am indebted to
the Rev. Canon W. Bazeley for obtaining a photograph of the Birdlip
mirror in the Gloucester Museum, and to Mr. George for the loan of Sir
H. Dryden’s drawings of the Hunsbury sword-sheath in the Northampton
Museum. Mr. George Coffey, M.R.I.A., of the Museum of the Royal Irish
Academy, has also from time to time been good enough to assist me in
various ways. The photographs of the cast of the Nigg cross were taken
by Messrs. M. and T. Scott, of Edinburgh, for Mr. D. J. Vallance, the
curator of the Museum of Science and Art at Edinburgh.
For the use of electrotypes of blocks I have to give my best thanks to
the Society of Antiquaries of London,[1] the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland,[2] the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland,[3]
the Royal Irish Academy,[4] the Royal Archæological Institute,[5]
the Cambrian Archæological Association,[6] the Somersetshire
Archæological Society,[7] and the publishers of the _Antiquary_,[8] the
_Reliquary_,[9] and the _Illustrated Archæologist_.[10] Plates XXVI.,
XXIX., XXXV., XXXVI., and XXXVII. are from the series of photographs
taken by Mr. W. G. Moore, of Upper Sackville Street, Dublin, for the
Royal Irish Academy.
[1] Blocks on pp. 112, 123, 152, 153, 166, 167, 168.
[2] Blocks on pp. 154, 169, 183, 276 to 278, 274 to 288.
[3] Blocks on pp. 150, 221.
[4] Blocks on pp. 39, 40, 45, 47.
[5] Blocks on pp. 119, 120, 131, 147.
[6] Blocks on pp. 27 to 36, 181, 185, 187, 189, 191, 259 to 269, 271 to
273, 283.
[7] Blocks on p. 142.
[8] Blocks on pp. 147, 161.
[9] Blocks on pp. 104.
[10] Plate XXXIV.
CELTIC ART IN PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN TIMES
CHAPTER I
THE CONTINENTAL CELTS AND HOW THEY CAME TO BRITAIN
THE CELTS A BRANCH OF THE ARYAN FAMILY OF NATIONS
All the nations at present inhabiting Europe, with the exception of the
Turks, the Finns, the Magyars, and the Basques, speak Aryan languages,
and are to a large extent of Aryan descent,[11] although their blood
has been mixed from time to time with that of the Neolithic non-Aryan
aborigines. The Celts, therefore, belong to the Aryan group of nations,
and came from the same cradle of the race in Central Asia as did the
ancestors of the Greeks, Italians, Teutons, Slavs, Armenians, Persians,
and the chief peoples of Hindustan.
[11] The fallacy that identity of language or of culture necessarily
implies identity of race must be carefully guarded against.
It has been the fashion amongst persons holding what they suppose to
be advanced views to dispute the fact that the cradle of the Aryans
was in Central Asia, but this is neither the time nor the place to
discuss the question. It is sufficient for our purpose to note that
the successive waves of Aryan conquest entered Europe from the east,
and that their general direction was towards the west.
THE CELT AS DESCRIBED BY GREEK AND ROMAN AUTHORS
The Celts make their first appearance in history at the end of the
sixth century B.C., when, however, they are referred to not by their
name as a people but by the name of the country they occupied. Thus,
Hecatæus of Miletus, writing about 509 B.C., mentions Marseilles as
being a Ligurian city near the Celtic region.[12]
Herodotus, writing half a century later, is the first historian who
uses the word κελτός (Celt) as distinguished from κελτική (the Celtic
region). In the two passages[13] in which the Celts are mentioned,
Herodotus says that they inhabited the part of Europe where the Danube
has its source, and that the only other people to the westward were the
Cynetes or Dog-Men. Both Herodotus and Aristotle erroneously supposed
that the source of the Danube was situated in the Pyrenees.
Aristotle[14] describes the country of the Celts as being so cold that
the ass is unable to reproduce his species there.
Plato, who lived sixty years after the time of Herodotus, classes
the Celts with the Scythians, Persians, Carthaginians, Iberians, and
Thracians, as being warlike nations who like wine, and drink it to
excess.[15]
[12] Μασσαλία πόλις τῆς Διγμστικῆς κατὰ τὴν κελτικήν (C. and T.
Muellerus, _Fragmenta Historicorum Græcorum_, Paris, 1841, vol. i., p.
2, fragm. 22).
[13] Bk. ii., chap, xxxiii.; and Bk. iv., chap. xlix.
