Hello,
Am 12.10.2006 um 09:54 schrieb Christophe Tellart:
Herodotus, ... Strabo and Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), also
clearly refer to them in their works.
Do you know if any of these men ever was at those settlements he
described? ever spoke to the people they are writing of? They also
wrote about things like Atlantis.
To me, these roman writers mainly proof that Romans belived that the
people in that area are named Kallaikoi - which someone else belived to
be the Greek name for the Gallaeci (or Callaeci), which someone else
belived to be a "Celtic" "tribe".
And a lot of the Roman sources is part of roman propaganda, like Iulius
Caesars writings. This is as if you want to understand Afghanistan from
KGB sources - starting with the fact that "Afghanistan" is a colonial
construct.
Archeologists and linguists have discovered writings by Gallaeci which
now attest they used to speak a Celtic language.
Last time I asked a linguist specialised in celtic languages, he
mentioned findings of writings in todays France. This is the first time
I hear of celtic language writings being found in north west Spain.
If there are written findings of celtic languages in this area (where?)
I let myself be convinced.
Their knowledge of bronze metalworking,
No. Coca Cola bottles in Poland today are by no means evidence to
proove that there are US-americans putting up settlements in Poland or
english being a native language. By the way, these bottles are not
imported, but produced locally.
their customs and agricultural habits are other reliable evidences
which prove they were Celts,
Their customs are described again by thesame roman writers (see above).
By the way, even if we find english writings in Poland today, this does
not proof that the people living there people speak english.
Another significant proof is that since the Bronze Age and like many
other Celtic tribes, former inhabitants of north-western Iberian
peninsula used to protect their homes in castra (i. e. walls,
hillforts or castros, in Spanish)
The use of walls for protection against strangers is not sign of being
a "celt". Not more than the use of bagpipes.
Some searchers say the last Galician Celtic speaker died in the XVth
century but I have never found any irrefutable argument in all my
books and encyclopediae to confirm that fact...
how to confirm the death of a legend?
The name of the country itself (Galicia) is eloquent enough and
confirms its Celtic inheritance.
But you know that there is a large area in central Europa called
"Galicia"?:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galicia_(Central_Europe)
and one in Turkey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatia
and one in Romania:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gala%C5%A3i_County
Todays North-West Spain is not more "celtic" than Hungary, Switzerland,
Belgium or other areas in Europe you want to chose. In all those
coutries somewhen somone lived who was called a "celt" by someone else
somewhen.
Celticness has become way too much a fashion, sometimes...
Yes. There was a similar fashion about a hundred years ago in Europe:
Everyone wanted to be Germanic. We all know where it took us.
kind regards
Simon
