To the Romans, the Celts presented a terrifying sight because of their tall stature and their strange appearance.
Category: Brigantia
Sep 24
Celtic Customs
An interesting legacy of Celtic culture is the custom of burying the dead in barrows surrounded by a square ditch. This was a uniquely British phenomenon.
Sep 24
Celtic Industry
To look upon the tribes of Britain as just a bunch of savages is totally erroneous. Each tribe had thriving industries based on manufactured goods. Whether these goods were made in the homes of individual families, or in group workshops. The products of Celtic craftspeople were just as stunning as any Roman artefact.
Sep 24
Celtic Economy
Introduction Before the Roman’s entered Gaul, the Celtic tribes there were trading heavily among themselves and with related tribes in wider Europe, including Britain. The northern tribes were known to be more basic than their counterparts in the south. This is because the tribes in the south, even more in the south-east, had been trading …
Sep 24
The Celts and Celtic Life
The Celts and Celtic life Introduction Before looking at the Roman invasions, it is important to set the scene and get a picture of life in Britain in the first century BC, which was a time when the country was divided into regions, each occupied by a tribe. Britain was well into the Iron Age. …
Sep 24
Basics of Celtic Life
The period before the Romans arrived in Britain is clouded by incomplete facts, conjecture and conflicting opinions. This is mainly due to the lack of recorded information available. The Celtic tribes of Britain did commit their history in written form as the Celtic language did not have any written form, only oral.
Sep 24
History of the Celts
The Celtic Tradition History Of The Celts The Celts Part I: Their Origins & Pre-History by Nick Griffin, M.A. (Hons.), Cantab. “The whole nation is war-mad, both high-spirited and ready for battle, but otherwise simple, though not uncultured.” – Strabo, 1st century C.E. geographer “Golden is their hair and golden their garb. They are resplendent …
Sep 24
Background – The Celts
The Celts (Greek ‘Keltoi’) were an Indo-European people originating in the Alps. Their first known territory was in Central Europe around 1200 BC in the upper Danube, the Alps and parts of France and southern Germany.
Sep 24
Roman References
Roman References Ninth Legion activity in England Cerialis and Agricola – Roman political background to the conquest of the Brigantes Maps of Roman forts covering Southern and Northern Britain, Wales and Scotland. Maps of Hadrians Wall, Antonine Wall and Gask Ridge Maps of North and South Gaul. The Roman army in Britain. Gazeteer of Roman …
Sep 23
Holy Places of the Brigantes
Yorkshire’s Holy Wells & the Severed Head – Holy places of the Brigantes? by Edna Whelan The cult of the severed head is important in Celtic tradition; and most of Yorkshire was once occupied by the Celtic tribe of the Brigantes, a confederacy of Celtic tribes subservient to an overruling royal dynasty. The reign of …
PAS North Yorkshire
- NLM-35C05B COIN ROMAN 5 February 2025Copper alloy coin fragment. Radiate or nummus indeterminate, probably of medium to large module, later Roman issue of 260-330, probably a regular issue.Obverse description: youthful bust right, clean-shaven.Obverse inscription: (----)OAGReverse description: male figure nude save for cloaked shoulders left, with right arm extended and appearing to hold the lead of a small dog – the […]
- NLM-35A416 SEAL MATRIX POST MEDIEVAL 5 February 2025Copper alloy seal matrix. Cast handled stamp with a facetted octagonal-section tapered handle terminating in an elongated loop surmounted by a small knop. The octagonal matrix bears a non-figurative diaper-pattern or cross-hatched motif which retains extensive gilding traces. The form is probably archaic or ‘retrospective’ as facetted handles were falling out of use from the […]
- NLM-217485 NAIL CLEANER ROMAN 5 February 2025Copper alloy nail cleaner with high shoulders of Eckardt and Crummy 2008, 121 no. 524 Fig. 60 type. Nail-cleaner 524 from Dragonby, North Lincs was found with a knee brooch, which implies a 2nd century or later date.This is a small cast nail cleaner with the stub of a small collared loop at its broader end, […]
- NLM-1FDB41 TOKEN POST MEDIEVAL 5 February 2025Copper alloy token. Thin milled token, possibly a commercial promotional issue rather than currency, retaining some features on one side, possibly issue of 1850-1900; fiercely abraded, possibly burnt. Paul cannon kindly comments as follows: 'As far as I can tell this is another advertising token of the Grimsby firm of Lawson & Waby. Despite being […]
- NLM-235F92 COIN ROMAN 4 February 2025Copper alloy coin fragment. Probably a radiate indeterminate, later Roman issue of 260-296; about half the flan is lost to a recent break.Obverse description: [bust]Reverse description: figure standing left with right hand outstretched.Reverse inscription: probably VIR(TVS AVG)Diameter: 17.1mm, Weight: 0.86gms
PAS West Yorkshire
- YORYM-8E1BC7 BUCKLE MEDIEVAL 28 January 2025A complete copper-alloy buckle of medieval date, c.AD 1250 -1500. Meols Type 2.The buckle is a single looped D-shape with a narrowed and recessed strap bar. A grooved pin rest is present on the upper surface of the outside edge of the loop. A circular sectioned pin is fitted around the bar by an open loop. A rectangular […]
- YORYM-8E4F89 BUCKLE MEDIEVAL 28 January 2025A complete copper-alloy buckle of medieval date, c.AD 1250-1500. Meols Type 1.The buckle is a single looped D-shape with a narrowed strap bar. The upper surface of the frame has been decorated with four groups of four parallel incised grooves. A rectangular sectioned pin is fitted around the bar by an open loop. A rectangular plate is looped […]
PAS South Yorkshire
- YORYM-8FC319 HARNESS PENDANT MEDIEVAL 28 January 2025An incomplete copper-alloy gilded zoomorphic harness pendant of medieval date, AD 1200 - 1400.The pendant comprises a D-shaped plate in the form of a forward-facing animal's head, probably a stag, with integral attachment loop. The upper surface is moulded with features including pellet eyes, an elongated raised muzzle, and rounded snout. The reverse is flat and undecorated. The attachment […]
- NMGW-C31C53 CHARIOT FITTING IRON AGE 24 January 2025Addendum to an Iron Age sacred lake assemblage: a Late Iron Age bridle-bit and terret (50 BC - AD 75)1. Two-link bridle-bit, Polden Hill Subtype, bronze, complete Dimensions: maximum length 238.0mm; external rein-ring diameters (1)73.8-74.0mm & (2) 73.5-74.7mm; internal rein-ring diameters (1) 55.6mm & (2) 56.3mm; thickness rein rings – side to side (1) 8.3-9.0mm & […]
