We often speak matter of factly of the contribution of the Celts to our Presbyterian traditions, but many are not aware of the profound influence they had upon the early development of our technology and way of life. I offer here words adapted from two beautiful books, Heroes of the Dawn (Time Life, 1996) and Celtic Pilgrimages (Blandford, 1997), that will you give an idea of the nature and some of the accomplishments of the pre-Christian Celtic people.
   
Although historians are not certain when the Celts first emerged as a distinct culture, educated guesses place their roots to Indo-European peoples as far back as 5,000 BC somewhere north of the Black Sea. There is evidence that they migrated far and wide, southward toward India, and westward towards Europe. Sometime after 1000 BC it is believed that they arrived in the Harz mountain region of Germany where the first distinctly "Celtic" culture was born.
   
These early Celts were skilled metalworkers. They introduced the art of iron-forging to Europe, and made innumerable agricultural advances - iron ploughshares, iron bridle bits, iron tires for their carts, and even a form of iron reaper.
 
They were also accomplished warriors. The same technology that gave them ploughshares also provided them with swords, spears, arrows and, most awe-inspiring of all, iron-wheeled chariots. They were universally feared in warfare. In battle they presented a terrifying spectacle, as recorded by Diodorus Siculus, a Roman historian of the first century BC: "They wear bronze helmets which possess large projecting figures that lend the wearer the appearance of enormous stature. In other cases there (are) relief figures of foreparts of birds or beasts. Their trumpets ... produce a harsh sound which suits the tumult of war."
 
In spite of their warlike tendencies, these pre-Christian Celts were highly civilized. They were skilled farmers, miners and metal-workers, and possessed the administrative abilities to build and run wooden hilltop settlements of considerable size and sophistication.

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