The ancient Celts

by Barry W. Cunliffe

Fierce warriors and skilled craftsmen, the Celts were famous throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, the archetypal barbarians from the north, feared by both Greeks and Romans. And though this ancient thousand-year-old civilization was crushed by the military campaigns of Julius Caesar,the Celts remain an object of fascination to this day. Now, in The Ancient Celts, Barry Cunliffe, one of the world's leading authorities on European prehistory, explores the true nature of the Celtic identity and presents the first thorough and up-to-date account of a people whose origins stillprovoke heated debate.Drawing on a wealth of recent archaeological findings, Cunliffe reveals how this loose band of nomads evolved from migratory barbarians into adroit traders and artists, inhabiting virtually every corner of Europe north of the Po.^ Beginning in the Hungarian plains of 1300 B.C., where the firsthints of Celtic culture can be traced, the book shows how this fierce people slowly grew into one