[14] _De Generatione Animalium._
[15] _De Legibus._
Pytheas (_circa_ B.C. 300) is the first author who includes the part
of Europe which was afterwards the Gaul of Cæsar within the Celtic
territory.[16]
According to the earlier historians, the parts of Europe occupied by
the Celts at the end of the fourth century B.C. were the coast of the
Adriatic from Rimini to Venice, Istria and the neighbourhood of the
Ionian Gulf, and the left bank of the Rhone from the Lake of Geneva to
the source of the Danube.[17]
Polybius (B.C. 205-123) gives more definite and satisfactory
information about the Celts than the somewhat vague references made to
them by previous writers. From him we learn[18]
[16] C. Elton’s _Origins of English History_, p. 25.
[17] A. Bertrand and S. Reinach’s _Les Celtes_, p. 19.
[18] _Ibid._, p. 27.
(1) That the Celts of upper Italy did not come from the
Gaul of Cæsar, but from the valley of the Danube, and more
particularly from the countries which border upon the
northern slopes of the Julian Alps of Noricum.
(2) That these peoples were primarily divided into Cisalpine
Celts and Transalpine Celts, that is to say, into the Celts
of the Alps and of the north of the Alps. In the third
century B.C. these latter were already called, more
particularly by Polybius, by the name of Galati.
(3) That the Cisalpine Celts, who from a remote period long
before the fourth century B.C. inhabited the wide
plains of Lombardy from the Alps to the river Pô, were, for
the most part, an agricultural and sedentary race living
in luxury and in a state of civilisation without any doubt
greatly superior to that which could have existed in Gaul at
that time.
(4) That the Galati, on the contrary, the Transalpine Celts,
although kinsmen to the former mountaineers, still half
nomads, shepherds and warriors chiefly, always ready to run
the risk of a raid, armed from the fourth century with an
iron sword, an iron-headed spear and a shield, lived under
the régime of a sort of military aristocracy, as proud as
they were poor, such as the inhabitants of the Caucasus were
not half a century ago.
The people who were called _Celtæ_ by the earlier historians, and
_Galatæ_ by the more recent writers, were also known to the Romans as
_Galli_; but these three separate appellations do not seem to indicate
any difference of race, and indeed they all have the same meaning, viz.
a warrior. The Gauls of Cæsar’s time preferred to call themselves by
the name which he wrote, _Celtæ_.[19]
All the Classical authorities are agreed as to the physical
characteristics of the Celts with whom they were acquainted. The Celts
are invariably described as being tall, muscular men, with a fair skin,
blue eyes, and blonde hair tending towards red.[20] Such were the Gauls
who conquered the Etruscans of northern Italy in B.C. 396, took Rome
under Brennus six years later, sacked Delphi in B.C. 279, and gave
their name to Galatia in Asia Minor.
[19] Prof. J. Rhys’ _Celtic Britain_, p. 2.
[20] C. Elton’s _Origins of English History_, p. 113.
It may well be asked what has become of the tall, fair-haired Celts
who in the fourth century B.C. were the terror of Europe? The answer
seems to be that being numerically inferior to the races which they
conquered, but did not exterminate, they after a time became absorbed
by the small, dark Iberians, who were the aborigines of France and
Spain in the later Stone Age. In Great Britain the once warlike Celt
at last became so effete that he fell an easy prey to the Picts, the
Scots, the Angles, and the Saxons.
THE CELTS AS REPRESENTED IN GREEK AND ROMAN ART
The physical type of the Celt in Classical Sculpture was fixed by the
artists of Pergamos, who were commissioned to perpetuate the victories
of Attalus I. (B.C. 241-197) and Eumenes II. (B.C. 197-159) over the
Galatians of Asia Minor.[21] The originals of the statues executed at
this period to decorate the acropolis at Pergamon and at Athens have
since been popularised by means of numerous copies. The statue most
familiar to everyone is that wrongly called the Dying Gladiator,[22]
but which is really a Gaulish warrior mortally wounded, as may be seen
by the twisted torque round his neck, and the shape of his shield and
trumpet. The other statues of the same class are the group formerly
known as Arria and Paetus[23] (representing a Gaul committing suicide
after having killed his wife) and the figures of an old man with a
young man dead[24] and a young man wounded[25] from the defeat of the
Gauls by Attalus.
