Celtic women

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Celtic couple (Wölfnitz-Lendorf, Carinthia )

The social position of Celtic women in ancient society can only be defined uncertainly based on the sources. On the one hand, great female Celtic personalities are known from history and mythology , on the other hand their real position in the more male-dominated Celtic tribal structure was socially and legally restricted. However, in marriage and inheritance law , the Celtic women were sometimes somewhat better off than the Greek and Roman women of antiquity. The situation of the Celtic women of mainland Europe has been passed down almost exclusively through the writings of the Greek and Roman authors of that time, who wrote down their view of a “barbarian people” with the corresponding prejudices. Tales about the Celtic women of the British Isles occur in addition to the ancient travel and war reports, especially in the orally transmitted myths and legends of the pre-Christian era. Written records of these myths and the collections of legal texts also recorded at this time are only known from the early Middle Ages. The archeology shows the image of the Celtic woman by found objects - especially grave goods - which can give clues about their position in society and material culture. Reliefs and sculptures of Celtic women are only known from the Gallo-Roman culture . A matriarchy that was ascribed to the early Celtic women by romantic authors of the 18th and 19th centuries as well as by feminist authors of the 20th century cannot be proven according to the established traditions.

Duration and spread of the Celtic culture

Distribution of Celtic peoples and languages:
  • Area of ​​the Hallstatt culture in the 6th century BC Chr.
  • Largest Celtic extension, around 275 BC. Chr.
  • Lusitania (Celtic settlement uncertain)
  • The "six Celtic nations, " which until the early modern period had a significant number of speakers of Celtic languages
  • The current range of Celtic languages

    • The Celts ( ancient Greek Κέλτοι Keltoi; Latin Celtae , Galli , Galati ) were tribes and tribal associations of ancient Europe who inhabited western Central Europe since the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (the Hallstatt Age ). During the La Tène period, they spread to the British Isles , Northern Spain , the Balkans and Asia Minor through migration and cultural mediation . The Greeks and Romans used Κελτική or Celticum for some areas under Celtic rule . They had a relatively uniform material (especially in the Latènezeit) and intangible culture (the set of collective habits and norms) that differentiate it from the neighboring tribes - such as the Italians , Etruscans , Illyrians , Greeks , Iberians , Germans , Thracians and Scythians - differed .

    The mainland Celticum was no earlier than 800 BC. This culture was shaped by this culture until around the 5th century AD (end of Roman rule in the Celtic areas and Christianization of Ireland). Assumptions by some Celtologists, traces of a Celtic culture as early as the 2nd millennium BC To be able to determine are controversial. In Britain , after the departure of the Romans, Celtic culture and rule revived and was then ended by the immigration of Germanic tribes and pushed to the periphery. In Ireland , the Celtic culture was dominant for a long time.

    Linguistically, the Celts are limited as users of an Indo-European language related to Germanic and Latin , which is defined by certain characteristics.

    The woman in Celtic society

    Statements about Celtic women are not only rare, apart from medieval sources on the inhabitants of Brittany , Ireland and Scotland, they also come exclusively from the pen of the neighbors, i.e. from Greek and Roman men. In addition, the majority of these sources come from the two centuries around the turn of the times. The biggest problem, however, is the fact that the term “Celts” spans an enormously large area, which extends from Ireland to Anatolia, an area in which one cannot expect a uniform position of women. Reliable statements can therefore best be made through archaeological finds, which, however, have to be limited to certain questions.

    Document situation

    Archaeological finds

    The archaeological finds are almost exclusively burial sites, although in the Hallstatt district, the area in which this cultural level spreads, especially on the Dürrnberg near Hallein , in the Hallstatt late phase such can be seen as Celtic. Women's graves with body burial show a cultural exchange through grave goods from southern Europe, especially the Estonian and Villanova cultures of northern Italy.

    Certain grave goods, such as combs, mirrors, toilet utensils (nail cutters, tweezers, ear spoons), spindle whorls (flywheel of the hand spindle , a device for making yarn), clay pots, necklaces, ear pendants, hairpins, dress brooches, finger pins, arm pins, and Leg rings and costume jewelry (clasps, clasps, buckles). However, a large majority of the grave finds do not show any clearly gender-specific grave goods; where these were found, they almost exclusively concern women's graves.

    An example of a richly decorated women's grave is a burial chamber of the necropolis (burial place) of Goeblange - Nospelt ( Luxembourg ) with a fish sauce amphora (the fish sauce garum from Gades (today Cádiz ) was a common seasoning specialty), a bronze casserole with a sieve lid, a bronze cauldron, two basins and a bucket made of bronze, a terra sigillata plate, several mugs and jugs made of clay, a mirror and eight fibulae (clips). The reconstructed burial chamber with the grave goods is shown in the work "Celts - Images of their Culture" . In princesses grave of Vix a bronze mixing vessel was found, which is a testament to the high position of the buried. It comes from a Greek workshop and, with a height of 1.6 m, a weight of over 200 kg and a capacity of 1100 l, is the largest ancient metal vessel that has been found so far. Dog sculptures from 2.1 to 6.7 cm in length were found in eight cremation graves in the Rhine-Main region from the Middle and Late La Tène period, in which young girls were buried. The materials used were gagat , clay , glass and bronze , the meaning - for the favorite animal, as an amulet or votive offering - cannot be determined.

