The Celts were a powerful group in central and northern Europe who lived in scattered villages. They spoke their own language and were mainly farmers, though some tribes were known as great warriors. The Celts believed in many nature gods and had traditions like burying the dead with objects for the afterlife. In Britain, Celtic tribes like the Iceni were located across the island and resisted Roman invasion, led by the warrior queen Boudicca after the Romans mistreated her family. Some modern Celtic traditions like Christmas trees are inspired by their beliefs in the power of trees.
2. Who were the Celts?
• They were the most powerful people in central and northern Europe.
• They had his own language.
• Nowadays people think that Celts were great warriors but it’s not true
at all, it depended on the Celt tribe. Some of them were warriors but
most of them were peaceful people devoted to farming.
3. When did they come to Britain?
• The first Celts in Britain
were the Goidelic Celts. But
the Brythonic Celts pushed
them into Ireland. That was
between 500 and 400 B.F.
4. What was their lifestyle?
• The basic unit of Celtic life was the clan, a sort of
extended family.
• The Celts were mainly farmers.
• Their clothes were made from wool and dyed with natural
vegetable dyes and woven by hand on a vertical loom.
5. How were their houses?
• The Celtic tribes lived in scattered villages. They
lived in round houses with thatched roofs.
• The houses had no windows. The roof was made
from straw with mud. The Celts would light a fire in
the middle of the roundhouse for cooking and
heating. Sometimes groups of houses were built on
the top of hills. These are called hill-forts.
Thatched roof
6. Who were their gods?
• Celtic priests, called Druids, were
the link between the supernatural
world and the ordinary human
one. They were able to predict
what would happen in the future
by interpreting the signs nature.
The Celts believed in many gods
(related to nature, the trees, the
earth, the sky and celestial
bodies…)
7. What were their traditions?
• The Celts made many
sculptures of human
heads in stone or wood.
They believed that the
human soul lived inside
the head and it had an
afterlife, so when a person
died they were buried with
many things they would
need for the afterlife.
8. Celtics groups in Britain
• Before the Romans
arrived, Britain
consisted of
a combination of many
tribes, each with its own
king and each tribe had
its own name. One of
the most important tribe
was the Iceni.
Sculpture of Boadiccea, also called Boudicca,
Queen of the Iceni.
9. Iceni Tribe
• The Iceni were located in the eastern England. It was
one of the few tribes who opposed the coming of the
Romans. Warrior Queen Boudicca was the wife of the
ruler of the Iceni. After her husband's death, the Romans
claimed the Iceni lands. When Boudicca protested she
was beaten and her daughters attacked and raped. She
is considered a heroine of ancient Britain.
10. Celtic traditions today
• The Celts believed that the trees were powerful, because they thought
that they kept the traditions and they kept them in contact with the
earth. And this inspired the Christmas Tree tradition.
