Barry Cunliffe: Who Were the Celts?

Exploring Celtic Civilizations | An Online Celtic Studies Coursebook

Exploring Celtic Civilizations | An On-line Celtic Studies Course-Book

Exploring Celtic Civilizations is an on-line course book suitable for undergraduates introducing the field of Celtic Studies: the various kinds of evidence available about Celtic-speaking communities through over two millennia and the methods available for understanding them. This digital course book thus presents texts as well as other sorts of evidence, such as aspects of material culture (e.g., archaeological artefacts), through on-line exhibits and data visualizations.

The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver

The BBC in the UK is airing a new series, starting 5 October 2015 at 21.00.  A link to The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver on BBC iPlayer can be found here.

Anthropologist Prof. Alice Roberts and archaeologist Neil Oliver go in search of the Celts - one of the world's most mysterious ancient people. In Britain and Ireland, we are never far from our Celtic past but in this series Neil and Alice travel much further afield, discovering the origins and beliefs of these Iron Age people in artifacts and human remains right across Europe, from Turkey to Portugal. What emerges is not a wild people on the western fringes of Europe, but a highly sophisticated tribal culture that influenced vast areas of the ancient world - and even Rome. Rich with vivid drama reconstruction, we recreate this pivotal time and meet some of our most famous ancient leaders - from Queen Boudicca to Julius Caesar - and relive the battles they fought for the heart and soul of Europe. Alice and Neil discover that these key battles between the Celts and the Romans over the best part of 500 years constituted a fight for two very different forms of civilisation - a fight that came to define the world we live in today. In the first episode, we see the origins of the Celts in the Alps of central Europe and relive the moment of first contact with the Romans in a pitched battle just north of Rome - a battle that the Celts won and that left the imperial city devastated.

Celts and Romans - Start the Week

Available on BBC iPlayer here.

On Start the Week Mary Ann Sieghart explores how far leaders and governments have shaped our world. Matt Ridley dismisses the assumption that history has been made by those on high, whether in government, business or religion, and argues for a system of evolution in which ideas and events develop from the bottom up. The historian Tom Holland revels in the antics of the house of Caesar, from Augustus to Nero, and how this imperial family greatly influenced the ancient world. Barry Cunliffe tells the story of the beginnings of civilisation across Europe and the Far East over the course of ten millennia while the curator Julia Farley concentrates on one of those groups - the Celts - and celebrates their distinctive stylised art in a new exhibition at the British Museum.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Barry Cunliffe, Miranda Green & Alistair Moffat chat about the Celts

Barry Cunliffe, Miranda Green & Alistair Moffat chat about the Celts, and you will need Realplayer to listen.

Historical Atlas of the Celtic World

I don’t know how long this will be available but you just have to go and have a look now! This PDF book is available for download from Eso Ursi Garden and it’s a beautiful book.

The remarkable Celtic culture once encompassed most of western Europe; even after centuries of invasion and conquest it flourished in remote corners of the continent. This book is a beautifully illustrated survey of Celtic society, its history and belief, from its origins to the present day.

This book traces the development of Celtic religion and mythology, and describes the flowering of their unique metalwork, sculpture, and illumination. An expertly crafted view into the Celtic past, while emphasising the relevance of Celtic culture and identity today.

Go to the Eso Ursi Garden now and download this book, whilst you still can.

The Celts: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Barry Cunliffe
ISBN: 0192804189

The term 'Celtic' is enormously evocative; but the images it evokes are highly diverse and confusing. What exactly do we mean by 'Celtic', and who, past and present, can reasonably be called 'Celts'? Part of the problem is that 'Celtic' is a term with many meanings.

In this densely packed little book, Barry Cunliffe explores evidence for the myriad of tribes and cultures that have been associated with term 'Celt' from the time the term was applied by the Greeks to their neighbours, through the nationalist movements of the 1700s and ending with the modern day adoption by various groups. Mr Cunliffe sifts through the fields of archaeology, history, literature for the latest research into the cultural identity of the 'Celts'.

I liked this little book a lot. Packed full of information with helpful maps, though I admit to printing off one or two extra from the net, so that you could see the areas being discussed. The tone of the book was accesssible; a degree in archaeology, literature, anthropology, history or languages was not required in order to make sense of what was being presented. Mr Cunliffe did offer a limited bibliography with the qualification that the bibliographies of the books mentioned will provide more food for thought.

All in all, this book provides what it says on the cover. I'm off to read Mr Cunliffe's more extensive book: "The Ancient Celts".

Celtic Myth Podshow

I was searching randomly through google groups tonight, having checked my messages from the Northern Earth group and feeling like a bit of wander. It was on a druid list that I found an advertisement for the Celtic Myth Podshow - "bringing tales of the tales and stories of the ancient celts to your fireside".

In their introductory podshow, the hosts explain they are reading various tales and stories from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Britanny, and they are quick to make apologies for any mispronunciations of names, characters and places, admitting they are not native speakers of any of the languages. They do ask that anyone who has suggestions about pronunciation may leave messages on their forums, or by sending a .mp3 sound file.

The shows are hosted by Gary and Ruth, and I have to admit I find their voices quite soothing and this lends atmosphere when they are telling the tales. I have yet to read most of the stories they relate for myself; but I am enjoying what has been produced by this couple from Southern England so far.

Each episode is just over 20 minutes long, and the tales are told so that they can be enjoyed fireside, with music and sound effects to add to the atmosphere and notes are published for each episode, allowing the listener to keep track of goings on. The site is marked "child friendly" so they could be listened to by the whole family. Personally, I think they would be ideal to upload onto an iPod to by a camp fire.

I have to say, I was disappointed to find only two full episodes, though I the site is very new and I imagine it takes quite a bit of work to make each episode. I am looking forward to more appearing soon.