Throatpunch
Banned
This thread is devoted to the histories of ancient peoples from long ago. Feel free to contribute your knowledge about the history of ancient people. Be it Aztecs, the Sami and Kven, Romans, Mongols, Native Americans, Aboriginals. Anything.
I'll kick it off with the Celts and the Picts.
The Celts:
Celts were blacksmiths (working with iron), bronze smiths, leather workers, potters (potters wheel introduced around 150 BC) and carpenters. They could make elaborate and beautiful Jewellery out of precious stones and gold. They could make glass, and glass beads, decorate metal goods with enamel, and many of their swords and shields were finely decorated.
Celtic Society is also interesting. It was hierarchical; at the top were the nobles, led by a king or chieftain, then the craftsmen (metal workers were the most important), then the farmers who provided most of the food supply, and fought for the chief. There was also a slave class in Celtic England.
The Celts were separated into tribes, with no political unity at all and a whole shit ton of fighting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Celtic_tribes
Celts grew crops in square shaped fields and raised pigs, sheep and cattle. They could brew beer from barley. Grain was stored in pits lined with either stone or wicker, and then sealed with clay.
Trade with Europe was often. Metals like tin, iron and lead were exported from England, with grains, cloth, wool and skin being imported. At first, the Celts used Iron Bars as currency but got onto using gold coins by 50 BC.
I always wanted to live in a Celtic House. They used low tables, benches (that could be beds too), with a fire in the middle, and the walls were wattle and daub. Most were built around a central pole, with horizontal poles going out from the central pole, and then that resting on vertical poles.
There clothes were way better than ours. Men would put on tunics and trousers, with women wearing long dresses. Rich people wore torques, gold ornaments. Many had moustaches, but not beards. Music was played from flutes or lyres. As a makeshift hair gel, men used lime water to make their hair stand on end.
They had religion, led by druids, who worshipped many Gods. Druids were also scholars who advised chiefs and were judges.
The best bit is they didn't build temples like Rome and Greece did. They worshipped in natural places, like tree groves or lakes. To please the Gods, valuable things were thrown into rivers and lakes.
https://wicca.com/celtic/wicca/celtic.htm
In good weather they held chariot and horse races, and hunted wild boar on horseback. Also, they played board games and played music.
Dead people were buried in individual graves like we do. They were buried with goods, showing a strong belief in the afterlife.
They had a load of festivals. I'll cut and paste this for you, since its a lot to type.
Imbolc at the beginning of February at the start of the lambing season, Beltane at the beginning of May, when cattle were sent out to graze in the fields after being kept indoors and fed on hay during the Winter, Lughasad in August when the crops were growing ripe and Samhain at the beginning of November. That was the time when animals were brought in from the fields for the Winter. The Celts could not grow enough hay to feed them all so those not needed for breeding were slaughtered.
Women had many rights in Celtic life, far more than the Romans.
Moving on to one of the most badass bits, Celtic warfare.
About 650 BC the Celts introduced iron into Britain and they made the first swords. Warfare was common throughout the iron age, and many hill forts (basically fortified settlements) were built around that time. The Celts fought from horses or light wooden chariots. They threw spears and used swords. The Celts had wooden shields (many decorated) and some wore chain mail.
I'll link you to some interesting stuff and battles:
The Picts
Picts were a group of people who lived in East and North Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Periods.
They are defined as"confederation of tribal units whose political motivations derived from a need to ally against common enemies" .
They left no history, and what we know about them comes from Roman, later Scottish writers, and carved on stones.
Archaeological records show Pictish society was not particularly distinguishable from its Celtic British and Gaelic neighbours.
They painted themselves with woad, just like the Celtic Iceni tribe. This is why they are referred to as picts, because picti is Latin for painted.
Early Pictish Religion is presumed to be Celtic Polytheism, later being replaced by Christianity in around the 5th/6th Centuries.
There are no records of the Pictish language, it is extinct. However, many records point to it being similar to Common Brittonic, the language of the Celtic Britons.
