Exploring Celtic Origins is the fruit of collaborative work by researchers in archaeology, historical linguistics, and archaeogenetics over the past ten years. This team works towards the goal of a better understanding of the background in the Bronze Age and Beaker Period of the people who emerge as Celts and speakers of Celtic languages documented in the Iron Age and later times. Led by Sir Barry Cunliffe and John Koch, the contributors present multidisciplinary chapters in a lively user-friendly style, aimed at accessibility for workers in the other fields, as well as general readers. The collection stands as a pause to reflect on ways forward at the moment of intellectual history when the genome-wide sequencing of ancient DNA (a.k.a. ‘the archaeogenetic revolution’) has suddenly changed everything in the study of later European prehistory. How do we deal with what appears to be an irreversible breach in the barrier between science and the humanities? Exploring Celtic Origins includes colour maps and illustrations and annotated Further Reading for all chapters.
Maps, Illustrations, and Tables
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Setting the scene
Barry Cunliffe
2. Celtic from the West meets linguistics and genetics
John T. Koch
3. A case of identity theft? Archaeogenetics, Beaker People, and Celtic origins
John T. Koch with Fernando Fernández Palacios
4. Connectivity in Atlantic Europe during the Bronze Age (2800–800 BC)
Kerri Cleary & Catriona Gibson
5. Chemistry and Bronze Age metals in Atlantic Europe: Flows of ideas and material
Peter Bray
6. Once upon a time in the West: The archaeogenetics of Celtic origins
Marina Silva, Katharina Dulias, Gonzalo Oteo-Garcia, Francesca Gandini, Ceiridwen Edwards, Maria Pala, Pedro Soares, James F. Wilson, & Martin B. Richards
7. A dialogue at the crossroads
Barry Cunliffe & John T. Koch
General Index
Sir Barry Cunliffe is Professor Emeritus of European Prehistory in the University of Oxford. A phenomenally prolific author and excavator, his publications include highly readable synthetic overviews that encompass long chronological sweeps of the archaeology of Britain, Eurasia, the Celtic world, and the Atlantic façade.
John T. Koch is Research Professor at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in Aberystwyth. A historical linguist specialising in early Celtic languages with a unique multidisciplinary profile, Koch’s research includes Indo-European origins of Celtic names, words, and grammar.
