塞尔特人(Celts)
古代印欧民族之一，自西元前二千纪至前一世纪时，曾散处於欧洲大部地区。後来部分地融入罗马帝国，成为不列颠人、高卢人、博伊人、加拉太人、塞尔特伊比利亚人。最早的考古资料是在奥地利萨尔斯堡附近的哈尔施塔特出土的许多部落酋长的墓葬（西元前700?年），为铁器时代的文化，他们控制了沿隆河、塞纳河、莱茵河及多瑙河各个水系的商路。後来往西迁移，其战士引进了铁器的使用，助其统治了其他的塞尔特部落。西元前5世纪中叶，拉坦诺文化就已出现於聚居莱茵河中游的塞尔特人中间，然後传入东欧和英伦三岛。西元前390年前後，塞尔特人洗劫了罗马，并侵袭了整个义大利半岛，最後定居在阿尔卑斯山脉南部（山南高卢），并持续威胁着罗马，直到西元前225年被打败。西元前279年洗劫了希腊的德尔斐，但最後为埃托利亚人所败。他们跨过博斯普鲁斯海峡，进入安纳托利亚，并逐渐定居下来，直到西元前230年左右，才被阿塔罗斯一世予以平定。约西元前192年，罗马人已取得了对山南高卢全部地区的统治权，而在西元前124年又征服了西阿尔卑斯山以外的那片土地。塞尔特人在山外高卢（自莱茵河到阿尔卑斯山脉西部领土）面对的威胁来自两方面︰一是来自西部的日耳曼诸部落；二是罗马人陈兵南线，意图兼并他们。到了西元前58年凯撒开始进军高卢，而最终征服高卢全境。关於塞尔特人在不列颠和爱尔兰定居这个事实，主要是根据考古学和语言学的研究加以推论而得知的。塞尔特人的社会体系分成三级，即︰国王、武士贵族和自由农民。另有「德鲁伊特」（druid）这个阶层，专司巫术宗教职务，其地位高於武士。经济活动以一种混合农业为基础，塞尔特人也非常重视音乐，并有多种形式的口传的文学作品产生。
English version：
Celts
Early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium BC to the 1st century BC spread over much of Europe. They were absorbed into the Roman empire as Britons, Gauls, Boii, Galatians, and Celtiberians. Early archaeological evidence (c. 700 BC) comes from the Hallstatt site in Austria. People of this Iron Age culture controlled trade routes along the Rh?ne, Seine, Rhine, and Danube rivers. As they moved west, Hallstatt warriors introduced the use of iron, which helped them dominate other Celtic tribes. By the mid-5th century BC, the La Tène culture emerged along the Rhine and moved into eastern Europe and the British Isles. Celts sacked Rome c. 390 BC and raided the whole peninsula, then settled south of the Alps (Cisalpine Gaul) and menaced Rome until they were defeated in 225 BC. In the Balkans, they sacked Delphi in 279 BC but were defeated by the Aetolians. They crossed to Anatolia and looted until they were subdued by Attalus I c. 230 BC. Rome controlled Cisalpine Gaul by 192, and in 124 took territory beyond the Alps. In Transalpine Gaul, from the Rhine and the Alps west, the Celts were pressed by Germanic tribes from the west and Romans from the south. By 58 Julius Caesar had begun campaigns to annex all of Gaul. Celtic settlement of Britain and Ireland is deduced from archaeological and linguistic evidence. The Celtic social system comprised a warrior aristocracy and freemen farmers; Druids, with magico-religious duties, ranked higher than warriors. They had a mixed farming economy. Their oral literary composition was highly developed, as was their art; they manufactured gold and silver jewelry, swords and scabbards, and shields inlaid with enamel.