Celts
Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples:
core Hallstatt territory, by the sixth cen-
tury BC
maximal Celtic expansion, by the
third century BC
Lusitanian area of Iberia
where Celtic presence is uncertain
the
"six Celtic nations" which retained significant
numbers of Celtic speakers into the Early
Modern period
areas where Celtic lan-
guages remain widely spoken today
Indo-European topics
Indo-European languages
Albanian · Armenian · Baltic
Celtic · Germanic · Greek
Indo-Iranian (Indo-Aryan, Iranian)
Italic · Slavic
extinct: Anatolian · Paleo-Balkans (Dacian,
Phrygian, Thracian) · Tocharian
Indo-European peoples
Albanians · Armenians
Balts · Celts · Germanic peoples
Greeks · Indo-Aryans
Iranians · Latins · Slavs
historical: Anatolians (Hittites, Luwians)
Celts (Galatians, Gauls) · Germanic tribes
Illyrians · Italics · Cimmerians · Sarmatians
Scythians · Thracians · Tocharians
Indo-Iranians (Rigvedic tribes, Iranian tribes)
Proto-Indo-Europeans
Language · Society · Religion
Urheimat hypotheses
Kurgan hypothesis
Anatolia · Armenia · India · PCT
Indo-European studies
Celts (pronounced /ˈkelts/ or /ˈselts/, see
names of the Celts; the most common aca-
demic usage is with a velar "c", pronounced
as "k"), is a modern term used to describe
any of the European peoples who spoke, or
speak, a Celtic language.[1] The term is also
used in a wider sense to describe the modern
descendants of those peoples, notably those
who participate in a Celtic culture.
The historical Celts were a diverse group
of tribal societies in Iron Age Europe. Proto-
Celtic culture formed in the Early Iron Age in
Central Europe (Hallstatt period, named for
the site in present-day Austria). By the later
Iron Age (La Tène period), Celts had expan-
ded over a wide range of lands: as far west as
Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula, as far east
as Galatia (central Anatolia), and as far north
as Scotland.[2]
The earliest direct attestation of a Celtic
language are the Lepontic inscriptions, be-
ginning from the 6th century BC. Continental
Celtic langu