Celts in Iberia
The Celtic culture has spread its reach as far as in the Iberian Peninsula. There are groups of people who live in Northern Portugal and Central Spain who hold strong Celtic culture. They are often referred to as Celt-Iberians or Celtiberians. It was believed that Celts fully penetrated Iberia in 16th century where iron tools and the existence of social culture actually points to be of Celtic origin.
They were basically two cultural Celt groups that thrived in Iberia, namely the Hispano-Celtic class (Iberian-Proto-Celtic class) and the Celtiberian class. The Hispano-Celtic group resided at the shores of the Iberian Atlantic. It consisted of several tribes including the Lusitanian tribes, the Vacceani, the Vettones and the Germanic tribes. Other tribes who belonged to the Iberian group included the Cantabrian, Astures, Aratbric, and Gallecian tribes of the Castro culture of Spain. On the other hand, the Celtiberian Iberian group was said to have originated from the Celts who found their way to France and intermingled with the locales. These were groups of people living in Ebro Valley and Central Spain.
The Celts in Iberia are prevalent evidence of how the Celtisation spread all throughout the entire area. The Celtiberian group of Spain has also shown a very strong cultural link to the modern day Iberia and its Celtic past.
Original Authors: Jennifer Tumanda
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 21/07/2008