    The archeology finds of the 19th century were all too often interpreted in terms of the bourgeois gender concepts of the time and did not take into account the social differences to the ancient Celtic culture. Gender roles were considered immovable, and grave goods were clearly classified as male or female. Only when the anthropological sex determination through examination of the bones became possible, this simplistic view of the grave finds was put into perspective.

    Written sources

    Written evidence has first come down to us from the Greeks, from the historian and geographer Hekataios of Miletus ( Periegesis ), the navigator and discoverer Pytheas from Massilia ( Across the ocean ) - both works have only survived in fragments, the geographer and ethnologist Herodotus ( explorations ) and the Polymath Poseidonios ( On the Ocean and his Problems ) - none of Poseidonios' works has survived, they have only been passed down as quotations from other authors. Parts of the Poseidonios texts were adopted by Gaius Iulius Caesar ( Commentarii de bello Gallico ). Of the Greek writers we should also mention: Diodoros of Sicily ( Diodori Siculi Bibliotheca historica ), who used many older sources, Plutarch ( Moralia ), who takes a stand on the role of women, and Strabon ( Geôgraphiká ), who wrote the work of Polybius ( Historíai ) supplemented by personal travel reports.

    The works of Roman historians should be mentioned: the historical work of Pompeius Trogus ( Historiae Philippicae ), which as a native Gaul (he belonged to the tribe of the Vocontier ), much first-hand, which is only preserved in the epitome of Marcus Iunianus Iustinus ( Historiarum Philippicarum libri XLIV ) had handed down. Publius Cornelius Tacitus ( Annales ) described Britain and the Roman campaigns of conquest, Ammianus Marcellinus ( Res gestae ) had served as a soldier in Gaul, Titus Livius ( Ab urbe condita libri CXLII ) reported on the Celtic invasions, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus ( De vita Caesarum ), the was also an administrative officer, described Caesar's Gaul campaign and the senator and consul Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus ( Roman history ) reported on the campaign against the British princess Boudicca . In his Bellum Gallicum, the aforementioned general and politician Caesar depicted a Celtic image designed primarily for his domestic political purposes. Yet it is the most comprehensive account of the Gallic and British Celts.

    A later historian is the 12th century Giraldus Cambrensis from a Welsh - Norman family who wrote some important reports on the history and country of the British Isles.

    Social situation

    " Is ó mhnáibh do gabar rath nó amhrath (It is the women from whom one receives happiness or unhappiness.)"

    - Irish proverb : from Acallam na Senórach ("The conversation with the ancients")
    Princess grave of Reinheim

    Women in worldly and spiritual leadership positions

    The social position of women varied from region to region and from time to time. The mainland Celtic “princess” graves of Bad Dürkheim , Reinheim , Waldalgesheim and Vix show that women could occupy high social positions; to what extent this depended on the position of the husband is unclear - they are therefore alternatively referred to as "lady" or "princess". In Mitterskirchen in Machland discovered floats in the grave of a high-ranking female person is like accompanies the above valuable grave goods. Plutarch names the women of the Cisalpine Gauls as important arbitrators in disputes with Hannibal , and Diodor mentions their active participation in fights. Caesar emphasizes the husband's power over the life and death of his wife and children. Strabon ( Geôgraphiká III 3, 7) mentions a Celtic tribe in which men and women dance together by holding hands , which was unusual among Mediterranean peoples. He calls the position of the sexes to one another the other way around [...] than with us. ( Geôgraphiká IV 4, 3). Ammianus Marcellinus ( Res gestae XV 12, 1) describes the - so recently so called - furor heroicus ("heroic madness") of the Gauls , big as men, with flashing eyes and bared teeth, throwing themselves into battle. In order to interpret the statement correctly, one must know that Romans at this time had an average height of 1.50 m, while Celtic women were about 1.55 m tall in Caesar's time. So, from the point of view of the ancient chroniclers, they were actually as tall as (Roman) men . According to new research, the correctness of all this information is not guaranteed. The position of the Celtic woman was to change especially under Roman influence and law, which saw the man as the domus and patriarch of the family.

    British rulers such as Boudicca and Cartimandua are seen as exceptional phenomena, the position of the king ( Celtic * rig-s ) - in Gaul already replaced by two elected tribal leaders in pre-Caesarian times - was usually a male domain. Female tribal leaders did not always achieve general approval:

    According to Tacitus, the brigands are said to have revolted against Cartimandua "spurred on by the shame of being subjugated by a woman" ; her marriage quarrel with her husband Venutius and the support she received from the Romans may have played the decisive role. On the other hand, before the decisive battle, the words are put into Boudicca’s mouth:

    "[The Britons] made no sex distinction in the supreme command."

