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ChapterTwo
THECELTICCHARACTEROFTHEBRITISH
ISLES
TheCeltswerethemostimportantpeopletoshapetheculturalcharacterof
theBritishIslesbeforethearrivaloftheRomansandtheAnglo-Saxons.It
isnotknown,however,whichofthepeopleswhosepresenceontheBritish
Islesisconfirmedbyarchaeologicalexcavationsandevidencecanbecon-
sideredastheveryfirstCeltictribe.Somescholarsbelievethatitwasthe
BellBeakerFolk,mentionedinthefirstchapterofthisbook,aracethat
probablyarrivedinBritainbetween2000and1600B.C.However,allthat
remainedandallthatwenowknowabouttheBellBeakerFolkisthebell-
turned-upside-downshapeoftheirpottery.Nothingremainedwhichcould
confirmtheirethnicity,cultureorreligion,nosingletraceoftheirtongue,
andnosinglepicturelefteitherontheirpotteryorinanyotherformof
painting,suchas,forinstance,oncavewalls.
NumerousscholarsstronglydenytheCelticcharacterofthesepeople,
assumingthattheoldestarchaeologicalremnantswhichcouldbeconsid-
eredasCelticcanbeidentifiednoearlierthantheendofthe9
thorthe8th
centuryB.C.Anotherquestionis,whoweretheCeltsoftheBritishIsles?
UntilquiterecentlytherewasnodisputeovertheCelticmigrationstothe
BritishIslesfromtheEuropeanmainland.ItlookedliketheCeltsarrived
inBritainanddominatedhercultureforalmostonethousandyears,while
earlierculturesdisappearedsuddenlyandquitecompletely.Thisseems
ratherunconvincing,especiallyasthelonglastingandmassiveIndo-
EuropeanmigrationsleftsomevisibletracesontheEuropeancontinent.
TheBasquepeoplelivingintheareaborderingSpainandFranceareso
fartheonlyconfirmedpre-Indo-Europeanpeople,abletopreservetheir
ancientlanguageandculture.ButwerethePictsandCaledoniansofBrit-
ainpre-Indo-EuropeanorearlyCeltictribes?
Somedecadesago,scientistsusingthelatestgeneticmethodsstarted
tocompareDNAsamplesfoundintheteethofthemostancientCeltic
skeletonsfoundintheBritishIslesandthosefoundontheEuropean
mainland.Itwasquitesurprisingthattheeffectofsuchresearchprovided
uswithanunmistakableandexplicitanswer:ancientcontinentalDNA
