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The ancient Celts were a distinctive group of peoples who shared the same language, art, mythology, and traditions. The Old Celtic language (which according to many historians was derived from the Indo-European and Ur language traditions) was a close cousin to Italic, the Latin precursor. The spiritual lineage of the Celts, Druidry, spans many thousands of years. The cave initiations of Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, 25,000 years ago were mirrored around 3,000 B.C. in the rebirth mounds of New Grange, Ireland. Based on recorded history and archaeological findings many scholars believe that the Celts originated from the Black Sea area sometime around 4,000 B.C. From there they spread their ancient cultural roots outward when they migrated and expanded their sphere of influence in all directions. Some of them migrated Southwest to Greece and Thrace; while, others migrated to the Northwest where they founded the Baltic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic cultures. Celtic traditions and customs became the prevailing cultural influence in the world as the Celts continued to migrate until they had expanded throughout continental Europe, up into Scandinavia, down into Spain, across to Britain and Ireland, and over the Asian sub-continent to the borders of China.
A pictorial record of the Celtic culture was made around 1,000 B.C. in the Balkans. The front panel of the silver gilt, Gundestrup Cauldron; for example, depicts deity heads; while, another panel shows a horned male, shamanic nature god surrounded by animals. There is a procession of armed men to his left. The Gaulish silver Gundestrup cauldron was renown for its Celtic European appearance. Surrounded by many Natural World animals, a seated male wearing antlers holds up a torque in the picture of Plate A shown above. The shamanic figure has been considered by many to represent the Celtic horned diety, Cernunnos. Others have suggested that the horned man may represent the Irish storytelling hero god Cú Chulainn from the Táin Bó Cuailnge. Although the cauldron images where Celtic in nature, the designs are similar to Thracian artworks. They are also reminiscent of Indus Valley cultural portrayals of Pashupati, a Hindu Lord of Animals. Celts belonged to complex and variegated social groupings that ranged from large, loose confederations of tribes to small, compact tribal units. Although they had a written language, the Celts rarely used it, preferring instead to pass on their beliefs, knowledge, and wisdom through the time honored method of their oral traditions.
Much of the writings about
the Celts were written from the divergent world view and cultural perspective of
their vanquishers, the Greeks and Romans. Even when Irish monks decided to
preserve Celtic stories and legends for posterity by writing them down between
700-1400 A.D., they did so using Christianity tinted glasses to augment their
vision...
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Celts
Celtic Ancient Civilization 
