Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER I: THE CELTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY 17Wallsend, in Northumberland), and the first term, sego, istraceable in Segorbe (Sego-briga) in Spain. Briga is a Celticword, the origin of the German burg, and equivalent in meaningto dunum.One more example: the word magos, a plain, which is veryfrequent as an element of Irish place-names, is found abundantlyin France, and outside of France, in countries no longer Celtic, itappears in Switzerland (Uro-magus now Promasens), in theRhineland (Broco-magus, Brumath), in the Netherlands, asalready noted (Nimègue), in Lombardy several times, and inAustria.The examples given are by no means exhaustive, but theyserve to indicate the wide diffusion of the Celts in Europe andtheir identity of language over their vast territory. 16Early Celtic ArtThe relics of ancient Celtic art-work tell the same story. Inthe year 1846 a great pre-Roman necropolis was discovered atHallstatt, near Salzburg, in Austria. It contains relics believedby Dr. Arthur Evans to date from about 750 to 400 B.C. Theserelics betoken in some cases a high standard of civilisationand considerable commerce. Amber from the Baltic is there,Phoenician glass, and gold-leaf of Oriental workmanship. Ironswords are found whose hilts and sheaths are richly decoratedwith gold, ivory, and amber. [29]The Celtic culture illustrated by the remains at Hallstattdeveloped later into what is called the La Tène culture. LaTène was a settlement at the north-eastern end of the Lake ofNeuchâtel, and many objects of great interest have been foundthere since the site was first explored in 1858. These antiquitiesrepresent, according to Dr. Evans, the culminating period ofGaulish civilisation, and date from round about the third centuryB.C. The type of art here found must be judged in the light of an16For these and many other examples see de Jubainville's “PremiersHabitants,” ii. 255 sqq.