In all these works of art the Gaulish type is the same, the men being
tall and muscular, with abundant unkempt locks, and an energetic,
almost brutal, physiognomy, the very opposite of the intellectual
beauty of the ideal Greek. The type thus fixed by eminent artists
was handed down from generation to generation, until the last years
of the Roman empire. It may be recognised on the Triumphal Arch at
Orange[26] (Vaucluse), in the south of France, and at the sarcophagus
of Ammendola[27] in the museum of the Capitol at Rome, both of which
have derived their inspiration from the works of art of the time of the
kings of Pergamon. Latterly the Gaulish type became that of barbarians
generally.[28]
[21] _Les Celtes_, p. 37; H. B. Walters’ _Greek Art_, p. 91; and Dr. A.
S. Murray’s _History of Greek Sculpture_, vol. ii., p. 376.
[22] In the Museum of the Capitol at Rome; cast in the South Kensington
Museum.
[23] Prof. Ernest Gardner’s _Handbook of Greek Sculpture_, pt. ii., p.
456; and A. Baumeister’s _Denkmäler_, p. 1237.
[24] At Venice.
[25] In the Louvre.
[26] A. de Caumont’s _Abécédaire d’Archéologie_ (Ère Gallo-Romaine),
Second edition, p. 194.
[27] S. Reinach’s _Les Gaulois dans l’art antique_.
[28] S. Reinach’s _Les Celtes_, p. 38.
THE CELT AS REVEALED BY ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH
From an archæological point of view the Celtic civilisation which
existed in Central Europe, certainly as far back as 400 B.C., and very
probably three or four centuries earlier, was that of the Iron Age. The
Continental antiquaries divide the Iron Age in this part of Europe into
two periods marked by differences in culture. The culture of the Early
Iron Age is prehistoric, and is called that of “Hallstatt,” after the
great Alpine cemetery near Salzburg in Austria.
The culture of the Later Iron Age comes after the time when the Celts
first make their appearance in history, and is known to Swiss and
German archæologists as that of “La Tène,” from the Gaulish Oppidum
at the north end of the Lake of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The La Tène
culture in the form it occurs in France is called “Marnian,” and
corresponds with the “Late-Celtic” culture of Great Britain.
Hallstatt, from which the Celtic civilisation of the earlier Iron Age
takes its name, is situated thirty miles S.E. of Salzburg in Austria,
amongst the mountains forming the southern boundary of the valley of
the Danube. It was a place of great commercial importance in ancient
times, in consequence of the salt mines in the neighbourhood, and
because it lay on the great trade route by which amber was brought from
the mouth of the Elbe to Hatria, at the head of the Adriatic.[29]
[29] C. Elton’s _Origins of English History_, pp. 46 and 62, and Prof.
W. Boyd Dawkins’ _Early Man in Britain_, pp. 417, 466, and 473.
The pre-Roman necropolis of Hallstatt was discovered in 1846, and
excavations have been going on there at intervals ever since. In
1864 M. de Sacken, curator of the collection of antiquities in the
Vienna Museum, published a monograph on the subject, which still
remains the best book of reference. M. de Sacken did not superintend
the excavations personally, that task having fallen to the lot of
George Ramsauer. Copies in MS. of Ramsauer’s notes on the contents of
the tombs, and sketches of the antiquities discovered in them exist
in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and in the national museums at
Saint-Germain and at Vienna.
The Hallstatt finds show very clearly the transition from the Bronze to
the Iron Age in Central Europe.
M. Salomon Reinach thus summarises, in his _Les Celtes dans les Vallées
du Pô et du Danube_ (p. 129), the conclusions arrived at by M. de
Sacken:—
(1) Two distinct races have been buried at Hallstatt; one
of which cremated the bodies and the other which practised
inhumation; the former showing themselves to have been much
richer than the latter.
(2) The people, as represented by their grave-goods, must
have supported themselves, besides working the salt mines
(their chief industry), by breeding cattle. The number of
bones and teeth of animals found in the tombs show that they
possessed herds. Their agricultural pursuits are proved by
the presence of numerous scythes and sickles in the graves.
Slag and moulds from founderies indicate that they were
metallurgists.
(3) Amongst the individuals who had been burnt the greater
part of the men and women displayed a relative luxuriousness
of toilet appliances, a luxuriousness which was ministered
to by foreign commerce supplying amber from the Baltic,
Phœnician glass, ivory, embroidery in gold thread and
stamped gold-leaf of oriental workmanship, used in the
decoration of the sword-hilts and scabbards.
(4) On the bronze vessels, side by side with the old
geometrical ornament, common to them and to the Cisalpine
vases, are to be seen new combinations of symbolical designs
which recur on the Celtic coinage of Gaul.
