THE NATURE OF CELTIC SOCIETY - managing the landAim: To find out if the Celts were “footloose and unpredictable” or settled farmers.

We have already established that Celtic society was shaped by warrior values and the need to show status through monumental settlements. However, society was also shaped by other factors including the need to manage/work the land.

Celts and the landIn 1958 the historian Stuart Piggott characterised the Celtic peoples of Northern Britain as “Celtic cowboys ... footloose and unpredictable”. He believed that Celts were probably nomadic, following herds of grazing livestock roaming around, never staying in one permanent settlement. The implication of this interpretation is that the Celts were not settled, successful farmers who grew crops on any large scale. Indeed, Piggott claimed that although the Celts of Northern Britain had abundant flocks and herds, “there was only the most rudimentary agriculture, of a type hardly likely to produce any surplus over home consumption”. This was in contrast to the more economically sophisticated south of Britannia, which became one of the main “bread baskets” of the Roman Empire, and where Roman civilisation was able to flourish – as evidenced through the spread of towns, cities and villas.

Piggott’s view very much reflected the writings of the Roman historian Cassius Dio, who claimed that the Celts had “no cultivated land, but living by pastoral pursuit and by hunting and on certain kinds of berries,” adding for good measure that they stayed naked, barefoot and in tents!

Since this idea of Celtic cowboys was put forward, a mass of new data has become available to call this interpretation into question. It seems more likely that the supposed Celtic cowboys grew crops, had fields and grain stores, and managed the woodland and cultivated landscapes. It seems as though they were settled, skilled farmers who practised a mixed economy, combining pastoral and arable farming.

So, in its simplest terms the debate which we need to engage in is –

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Celtic Cowboys or Settled Farmers?

EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT CELTS WERE SETTLED FARMERSRather than being footloose, roaming cow herders it is likely that the Celts were settled farmers, working a mixed economy in which arable and pastoral farming played a role. Across Scotland evidence of agriculture has been found: quernstones for grinding grains, charred remains of crops and cultivation terraces and fields have all been recorded.

Field SystemsIn the lowlands field systems have been spotted from aerial photography. These are series of fields divided by boundaries made up of pits which may have been for wooden posts at one time. Just east of Edinburgh at Castlesteads, long fields with pits to mark out the field boundaries have been found. These fields enclose prime agricultural land and the pits would make up a boundary to stop crops and animals from mixing. They suggest a degree of control over the land and a degree of permanency.

Waterless Bridge, Pittenweem, FifeThis field of ripening barley gives ideal conditions for displaying multiple crop-marks. The straight rectilinear lines possibly mark field-boundaries of Late Pre Roman Iron Age date. Such traces as these represent the fields and farmsteads of ordinary people throughout the

countryside.

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Souterrains & Grain StoresAnother find to suggest a settled, farming existence is the existence of souterrains and grain stores. The assumption is that if you have a grain store or a souterrain, this suggests that you are successfully producing a surplus of crops and growing more than you can consume immediately; you are farming so successfully that you have a surplus which you need to store or it will rot. If the Celts were nomadic it would be practically impossible to manage a piece of land well enough to produce a surplus. So, the existence of these structures tells us that surpluses existed and this allows us to infer that people were managing the land over a longer period of time, and obviously would be staying there on a fairly permanent basis. Ian Armit emphasises their existence as indicative of intensive prehistoric exploitation of the land. Souterrain evidence supports the modern interpretation that the Celtic landscape was, at least in the Lowlands, one of fields, pastures, wetland and managed land and directly contradicts Stuart Piggott’s often quoted “Celtic cowboys” characterisation.

Souterrains, or earth-houses as they are sometimes known in Scotland, are long stone-lined underground passages of dry masonry which lead to chambers roofed with massive stone lintels. They were cellars built partly or wholly underground and were often entered from timber or stone roundhouses. They are characteristic of Iron Age settlement and were probably used for the storage of agricultural produce. They are mostly built on well drained slopes though exceptions exist such as Tungadale in Skye which sits in the damp base of a hill slope. These “cellars” would have been good for storing grain because they were cool and dry. Also, they would be good for storage as they were hard to access from any route other than the house: this would guarantee the safety of the stored food from thieving hands and hungry animals.

