ABSTRACT
Archaeologists all agree that by the Iron Age the British Isles were largely inhabited by Celtic peoples. But just when and where they arrived and whether this settlement took the form of a mass migration or merely a political takeover by a small elite, remains a matter of controversy. Traditionally Celts are iden tified with the makers of metalwork decorated in the Halstatt and La Tène styles that were widely distributed in Britain and on the Continent from the sixth century BC onwards. But in reality the only certain way to identify a Celt is from his speech.
