Lesson 2: Who Were the Britons in the Age of Arthur?
To more fully comprehend the era in which King Arthur would have risen to power, it is necessary to understand the dynamics at work prior to the fifth century. This lesson gathers the history of the different peoples and cultural elements in early Britain, their legacies, how they came together, and how they effected the early Arthurian period.
The Celts
The Britons of Arthurian Britain were the inheritors of three cultures: the Celts, the Romans and the Christians. In addition, the Celts of Britain were the inheritors of the Neolithic culture that thrived in the island between c.4000 BC and c.2000 BC.
Of the Neolithic people, we know little else except that they practiced farming and left behind massive megalithic monuments: cromlechi and dolmens (chambered tombs, e.g. West Kennet Long Barrow), menhirs (single standing stones), and henge monuments (e.g. Stonehenge and Avebury).
Click on this link for additional information about the megaliths of Britain: The Megalithic Portal
Sometime near the end of the Neolithic period or the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, waves of incoming Indo-European groups appear to have begun to absorb the Neolithic population. The new groups arrived either through migration or invasion. It was not until the sixteenth century that it was realized the new people were Celts. Pottery, jewelry and metalwork discoveries confirm this.
It is unknown exactly when and where the Celts originated, but the earliest indication of their existence comes from the central European locations, Hallstatt, in Austria and La Tene in Switzerland. They emerged as a recognizable culture from around 500 BC, spreading across most of Europe north of the Alps, all the way into the British Isles. The Celts were not homogenous, but had enough commonality in language, religion, political and military organization, art and music, iron-working capabilities and farming techniques, to allow them a nearly nation-like status.
For additional interesting information on the Celts, click on this link: The World of the Celts
In Britain, the earlier Neolithics and the Celts may have co-existed for a long period, the length of which is unknown. However, it appears that in the centuries following the Iron Age’s beginning, the Celts may have become culturally dominant even though their numbers were not enough to actually shift society’s racial composition.
The Celts probably adopted some of the Neolithics’ building traits out of necessity. Over a period of a thousand years, hilltop settlements, called hillforts, were being constructed. Some were fortified for military purposes, others appear to be merely pastoral enclosures or for rituals. Tribal chieftains emerged. Trade remained in long established patterns. It may even be possible that traits often attributed to Celtic culture, such as respect for women, patterns of language and rituals performed by druids, actually originated with the Celts’ predecessors.