    - Tacitus : Agricola 16

    It is uncertain whether there actually was a Celtic princess Onomaris (Ονομαριξ), as stated in an anonymous Tractatus de Mulieribus Claris in bello (“ Treatise on famous women warriors”). When there was no man who wanted to take the lead during a famine, she is said to have led her tribe from their old homeland across the Danube to southeastern Europe.

    In later times there were cult functionaries like the Celtic / Germanic seer Veleda (who is seen by some Celtologists as a druid), according to the etymology of her name . Celtic druids who prophesied the Roman emperors Alexander Severus , Aurelian and Diocletian enjoyed a high reputation among the Romans.

    On the leaden escape board from Larzac (around 100 AD), with over 1000 letters, the longest text in the Gallic language found so far , communities of magicians are named in which there is a spiritual relationship between the teacher (the "mother", matīr ) and the initiate (the "daughter", duxtīr ) is given.

    Slaves

    Slaves were mostly spoils of war, female relatives of insolvent debtors or foreign prisoners and were either used in their own households or sold. As slaves, women had an important economic function in addition to their labor. For example, in Ireland the word cumal (“slave”, old Cymrian aghell and caethverched ) was also the name for a common currency unit (one cumal = ten sét [“cow”]).

    According to Caesar ( De bello Gallico 6:19), favorite slaves were thrown at the stake of their dead master and cremated together with his corpse.

    raising children

    It has been confirmed by ancient authors that raising children in their own household was a matter for women. In addition, there was the institution of foster parents in socially higher- ranking families ( old Irish aite , "foster father" and muimme , "foster mother", compare Gothic atta , "dear father" and German "Mama", English "mummy") Mrs. of the house were handed over. The costs that the biological parents had to reimburse the foster parents were higher for girls than for boys, because here supervision was considered more time-consuming. However, there was also a free foster parenthood to strengthen ties between two families.

    matriarchy

    Ancient clues

    Both the mythical rulers in the island Celtic legends (see chapter Women in Celtic Mythology ) and the historical princesses Boudicca, Cartimandua and perhaps Onomaris can only be seen as individual examples within a certain situation, but not as evidence of a matriarchy among the Celts. The traditional texts of pre-Christian sagas and ancient authors speak rather against its existence.

    Literature from the 18th to the 20th century

    It was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that the assumption of a Celtic matriarchy developed in the wake of the romantic idea of ​​the “ noble savage ” . According to the evolutionism of the 19th century, a general promiscuity (sexual contact with alternating partners or with several partners at the same time) is said to have ruled first , then matriarchy and finally patriarchy . Heinrich Zimmer “The mother right with the Picts and Scots” (1894) describes an alleged matriarchy for Northern Ireland and Scotland. The background was the aforementioned island Celtic legends about great queens and warriors. The content of these legends was wrongly transferred to the reality of the coexistence of the sexes at that time.

    In 1938 Josef Weisweiler pointed out this misinterpretation in his work "The position of women among the Celts and the problem of the Celtic mother right" :

    “So we know just as little about the social structure of the pre-Indo-European inhabitants of Britain and Ireland as we do about the conditions of the pre-Celtic population of later Gaul. [...] So it is imprecise and misleading to speak of a mother right of the Celts; because, according to certain evidence, a substantial part of this people has always and always been organized under patriotic law. "

    - Josef Weisweiler : The position of women among the Celts. P. 272.

    In “The Goddess and Her Heros” (1980), Heide Göttner-Abendroth assumes a Celtic matriarchy, but its existence remains unproven. Marion Zimmer Bradley explains in her Arthurian novel " The Mists of Avalon " (1987) a matriarchal reinterpretation of the Arthurian , Lancelot and Grail saga , which is dominated by the female characters. She uses the conflict between the Celtic matriarchal culture and Christianity as the tenor of the plot. Ingeborg Clarus tries in her book "Celtic Myths" (1991) to reduce the island Celtic legends partly to the gender struggle in the course of her theory of the replacement of matriarchy by patriarchy among the Celts. It stands in the tradition of the evolution theory of the 19th century. The matriarchy calls it pre-Celtic heritage in Ireland , the development mentioned is said to have taken place in the 1st century AD at the time of King Conchobar mac Nessa of Ulster .

    Matrilinearity

    The matrilinearity (mediation of kinship through the maternal line) was hardly present among the Celts. In a matrilineal society, children are only related to the mother's family, but not to the father's. A situation like that of the (non-Celtic) Picts , where, according to some traditions, kingship was inherited over the maternal line, which, however, did not mean female rule, was not given with the island Celts. The Irish clan ( fine ; related to the Old High German word wini , "friend") was patrilineal , the mother's relatives only had certain rights and duties towards the children. They received the seventh part of the atonement if a child was killed, and the male relatives had the obligation to revenge for the deed.

