In your First Year, we discussed the Bell-Beaker culture, the European civilization that was formed during the Stone age and ended around 1800 BCE that was the first culture to be completely magical. While few records of them remain, what magiacheaological evidence we can find indicates that magic was a part of every day of their lives, and was present in their homes, their farming tools, and their methods of construction. Another important phenomenon in this time period and geographical location was the idea of written symbols starting to form comprehensible texts.
Next, we move ahead in time. While the Bell-Beaker culture was quite impressive for its time, luckily wizarding society as a whole advanced in the period between 1900 BCE and 1789 CE. During this span, magic evolved exponentially. In Week Seven of First Year, we learned that Stonehenge had some importance in that development, and that the Celtic civilization played a large role. Additionally, Roman and Greek civilization was a major catalyst for Muggle distrust of magic and its users, while attempting to abolish the use of magic overall from 54 CE onwards.
Over time, stories and tales were invented to keep Muggles complacent and unsuspecting of magic. However, some religions counteracted this, and defined magic as inhumane or dangerous. This, combined with the growing popularity of the witch hunts, led to the International Statute of Secrecy. Upon its formation, the entirety of magical society became a secret to Muggle civilization.
Magic Use in the Gaul or Celtic Civilizations
But enough of the past, let's move onto... erm, new information about the past and the first of our new topics for today: the Celts. The challenge with studying the Celts and Gauls lies with the differences in our location in both time and space. Presently, hardly any Celtic tribes are still viable and the only remainders of these cultures can be found in the darker green areas (Ireland, the lower western part of Great Britain and the western tip of France). However, in its heyday the Celtic empire covered a major part of Europe from around 800 BCE until the Roman conquest (by Muggle Roman leader Julius Caesar around 50 BCE), diminishing, but not eradicating, these tribes.
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Whereas the Greek culture accepted a strictly rational approach to magic, the Celts originally used a more natural magic in their culture. The use of magic in this time period and location can therefore be described as being influenced by a cultural shift from one lifestyle to another - the original Celtic Hallstatt culture (shown in yellow) and the later Graeco-Celtic, Pre-Roman La Tène culture (shown in light green). Despite these changes, though, the basic use of magic stayed the same until the Roman period. We'll be taking a look at the details of each of these two cultures next, starting chronologically.
Hallstatt Culture
Around 850 BCE, surrounding the lake of Hallstatt in Austria, the Celtic culture was a predominantly naturalistic one, focusing on elemental power and divinity. The people at that time believed that many spirits and divine beings inhabited the world around them, all with special magical powers. Sacred rituals and offerings were often executed to please these deities.
