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.