Editing Celts (section)

====Iberia====
[[File:Iberia 300BC-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Main language areas in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], showing Celtic languages in beige, c. 300 BC]]
{{Main|Celtiberians|Gallaeci}}
{{See also|Castro culture|Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula|Prehistoric Iberia|Hispania|Lusitania|Gallaecia|Celtici|Vettones}}

Until the end of the 19th century, traditional scholarship dealing with the Celts did acknowledge their presence in the Iberian Peninsula<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=K_fmF-Rpt0QC&q=celts+portuguese&pg=PA50 |title=Chambers's information for the people |page=50 |access-date=2 October 2010 |last1=Chambers |first1=William |last2=Chambers |first2=Robert |date=1842 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722091012/http://books.google.com/books?id=K_fmF-Rpt0QC&pg=PA50&dq=celts+portuguese |archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rTEEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA505 |title=Brownson's Quarterly Review |page=505 |access-date=2 October 2010 |last1=Brownson |first1=Orestes Augustus |date=1859 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222192128/http://books.google.com/books?id=rTEEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA505&dq=portuguese+celts |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> as a [[Archaeological culture|material culture]] relatable to the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] cultures. However, since according to the definition of the [[Iron Age]] in the 19th century Celtic populations were supposedly rare in Iberia and did not provide a cultural scenario that could easily be linked to that of Central Europe, the presence of Celtic culture in that region was generally not fully recognised. Modern scholarship, however, has proven that Celtic presence and influences were most substantial in what is today Spain and [[Portugal]] (with perhaps the highest settlement saturation in Western Europe), particularly in the central, western and northern regions.<ref name="Quintela">{{cite journal |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_10/garcia_quintela_6_10.html |title=Celtic Elements in Northwestern Spain in Pre-Roman times |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |last=Quintela |first=Marco V. García |date=2005 |publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, [[University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]] |access-date=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110106071447/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_10/garcia_quintela_6_10.html |archive-date=6 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_12/olivares_6_12.html |title=Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |last=Pedreño |first=Juan Carlos Olivares |date=2005 |access-date=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090924025843/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_12/olivares_6_12.html |archive-date=24 September 2009}}</ref>

In addition to [[Gauls]] infiltrating from the north of the [[Pyrenees]], the Roman and Greek sources mention Celtic populations in three parts of the Iberian Peninsula: the eastern part of the ''Meseta'' (inhabited by the [[Celtiberians]]), the southwest ([[Celtici]], in modern-day [[Alentejo]]) and the northwest ([[Gallaecia]] and [[Asturias]]).<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8PsWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32 |title=Researches into the Physical History of Mankind |access-date=2 October 2010 |last1=Prichard |first1=James Cowles |date=1841 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111222184305/http://books.google.com/books?id=8PsWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32&dq=celtiberian+celtici |archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> A modern scholarly review<ref>{{cite journal |first=Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero |last=Alberto J. Lorrio |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |title=The Celts in Iberia: An Overview |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=167–254 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110624075310/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=12 August 2010}}</ref> found several archaeological groups of Celts in Spain:
* The [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] group in the Upper-Douro Upper-Tagus Upper-Jalón area.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Francisco |last=Burillo Mozota |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_8/burillo_6_8.html |title=Celtiberians: Problems and Debates |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=411–80 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090214010846/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_8/burillo_6_8.html |archive-date=14 February 2009 |access-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> Archaeological data suggest a continuity at least from the 6th century BC. In this early period, the Celtiberians inhabited in hill-forts (''Castros''). Around the end of the 3rd century BC, Celtiberians adopted more urban ways of life. From the 2nd century BC, they minted coins and wrote inscriptions using the [[Celtiberian script]]. These inscriptions make the [[Celtiberian Language]] the only Hispano-Celtic language classified as Celtic with unanimous agreement.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |first=Carlos |last=Jordán Cólera |url= http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_17/jordan_6_17.pdf |title=Celtiberian |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=749–850 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110624081159/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_17/jordan_6_17.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> In the late period, before the Roman Conquest, both archaeological evidence and Roman sources suggest that the [[Celtiberians]] were expanding into different areas in the Peninsula (e.g. Celtic Baeturia).
* The [[Vettones|Vetton]] group in the western Meseta, between the Tormes, Douro and Tagus Rivers. They were characterised by the production of ''Verracos'', sculptures of bulls and pigs carved in granite.
* The [[Vaccei|Vaccean]] group in the central Douro valley. They were mentioned by Roman sources already in the 220 BC. Some of their funerary rituals suggest strong influences from their [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] neighbours.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

[[File:Torque de Santa Tegra 1.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|Triskelion and spirals on a Galician [[torc]] terminal, Museum of Castro de Santa Tegra, [[A Guarda]]]]
* The ''Castro Culture'' in northwestern Iberia, modern day [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and Northern [[Portugal]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Manuel |last=Alberro |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_20/alberro_6_20.html |title=Celtic Legacy in Galicia |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=1005–35 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090417174506/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_20/alberro_6_20.html |archive-date=17 April 2009 |access-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> Its high degree of continuity, from the Late Bronze Age, makes it difficult to support that the introduction of Celtic elements was due to the same process of Celticisation of the western Iberia, from the nucleus area of Celtiberia. Two typical elements are the sauna baths with monumental entrances, and the "Gallaecian Warriors", stone sculptures built in the 1st century AD. A large group of Latin inscriptions contain Celtic linguistic features, while others are similar to those found in the non-Celtic [[Lusitanian language]].<ref name="auto" />
* The [[Astures]] and the [[Cantabri]]. This area was romanised late, as it was not conquered by Rome until the [[Cantabrian Wars]] of 29–19 BC.
* Celts in the southwest, in the area [[Strabo]] called Celtica<ref>{{cite journal |first=Luis |last=Berrocal-Rangel |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html |title=The Celts of the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=481–96 |date=2005 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090416055457/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/index.html |archive-date=16 April 2009}}</ref>

The origins of the Celtiberians might provide a key to understanding the Celticisation process in the rest of the Peninsula. The process of Celticisation of the southwestern area of the peninsula by the Keltoi and of the northwestern area is, however, not a simple Celtiberian question. Recent investigations about the [[Gallaeci|Callaici]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=Eugenio |last=R. Luján Martínez |url= http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_16/lujan_6_16.html |title=The Language(s) of the Callaeci |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=715–48 |date=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090417174908/http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_16/lujan_6_16.html |archive-date=17 April 2009 |access-date=18 May 2009}}</ref> and [[Bracari]]<ref>Coutinhas, José Manuel (2006), ''Aproximação à identidade etno-cultural dos Callaici Bracari'', Porto.</ref> in northwestern [[Portugal]] are providing new approaches to understanding Celtic culture (language, art and religion) in western Iberia.<ref>[http://arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Archeological site of Tavira] {{webarchive|url= http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110223153840/http://arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm |date=23 February 2011 }}, official website</ref>

John T. Koch of [[Aberystwyth University]] suggested that [[Tartessian language|Tartessian]] inscriptions of the 8th century BC might be classified as Celtic. This would mean that Tartessian is the earliest attested trace of Celtic by a margin of more than a century.<ref>John T. Koch, ''Tartessian: Celtic From the South-west at the Dawn of History'', Celtic Studies Publications, (2009)</ref>