Doug Weller writes:
> > So am I to understand that his view is that while they have a right to
> > identify themselves as Celts, they are wrong?
>
> Not at all. That's not what he is saying. Page 137:
> "Discrediting the insular Ancient Celts does not make the modern Celts
> fraudulent. For the more sophisticated understandings of the nature of
> ethnic identities now available to us, which reveal the Ancient Celts
> to be a modern construct, equally suggest that the modern Celts
> constitute a perfectly real and legitimate 'ethnic group'. The
> resolution of this paradox lies in chronology: the modern Celts are not
> the present representatives of a people who have existed continuously
> for millennia, but constitute a true case of 'ethnogenesis' - the birth
> of ethnic identity - in early modern Europe.
Ethnicity carries with it the concept of "heritage". Isn't that the
term that British archaeologists are always using for their own
purposes? Ethnogenesis is an absurd notion -- if you listen very
carefully you might hear Joseph Campbell laughing in his grave.
> >There is also
> > the implication embedded in this statement that those people between
> > the fall of Rome and 1700 had some knowledge that we are not privy
> > to. Would an accurate paraphrase be: after the dark ages, the name
> > 'Celtic' was not being used; therefore, Celtic culture did not exist
> > in that time?
>
> It didn't exist, but that wasn't because of names but because there was
> nothing identifiably Celtic.
>
Have you never heard that the absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence?
Actually there *is* quite a bit of evidence, but much of it involves
disciplines that, apparently, neither James nor yourself are familiar
with.
> >The answer is simply that the culture is itself -- what
> > it
> > has been called at any given time is of minor importance, if any.
> > That it is called Celtic now is what is important.
>
> What is 'it'?
>
The culture
> >This also
> > denies
> > the existence of a Celtic culture that can be defined. That the art,
> > language, mythology and iconography is universal is being ignored
> > completely. Why? A culture is better defined by its art and
> > Weltanschauung than by its pots and houses.
>
> This is a different view of culture, almost a more elitist one. And
> there is precious little evidence for the mythology of the pre-Roman
> conquest British Isles, let alone 'weltanschaung'.
>
The 28,000+ examples of Celtic coins in the Celtic Coin Index at
Oxford constitute a vast Celtic mythological vocabulary:
http://info.ox.ac.uk/~archinfo/ccindex/ccindex.htm
There is also an enormous body of literature and folklore available
for those that know how to study it. hardly "precious little". With
this amount of evidence, statistically meaningful conclusions can be
drawn.
> > "For example, not all people called Celts used 'Celtic' (la Tene
> > style) art (e.g. the Celtiberians of Spain did not)."
> >
> > Hold it!!! The Celts entered Spain in the late Hallstatt; the brooch
> > styles confirm this. From that point, the art there evolved
> > differently. La Tene art entered Britain at the time of what is
> > loosely called the Marnian style, and British Celtic art evolved in
> > its own way from that point. This is the pattern that Celtic art
> > followed everywhere that I have seen. Surely James should understand
> > this. It is this feature that makes it possible to plot the movements
> > of people -- or more specifically, artisans and trade goods.
> Which is not the same thing.
Elaborate -- with adequate specificity of reference.
> The web site you've looked at isn't a really adequate source for James'
> position as represented in his book (I've read both).
But the site was written by James! does he have problems expressing
his views, or is it that he keeps changing his mind?
John
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