    About the Celtic expansion in the south and south-east of Europe, Livius speaks of the 600 BC. Both military leaders Bellovesus and Segovesus reported that they were the sons of the sister of the Biturigen king Ambicatus , who had chosen them to command the two columns of emigrants. A matrilinearity in the choice of leaders (kings?) Can possibly be assumed here, but another possible reason for this cannot be ruled out with certainty.

    In the Iberian Gallaeci , women had an important role in the family and in the clan, despite the pronounced power of the male warriors, which was reflected in the matrilineal inheritance customary there.

    Legal situation

    Almost all of the following legal provisions can be found in a similar form, albeit with regional differences, in mainland and island celts.

    General legal provisions

    A general legal equality - not only between men and women - was unusual among the Celts; it was only possible within the same social and gender-defined level. The Celtic woman was originally not admitted as a witness in court and could not conclude any contracts without the consent of the man. In the texts and collections of proverbs Cherith Gablach ( "Bifurcated Purchase") and Bretha Crólige ( "The decisions concerning bloodshed"), the wergild (atonement payment) just for men and women - of their societies position dependent - broken, with the women or their Legal successors were entitled to a much smaller compensation in the event of death, usually half of the taxes for men.

    Marriage law

    In island Celtic law, women had a better position in some respects (e.g. marriage law) than with the Greeks or Romans. According to Irish and Welsh law, recorded from the early Middle Ages , the woman was subordinate to the man, first to the father, then to the spouse, and then as a widow to the son. Normally she could not pass on or bequeath her possession of goods without their consent. Their marriage was arranged by the male relatives, divorce and polygyny (the man living together with several women) were precisely regulated; Polyandry (cohabitation of women with several men) was unusual, even if some Celtologists want to read such a situation from the Irish legend Longas mac nUislenn ("The exile of the sons of Uisliu").

    Caesar gives an example of the subordinate position of women: according to him, men have life and death violence against their wives as well as against their children, comparable to Roman family law. When the head of a senior family dies, his relatives gather and interrogate the wives like slaves if anything about the death arouses suspicion. If the suspicion was found to be valid, they would burn the women after torturing them in all possible ways. However, he describes the wife's financial role as remarkably self-sufficient.

    Also in Caesar ( De bello Gallico 5, 14) we can read that in the case of the Britons, up to a dozen men - fathers, sons and brothers - owned their wives together. The children that emerged would have been assigned to whoever married the respective mother as a virgin; this is seen today as a common cliché of ancient barbarian ethnography and as domestic political propaganda for the “moral” justification of his campaigns.

    In general, monogamy was common. Having several legitimate wives was reserved for the higher social classes. Since the marriage was considered a normal contract between two people ( Cain Lanamna , "regulation of couples"), it could be dissolved by both partners. A "temporary marriage" was also possible. The position of the wife (Irish cét-muinter , "first in the household", also prím-ben , "main wife") was assessed depending on the marriage assets she brought in. There was marriage in which the woman brought in more than the man, the one in which both brought in the same amount, and finally the one in which the woman brought in less. If the man wanted to do an obviously unwise deal, the wife had a kind of veto power . In most cases of divorce, the wife was free to dispose of her dowry. The concubine (Irish adaltrach , from Latin adultera , "adulteress") had far fewer rights and was subordinate to the main wife. She had to pay an honorary award ( lóg n-enech ) to the first woman because of her offense and could also be physically attacked and injured by her within the first three days after their marriage with impunity, but was only allowed to defend herself to a very limited extent (by the hair pulling, scratching and knocking back). After this period, the usual penalties for injuries or even death applied to both of them.

    In contrast to that of the husband, adultery by the wife could not be legitimized by a fine. A dissolution of marriage for adultery could be required of both, but the wife was not allowed as long as the husband maintained intimate intercourse with her. If she was pregnant by her husband, as an outcast by him, she was not allowed to have intercourse with other men before the child was born. These rules were binding for noble women, but they cannot be proven for Celtic women from the common people. In Wales the wife was allowed to leave her husband after having committed adultery three times, because of impotence and bad breath, taking with her the property she had brought into the marriage and acquired. A rape had to be atoned for by the perpetrator by handing over the usual gifts and a fine at a wedding, as this was classified as a "temporary" marital union.

    For the “right to the first night” ( ius primae noctis ) of the ruler, see chapter “Sexuality”.

    Inheritance law

    As far as the inheritance law of the island celts is concerned, women, especially daughters, were disadvantaged compared to marriage law. Only when it came to the mother's inheritance or when the daughters came from the husband's last marriage and the sons from an earlier marriage, they were treated equally.

    "A daughter does not inherit any land from her father unless she has no brothers, if she is an heir-daughter ( ban-chomarba ," wife-heir "), and then only for life."

    - Josef Weisweiler : The position of women among the Celts. P. 227 f.

    Then the genetic material falls back to the paternal clan ( fine ). This institution of the “heir daughter” has a parallel in ancient Indian law, where a father without sons could designate a daughter to be putrikā (“son-like daughter”).

