The Iron Age In Scotland

Iron Age in Ancient Scotland

Now we come to one of the two great areas of debate concerning early British history (the other, found below, involves the Picts). Who were the Celts? When did they get to the British Isles? Are Celts and Druids really a part of the same culture?

First of all, there is a simplistic mental image, produced by reading textbooks, in which we envision "waves" of people hurling themselves across Europe, destroying all in their path, and imposing their ethnic identity and DNA on the hapless prior inhabitants. This is incorrect. DNA testing has revealed that present-day inhabitants of Britain are primarily descended from the mesolithic (early stone age) or original inhabitants of the islands.

It is true that a tribe or group of people may "win the war" and impose their rule and their culture - this happens time and time again. But they intermarry, rather than annihilate, and the basic stock remains the same. Nevertheless, it is remarkable how widespread Celtic culture was in western Europe (Spain, France, and Britain) hundreds of years before the Romans took an interest in their history.

By 400 BC or so, we stand at a crossroads in our study of ancient Scotland. For the Celts are still living in the world of archeological record, while the Mediterranean world has long since moved into the realm of history. The difference? Writing.

From the Greek and Roman historians who first encountered the Celtic peoples we have developed our basic image of the fierce Celtic warrior, woad-painted and naked, howling like a banshee. We've also garnered images of ancient druids, congregating under the sacred oaks, harvesting mistletoe, and supervising human sacrifice.

Some of what they record is likely true and some colored by hearsay, wishful thinking, and political expediency. Unfortunately, the Celts cannot answer back because at that time they had no written language.

There is one point of great debate and historical interest, however. By the time of Julius Caesar, it would appear that the power base of druid religion and culture derived from Britain. In other words, the druid religion may have spread outward from Britain to Europe rather than vice versa. Perhaps, as the Celts migrated into the British Isles, encountering the indigenous culture and its great stone circles, they developed a unique religion, druidism, which then migrated back to France and Germany. The implications are stunning and call on us to do our own research and come to our own conclusions.

From heartoscotland.com