The word “Celt” comes from the Greek word, Keltoi, which means barbarians and is properly pronounced as "Kelt".
The first people to adopt cultural characteristics regarded as Celtic were the people of the Iron Age Hallstatt culture in central Europe (800–450 BC), named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria. Thus, this area is sometimes called the 'Celtic homeland'.
The ancient Celts flourished in the late Iron Age. These were the contemporaries of classical Greece, the Alexandrine kingdoms and the Roman Empire, which gradually drove them to the British Isles, where they retained their pagan beliefs until about the 5th century A.D.
Celtic tribes that originated in Germany and the Netherlands invaded Britain, claiming the island for themselves. In 387 B.C. the Celts easily conquered the simple people of Britain. Then the two peoples mingled into one.
In 54 B.C. Julius Caesar became the first Roman to attempt to conquer Britain. Eventually conquered by the Romans, the British were ruled by the Roman Empire for 400 years.
In the British Isles, Britannia was the name Romans gave to Celtic area, based on the name of the people: the Britanni.
Celt people traded across tribal borders & that was important for political and social contact between the tribes. They traded both inside & outside Britain by river and sea. For money they used “Iron bars” until they began to copy the Roman coins used in “Gaul”.
Celtic peoples