    Widows (Old Irish fedb , Cymrian gweddwn , Cornish gwedeu , Breton intañvez ) inherited the entire estate of the husband under Gallic law. They must have had free disposal over this, in contrast to Old Irish law, where the widow was subordinate to the sons. They only had the right to donate and a limited power of disposal, which could be recognized by the designation bantrebthach ("women householder"). The right to donate only concerned the transfer within the family. The right to inheritance for Welsh women was first introduced by King Henry II of England (1133–1189).

    Cáin Adomnáin

    At the urging of his mother, the abbot and saint Adomnan of Iona wrote the law Cáin Adomnáin (“The Canon Adomnans”) or Lex Innocentium (“The Law of the Innocent”) to protect women - especially mothers - and children. He deliberately exaggeratedly described the previous situation of women as cumalacht (" slavery ") in order to emphasize his performance. Adomnan reports that a woman

    "[...] had to stick in a hole in the ground so deep that her genitals were hidden, and had to hold a skewer over the fire until the roast was cooked, and she also had to serve as a candle holder until bedtime. In battle, she carried her groceries on one shoulder and her little child on the other. On her back she carried a 30-foot staff with an iron hook, with which she was supposed to grab an opponent by the braid in the hostile crowd. Behind her came the man who urged her to fight with fence poles. The head or breasts of women were used as trophies. "

    - Adomnan : Cáin Adomnáin

    According to legend, an experience of Adomnan and his mother was the impetus for this legal text. The sight of a slain Celtic woman and her child - "overflowing with the mother's blood and milk" - on the battlefield shook the mother so much that she forced her son to fast and compose this law with the princes.

    sexuality

    In den trencheng breth féne ("The Triads of Irish Judgment") three virtues of a woman are named three times:

    • Virginity in marriage, willingness to suffer, diligence in caring for husband and children
    • constant tongue, constant virtue, constant housewife skills
    • Sexuality, beauty, fertility.

    The ancient authors consistently described the Celtic women as tall, strong, brave, and beautiful. Diodorus was amazed that the Celts valued their beautiful women so little and preferred homosexual relationships . Above all, Diodorus and Suetonius described the sexual permissiveness of Celtic women. According to Sueton's account, Caesar spent a lot of money on his sexual experiences in Gaul. During the triumphal procession his legionnaires sang that he had seduced a great number of Gauls; they therefore called him a “bald whore,” as Suetonius reported in De vita Caesarum .

    The Celts are described as fertile, childbearing and good breastfeeding. All of this is one of the stereotypes of the Greeks and Romans of “barbaric” peoples. Giraldus Cambrensis ( Descriptio Cambriae I, 10) reported that the Irish were "the most jealous people in the world" , while the Welsh people lacked any jealousy and that hospitality prostitution was commonplace. In the Irish legend, the king - described by Conchobar mac Nessa - is granted the right to the first night with every manly girl and to have sex with the wife of his respective host. This is known as the king's geis (duty, taboo). Whether this right actually existed and was exercised by the Celts is unproven outside of the legends. In the legend Immram Curaig Maíle Dúin (“The Voyage of the Boat from Máel Dúin”) it is reported about the procreation of the title hero, a traveler who happened to have slept with a nun in a monastery. Before the act, she says: “Our actions are not beneficial, because it is now the time of conception for me!” The assumption derived from this, that the Irish had used this knowledge for birth control, could be due to the abundance of children of the Celts mentioned by the ancient authors be viewed as questionable.

    Giraldus Cambrensis' claim that incest was of great importance in the British Isles ( Descriptio Cambriae II, 6) is false from today's perspective, because he only complains that a man can marry his fifth, fourth or third degree cousin. Incest plays an occasional role in the island Celtic myths, see Tochmarc Étaíne ("The wooing of Étaín") - as well as in other ancient cultures, for example in ancient Egypt (siblings of the pharaohs ) or in classical Hellas the pair of gods Zeus and Hera and the Oedipus saga - In real social life, however, no significant significance can be determined.

    Health situation

    Paleopathological research shows some diseases of the ancient Celts based on the condition of bones and, even better, on mummified body tissue. Skull diseases of the forehead and maxillary sinuses , of the meninges as well as dental caries leave typical traces. Growth disorders and a lack of vitamins can be seen on the long bones . Coprolites ( fossil excrement, feces) show strong worm infestation due to hygiene. The overall picture shows a society that, due to hygienic deficiencies and one-sided nutrition, had a weak immune system and thus a high susceptibility to disease - even more pronounced in women than in men. This is essentially a generally applicable finding for peoples of this time and situation. In the Celts, degenerative damage to the joints and spine was particularly evident due to the high physical stress. Naturally, traumatic damage caused by violence was more common in men. A differentiation through social position can hardly be determined. The above-mentioned "Lady of Vix" was a young Celt in high position, at a pituitary adenoma and a middle ear infection suffered.