The earliest souterrains date to the 3rd century BC; the latest are 2nd century AD in date. The bulk, however, fall into the 1st century BC/1st-century AD date range and fell out of use in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Although the souterrains which are still upstanding today are made of stone, excavations have shown that some were made of timber. Many souterrains survive in Scotland as distinctive cropmarks which can be recognised from the air. About 200 souterrains have been found, concentrated in groups in Angus and Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, Skye and the Outer Hebrides, with a few rare outliers.

The widespread existence of souterrains suggest that in parts of Celtic Scotland,

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particularly the eastern Lowlands, there was intensive exploitation of the land, generating a surplus. The inhabitants of roundhouses which had souterrains attached are likely to have been pre-eminent people within Iron Age society, for example local chieftains. It is possible that the produce that was stored in the souterrains may have been taxation in kind rather than just surplus. The souterrains may have been used by individuals to accumulate wealth, to give to the Gods or for communal redistribution. Some, including Ian Armit, believe that the souterrains may also have been of ritual use which may explain why in some souterrains, such as Pitcur, ancient cup-marked stones were incorporated into the walls.

There are a higher number of souterrains in the Angus and Perthshire area, which so happens to be where Roman forts were. It is possible that during the Roman interlude, Celts were storing grain to sell to the Roman troops. The concentration of souterrains in Angus and Perthshire suggests that they may have been used by communities supplying the Roman army on the Gask frontier and the Antonine Wall with grain. Indeed, many appear to have been deliberately decommissioned around the end of the 2nd century AD and closure deposits often contain Roman objects such as brooches and pottery, which shows links between the builders and the Romans.

Carlungie Souterrain in Angus.

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Culsh earth house, near Aberdeen

Artefacts

As well as the landscape evidence there are archaeological finds to support the idea that Celts intensively involved in agriculture. Quernstones to grind grain have been found, especially in the Lowlands. Also the charred remains of crops including black oats and dere barley have found.

A rotary quernstone used to grind the grain for making bread.

Pastoral Farming - Herds and Flocks

Clearly arable farming was happening in Northern Britain in the LPRIA but also farmers still would rely on animals too. The grazing of animals is called pastoral farming. In

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the north, west and even in the Lowlands evidence has been unearthed to suggest widespread pastoral farming (bear in mind most of the bones will have rotted away and so our evidence will be piecemeal). Bones of cattle, red deer and sheep have been found on various sites such as Cnip on the Isle of Lewis. Meanwhile as we have seen, some smaller hillforts have been identified as enclosures for livestock, and the construction of linear earthworks in upland areas may have aided livestock control; Armit believes that they may indicate the existence of extensive stock farms and “ranches”. So, again we can build up a clear view of settled farmers controlling and managing the land.

AnalysisIt seems that we have evidence to suggest Celts were farmers since we have field systems, animal bones, crop marks and souterrains to substantiate this notion. Additionally people such as Ian Armit suggest that forests were being cleared for increased farming from 250BC, especially in the Lowlands. Wooded slopes were cleared to make way for fields of oat and rye and for grazing. Not only does this suggest that Celts were competent land managers, it suggests that there must have been a fairly clear political/social structure to organise the clearance of land.

From the evidence the picture is clearly of WIDESPREAD FARMING. This picture contradicts the image suggested by Cassius Dio of sprawling forestland and roaming barbarians. We have a picture of woodland clearance, land management, settled and successful farming. The Celts were not footloose and unpredictable cowboys.

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TASKS

1. Outline the traditional view on the economy of Celtic society in Northern Britain during the LPRIA, mentioning Cassius Dio and Stuart Piggott.

2. Make detailed notes on the evidence that Celtic society was, in fact, settled and successful with a mixed rural economy. Use the following sub-headings:

Field systems Souterrains Rotary quernstones Pastoral farming Forest clearance.