- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Oxbow Books (10 Jun 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 184217410X
- ISBN-13: 978-1842174104
- Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 19.3 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
357,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #46 in Books > History > Archaeology > By Period > Celtic, Saxon, Viking & Nordic
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Product Description
Product Description
This book is an exploration of the new idea that the Celtic languages originated in the Atlantic Zone during the Bronze Age, approached from various perspectives pro and con, archaeology, genetics, and philology. This Celtic Atlantic Bronze Age theory represents a major departure from the long-established, but increasingly problematical scenario in which the story of the Ancient Celtic languages and that of peoples called Keltoí Celts are closely bound up with the archaeology of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures of Iron Age west-central Europe. The Celtic from the West proposal was first presented in Barry Cunliffe's Facing the Ocean (2001) and has subsequently found resonance amongst geneticists. It provoked controversy on the part of some linguists, though is significantly in accord with John Koch's findings in Tartessian (2009). The present collection is intended to pursue the question further in order to determine whether this earlier and more westerly starting point might now be developed as a more robust foundation for Celtic studies. As well as having this specific aim, a more general purpose of Celtic from the West is to bring to an English-language readership some of the rapidly unfolding and too often neglected evidence of the pre-Roman peoples and languages of the western Iberian Peninsula. Celtic from the West is an outgrowth of a multidisciplinary conference held at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth in December 2008. As well as the 11 chapters, the book includes 45 distribution maps and a further 80 illustrations. The conference and collaborative volume mark the launch of a multi-year research initiative undertaken by the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies [CAWCS]: Ancient Britain and the Atlantic Zone [ABrAZo]. Contributors: (Archaeology) Barry Cunliffe; Raimund Karl; Amílcar Guerra; (Genetics) Brian McEvoy & Daniel Bradley; Stephen Oppenheimer; Ellen Rrvik; (Language & Literature) Graham Isaac; David Parsons; John T. Koch; Philip Freeman; Dagmar S. Wodtko.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This set of academic papers from a conference considering, from archaeological, linguistic, and genetic viewpoints, the question of who the Celts were and where they came from, has been assembled into a beautifully illustrated book. While more scholarly than a work aimed at the general public, it is certainly accessible, with clearly made points and unobtrusive footnotes. So far I have only read in full the three chapters on genetics. One is an article by a researcher with the People of the British Isles study, which helpfully begins with an overview of how DNA works, before surveying what studies have found, or at least asserted, about European DNA in general and British DNA in particular. Next is a summary of DNA research about Ireland, by the leading researchers McEvoy and Bradley. It includes an explanation of the Y-DNA "Irish Modal Haplotype." Third is a very welcome summary by Stephen Oppenheimer, author of The Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story, in which he responds to criticisms of his groundbreaking research. The most important part of the linguistic section must be John T. Koch's finding that the language of Tartessos in ancient Iberia belongs to the Celtic group. The proof of that brilliant finding is exhaustive, even if it is beyond the comprehension of readers who are not linguists. Readers who like Celtic things and are satisfied just to get a tattoo and wear some plaid with swirly silver jewellery should probably avoid this book; on the other hand, this book is must reading for those who really want to know what the Celtic world was all about.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I traced my family history in Cornwall back to 1200 and then the trail went dead. What happened before that was like being down at St. Just-in-Penwith when the sea-mist rolls in. Yes, yes, yes, there was the classical theory of British origins, and Anglo Saxon invasions. That had been recited by countless generations of schoolteachers down the centuries, and for all I know may still be taught in schools in Britain, but it was a bit hard to believe and was, at least to me, a bit uninspiring. The lack of scientific evidence seemed to place it more in the realm of foundation myths than "continental drift magnetic field shift" obviousness.
Then I tumbled into the genetic works of the past ten years or so... the Out of Africa trail, etc. The works of Oppenheimer and Sykes and many, many others who came up with new origin theories, and explanations of how these might be verified through genetics and linguistics. It was thrilling. I ended up with a metre of bookshelf full of books on the subject.