    According to the skeleton finds in graves, the following age statistics for the ancient Celts result: The average age was 35 years, men died at 38, women at 31.

    “The average lifespan of men was 35 to 40 years, that of women only 30 to 35 years. The frequent fights between the men were obviously less dangerous than the birth of children! "

    - Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. P. 18.

    Appearance of the Celtic women

    Celtic farmer ( Gurk, Carinthia )

    dress

    Due to the lack of durability of the material (fabric, leather) used for clothing, there are only a few archaeological finds; contemporary images are also rare. More general descriptions have come down to us from ancient authors; only Diodorus reports in more detail. According to him, the usual clothing of men and women among the Celts consists of strikingly colored fabrics, which in the upper class were often embroidered with gold and held in place by gold fibulae.

    The women's tunic was longer than the men's; in the middle it was held together by belts made of leather or metal, sometimes by chains. The regionally specific costume - also differentiated according to age and class - was more elaborate for the Celts than the simple tunic. The large-patterned dresses that can be seen on vases from Sopron in Pannonia were cut in the manner of knee-length maternity wear, made of stiff fabric, with bells and fringes. In addition, bell skirts are shown in crinoline shape with a narrow waist. An upper dress with a V-shaped neckline, fixed on both shoulders with fibulae, was worn in noricum . The hip chains had hooks for length adjustment, the overhanging part of the chain was attached to a chain link as a "loop". The links of these chain belts could be ring-shaped, eight-shaped, with cross-shaped or flat intermediate links, double, triple and sometimes with enamel inlays (see blood enamel ). The so-called Noric-Pannonian belt from Roman times was decorated with openwork fittings. A pouch was often worn on the right side of the belt.

    In the Iron Age of the British Isles, ring-headed needles were often used instead of fibulae on clothes and to fix hairstyles or headgear. This can be seen from the different positions of the needles in grave finds.

    On a Celtic tombstone from the 1st century AD in Wölfnitz (Klagenfurt am Wörthersee) , a girl is depicted in Norican costume. It wears a smooth undergarment ( peplos ) that reaches to the ankles, over it an overdress puffed up under the knees, which is held at the shoulders with large fibulae. A belt with two decorative ribbons hanging down at the front holds the clothes together. She is carrying a basket in her right hand and holding a mirror in front of her face with her left. You can see lace-up shoes on the feet. The hair is apparently styled straight back.

    In everyday life, the Celtic woman wore wooden or leather sandals with narrow straps ( Gallic gallica , "Gallic shoe", from Latin caliga or caligula ). Because of the transience of the material, waistband shoes made of tanned leather can often only be recognized by the metal eyelets and fasteners in grave sites that lie at the feet of the buried.

    Three figurines with reconstructed Helvetian / Celtic women's costumes were on view in the exhibition “Gold of the Helvetians - Celtic Treasures from Switzerland” in the Swiss National Museum, Zurich 1991.

    Grave goods, amber and gold ( Rain, Switzerland )

    Jewellery

    Gold jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, finger rings) was widespread as a symbol of social rank and was of high craftsmanship and artistic quality. Girls of the Hallstatt and Early La Tène wore amber necklaces and amulets as a single-row or multi-row chains Colliers ; the necklaces had up to nine strands with over a hundred amber beads. Amulets were worn both as jewelry and as apotropaic (defensive magic) means of protection. They were presumably given to women who had died through the use of force to protect the living. According to the grave goods found, torques (neck rings) were used until around 350 BC. BC by important men and women, then apparently only worn by men. The "lady" from the grave of Vix was given a torc as a grave goods in her lap, in the grave of Reinheim the buried woman wore it around her neck. The Britannian Iceni queen Boudicca is described as wearing torques for the period around AD 60, which could be either the exception for a military leader or a decoration of the Roman chronicler.

    "Over a brightly colored shirt she wore a twisted gold torque and over it a thick coat held together by a fibula."

    - Cassius Dio : Roman History 62,2,4

    The limestone statue of a Celtic woman from the Hallstatt period found at the entrance to the grave of the “Lady of Vix” shows her sitting on a throne with a torc.

    Noric women's hood (Modius cap) (Wölfnitz-Lendorf, Carinthia )

    Headgear and hairstyle

    Since almost no depictions of women have survived from the Latène period, archeology has to be content with provincial Roman picture stones. However, women are rarely shown bareheaded, so that it is more the headgear than the hairstyle that is recognizable. As headgear, the Celts wore winged hoods, felt berets in the shape of upturned funnels with veils, cylindrical fur hoods, bronze browbands or headbands. The Modius cap was a stiff hood that widened upwards and was worn especially in the Virunum area in the second half of the 1st century AD. It was decorated with a veil and rich jewelry and was reserved for women of the upper class. The veils worn over the hood were sometimes so long that they could cover the whole body. In northern Pannonia the women of this time wore a fur hat, the brim of which tapered to a point on the sides, a veil hood, similar to the Norican one, and in later times a turban-like headgear with a veil. With the Celtiberians , a frame was fashionable, which consisted of a choker with rods reaching over the head, over which a shadowy veil was stretched.

