Clothing of the Ancient Celts: A Guide to Celtic Costume by M. E. Riley

[Druzhina]

Clothing of the Ancient Celts: A Guide to Celtic Costume by M. E. Riley
Hallstat and La Tene Celts
Ireland, 5th - 10th c. AD
-- Hair, Jewelry, etc. (Classical Celts and pre-medieval Ireland)
Late Medieval Ireland
Medieval Scotland, 1100-1600
Scotland, 1600-1800
Dyes
Fiber Working Techniques
Celtic Costume Myths and Tips
Patterns and Resources
Bonnet & Cockade
Directions for knitting a Scottish Bonnet
The Rogart Shirt
Bibliography
Recommended Reading

Druzhina
sites of wargaming interest

[FierceKitty]

What a pleasure to read something written by a scholar who knows a plaid is a garment, not a type of pattern!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Excellent, just when the picts make it into the top requests too! 

[Luddite]

The problem being of course that 'The Celts' never existed.

The closest we get to them are Greek refefrences to 'keltoi' (First used by Hecataeus of Miletus in 517 BC to refer to a 'Germanic' tribe) which is likely to have been a general reference meaning 'barbarian' or rather 'non-Greek'.

We also have the Celtiberian tribe in modern Spain or possibly the Celtici in Portugal.

The modern usage of the term, with connotations of a Pan-European 'Cletic Culture' (even referred to in some older texts as an 'Empire!') is quite erroneous.  There never were 'Celts' as a unified people, although it has in the past 200 years steadily become a highly political Nationalist issue unfortunately.

A better reference would be 'Iron Age tribal people of Europe', but i guess that's a bit of a mouthful!  

[Druzhina]

Celtic is used as a name of a language group. This does not call for a unified people.
The keltoi may have been from Germania but this does not mean that they spoke a Teutonic language.

[FierceKitty]

Celtic is used as a name of a language group. This does not call for a unified people.
The keltoi may have been from Germania but this does not mean that they spoke a Teutonic language.

Things like common tartans, Druidism, linguistic links...One needn't subscribe to Victorian mythology to recognise a commonality, surely.

[Druzhina]

Luddite,

If your point is that the Celts did not all call themselves Celts, there are few peoples or counties in Europe that call themsevles by the same word that is used in English. The Germans do not call themselves Germans, nor Tedeschi (Italian) nor their country as Allemagne (French). Is there any point in saying that the Germans do not exist?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Soldiers

[FierceKitty]

Luddite,

If your point is that the Celts did not all call themselves Celts, there are few peoples or counties in Europe that call themsevles by the same word that is used in English. The Germans do not call themselves Germans, nor Tedeschi (Italian) nor their country as Allemagne (French). Is there any point in saying that the Germans do not exist?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Soldiers

Not to mention nemetski, my favourite. Meaning pretty much "Savages who can't speak properly". Ah, the brotherhood of man!

[Luddite]

Luddite,

If your point is that the Celts did not all call themselves Celts, there are few peoples or counties in Europe that call themsevles by the same word that is used in English. The Germans do not call themselves Germans, nor Tedeschi (Italian) nor their country as Allemagne (French). Is there any point in saying that the Germans do not exist?

Druzhina
Illustrations of Soldiers

No, my point is that the 'Celts' did not exist as a people, and therefore ideas such as 'Celtic Costume' is erroneous.

Europe at the time was inhabited by a variety of what might best be described as Iron Age tribes. 

There were specific references to tribal groups that had 'celt' somewhere in their name but that's about it.

Saying 'Celt' or rather 'Celtic Costume' is a bit like saying everone in Europe today who wears clothing made in China is 'Chinese'.
A German and a Frenchman may wear Chinese-made jeans, but that doesn't make them 'Chinese'. 

The term 'Celt' is just a red rag to me really...guaranteed to push my rage button!   

I particularly object to the politicisation of the term and this concept of a 'Celtic Fringe' to Europe where the surviving elements of some long lost 'Celtic Culture' survives - inheritors of some sort of pan-European heritage. 

Its fiction.

The concept most likely stems from the Graeco-Roman sources which tend to lump all 'enemies' together as 'not Roman' or 'not Greek'!  Mix in a bit of Victorian historical revisionism and romanticisation, slap on some 'noble savage' stuff and mix in some 'lime spiked hair, and swirly woad patterns on the skin' stuff and bingo!  You've made up 'The Celts'.

I'm personally far more interested in getting to the reality of the historical situation.

Then again, i suppose in 1500 years historians and archaeologists will be digging up plastic stamped with 'Made in China' and talking about the 'Chinese culture and costume of Europe in 2013AD'!!   

[Druzhina]

I wouldn't get carried away with the "Iron Age" either. There were celtic speaking people before the Iron Age and celtic speaking people after the Iron Age.

Celtic costume is the great variety of what celtic speaking people wore at different times at different places.

Druzhina
sites of wargaming interest