Quote Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC View Post
The word "Celt" means "One who speaks one of the Celtic Languages". The earliest Celtic language speakers are probably the Hallstatt peoples of the area between the Rhine and Danube rivers. (600-500BC) These are the peoples who gave us the intertwined knot and anthropomorphic designs.
They are distinctively different from those who also spoke a Celtic language but gave us the circles of standing stones. These circles are only found along the western edge of Europe and the British Isles.
These two people are separated by a continent and many hundreds of years. (And these "Celts" are the same peoples that the Romans called "Gauls".)

Well said and to the point...


and also look to the other "tribes" that contributed to the fall of Rome: Franks, Visigoths, Vandals; these and many germanic peoples intermingled and contributed to the genetic melting pot that Europe became before the "modern cultures" emerged. Human kind is and has always been, for the most part, keen on adopting new ideas and methods, especially if there is some kind of socio-economic advantage to be gained. Even "Ottzi" the ice mummy may have genetic connections to "celtic" cultures.