    The hair was sometimes shaved off over the oiled forehead. Hairnets were found in Hallstatt; In descriptions, individual, accentuated strands of hair (usually three) are mentioned, but mostly the plaited braid. The hair was often dyed red or blonde. The seer Fedelm is described in the Irish saga with three strands of hair, two of which are wrapped around the head and the third hangs down from the back of the head to the calves. In contrast to the married women, the unmarried women mostly wore their hair open and without a head covering.

    Hairpins for fixing hoods and hairstyles are common grave finds from the late Hallstatt period . They have spherical heads that can be richly decorated in individual regions. Such needle finds are only rarely known from the La Tène period.

    Women in Celtic Mythology

    Matrona (National Archeology Museum, England)

    In the mainland Celtic area a large number of goddesses have been handed down; Due to the lack of political unity among the Celtic tribes, they appear as regional deities. In contrast to Greco-Roman antiquity, the Celts never had a pantheon of gods ; only the Romans tried to summarize the functions in the Interpretatio Romana . The mother goddesses, which at first glance appear to be cross-tribal and were of great importance in the Celtic religion , were also united in this way under the generic term Matronae / Matres .

    In the mythology of the island celts, there are almost no goddesses to be found, as a different development took place here. The female figures mentioned in the local Irish legends have their origin mostly in the female figures of the historically unproven waves of immigration who are mentioned in the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("Book of the Lands of Ireland"). They were originally described as mythical people, but after their expulsion by the following immigrants, they turned into deities and later into demons - mostly those from the other world . A list of the most famous women in history - not exclusively Irish - can be found in the writings of the poet Gilla Mo-Dutu Ó Caiside, which are called Bansenchas (written in 1147 after unproven information).

    There was a similar development in Britain, particularly in Wales . Very often these mythical female figures embodied the sovereignty of the country or the country itself (see Hieros gamos ). Examples for Ireland are Macha and Medb , for Wales Rhiannon . The dispute between Medb and her husband Ailill mac Máta over the assets brought into the marriage by the two is the indirect trigger for the Táin Bó Cuailnge ("The Cow Robbery of Cooley ").

    The legal situation around marriage is described in all variations in the island Celtic myths : The marriage of the sister by the brother ( Branwen ferch Llŷr , "Branwen, the daughter of Llŷr"); the widowed mother by the son ( Manawydan fab Llŷr , "Manawydan, the son of Llŷr"); Rape and adultery ( Math fab Mathonwy , "Math, the son of Mathonwys"); Advertisement for a girl against the will of her father ( Mal y kavas Kulhwch Olwen , "How Kulhwch Olwen won"). If the girl objected to the marriage, all that was left for her was self-help: setting tasks that were almost impossible to solve ( Tochmarc Emire , “Das Werben um Emer”); the escape with a self-chosen groom ( Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne , "The Runaway of Diarmuid and Gráinne"); after a vain escape, suicide in order not to have to marry the forced husband ( Longas mac nUislenn , “The Exile of the Sons of Uislius”).

    The aforementioned Queen of Connacht , Medb, broke all convention and chose a few husbands one after the other, whom she repudiated when it suited her. She promised every warrior from whom she expected support the favor of her thighs (quote from the Lebor Gabála Érenn ) and even marriage to her daughter Findabair - when Findabair found out about this she committed suicide out of shame.

    The cailleach (Irish “nun”, “witch”, “the veiled one” or “old woman”) of Scotland and Ireland are to be seen as weather “witches”, the siren-like Korrigans of Brittany are beautiful seductresses , the Irish banshee ( "Woman from the fairy kingdom"), combat teachers the Scottish legend characters Scáthach , Uathach and Aoife , plus a few other female mythical figures . A grotesque female figure was the Sheela-na-Gig , a sculpture that unambiguously presented her vulva . Its meaning - possibly as a fertility symbol - is controversial and its chronological order is a mystery. Another possible interpretation would be a damage-warding spell through the exposure of female shame - think of the Irish legend in which the women of Ulster under the leadership of King Conchobar mac Nessa's wife Mugain show shame and breasts in order to destroy To prevent Emain Macha by the mad Cú Chulainn .

    literature

    • Josef Weisweiler: The position of women among the Celts and the problem of the “Celtic mother right”. In: Journal of Celtic Philology , Volume 21, 1938.

    To the Celts in general

    On more specific aspects of Celtic culture

    • Helmut Birkhan: Post-ancient Celtic reception. Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1 .
    • David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World. Croom Helm Ltd. 1987, Paperback 1996 at Routledge, London / New York, ISBN 0-415-15090-6 .
    • Ingeborg Clarus : Celtic Myths. Man and his otherworld. Walter Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1991 (Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2000, 2nd edition) ISBN 3-491-69109-5 .

