3.3 Family Patterns

In fact we know very little about Celtic family structure. But there is evidence that Celtic women participated both in warfare and in kingship. Celtic women had more rights than in Greek or even Roman societies.  They were noted for their fierce tempers and promiscuity, both of which were acceptable culturally.

Women had legal rights in marriage; the bride's dowry was matched by the husband and this became a joint account of sorts.  If one spouse died, the survivor inherited everything.  However, the husband still had the right of life and death over his whole family, including this wife. Women also had the right of inheritance from their parents. If we should believe Suetonius Paulinus, there were times where there were more women in battle than men, but there is next to no reference of any woman beyond the Queen attending a Feast. Generally women were on the battlefield in a support capacity.

Women did have the right to lead their tribes, enter contracts and lead armies; although these rights obviously did not apply to the masses.  Women frequently did engage in business, regardless of class.

According to Aristotle, the Celts exposed their children to cold weather without clothing to toughen them up and obesity in men was dealt with harshly.

Noble youths might have been given as "hostages" to ensure bonds between the tribes.  These "hostages" were more like long-term exchange students.  By taking part of family life in other tribes, it strengthened alliances among the tribe and allowed for some uniformity between them. Raising foster children and strategic marriages were also used for the same purpose.

Home meals were served by the youngest of the grown up children, both boys and girls (presumably grown up enough to handle serving).  However, boys were not allowed to address their fathers in public or even be seen with them until they had entered military service.

There were also some tribes, like the Caledonii of Scotland, who lived communally and raised children communally as well.

4. Dwellings

Among the remnants we have from the period, the most impressive are those of the ancient dwellings. There was apparently no urbanization, this was the age of hillforts, brochs and duns.

Hill forts in Britain are known from the Bronze Age, but were a most prominent feature of the Iron Age. They were apparently used for habitation or as fortified encampments during the middle to late Iron Age, before the Roman Conquest, and then again following the end of Roman Britain, for a period of several decades into the Anglo-Saxon period. There is however, strong debate among modern archaeologists about their exact nature and use. In Britain the great age of hill fort construction was between 200 BC and the Roman conquest in AD 43. Where Roman influence was less strong (for example, in uninvaded Ireland and unsubdued northern Scotland) hill forts were still built and used for several more centuries. Some hill forts were reoccupied by the Anglo-Saxons prior to and during the Viking invasions.

Our present use of the word fort brings to mind a compact piece of military architecture but hillforts were never purely military. The simplest of them were little more than corrals where a group of people might be safe from surprise attack and the livestock guarded against rustling. The larger ones, which were probably tribal centres permanently settled, had vast ramparts, sometimes over a mile round, topped with wooden palisades and were more like walled towns than forts.

Actual dwellings we can still see today belong to the type called Atlantic roundhouses (used as a generic term). Traditionally, those houses and towers were seen as the defensive strongholds of a warrior aristocracy. Research in the past ten years, however, has shown that, while security was probably a consideration in the building of many broch towers, it was by no means the whole story. In fact they were not at all very good for defending. Whatever their defensive capacities, they were essentially and routinely farmhouses. Excavations, principally in Northern Scotland have demonstrated that Atlantic roundhouses were permanently occupied domestic buildings. Round houses usually contained a single room, although some may have been partitioned internally. In larger houses, the roof space may have been floored over to be used as a loft for storage or even extra living space. Most round houses had a fireplace and oven at their centre. This provided heat for cooking, warmth for the house and light. As there were no windows, the only light came from the fire, lamps or through the door when it was open. In some parts of Britain, round house doorways often pointed towards the east or southeast to let in the morning sun. The position of the doorway may also have had a religious significance.

As for the British Isles we can distinguish here Brochs and Duns classified as Atlantic Roundhouses.

The Broch is an Iron Age dry stone tower of a type which is found in Scotland. The origin of brochs and their purpose remains disputed. Current thought is that brochs were built by local people in the north of Scotland, possibly making use of itinerant craftsmen since so many were built to similar designs. The distribution of brochs is centred on northern Scotland.

Brochs vary from 5 to 15 metres in internal diameter, with 3 metre thick walls. On average, the walls only survive to a few metres; the best examples (Carloway, Telve, Troddan, Mousa and Dornaigil) are up to 13m tall, however it is not clear whether all brochs originally stood this high. A frequent characteristic is that the walls are galleried. Beside the door, it is normal for there to be a cell breaking off from the passage; this is known as the guard cell. Though there was much argument in the past, it is now generally accepted that brochs were roofed, probably with a conical timber framed roof covered with a locally sourced thatch.

Brochs were sometimes (e.g. Scatness in Shetland) located close to arable land and a source of water (some have deep wells or natural springs rising within their central space). Sometimes, on the other hand, they were sited in wilderness areas (e.g. Levenwick and Culswick in Shetland, Castle Cole in Sutherland). Brochs are often built beside the sea; sometimes they are on islands in lakes (e.g. Clickimin in Shetland).

As for Dun (from the Brythonic din and Gaelic dùn, meaning “fort”) is now used both as a generic term for a fort (mainly used to describe a sub-group of hill forts) and also for a specific variety of Atlantic roundhouse . In some areas they seem to have been built on any suitable crag or hillock.

Duns, as roundhouses, share many characteristics of brochs (often including galleries and stairs), but are smaller and probably would not have been capable of supporting a very tall structure. Very good examples of this kind of dun can be found in the Western Isles of Scotland, on artificial islands in small lochs. These were usually reached by means of a causeway built up from the nearest shore. Since “dun” is the Gaelic word for castle, and a number of Scottish castles use 'Dun-' as a prefix.

Scottish crannogs are similar to duns. It is the name given in Scotland and Ireland to an artificial island or natural island, used for a settlement. The name can also be used to refer to wooden platforms erected on shallow loch floors, although understandably few remains of this sort have been found.

The choice of an island as a home is thought to have been for defense as well as the availability of food in the form of fish nearby. The crannog could be reached from the nearest shore by means of a causeway built up with stones, or else a wooden gangway built atop raised piles. An example of a reconstructed crannog is located at the Scottish Crannog Centre at Loch Tay, Tayside.