But this is a field that changes fast, so fast that by the time a book is published, the academic side of the internet is often 3 sub-theories ahead. That can be a bit confusing.
That's why I am happy to have this book "Celtic from the West". A number of people that I consider experts on this subject have got together, and they tell us where they have got to. I am happy with this. Its up to date, so I am up to date, and I have something logical that I can believe in for the next 5 years (At least until somebody comes along who can prove otherwise).
Then I tumbled into the genetic works of the past ten years or so... the Out of Africa trail, etc. The works of Oppenheimer and Sykes and many, many others who came up with new origin theories, and explanations of how these might be verified through genetics and linguistics. It was thrilling. I ended up with a metre of bookshelf full of books on the subject.
But this is a field that changes fast, so fast that by the time a book is published, the academic side of the internet is often 3 sub-theories ahead. That can be a bit confusing.
That's why I am happy to have this book "Celtic from the West". A number of people that I consider experts on this subject have got together, and they tell us where they have got to. I am happy with this. Its up to date, so I am up to date, and I have something logical that I can believe in for the next 5 years (At least until somebody comes along who can prove otherwise).
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a collection of research papers very well presented and very expensive to buy.
Though it is not one of my subjects (I had to read it for completeness sake having done research of my own in a different field where there is a small overlap) it was worthwhile on the whole.
The area of this book is roughly, the formation of language in ancient times in Europe, especially Britain, Celtic of course principally. The period is mostly the late Bronze Age. The evidence available is very slight: it is difficult to see how anything can be proved at such a distance and with so little to go on. The most impressive evidence is probably the ancient stones with the first glimmerings of language upon them. These are mostly rather primitive markings. Having spent time trying to decipher the Phaistos Disc (and getting close to an understanding, I believe), these far older markings are far more difficult to draw reliable conclusions therefrom.
There are just not enough of them. I do not think anything very much can be deduced about how these markings might sound when 'spoken'. A decipherment along the lines of Linear B seems to me impossible. But I do not know enough to say this confidently. Indeed, I know from my own work that what may seem impossible can often be done and eventually is. Mathematics is full of such events.
I am appalled by the standard of writing of some of the papers. They are written in the most pompous and deliberately high sounding style. Someone, perhaps the Oxford professor on the cover, might usefully get this changed. Anyone who writes that way is writing to seem what he or she is not; nothing worthy is conveyed. Probably there is nothing to convey so all that can be done is present a high sounding message. These papers should have been edited and if the feelings of some offended, too bad. When there are several words where one would do and several syllables when one or two are sufficient, it is time to get things done better. Any very good mind is always offended by the lack of economy.
Though it is not one of my subjects (I had to read it for completeness sake having done research of my own in a different field where there is a small overlap) it was worthwhile on the whole.
The area of this book is roughly, the formation of language in ancient times in Europe, especially Britain, Celtic of course principally. The period is mostly the late Bronze Age. The evidence available is very slight: it is difficult to see how anything can be proved at such a distance and with so little to go on. The most impressive evidence is probably the ancient stones with the first glimmerings of language upon them. These are mostly rather primitive markings. Having spent time trying to decipher the Phaistos Disc (and getting close to an understanding, I believe), these far older markings are far more difficult to draw reliable conclusions therefrom.
There are just not enough of them. I do not think anything very much can be deduced about how these markings might sound when 'spoken'. A decipherment along the lines of Linear B seems to me impossible. But I do not know enough to say this confidently. Indeed, I know from my own work that what may seem impossible can often be done and eventually is. Mathematics is full of such events.
I am appalled by the standard of writing of some of the papers. They are written in the most pompous and deliberately high sounding style. Someone, perhaps the Oxford professor on the cover, might usefully get this changed. Anyone who writes that way is writing to seem what he or she is not; nothing worthy is conveyed. Probably there is nothing to convey so all that can be done is present a high sounding message. These papers should have been edited and if the feelings of some offended, too bad. When there are several words where one would do and several syllables when one or two are sufficient, it is time to get things done better. Any very good mind is always offended by the lack of economy.
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