    Reference books on the Celts

    To matriarchal religions

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ A b Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita libri CXLII 5,34
    2. ↑ a b c Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 32 ff.
    3. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . Pp. 187, 295 f.
    4. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Pp. 43, 307 f.
    5. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Images of their culture. P. 351, photo 658.
    6. ↑ Since the wooden spindle body has hardly been preserved, the clay whorl is the usual grave find; comparable finds are the stone weights of the wooden loom
    7. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K and L-Z , pp. 78, 149, 387, 633, 1849 f.
    8. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 650.
    9. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Images of their culture. P. 323, photo 567.
    10. ↑ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten , p. 131 f.
    11. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K and L-Z , p. 810.
    12. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 632 f.
    13. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 181.
    14. ^ Translation by Josef Weisweiler: The position of women among the Celts. P. 233.
    15. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 102 f.
    16. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 1570 f.
    17. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 1971.
    18. ↑ Alexander Demandt: Die Kelten , p. 50; Bernhard Maier: History and Culture of the Celts. P. 142.
    19. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Images of their culture. P. 320, photos 561, 562.
    20. ^ Plutarch: Mulierum virtutes  6.
    21. ↑ Diodorus Siculus: Bibliotheca historica V 32.
    22. ↑ Caesar: De bello Gallico  6:19: … vitae necisque potestatem.
    23. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 577. Furor heroicus based on the model of furor Teutonicus in Marcus Annaeus Lucanus Bellum civile I, 255 f.
    24. ↑ a b c d Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 598 f.
    25. ↑ a b c d Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 132 f.
    26. ↑ Frank Siegmund in the SWR interview from the series The Celts : The women, the food and the luxury of the Celts, online
    27. ↑ Caesar: De bello Gallico  1.16 and 7.33.
    28. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 96 f.
    29. ↑ Tacitus, Annales 12.40.
    30. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 337, 1024; John T. Koch (Ed.): Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. Volumes 1-5. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara 2006, ISBN 1-85109-440-7 , pp. 1396 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search). ; David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World , p. 248 f.
    31. ↑ Derived from the Celtic banfili ; ( Old-Celtic * Ueli-s to Fili , welsh gweled , "see", Latin vultus , "face"). At: Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 487 f.
    32. ↑ Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanic antiquity. Volume 32, Walter de Gruyter, 2006, p. 111.
    33. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview. P. 158 f.
    34. ↑ a b Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon of Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 530 f.
    35. ↑ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten , p. 70.
    36. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 107; Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 989 f.
    37. ↑ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten , p. 171 f.
    38. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 342 f.
    39. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption . P. 1022 f.
    40. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. P. 592 f.
    41. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. Pp. 61, 109, 118 f.
    42. ↑ a b David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World , p. 248 f.
    43. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 105.
    44. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 227.
    45. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 1032 f.
    46. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 91 f.
    47. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 588 f.
    48. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 989 f.
    49. ^ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten , p. 131 f .; David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World , p. 131.
    50. ^ Bernhard Maier: History and culture of the Celts. P. 228; David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World , p. 248 f.
    51. ↑ Alexander Demandt: Die Kelten , p. 49.
    52. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 111 f .; Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 1562 f.
    53. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , S. 2014.
    54. ↑ David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World , pp. 254 ff. (For the entire paragraph Cáin Adomnáin ).
    55. ^ Lisa Bitel, Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland. P. 23.
    56. ^ Suetonius, Divus Iulius 51.
    57. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 23 f.
    58. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 983.
    59. ↑ Rudolf Thurneysen : The Irish hero and king saga up to the 17th century . Halle 1921, pp.  394 , 525 .
    60. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 1091.
    61. ↑ in Strabon (Γεωγραφικά IV 4, 3), Livius ( Ab urbe condita libri XXXVIII 16, 13), Marcus Iunianus Iustinus ( Historiarum Philippicarum libri XXV 2, 8)
    62. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 117.
    63. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 872.
    64. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 180.
    65. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 967 f., 1438 f.
    66. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 339.
    67. ↑ Diodorus Siculus: Bibliotheca historica V 30.
    68. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 194.
    69. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 163, 1076 ff.
    70. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K and L-Z , pp. 702, 927.
    71. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K and L-Z , p. 1593.
    72. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 930, fig. H.
    73. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K and L-Z , p. 1147.
    74. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Images of their culture. P. 355, photos 667, 668.
    75. ^ Sylvia and Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. Pp. 40 f., 144 f.
    76. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 57 f., 71.
    77. ^ Ingeborg Clarus: Celtic myths. Man and his otherworld. P. 20 f.
    78. ^ Sylvia and Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. P. 331.
    79. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 1955 f.
    80. ↑ a b Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon of Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 715 f., 950 f.
    81. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 163.
    82. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 163, 1067 f.
    83. ↑ a b Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 228.
    84. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , pp. 1343 f., 71.
    85. ^ Sylvia and Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. P. 257.
    86. ^ Sylvia and Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexicon of Celtic Mythology. P. 294 f.
    87. ^ Sievers / Urban / Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A – K and L – Z , p. 72.
    This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 9, 2013 in this version .