Source 2: http://www.druidsgrove.com
In general, it is believed by historians that the Celtic people migrated from a common Indo-European homeland somewhere in Eastern Europe and migrated westward. The increasing sophistication, social-stratification, state-building, and so forth, of central Europe gave rise to the periods that that scholars call proto-Celtic and Celtic, or Hallstat 800-500 BCE and La Tene 500-100 BCE. The spread of Celtic culture to the British Isles and to the Atlantic seaboard of Europe took place roughly around 900 BCE. It is safe to assume that there were religious specialists of some kind there at the time, though the notion of "Druids" as a comprehensive religious and intellectual caste doesn't emerge until about 500 BCE or shortly after.
To correlate that date with other world events, 500 BCE is about the same time that the Buddha is alive in India, Aeschylus and Thespis are writing plays in Greece, Confucius is working for Emperor King-Wang 3rd of China, The Republic of Sicily establishes its first allegiance with Rome, Jeshua is high priest of Palestine, Darius 1st heads the Persian Empire, annually elected archons rule Athens, and Pythagoras is visiting Egypt.
There is good evidence that through their trade routes, and the adoption of customs indigenous to the areas they colonized, that Celtic culture experienced much change and innovation over time. The British Isles may have been visited by humans as early as the retreat of the Ice Age, and has been home to an indigenous neo-lithic (new stone age) culture that contributed much to the development of the Celtic culture at its height of achievement. (Historian Colin Renfrew has, for example, argued that the Celts emerged from an indigenous pre-Celtic Neolithic culture.)
Here is a brief, and certainly not complete, timeline of the history of the Celtic people, and the islands of Britain and Ireland.
Timeline of Celtic History – Source 2 |
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Era |
People |
Events And Notes |
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Up to 4000 BCE |
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) |
Hunters and gatherers |
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4000-1800 BCE |
Neolithic (New Stone Age) |
Construction of Maes Howe, Callanish, and other megalithic monuments. First farmers |
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3500 BCE |
Construction of Newgrange, largest megalithic monument in Europe |
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1800-1600 BCE |
Bronze Age |
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1000 BCE-Christian Era |
Iron Age |
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900-500 BCE |
Hallstatt |
Rise of the Celts. First emergence of Celtic languages |
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Circa 600 BCE |
Greeks establish trading colony at Messalia (Marseilles) to trade with Gaul |
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500-15 BCE |
La Tene |
Heroic Age Celts. Most mythologies take place now. |
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Circa 450 BCE |
Celtic people reach Spain |
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Circa 400 BCE |
Celts cross the Alps into Italy. Within ten years, they sack Rome itself. |
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279 BCE |
Celts invade Greece, through Macedonia, and plunder the Temple of Delphi |
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270 BCE |
Celts establish Galatia in Asia Minor |
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154 & 125 BCE |
Celts sack Massalia, Roman armies raise the siege both times |
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82 BCE |
Romans defeat Celts in Italy |
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55 & 54 BCE |
Julius Caesar attempts to invade Britain twice |
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52 BCE |
Julius Caesar defeats Gaulish chieftain Vercingetorix at Avaricum, and imprisons him. |
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AD 43-409 |
Romano-British |
Rome dominates Britain and parts of Wales |
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AD 61 |
Druid stronghold at Anglesey destroyed by Romans; Boudiccia begins her rebellion |
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AD 120 |
Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins |
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Mid 3rd century |
Saxons begin raiding east coast of Britain |
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Mid 4th century |
Cormac Mac Art rules Ireland at Tara |
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AD 409-600 |
"Dark Age" Britain |
Final Roman withdrawal from Britain |
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AD 425 |
Vortigern takes power in Britain and holds off Saxon advances |
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AD 432 |
Padraig begins his mission to Ireland |
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Circa AD 450 |
Anglo-Saxon invasion; British refugees settle in Armorica and Brittany, France |
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AD 454 |
Artorius Roithamus (Arthur) succeeds Vortigern |
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Circa AD 500 |
Arthur defeats Saxons at Mount Baden |
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Circa AD 500 |
Formation of Dalriada in southwest Scotland |
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Circa AD. 537 |
Arthur is killed at the Battle of Camlann. |
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AD 563 |
Saint Columba arrives at Isle of Iona. |
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AD 663 |
The Middle Ages |
Synod of Whitby: The Celtic Church joins the church of mainland Europe |
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Circa AD 790 |
Colonization and raiding of British Isles by Vikings begin |
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AD 843 |
Kenneth Mac Alpine unites the Scots of Dalriada and the Picts |
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AD 1014 |
Battle of Clontarf: Vikings expelled from Ireland by Brian Boru. They withdraw from Celtic nations everywhere soon thereafter |
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