Amongst the objects most characteristic of the Hallstatt culture are:—
(1) Daggers, or short swords, with a pointed blade of iron
and a bronze handle having two little projections at the top
terminating in round knobs and resembling the antennæ of an
insect.
(2) Long double-edged swords with an iron blade made in
imitation of the leaf-shaped swords of the Bronze Age,
having the edges slightly curved outwards in the middle, but
not having so sharp a point as the Bronze Age sword, and
being much longer. The hilts have a massive pommel encrusted
with ivory and amber, and ornamented with gold-leaf.
(3) Pails, or situlæ, of thin bronze plates ornamented with
figure subjects executed in repoussé work, and exhibiting
a peculiar style of art which Dr. Arthur Evans thinks
the Celts borrowed from the Veneti, the ancient Illyrian
inhabitants of the north of the Adriatic, who, in their
turn, had come under Hellenic influence whilst the amber
trade route between Greece and the Baltic passed through
Hatria.
[Illustration: The Hallstatt Sword]
[Illustration: GRAVE OF A GAULISH WARRIOR AT SESTO-CALENDE, ITALY]
[Illustration: BRONZE FIBULA OF LA TÈNE TYPE, FROM THE CEMETERIES OF
THE MARNE]
[Illustration: BRONZE FIBULA OF LA TÈNE TYPE, FROM THE CEMETERIES OF
THE MARNE]
Dr. Arthur Evans[30] divides the Hallstatt remains into an earlier and
a later group, the former dating from about 750 to 550 B.C. During the
later period, from 550 B.C., he thinks there was a tendency for the
typically Gaulish or Late-Celtic culture to overlap that of the Early
Iron Age. The Gallo-Italian tomb of a Celtic chieftain, found in 1867
at Sesto-Calende,[31] at the south end of Lago Maggiore, illustrates
the transition from the Hallstatt to the La Tène culture. Amongst the
grave-goods were a situla with figure subjects in repoussé metalwork
and a short pointed iron sword having a handle furnished with antennæ,
like those from Hallstatt.
[30] Rhind Lectures on the “Origins of Celtic Art,” Lecture II., as
reported in the _Scotsman_ for December 12th, 1895.
[31] S. Reinach’s _Les Celtes_, p. 49.
In addition, there were the remains of a chariot, horse-trappings, a
bronze war-trumpet, helmet and greaves, and iron lance-head, such as we
should expect to find buried with a Celtic warrior in the Iron Age in
Gaul or Britain.
La Tène (which gives its name to the modified and later form of
Hallstatt culture as it existed in Central Europe from about 400 B.C.,
when the name of the Gaul superseded that of the Celt, to the time of
Cæsar’s conquest) is a military stronghold, or oppidum, situated at the
N.E. end of the Lake of Neuchâtel, commanding an important pass between
the upper Rhone and the Rhine. The remains at La Tène were first
explored by Colonel Schwab in 1858, and subsequently by E. Vouga in
1880. The objects derived from this remarkable site are to be seen in
the public museums at Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Berne; and in the private
collections of Colonel Schwab, Professor Desor, E. Vouga, Dardel
Thorens, and Dr. Gross.[32]
According to Dr. Arthur Evans, the date of the culminating epoch
of Gaulish civilisation, as represented by the antiquities from La
Tène, is probably the third century B.C. It was at this period that
the earlier foreign elements derived from Hallstatt, and even from
countries further afield, became thoroughly assimilated, and the style
of art called Late-Celtic began to take definite shape.
The typical arms found at La Tène are:—
(1) A long sword with a double-edged iron blade having a
blunt point. The length and flexibility of the blade made it
useless for thrusting in the way which was possible with the
shorter and more rigid leaf-shaped sword of the Bronze Age,
so the pointed end was abandoned.
(2) Lances with an iron point often of a peculiar curved
form.[33]
(3) An oval shield of thin bronze plates ornamented with
bosses.
(4) A horned helmet of bronze.
[32] The remains are fully described in Dr. F. Keller’s
_Lake-Dwellings_; Dr. R. Munro’s _Lake-Dwellings of Europe_; E. Vouga’s
_Les Helvètes à la Tène_; and Dr. Gross’ _La Tène un Oppidum Helvète_.
[33] With flame-like undulating-edges “so as to break the flesh all in
pieces” (C. Elton’s _Origins of English History_, p. 116).