Their style of warfare has been recorded on some engraved stone slabs. Horseman, like the Celts, they used Javelins and longer lances. Foot soldiers fought with spears or pikes, and may even have had organised formations. They carried the characteristic Celtic shield with swirling patterns, and some wore Germanic style helmets (Spangehelms's). Most surprisingly of all, the crossbow is included on one of the engraved slabs, though it wasn't thought to be in use until much later in Europe.
I'll link you to some battles involving the Picts:
I'll kick it off with the Celts and the Picts.
The Celts:
Celts were blacksmiths (working with iron), bronze smiths, leather workers, potters (potters wheel introduced around 150 BC) and carpenters. They could make elaborate and beautiful Jewellery out of precious stones and gold. They could make glass, and glass beads, decorate metal goods with enamel, and many of their swords and shields were finely decorated.
Celtic Society is also interesting. It was hierarchical; at the top were the nobles, led by a king or chieftain, then the craftsmen (metal workers were the most important), then the farmers who provided most of the food supply, and fought for the chief. There was also a slave class in Celtic England.
The Celts were separated into tribes, with no political unity at all and a whole shit ton of fighting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Celtic_tribes
Celts grew crops in square shaped fields and raised pigs, sheep and cattle. They could brew beer from barley. Grain was stored in pits lined with either stone or wicker, and then sealed with clay.
Trade with Europe was often. Metals like tin, iron and lead were exported from England, with grains, cloth, wool and skin being imported. At first, the Celts used Iron Bars as currency but got onto using gold coins by 50 BC.
I always wanted to live in a Celtic House. They used low tables, benches (that could be beds too), with a fire in the middle, and the walls were wattle and daub. Most were built around a central pole, with horizontal poles going out from the central pole, and then that resting on vertical poles.
There clothes were way better than ours. Men would put on tunics and trousers, with women wearing long dresses. Rich people wore torques, gold ornaments. Many had moustaches, but not beards. Music was played from flutes or lyres. As a makeshift hair gel, men used lime water to make their hair stand on end.
They had religion, led by druids, who worshipped many Gods. Druids were also scholars who advised chiefs and were judges.
The best bit is they didn't build temples like Rome and Greece did. They worshipped in natural places, like tree groves or lakes. To please the Gods, valuable things were thrown into rivers and lakes.
https://wicca.com/celtic/wicca/celtic.htm
In good weather they held chariot and horse races, and hunted wild boar on horseback. Also, they played board games and played music.
Dead people were buried in individual graves like we do. They were buried with goods, showing a strong belief in the afterlife.
They had a load of festivals. I'll cut and paste this for you, since its a lot to type.
Imbolc at the beginning of February at the start of the lambing season, Beltane at the beginning of May, when cattle were sent out to graze in the fields after being kept indoors and fed on hay during the Winter, Lughasad in August when the crops were growing ripe and Samhain at the beginning of November. That was the time when animals were brought in from the fields for the Winter. The Celts could not grow enough hay to feed them all so those not needed for breeding were slaughtered.
Women had many rights in Celtic life, far more than the Romans.
Moving on to one of the most badass bits, Celtic warfare.
About 650 BC the Celts introduced iron into Britain and they made the first swords. Warfare was common throughout the iron age, and many hill forts (basically fortified settlements) were built around that time. The Celts fought from horses or light wooden chariots. They threw spears and used swords. The Celts had wooden shields (many decorated) and some wore chain mail.
I'll link you to some interesting stuff and battles:
- http://www.ancientmilitary.com/celtic-warriors.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_warfare
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gergovia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arausio
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Faesulae_(225_BC)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae_(279_BC)
The Picts
Picts were a group of people who lived in East and North Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Periods.
They are defined as"confederation of tribal units whose political motivations derived from a need to ally against common enemies" .
They left no history, and what we know about them comes from Roman, later Scottish writers, and carved on stones.
Archaeological records show Pictish society was not particularly distinguishable from its Celtic British and Gaelic neighbours.
They painted themselves with woad, just like the Celtic Iceni tribe. This is why they are referred to as picts, because picti is Latin for painted.
Early Pictish Religion is presumed to be Celtic Polytheism, later being replaced by Christianity in around the 5th/6th Centuries.
There are no records of the Pictish language, it is extinct. However, many records point to it being similar to Common Brittonic, the language of the Celtic Britons.
I'll link you to some battles involving the Picts:
