•The Celts and the Iron Age
•Who were the Celts?
1.The Celts lived in southern Germany, Austrian &
Switzerland.
2.Their language & culture spread to France, Britain
& Ireland.
•Celtic language & Culture, the use of iron
widespread in Ireland by 300BC.
•How was Celtic society organised?
1.Celts divided Ireland into kingdoms (tuatha) . A King (rí) ruled each tuatha. King elected
by royal family (derbhfine).
2.Nobles composed of
warriors & the Aos Dána. The Aos Dána had special skills. They were made up of:
•Judges who knew Celtic or Brehon Law
•Druids who were Celtcic priests
•Filí who wrote poetry on
history and traditions of the tribe.
•3. The commoners were farmers who worked the land land & herded
cattle. Most work done by slaves & labourers (captured from other tribes).
•How do we know about the Celts?
•Archaeological evidence – ring forts,
weapons, graves
•Documentary (written) evidence – Celtic
legends such as An Táin Bó Cúailnge and Celtic laws (Brehon Laws)
•What type of houses did the Celts use?
1.Celts lived in ring forts & crannógs.
2. A Ring fort – area enclosed
by a circular earthen bank. Farmers built wattle & daub houses with
thatched roofs inside the ring fort.
•Place names with rath or lios suggested ring forts in the area, eg. Rathmore, Lismore.
•Souterrains = underground storage areas under the house.
3. Crannóg = artificial lake. Built by farmers with a house on
top. Boats were used to travel between the lakeshore and crannóg.
•What type of houses did the Celts use?
4. Hill forts = surrounded by very large circular earthern banks. Built
on prominent hills & were used mainly for religious ceremonies. Eg. Hill of
Tara, Co Meath.
5. Promontory forts = Built on headlands or cliff edges. Surrounded by
earthen or stone banks. Used for religious ceremonies. Eg. Dún Aengus in the Aran
Islands.
Ringforts
Hill Fort
Promontary Fort
Souterrain
Souterrain
Crannóg
•Food
1.Celts got meat form Cattle, sheep and pigs. They
cooked it on a spit or fulacht fiadh.
2.They produced milk, butter & cheese from cow’s
milk. They made bread & porridge from wheat & barley, and ale from
barley.
3.Cooking done by women also spinning & weaving to
make cloth.
4.Celts had feasts to celebrate victories in battle. Best meat given to
the bravest warrior (hero’s portion).
•Tools and Weapons
1.Axes, swords, spear heads and arrow heads made from
iron.
2.Ornaments (torcs) made from gold or bronze.
•Celtic Art
•This was called La Téne art. Consisted
of spirals, curved lines & florals.
•Eg. The Turoe Stone, Co Galway
•What was an ogham stone
1.Ogham stones are standing stones which mark graves or
land boundaries.
2.First form of writing In Ireland was called ogham
writing. Series of lines cut into the side of ogham stones.
1. Where did the Celts originally come from?
2. How do we know so much about the Celts?
3. What was a tuath?
4. What was the derbfine?
5. Why was the King so important?
6. Who were the nobles?
7. Who were the Aos Dana?
8. What did a file do?
9. How were slaves obtained?
10. What was a rath?
11. What was a crannog?
12. What type of clothing did the Celts wear?
13. What was the main food eaten by the Celts?
14. Explain what a fulachta fia was.
15. What was the role of the Druid?
16. Name a famous Celtic religious feastday?
17. What was the Celtic afterlife called?
18. What was ogham and where was it used?
1. Central Europe in an area around Southern Germany and Switzerland
2. From the writings of the Romans and from old legends passed down through the years.
3. The units into which Ireland was divided which were small kingdoms.
4. The extended family members of a ruling King in a tuath.
5. If he was a good and brave King the people of the tuath would have luck and would prosper.
6. The were the closest friends of the King. They were warriors and they also shared in the owning of the land and the great cattle herds.
7. They were the learned people in the tuath who had special skills and were highly respected. Examples - Druids, File(poets) and skilled crafts-people.
8. He was a poet and often travelled around from tuath to tuath recording the great deeds of the kings.
9. They were captured during raids on other tuaths.
10. A type of home in Celtic Ireland that was surrounded by a ditch or earthen wall. A huge number have been located all over Ireland.
11. A special dwelling built in the middle of a lake and made of wood.
12. They grew flax to make linen and also made clothes from sheep’s wool and used wild berries as dye.
13. Their main crops were oats, barley and wheat. They ate bread, porridge, cheese and butter. They drank ale and mead which was made from honey.
14. This was a special way of cooking large pieces of meat for feasts. A hole in the ground was lined with wood and filled with water. Hot stones were used to keep the water hot to cook meat wrapped in straw.
15. They were the special religious leaders who carried were in charge during religious feasts and carried out sacrifices of animals.
16. Samhain was very important. It occurred at the start of November and it was in honour of the Spirits of the Underworld.
17. Tir na nOg - a place where you would always remain young.
18. It was the first form of writing used in ancient Ireland and is to be found today on the sides of special standing stones.
No comments:
Post a Comment