The characteristic La Tène ornament is found chiefly on the
sword-sheaths, the helmets, and the shields. The La Tène fibulæ are
derivatives of the “safety-pin,” and usually have the tail end bent
backwards, as in the Marnian fibulæ in France and the Late-Celtic
fibulæ in England.
[Illustration: BRONZE ARMLET OF THE LA TÈNE PERIOD FROM GERMANY]
[Illustration: BRONZE ARMLET OF THE LA TÈNE PERIOD FROM LONGIROD (VAUD)]
[Illustration: BRONZE ARMLET OF THE LA TÈNE PERIOD FROM THE CEMETERIES
OF THE MARNE]
The Gaulish culture in France corresponding with that of La Tène in
Switzerland has been called “Marnian” by the French archæologists
because the principal remains of this period have been found in the
cemeteries of the Department of the Marne. A list of seventy-two such
Marnian cemeteries (some of which contained as many as 450 graves) is
given by A. Bertrand in his _Archéologie Celtique et Gauloise_, p.
358. The objects obtained from these cemeteries are fully illustrated
in the _Dictionnaire Archéologique de la Gaule_, and in Léon Morel’s
_La Champagne souterraine_ (_Album_). The best collections are those
in the Museum of Saint-Germain and the British Museum. M. Bertrand
fixes the date of the Marnian cemeteries at from 350 to 200 B.C., the
period between the time when bronze weapons ceased to be used, and the
introduction of a national coinage into Gaul.
[Illustration: Ornament on Bronze Sword-sheath from La Tène]
From the point of view of art, two of the most interesting burials
discovered in the Departement du Marne are those at Berru[34] and
Gorge-Meillet[35] of warriors interred with their chariots, horses,
and complete military equipment, including two bronze helmets, which
show the kind of decoration prevalent at the period, and afford a
link between the Marnian style in Gaul and the Late-Celtic style in
Britain. The burials at Berru and Gorge-Meillet correspond very nearly
with those at Arras, Danes’ Graves, and elsewhere, in the portion of
Yorkshire occupied by the Celtic tribe of the Parisi.
[34] A. Bertrand’s _Archéologie Celtique et Gauloise_, p. 356.
[35] E. Fourdriguier’s _Double Sépulture Gauloise de la Gorge-Meillet_.
[Illustration: Gaulish Helmet of Bronze from Gorge-Meillet]
[Illustration: CASQUE DE BERRU. (MARNE.) dé couvert dans la Creuere
Gaulois.
GAULISH HELMET OF BRONZE FROM BERRU (MARNE)]
The Marnian cemeteries belong to the second Iron Age of Central Europe
after 400 B.C., but in the commune of Magny Lambert (Côte-d’or), near
the source of the river Seine, tumuli have been opened containing long
iron swords and bronze situlæ of distinctly Hallstatt type.
Dr. Arthur Evans thinks that the older, or Hallstatt, culture of
Central Europe was gradually modified and transformed into the La
Tène, Marnian, and Late-Celtic stages of culture, in consequence
of the foreign influence exercised by the continual flow of Greek
commerce into eastern Gaul from the sixth century B.C. onwards. Ample
evidence of this commercial intercourse is afforded by the discovery
of tripods, hydrias, œnochœs, and painted vases of Greek workmanship
associated with Gaulish burials,[36] as at Grækwyl, near Berne in
Switzerland, at Somme-Bionne (Marne), at Rodenbach in Bavaria, and at
Courcelles-et-Montagne (Haute-Marne).
[36] A. Bertrand’s _Archéologie Celtique et Gauloise_, pp. 328 to
347; see also L. Lindenschmit’s _Die Alterthümer unserer heidnischen
Vorzeit_, Mainz, 1858, etc.
The great difficulty in understanding the evolution of Celtic art lies
in the fact that although the Celts never seem to have invented any new
ideas, they professed an extraordinary aptitude for picking up ideas
from the different peoples with whom war or commerce brought them into
contact. And once the Celt had borrowed an idea from his neighbour,
he was able to give it such a strong Celtic tinge that it soon became
something so different from what it was originally as to be almost
unrecognisable.
Polybius gives the following picture of the Cisalpine Gauls:—
“These people camp out in villages without walls, and are
absolutely ignorant of the thousand things that make life
worth living. Knowing no other bed than straw, only eating
flesh, they live in a half-wild state. Strangers to
everything which is not connected with war or agricultural
labour, they possess neither art nor science of any
description.”
