5 Ancient Welsh Tribes That Shaped Pre-Roman Wales

This post was last updated on August 23rd, 2024 at 02:56 pm

During and before the Roman invasion, five ancient Welsh tribes occupied and influenced the land we now know as Wales. These tribes were comprised of Celts. They spoke Brythonic, one of two groups of Celtic languages that eventually evolved into modern-day Welsh.

The Celts originated from three main European areas: the Hallstatt, Urnfield, and La Tène cultures. They spoke a common language and were comprised of tribal societies who lived in open settlements and hill forts.

Hallstatt is a site in upper Austria that existed from about 1,200 to 450 BC. Urnfield was a late Bronze Age culture thriving around 1,300 BC near the upper Danube. The Urnfield culture stretched from eastern France to western Hungary and near the North Sea to the Alps. “La Tène” is the name of a site near Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland that dates to about 450 BC. Many experts believe the Celts migrated to the British Isles, specifically from the La Tène culture. However, historians and archaeologists still debate this point, as the culture was also present outside Celtic-speaking areas.

The Greeks and Romans largely viewed the Celts as primitive savages. While it may be true that they were unshaven, brightly dressed, and fierce warriors, history has left us much evidence that the ancient Welsh Tribes had at least five societal echelons, intricate burial practices, and used soap before the Romans.

This post is about five ancient Welsh tribes.

Ancient Welsh Tribes

What are Welsh Celtic tribes?

During Celtic Britain’s tribal period, Wales did not exist as an entity, nor did the language of Welsh. When we speak of Welsh tribes, we mean the Celts, who first settled in Wales around 600 BC. While each tribe was different, they did share a common language and similar traditions. Though their religious practices varied by region, they believed in many gods and goddesses, life after death in journeying to The Otherworld, and reincarnation. They were also animists, which means they believed everything in nature had a spirit living inside it, from trees and animals to streams and stones. 

Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans by Francis Pryor

Where did the Celts come from originally?

Historians have traced the origins of the Celts back to Western and Central Europe. Their territory covered areas of Ukraine, Austria, Gaul, and the Iberian Peninsula, to name a few. However, even though archeologists have unearthed much about this diverse group of tribal societies, tracing Celtic history is challenging. For one thing, they didn’t call themselves “Celts.” They also left us no (or very few) written records. They did, however, leave us many artifacts and ruins of their settlements.

Who are the Celts descended from?

The people we know as the Celts can be traced back to the nomadic people of Central Asia, the Kurdan. After domesticating horses, they began a southward migration into the Caucasus mountain region. From that movement, the Indo-European culture began around 2400 BC. The subsequent great migration in the mid-Bronze Age (around 1800 BC) into Central and Eastern Europe gave us the Venetians, the Illyrians, the Italians, and the Celtic people. 

What did the Celts look like?

Archeological finds, along with the accounts of the Greeks and Romans, lead us to believe the Celts of the ancient Welsh tribes took pride in their appearance. There are descriptions of long faces with broad foreheads, blue or greyish eyes, and aquiline noses. Both men and women wore a full head of hair. They were pale, muscular, and generally lean, as obesity was frowned upon and even carried the penalty of a fine.

Celtic men would almost always wear facial hair–usually a full beard. They also braided their long hair. Both men and women sometimes dyed their dark hair lighter in color with lime water.

The women are said to have had a ruddy complexion and often freckles. Like men, they also braided their long hair but held it in place with ornate, jeweled clips. They also stained their nails crimson and dyed their eyebrows black with a die made from a berry. 

Both men and women loved to dress in brightly colored clothing. Celtic men often wore belted tunics with a cloak and breeches. Celtic women wore full-length wool or linen skirts or dresses. Over their outfit would usually go a shawl or cloak fastened by a decorated clasp. 

The Ordovices

The Ordovices lived in central Wales in what is south Clwyd and Gwynedd in the present day. They lived within hill fort enclosures, which provided good defense, or immediately outside them in the case of those who farmed or raised sheep. The Ordovices fiercely resisted Roman rule but were eventually wiped out by Agricola.

Since “Ordovices” is a Latin word, we can be almost sure that the tribe did not refer to themselves by that name. However, the Celtic name “Ordo” shares a relationship with the word “hammer” – “Gordd” in modern Welsh. So, whatever the Ordovices did call themselves may have something in common with the name the Romans gave them. Perhaps it was close to the Celtic “Ordo-wik,” the literal translation being “hammer fight” – entirely appropriate to the tribe as warriors!

