Origins of English Culture

Celts

• They were often in conflict with the Romans
• Society based formally on class and kingship
• Evidence of oligarchical republican forms of government emerged in areas which had close contact with Rome
• Slavery worked in a similar way to roman slavery. Slaves were acquired from war, raids, and penal and debt servitude
• Some Iron Age burials in northeastern Gaul suggest women may have had roles in warfare
• They had a reputation as head hunters: they embalmed the heads of their enemies in cedar oil and put them on display
• They practised a polytheistic religion and believed in an afterlife
• Religious ceremonies were overseen by priests known as druids, who also served as judges and teachers

Anglo-Saxons

• Cultural group who spoke Old English
• In the Early Middle Ages, they inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland
• The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain is considered to have started by about 450 and ended in 1066
• Although Christianity dominates the religious history of the Anglo-Saxons, life in the 5th and 6th centuries was dominated by pagan religious beliefs
• Buildings were constructed mainly using timber with thatch roofing
• Early Anglo-Saxon art is seen mostly in decorated jewellery, like brooches, buckles, beads and wrist-clasps