Brutal and Intriguing Facts About Celtic Life

Brutal and Intriguing Facts About Celtic Life

Natasha sheldon - September 2, 2019

Brutal and Intriguing Facts About Celtic Life
Celtic Gaul, Armorican tribe, billon stater. Attribution: http://www.numisantica.com/. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands license. Wikimedia Commons

24. Celtic society was, in fact, sophisticated and well-organized.

The Celts may have been unruly in war. But the structure of their society was stable, settled and structured. The basis of the Celtic social structure was the tribe, ruled by a chief or king. Each tribe had control of an extended territory which subdivided amongst various extended family units. The leadership of these “subtribes’ — like the Kingship— was not automatically passed down from parent to child. Instead, it went to anyone deemed worthy.

Within this social framework, the people of the tribe divided into three main subgroups. First, there were the warriors, then the druids. Finally, came the ordinary people, who farmed and manufactured and kept Celtic society going.

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