The tendency of the Celt to copy rather than invent is brought out most
clearly in their coinage. M. A. Bertrand[37] says:—
“Were they settled in Macedonia they imitated with more or
less success the tetradrachms of Philip and of Audoleon,
king of Paeonia; did they advance towards Thrace, they
copied the tetradrachms of Thasos. The Senones of Rimini
took for their model the Roman and Italian _aes grave_;
in the north of Italy, finding themselves in contact with
nations who used the monetary system of the drachm and
its multiples and divisions, the Gauls copied them until
the time they were driven back on the Danube. In Liguria
they copied the drachms of Massalia. Were they encamped on
the banks of the Danube in Noricum, or in Rhaetia, they
again copied the monetary systems of their neighbours.
The tetradrachms of the Boii on which are inscribed the
name of ‘BIATEC,’ one of their chiefs, reproduced
the type of the last Roman of the family of Fufia struck
between the years 62 and 59 B.C. In a word, the
same habit of imitation is found everywhere in the cradle of
Gaulish numismatics properly so-called; on the left bank of
the Rhine, it was the gold staters of Philip which served
as the model for gold pieces and sometimes for silver;
in Aquitaine, it was the coins of Emporia, Rhoda, and
Massalia. Armorica and the frontier countries were the first
who adopted for their coinage types which can be called
national, although still reflecting those imitated from the
Macedonian staters. Let it be noticed that we are in one of
the most Celtic parts of Gaul: it is therefore natural that
the difference in genius between the two races of Celts and
Gauls should manifest itself most clearly.”
[37] _Archéologie Celtique et Gauloise_, p. 387.
INVASION OF BRITAIN BY GOIDELIC CELTS IN THE BRONZE AGE
The aborigines of Europe, who were driven westward by the successive
waves of Aryan conquest, appear to have been in the Neolithic stage
of culture, and they are identified by Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins with the
Iberians mentioned by Strabo. Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins gives a map in
his _Early Man in Britain_ (p. 318) showing the relative distribution
of the Iberic, Celtic, and Belgic races in the historic period. In
this map the Iberians occupy the north of Africa, the west of Spain
and France, the country round Marseilles, the whole of Wales, and
the south-west of Ireland. The Celts follow behind to the eastward,
pressing the Iberians towards the Atlantic.
In the opening address of the Antiquarian Section at the meeting of the
Royal Archæological Institute at Scarborough in 1895, Prof. Dawkins
said:—[38]
[38] _Archæological Journal_, vol. lii., p. 342.
“The theory that the Neolithic inhabitants of the British
Isles are represented by the Basques and small, dark Iberic
population of Europe generally, has stood the test of
twenty-five years’ criticism, and still holds the field.
From the side of philology it is supported by the fact
pointed out by Inchauspé that the Basque word _aitz_
for stone is the root from which the present names of pick,
knife, and scissors made of iron are derived. This of
itself shows that the ancestors of the Basques were in the
Neolithic stage of culture. The name of Ireland, according
to Rhys,[39] is derived from Iber-land (Hibernia), the land
of the Iberians, or sons of Iber. The evidence seems to be
clear: 1. That the Iberians were the original inhabitants
of France and Spain in the Neolithic age, and the only
inhabitants of the British Isles; 2. That they were driven
out of the south-eastern parts of France and Spain in the
Neolithic age; (3) That they are now amply represented by
the small dark peoples in the Iberian Peninsula, and in
the island which bears their name, and in various other
places in Western Europe, where they constitute, as Broca
happily phrases it, ‘ethnological islands.’ The small, dark,
long-headed Yorkshiremen form one of these islands.”
[39] _Celtic Britain_, p. 262.
Let us pause for a moment to consider the stage of culture attained
by the Neolithic aborigines of Britain whom the Celts found here on
their first arrival. The houses in which Neolithic man lived are of two
kinds: (1) pit dwellings dug to a depth of from seven to ten feet deep
in the chalk, like those at Highfield,[40] near Salisbury, explored
by Mr. Adlam in 1866; and (2) hut-circles like those at Carn Brê near
Camborne,[41] in Cornwall, excavated by Mr. Thurstan C. Peter, and on
Dartmoor,[42] excavated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould and Mr. R. Burnard.
In many cases the villages are fortified by a wall of rubble stone, as
at Grimspound, on Dartmoor. Neolithic dwellings have also been explored
by Mr. George Clinch, at Keston, in Kent.[43]
Neolithic man supported himself by the chase and by fishing, and also
was a farmer in a small way, growing wheat and cultivating flax. He had
domesticated the sheep, goat, ox, hog, and dog. He could spin, weave,
mine flint, chip and polish stone implements and make rude pottery.
