Constanze writes:

> Okay, but it is exactly the connections between, say, a well-documented "tribe" or >administrative unit, and any kind of "ethnic" entity, not to mention the modern >essence of Celticness, that I (and apparently others) have a hard time pinpointing. >And I don't think it's politically nefarious to question the intellectual history of >our field(s), or even whether we should make the "ethnic" connection at all.
> 
I have never claimed that this subject is not very difficult, perhaps
this is why we find it so interesting. The degree of accuracy that you
seem to desire might not be possible at this time, and we might just
have to settle for corroborating evidence from a number of
disciplines.

Archaeological evidence alone gives a confusing picture even when we
have secure documentation of strong connections. For example, the
material remains in the territory of the Atrebates in Southern England
will show great differences from those of their Continental
counterparts. The iconography of the coins of the Atrebates, whether
continental or insular, is often similar, while at the same time being
quite different from their neighbors such as the Nervii and Dobunni,
respectively. We also know that Commios, after falling out with
Caesar, went to Britain, minted coins there, and started a dynasty. We
also have the language evidence: although Latinized, we know (from the
recent, and as yet unpublished Alton hoard) that the British successor
to Commios was Tincomarus (Tincomaros), and his coins were also
inscribed COM F. Coin evidence is significant because coins were not
used for trade at that time, but as close as we have got to
understanding it, they were used for some form of internal gift system
by which alliances were formed between prominent people within a
political zone.

Migrations also provide strong connections, but these were not the
massive migrations of populations that was supposed in the nineteenth
century, but rather, smaller bands that would separate from their
parent tribe to "seek their fortune" elsewhere. The clearest evidence
that I know for this is the case of the "Armoricani émigrés". Derek
Allen, "The early coins of the Treveri" in _Germania_ 1971, noted that
coins found in the territory of the Treveri formed the prototype for
many Armorican coins, and that the first of these Armorican types were
of the Aulerci Cenomani.

Allen did not attempt to provide a solution for this, but I plan to
publish one in the future. As a "sneak preview," I will say that these
coins were not of the Treveri at all, but were of a tribe that were
later taken over by the Treveri. A number of tribes were harassed by
the Germans, and some of their warriors moved to Armorica, taking some
gold with them and impoverishing those that decided to stay at home!
There is also more art-historical corroborating evidence for
connections between these two general areas.

This is another problem: tribal attributions are sometimes "iffy". I
think Haselgrove is on firmer ground by attributing coins to a
regional and chronological system of his own invention, than is Van
Arsdell who likes to give exact tribal attributions to everything. Our
present knowledge of tribal territories is a pastiche spanning a long
time, and just because we know the Treveri was in one location at one
time, does not mean that they were there a hundred years earlier. The
coins of the Treveri started before they ever reached the Trier area
-- the settlement was named after the tribe, not the other way round.

I have not touched upon the religious connections between
geographically remote tribes, but I'm perfectly willing to discuss
these at some length if anyone is interested; I can also give some
comparisons in the subject of composition -- including visual art,
poetry and music -- with the understanding that my knowledge of the
latter two is weaker.

As to the "No Celts" viewpoint, I first became interested in the
subject of Celtic iconography about thirty-five years ago, and found
my own personal "Rosetta stone" about fifteen years ago. Since then I
have worked independently and in relative isolation, although I have
variously communicated with Martyn Jope, Colin Haselgrove, Jeffrey
May, Andrew FitzPatrick, Philip de Jersey and others -- none of whom
ever told me not to use the word "Celt". It was when I first got
on-line that I ever heard of this idea. My first email ever was to
either this group or to Britarch, and it was a request to discuss art
historical analysis as applied to Celtic coins. It was met with a
flame from England from a coward who used someone else's email
address. It started "There were no bloody Celts". 

Funnily enough, its pompous tone helped me start to realize that my
own ethnicity had changed! I was born in England and moved to Western
Canada when I was sixteen. After that email I started looking at
myself as Canadian rather than English -- amazing really.

Vincent Megaw, bless his heart, came immediately to my defence, but
the discussion never got off the ground. It would be nice to start it
now.

As to modern Celtic ethnicity: well, we all have the right to define
ourselves, it is one of the most basic human rights. There is no
scientific way to do this, for if we go back ten generations our
genetic material becomes so mixed that we are almost related to
everyone on earth. Mitochondrial DNA is valid, but let's face it, it
has been the males who have mostly moved in conquest and exploration
-- anyone know of occurrences of "war grooms"? ;-)

I have been able to find many connections between ancient and modern
Celts, and see no reason to deny those connections. It is modern
politics that wants to do this and this gets at least very close to
genocide.

I have become thicker skinned over the last few years, so if you don't
agree with what I have said here, then I would welcome discourse --
and thank you for starting this discussion.

Cheers,

John Hooker 
-- 
Visit our Website at http://www.writer2001.com
Coriosolite Expert System...Animation...Poetry...Books
Hooker & Perron, Total Project Coordination
Technical Writing...Graphics...Maps...Colour Suites...Expert Systems


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%