The earlier phases of the Hallstatt era fall into the Bronze Age. The Hallstatt Culture is the earliest to be identified as associated with Celtic culture, spreading from north of the Alps west into France, Southern Britain and the Iberian Peninsula. It was long thought, for instance, that the Celts were headhunters, but recent research from France has indicated that it may have been the heads of slain allies that were collected to be placed in porticos, while the defeated were dumped in mass graves, their weapons ritually broken. While epic literature depicts this as more of a sport focused on raids and hunting rather than an organized territorial conquest, the historical record is more of different groups using warfare to exert political control and harass rivals, for economic advantage, and in some instances to conquer territory.Īrchaeology provides much information regarding the material culture of the Celts, especially that of the La Tène culture and Hallstatt culture but the significance of these finds in determining how the ancient Celts actually fought is the subject of much speculation and debate. The organizational structure of Celtic tribes and societies varied greatly with some groups having a strict tribal hierarchical structure and others exhibiting the organizational structures of a Republic, especially by the time of the Gallic Wars.Įndemic warfare appears to have been a regular feature of Celtic societies. Tribal warfare Ĭeltic tribes and peoples fought amongst each other sometimes they allied themselves with the Romans, Greeks, Etruscans, Macedonians, Germanic peoples and various other peoples against each other and against other Celtic groups.

Chariots also played an important role in the warfare and culture of various Celtic groups, with Chariot burials being an important and unifying aspect of Celtic cultures such as the Hallstatt culture, La Tène culture, Gallic and Brittonic cultures no remains of these vehicles from the period have yet been discovered in Ireland. This story describes combat centered on the use of the spear ( gae) and javelin ( gá-ín) with no mention of helmets or metal armor, which is consistent and in keeping with archaeological evidence. The Táin Bó Cúailnge, chiefly the story of the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn, who defeats an entire army from Connacht one by one in single combat. Champion warfare was an important aspect of Celtic mythology and culture. The Welsh Mabinogion dates from roughly the same era. The Celtic and Irish mythological heroic cycles were committed to writing in the medieval period, some time after the pre-Christian era they are supposed to depict. Main articles: Celtic Mythology and Irish Mythology With some having a strict hierarchical structure and others exhibiting representational organizational structures similar to that of a Republic.Īrchaeology provides much information regarding the material culture of the Celts, but the significance of these finds in determining how the ancient Celts actually fought is the subject of much speculation. The organizational structure of Celtic tribes and societies varied greatly from group to group.

Celtic tribes and peoples often fought amongst each other sometimes they allied themselves with the Romans, Greeks, Etruscans, Macedonians, Germanic peoples and various other peoples against each other and against other Celtic groups. Historical Celtic groups included the Belgae, Boii, Britons, Caledonians, Celtiberians, Gaels, Gauls, Gallaeci, Galatians, Helvetii, Noricum, the Picts and all their offshoots through descent, diffusion, migration and Celticisation.Įndemic warfare appears to have been a regular feature and an important aspect of life in the various Celtic societies. Organization was varied from group to group and was usually structured according to clan groupings and social class. No Celtic group employed a regular military as we would understand it today. In the museum Kelten-Keller Rodheim-Bieber, Germany.Ĭeltic Warfare was the type of warfare practiced by the various Celtic peoples and tribes, from Classical antiquity through the Migration period.

Celtic battle axe