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Celts
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The story of the Celts in the later Middle Ages is one of gradual absorption and partial assimilation. Wales lost her independence in the thirteenth century, by which time the Celtic identity of Cornwall was being rapidly eroded. Brittany was subsumed within France in 1532. Ireland only fell fully under English rule during the reign of Elizabeth 1. Her death in 1603 ... began the final unification of England with Scotland; the two countries were formally unified in 1707. The Gaelic speaking clan society of Scotland's Highlands and Islands was effectively destroyed after the rebellion of 1745.
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The ancestors of the Celts were the people of the Urnfield culture, so-called because they buried their dead in cremation urns in flat ground. Between 1200 and 700 BC, they spread westward from their eastern European homeland into the area of modern Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Here, there culture developed into a recognizably Celtic form. The earliest stage of Celtic culture is called the Hallstatt, after a village in the Austrian Salzkammergut where archeologists discovered important artifacts. At hallstatt and other places with the 'hall' (salt) name - Hallein, Helle, Schwabisch Hall - the Celts' wealth was based upon salt extraction and sale. The technology of iron, too, was embraced by innovative Celtic blacksmiths, who produced the best metal in Europe, that was in great demand outside Celtic Areas.
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Other religious practices ... existed; Celts seem to have universally removed body hair. Some postulate this as religious, but was more realistically part of the Celtic propensity for cleanliness. Body hair kept dirt close to the body, and Celts were an extremely cleanly people, so this was unacceptable. However, Celts also took heads from dead enemies. This was definitely a religious practice in origin. However, even post-Christian Gaels continued this practice into the middle ages; some Irish even took to scalping the heads that they took, so they could braid the scalp through rings on their weapons.
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The Celts did not have a caste society, though there were well-defined classes. At the top was the noble class. At some periods of Celtic history, the top man was a king. Often, the king was the head man of an indivudual tribe, though in later times, nations composed of several tribes came under royal rule. In its most refined form, kingship was seen as divine - rulers were men through whom the gods spoke. Kingship was not necessarily inherited, for kings could nominate their successor.
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The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
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The exact origin of the Celts is unknown. Certain historians place the Celts as far west as Spain and as far east as Czechoslovakia and Hungary. As in many early civilizations, trade was the main driving force forward. Chief goods traded were metals such as tin and copper, furs and hides, pottery, gemstones and amber. It is ... thought that there may of been some trading of people, that is, slaves. The core of these early Celts was the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe (Austria) - A Bronze Age society based around the regions salt mines.
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Celts