The Ancient Celts: Archaeology & Identity in Iron Age Europe - ARC00099M

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  • Department: Archaeology
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2025-26

Module summary

This course will introduce students to the social archaeology of Iron Age of Europe from around 800 BC to the 1st century BC, with an emphasis on the debates surrounding the nature, origins and development of the ‘ancient Celts’, and their various encounters with the Greek and Roman world. It will focus on the interplay between developments in Mediterranean and temperate Europe, the study of identity and ethnicity in prehistory, and on the nature of social change during this period. A particular focus will be on the ways in which different forms of evidence (e.g. archaeological, textual, linguistic and genetic) have been deployed to construct and debate past and current interpretations.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

This module will aim to:

  • Provide an introduction to the archaeology of Iron Age Europe, with a focus on identity, social relations, and encounters between the ‘barbarian’ world and the urbanising societies of the Mediterranean.
  • Introduce students to the origins and development of the concept of the ‘ancient Celts’.
  • Allow students to understand how different forms of evidence (including material culture, textual sources, art history, linguistics and genetics) have been variously combined and deployed to formulate ideas concerning past social and cultural identities.
  • Introduce students to formative and current debates underlying studies of Iron Age communities in Europe.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module the students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the the origins and evolution of the concept of the ‘ancient Celts’ and situate this within the broader development of Iron Age studies in Europe;
  • Demonstrate critical engagement with the merits and contribution of archaeological, textual and linguistic sources to our understanding of Iron Age societies;
  • Evaluate critically the different interpretative and methodological approaches to understanding Iron Age societies in Europe;
  • Demonstrate a critical awareness of social development in European societies between the end of the Bronze Age and the expansion of the Roman world;
  • Convey complex ideas in an analytical framework through essay-writing.

Module content

This course will introduce students to the social archaeology of Iron Age of Europe from around 800 BC to the 1st century BC, with an emphasis on the debates surrounding the nature, origins and development of the ‘ancient Celts’, and their various encounters with the Greek and Roman world. It will focus on the interplay between developments in Mediterranean and temperate Europe, the study of identity and ethnicity in prehistory, and on the nature of social change during this period. A particular focus will be on the ways in which different forms of evidence (e.g. archaeological, textual, linguistic and genetic) have been deployed to construct and debate past and current interpretations.

Teaching will be via lectures, seminars and discussion groups, based on particular readings. Students can expect to become confident in understanding the evidential basis of knowledge claims concerning the nature of Iron Age societies; become familiar with the strengths, weaknesses and potentials of various techniques for understanding past social identities; and be able to understand the complexities of integrating archaeological and textual evidence. In seminars, students will be expected to contribute to discussion, as well as participating in short group and individual presentations. The module will be taught thematically,with topics including: the concept of the Celts; art and identity; gender and power; trade, mobility and migration; headhunting, violence and exploitation; religion and social change; cultural encounters with Greece and Rome; the treatment of human remains; state formation; and Caesar’s conquest of Gaul.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Formative: oral feedback from module leaders

Summative: written feedback within the University's turnaround policy

Indicative reading

Collis, J. 2003. The Celts: Origins, Myths and Inventions. Stroud: Tempus.

Cunliffe, B. 2018. The Ancient Celts. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2nd edition).

Haselgrove, C., Rebay-Salisbury, K. & Wells, P. S. (eds). 2018. The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.