According to the testimony of Julius Caesar the name "Celts" is a collective name for numerous tribal groups. They lived since the first millenium B.C. in west-central Europe. The correlation of these tribes was evident in a common language. Numerous names of towns, most names of bodies of water, and many designations of mountains in this one-time Celtic core territory remind us of that up to today. So, for example, the place names Kandern and Istein, the names of the rivers Neckar and Rems, the mountain names Belchen and Blauen have their origins in the Celtic language. In their collective territory the Celts advanced the use of iron. They improved the technique for extracting and smelting ore that previously had their point of departure in the Near East. With iron implements, Celtic people could cultivate their fields better, facilitate house work, produce finer hand-crafted items, but also forge weapons more sharply.
The above map shows the original area where Celts settled in Central
Europe. From this region, the Celts expanded. One distinguishes thereby
between prehistoric expansions before 500 B.C. and later historical migrations.
Prehistoric expansion toward the west and north to the British Isles is
shown in light brown. Only archaeological finds provide information about
it.
Historical migrations are shown in yellow. They are covered both through
finds and written sources. All written accounts about the Celts come from
Greek and Roman writers. By the way, the Romans called the Celts Gauls.
One of the large masses of Celtic troops penetrated during the 3rd Century
B.C. into Greece as far as Delphi. Other groups undertook marches farther
eastward. For a time they succeeded in bringing Byzantium, the city at
the exit of the Black Sea, under their control so that the inhabitants
had to pay tribute. Similarly the Celtic tribe of the Galatians forced
their way he farthest east, to Asia Minor. They succeeded in maintaining
themselves for a while among the powers of Asia Minor. Under the Roman
emperor Augustus their territory became the province of Galatia. The Apostle
Paul wrote an epistle to these Galatians after a missionary trip there
around 52 A.D.
With the Romans, the Celts were, on their migrations, repeatedly and over
several centuries involved in battle. Celtic groups succeeded in conquering
Rome up to the Capitoline Hill in the 4th Century B.C. Later they were
no match for Roman superiority. Under Julius Caesar the Celts lost their
independence completely. Caesar defeated the Celtic tribes north of the
Alps during his campaigns of 58-50 B.C., among which were the then most
famous tribe, the Helvetians. The Roman commander-in-chief made a quite
simple geographic arrangement: he ordered that Celts were to live left
of the Rhine and Germans on the right of the Rhine. That was not the reality,
as another Celtic tribe came under Roman rule during the time of Augustus.
These were the Vindelicians, who during the Roman era gave the present
day city of Augsburg its name (Augusta Vindelicorum). The Vindelicians
brought to the Romans the first naval engagement on Lake Constance.
The map below shows the location of archaeological finds of both major
divisions of Celtic culture in southwestern Germany and in bordering areas.
Pre- and early historians divide themselves into the Hallstatt Period
(8th to 5th Century B.C.) and the La Tène Period (5th to 1st Century B.C.).
The Hallstatt Period gets its name from a Celtic burial ground near Hallstatt
in Salzkammergut (Austria).
Monumental burial mounds with richly decorated graves and fortified hill
settlements are the trademarks of this period. Outstanding archaeological
sites in our country are the Heuneburg with the Hohmichele burial mound
on the upper Danube, the settlement grounds around Hohenasperg with the
famous Hochdorf burial mound, a residence on the Breisach Münster Hill,
a burial mound field near Kappel-Grafenhausen and the gigantic burial
mound near Villingen, the Magdalenenberg. Because
of the rich outfittings of the graves, part with gold jewelry, they were
called princely graves by archaeologists; the residences belonging to
them acquired the significance of princely seats. These Celtic princes
had far-reaching contacts with the Mediterranean peoples.
La Tène is a more important site on the northern shore of Lake Neuenburg
(Switzerland). During the 5th Century the mode of settlement and type
of burial of the Celts changed.
Smaller court groups and level graves are among other things the trademarks
of the La Tène culture. Excavaters have found in southwestern Germany
extensive, walled-in settlements, remarkable for the period, that were
called "oppida" (cities) by Roman writers. In the Dreisam valley near
Freiburg this is Tarodunum (Zarten), down the Rhine from Schaffhausen
Altenburg-Rheinau, between the Steinach Valley of Neuffen and the Lenninger
Valley by graveyards of the "meadow graves," near Creglingen-Finsterlohr
in Tauberbischofsheim County a Celtic tribal castle as well as near Breisach-Hochstetten
a Celtic city. Besides ironworking there were among the Celts of the La
Tène Period highly developed artistic crafts, a noteworthy currency and
remarkable pottery.
