Icons of the Iron Age

The icons of the title are the Celts, a disparate collection of peoples who shared some common lingual and cultural traits and who flourished all over Europe during the Iron Age. Professor Johnston extends the period from about 800 BCE to the Roman conquest in some instances, and to Christianization in others. Though we think of Celts as peoples of the British Isles, the classical, especially Roman, sources find them as far south as the Iberian peninsula and as far east as the Germanic lands. The lecturer seems to spend a lot of time telling listeners how unreliable, confusing, and incomplete the historical and archeological records are. This and her limited range of vocal expression render her account less interesting than it should be. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine