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The names of the Celtic Iron Age tribes in Britain were recorded by Roman and
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historians and geographers, especially
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
. Information from the distribution of Celtic coins has also shed light on the extents of the territories of the various groups that occupied the island.


Historiography

The following ethnic names were recorded in the
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CE at the earliest. Technically, the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
had ended by this date, having transitioned into the Roman period. These tribes were not necessarily the same tribes that had been living in the same area during the Iron Age. Available evidence seems to indicate that the tribes of the Middle Iron Age tended to group together into larger tribal kingdoms during the Late Iron Age. The Belgae and Atrebates share their names with tribes in France and Belgium, which, together with Caesar's note that Diviciacus of the Suessiones had ruled territory in Britain, suggests that this part of the country might have been conquered and ruled from abroad. The Parisii have also been suggested as having been an immigrant group. Some historians have suggested that it might be possible to distinguish the distributions of different tribes from their pottery assemblages for the Middle Iron Age. However, no names are available for these tribes (except perhaps "Pretanoi"), and most of the tribes apart from in the South did not use pottery to a significant enough extent for this methodology to be applied to them.Cunliffe, Barry (2005). Iron Age Communities in Britain. These are also not necessarily the names by which the tribes knew themselves; for instance, "Durotriges" can mean "hillfort-dwellers", referring to the fact that hillforts continued to be occupied in this area after they were abandoned elsewhere in Southern Britain. It is unlikely that the Durotriges themselves considered this their defining characteristic. Further, "Regnenses" is a Latin name meaning "inhabitants of the (client) kingdom".


Southern Britain

* Atrebates * Belgae *
Cantiaci The Cantiaci or Cantii were an Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest, and gave their name to a ''civitas'' of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern England. Their capital was '' Dur ...
*
Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their ...
*
Dobunni The Dobunni were one of the Iron Age tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions. Various historians and archaeologists have examined ...
*
Dumnonii The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a British tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Devon and Cornwall (and some areas of present-day Dorset and Somerset) in the further parts of the South West peninsula of Britain, from at least the Ir ...
, and sub-tribe Cornovii *
Durotriges The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon east of the River Axe and the discovery of an Iron Age hoard in 2009 at Shalfl ...
* Regnenses * Trinovantes *
Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...


Middle of Britain

*
Carvetii The Carvetii (Common Brittonic: *''Carwetī'') were a Brittonic Celtic tribe living in what is now Cumbria, in North-West England during the Iron Age, and were subsequently identified as a ''civitas'' (canton) of Roman Britain. Etymology The ...
* Cornovii *
Corieltauvi The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were ...
* Parisi


Northern Britain

* Brigantes * Caledonii *
Caereni The Caereni were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural envir ...
* Carnonacae *
Corionototae The Corionototae were a group of Ancient Britons (Celtic people), Britons apparently inhabiting what is now Northern England about whom very little is known. They were recorded in one Roman votum, votary inscription (now lost) from Corbridge, of u ...
* Creones * Damnonii * Decantae * Epidii *
Lopocares The Lopocares were a conjectural group of Ancient Britons inhabiting the area around Corbridge in Northumberland, Northeast England. They may have been a sub-tribe or sept of the Brigantes. The Lopocares are not directly attested in any records: t ...
* Lugi * Novantae *
Selgovae The Selgovae (Common Brittonic: *''Selgowī'') were a Celtic tribe of the late 2nd century AD who lived in what is now the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Dumfriesshire, on the southern coast of Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's ' ...
* Smertae * Setantii * Taexali * Textoverdi * Vacomagi * Venicones * Votadini


Western Britain

*
Deceangli The Deceangli or Deceangi (Welsh: Tegeingl) were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain, prior to the Roman invasion of the island. The tribe lived in the region near the modern city of Chester but it is uncertain whether their territory co ...
*
Demetae The Demetae were a Celtic people of Iron Age and Roman period, who inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, and gave their name to the county of Dyfed. Classical references They are mentioned in Ptolemy's ''Geograp ...
*
Gangani The Gangani (Γαγγανοι) were a people of ancient Ireland who are referred to in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as living in the south-west of the island, probably near the mouth of the River Shannon, between the Auteini to the north an ...
* Ordovices * Silures


Miscellaneous (unknown)

*
Ancalites The Ancalites were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. They may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "four ...
*
Attacotti The Attacotti (variously spelled ''Atticoti'', ''Attacoti'', ''Atecotti'', ''Atticotti'', ''Atecutti'', etc.) were a people who despoiled Roman Britain between 364 and 368, along with the Scoti, Picts, Saxons, Roman military deserters and the i ...
*
Bibroci The Bibroci were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. They may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "four k ...
* Cassi *
Cenimagni The Cenimagni were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. It has been suggested that the name is a variant of ''Iceni'' with the Latin adjective ''magni'', m ...
(=
Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...
?) * Pretanoi (= Britons, or refers to a single tribe?) *
Segontiaci The Segontiaci were a tribe of Iron Age Britain in the first century BCE. They are known only from a brief mention in the writings of Julius Caesar. They may have been one of the four tribes of Kent, represented in Caesar by references to the "fou ...


See also

*
Roman client kingdoms in Britain The Roman client kingdoms in Britain were native tribes which chose to align themselves with the Roman Empire because they saw it as the best option for self-preservation or for protection from other hostile tribes. Alternatively, the Romans cre ...


References


Bibliography

*Anon (1994). ''Historical Map and Guide Roman Britain'' (map).
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...
, Fourth Edition (Revised). *Frere, S. (1987). ''Britannia''. Routledge, London.


External links

{{Iron Age tribes in Britain *
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...