[40] W. Boyd Dawkins’ _Early Man in Britain_, p. 267; and E. T.
Stevens’ _Flint Chips_, p. 57.
[41] R. Burnard in _Trans. of Plymouth Inst._, 1895-6; and T. C. Peter
in _Jour. R. Inst. of Cornwall_, No. 42.
[42] Reports of Dartmoor Exploration Committee in the _Trans. of
Devonshire Assoc. for Advancement of Science_.
[43] _Proc. Soc. Ant. Lond._, ser 2, vol. xii., p. 258, and vol. xvii.,
p. 216.
He buried his dead in long barrows, chambered cairns, and dolmens.
Cremation was not practised, and it was usual to inter a large number
of bodies in a chamber constructed of huge stones.
Such was the aboriginal inhabitant with whom the first Celtic invader
had to contend. I say _first_ Celtic invader advisedly, for there was
a second Celtic invasion at a later period. The vanguard of the Celtic
conquerors are called by Prof. J. Rhys, in his _Celtic Britain_ (p. 3),
“Goidels,” to distinguish them from the “Brythons,” who constituted
the second set of invaders. The modern representatives of the Goidels
are the Gaelic-speaking population of the Highlands of Scotland,
Ireland, and the Isle of Man; whilst the descendants of the Brythons
now inhabit Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. At the time of the Roman
occupation the Brythonic tribes inhabited the whole of England with the
exception of the districts now occupied by Cumberland, Westmoreland,
Devon, and Cornwall. The most important of these Brythonic tribes
were the Brigantes and Parisi of Yorkshire, the Catuvelauni of the
Midland Counties, the Eceni of the eastern counties, the Attrebates
of the Thames Valley, and the Belgæ, Regni, and Cantion in the south.
The south of Scotland was in possession of the Dumnoni and Otadini,
who were Brythons, as were also the Ordovices of Central Wales. The
Ivernians still held their own in the north of Scotland. The remainder
of Great Britain was inhabited either by pure Goidels or by Goidels who
had mixed their blood with the Ivernian aborigines.
As Prof. J. Rhys has pointed out in his _Celtic Britain_ (p. 211), the
soundest distinction between the Goidels and the Brythons rests on
a peculiarity of pronunciation in their respective languages. In the
corresponding words in each language where the Brythons use the letter
P, the Goidels use Qv. Hence they have been termed the “P and Q Celts.”
The most familiar instance of this is where the Welsh use the word _ap_
to mean _son of_, and the Gaels use _mac_. The older form of _mac_
found on the Ogam-inscribed monuments of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and
the West of England is _maqvi_, as in the bi-literal and bi-lingual
inscribed stone at St. Dogmael’s, in Pembrokeshire, where the Latin
“SAGRANI FILI CVNOTAMI” has as an equivalent in Ogams “SAGRAMNI MAQVI
CYNATAMI.” In modern Welsh _map_, or _mab_, has been shortened by
dropping the _m_, and in Gaelic the _v_ of _maqvi_ has been dropped,
and the _q_ made into _c_.
So much for the philological differences between the Goidel and the
Brython. They can also be distinguished archæologically, the former as
being in the Bronze Age stage of culture, and the latter in the Early
Iron Age when he arrived in Britain. In a subsequent chapter we shall
have to deal with the Brythonic Celt, but at present we are concerned
exclusively with the Goidel.
The Neolithic inhabitants of this country, whom the Goidelic Celts
found here on their arrival, were ethnologically a small dark-haired,
black-eyed race, with long skulls of a type which is still to be
seen amongst the Silurians of South Wales.[44] The ethnological
characteristics of the Goidels were entirely different: they were tall,
fair-haired, round-headed, with high cheek-bones, a large mouth, and
aquiline nose. In studying the past much must necessarily be more or
less conjectural, and we can never hope to see otherwise than “as in
a glass darkly.” As far, however, as it is possible to ascertain the
facts, it appears probable that the advancing wave of Goidelic Celts
did not entirely overwhelm the aborigines or drive them before it.
Most likely the big Goidels made the small Iberians “hewers of wood
and drawers of water,” and in time either absorbed them or themselves
became absorbed.
[44] Boyd Dawkins’ _Early Man in Britain_, chapter ix.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BRONZE AGE IN EUROPE
Actual dates in years can only be ascertained by means of historical
documents, and therefore no chronology of the ages of Stone, Bronze,
and Iron is possible except where contact can be established between
the prehistoric (or non-historic) races living in those stages
of culture in Northern and Central Europe, and the more advanced
civilisations on the shores of the Mediterranean and in Asia. Long
before direct contact took place between the northern barbarians
and the Egyptians, Assyrians, Phœnicians, Greeks, Romans, and other
great nations of antiquity, through invasions or immigrations, a
more indirect contact must have existed for centuries, owing to the
trade in such things as amber, gold, bronze, and tin. Dates have been
fixed approximately by the finding of imported objects in different
countries, and by studying their geographical distribution. Other
almost untouched fields of investigation which would help to solve many
of the problems of prehistoric chronology, are the migration of symbols
and patterns and comparative ornament.
The attempts that have been made to fix the duration of the Ages of
Stone and Bronze in actual years are at the best mere guesses, but
it may be worth while stating the conclusions arrived at by some of
the leading European archæologists, so as to give a rough idea of the
time at which bronze was in use for the manufacture of implements and
weapons in different countries.
Egypt during the greater part of its existence as a civilised nation
was in the Bronze Age. The copper mines of the Sinaitic peninsula
were worked as early as the Fourth Dynasty, as is proved by the rock
inscriptions of Sneferu (B.C. 3998-3969) at Wady Maghera.[45] Bronze
was certainly used by the ancient Egyptians in the fourteenth century
B.C., and in the tomb of Queen Aah Hotep, although bronze weapons were
found, iron was conspicuous by its absence, indicating that the latter
metal had not come into general use in the fifteenth century B.C.
The Mycenæan civilisation in the Ægean was of the Bronze Age, and
Prof. Flinders Petrie places its flourishing period at about 1400
B.C.[46] Bronze continued in use in Greece until the time of the Dorian
invasion, B.C. 800.
In dealing with the local centres of the bronze industry, Prof. Boyd
Dawkins[47] recognises three distinct local centres in Europe.
(1) The Uralian, or Eastern—Russia.
(2) The Danubian, or Northern and Central—Scandinavia,
Hungary.
(3) The Mediterranean, or Southern—Greece, Italy, France,
Switzerland.
Dr. Oscar Montelius[48] gives the following tentative dates for the
duration of the Bronze Age in these areas:—
[45] Petrie’s _Hist. of Egypt_, vol. i., p. 31. Article on “The Age of
Bronze in Egypt,” in _L’Anthropologie_ for January, 1890, translated in
the _Smithsonian Report_ for 1890, p. 499.
[46] _Jour. of Hellenic Studies_, vol. xii., p. 203.
[47] _Early Man in Britain_, p. 414.
[48] _Matériaux pour l’histoire primitive de l’homme_, pp. 108-113.
_The Caucasus._—The Massagete were, according to Herodotus,
still using bronze in the sixth century B.C.
_Greece._—Bronze Age civilisation of Mycenæ, 1400 to 1000 B.C.
_Italy._—Terramare of Bronze Age, twelfth century B.C. Iron
introduced in ninth or eighth century B.C.
_Scandinavia and Germany._—Bronze Age begun in fifteenth century
B.C., and ended in fifth century B.C.
Worsaae[49] places the beginning of the Bronze Age in Scandinavia five
centuries later than Montelius, _i.e._ 1000 B.C.
Dr. Naue[50] dates the Bronze Age in Upper Bavaria from 1400 B.C. to
900 B.C.
[49] _The Industrial Arts of Denmark_, p. 41.
[50] Dr. Arthur Evans’ review of Dr. Julius Naue’s _Die Bronzezeit in
Obayern_ in the _Academy_ for April 27th, 1895.
As regards Great Britain, there is no reason for supposing that the
Brythonic Celts of the Early Iron Age arrived in this country much
before B.C. 300, which date would terminate the Bronze Age, at all
events in southern England. The date of the beginning of the Bronze
Age in Britain can only be surmised. If, as we hope to be able to
prove, much of the art of that period here can be traced to a Mycenæan
origin there is no reason why the Bronze Age in Britain should not have
commenced shortly after the spiral motive patterns were transferred
from ancient Egypt to the Ægean, say, about 1400 B.C., and thence to
Hungary, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe. It is not impossible,
nay, it is even probable, that the Bronze Age may have lasted a
thousand years in Britain, beginning B.C. 1300, and ending B.C. 300.