The Ordovices fought back against the Roman trespassers for many years. They were led by a fearless chieftain by the name of Caratacus. He originally belonged to the Catuvellauni (in what is now England). He was the son of one of the great kings, Cunobelinus. When Caratacus was driven out of England, he continued his fight against Rome by leading the Ordovices.

True Fighting Spirit

Before the reign of Agricola, the Ordovices almost eliminated an entire regiment of Roman cavalry who had invaded their lands. It wasn’t until 78 AD that Agricola defeated them. He also conquered the Isle of Mona (Ynys Môn in Welsh or Anglesey Island, Gwynedd), the stronghold of the Druids. The druids were men and women who held roles as priests, judges, and scholars. They were also very much against Roman rule. As such, defeating them and putting a stop to Ordovician uprisings marked a significant victory against the ancient Celts and Celtic religion. While the Ordovices weren’t completely wiped out, they didn’t recover until sometime between 201 and 300 AD.

The name of the small village of Dinorwig in North Wales was named after the hillfort Dinas Dinorwig, which means “Fort of the Ordovices.” It serves as a reminder of these brave people.

The Silures

Another one of the powerful Celtic tribes was the Silures, a swarthy (dark-skinned) people with curly, black hair who lived in Southwest Wales. The Roman historian Tacitus said of them: 

“… the swarthy faces of the Silures, the curly quality, in general, of their hair, and the position of Spain opposite their shores, attest to the passage of Iberians in the old days and the occupation by them of these districts.”

So we can see that the Silures may have brought an Iberian influence to Wales. “Silures” is Latin but has the Celtic root “silo-” which means “seed of offspring.” This etymology could suggest that the tribe traces its ancestry back to a single forebear. Their original name may have been “Silo-Riks,” meaning “rich in grain.”

A single person or council didn’t manage Silurian society. Instead, they lived as independent groups with common values and shared interests. Like the Ordovices, they were also considered to be warlike people. 

They fought the Romans from about 48 – 78 AD when Roman General Sextus Julius Frontinus defeated them. 

The Silures left behind ruins of roundhouses at Gwehelog and Thornwell (Chepstow), hillforts at Sudbrook and Llanmelin, and traces of lowland settlements at Goldcliff.

Silures: Resistance, Resilience, Revival by Ray Howell

The Demetae

The Demetae are named for their patron warrior god Demotos, the “God of Mead” or “God of Drunkenness.” This deity inspired the ancient Celts to consume plenty of alcoholic drinks before a battle! 

It’s unclear exactly where the Demetae came from before they first set foot on the shores of Wales. The Demetae were farmers in the fertile areas of Pembrokeshire and much of Carmarthenshire. Unlike the Ordovices and Silures, they weren’t a society of warriors and didn’t put up much resistance to Roman rule. 

Although not a lot is known about this peaceable tribe, we do know they were absorbed into Rome’s administration by being given “civitas” (citizenship) status. The capital city of the tribe was Carmarthen (“Moridunum” in Latin, meaning “Sea Fort”). The Demetae were closely watched by the Roman garrison, those soldiers stationed to keep an eye on them as they lived and worked. 

The Gangani

The Gangani were another tribe of warriors who settled in the far north of Wales. They are believed to share a connection to the Concani, an Irish tribe that lived in the Leinster region. The Concani were seafaring, which tells us how they migrated from Ireland to North Wales. 

On the Llŷn Peninsula, they drove off the second wave of Celtic settlers during the 1st century BC. Here, on the Llŷn Peninsula, that group of conquering Concani began calling themselves the Gangani. The word Gangani means “Geese People.”

Like many other Celtic tribes of Britain, the Gangani farmed and lived in hillforts for protection. The ruins of Tre’r Ceiri (which translates to “Town of the Giants”) in Gwynedd are one of the most well-preserved examples of a Gangani hillfort. To this day, there remain about one hundred and fifty huts within its crumbling walls.

Deceangli 

The Deceangli were actually an offshoot of the Gangani tribe and shared the connection to the Irish Concani. When a second, larger group of Gangani moved eastward from the Llŷn Peninsula, they began calling themselves the Deaceangli. They built and occupied a series of hillforts that ran through the Clwydian Range. They also lived on the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), the stronghold of the Druids.

Unlike the Latinized names of some others, “Deceangli” appears to be the original name of this tribe. Though aggressive like their predecessors and, therefore, targets, the Deceangli managed to evade Roman subjugation until about AD 78 – 79. This loss was another 18 years after the Roman Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus attacked Ynys Môn. He and his troops slaughtered the Deceangli that defended the island and killed the druids. At this point, they more or less accepted Roman rule. 

Wales’ tribal days are over, but the memory of these proud people lives on in every standing stone, burial mound, and the beautiful metalwork they’ve left behind. They remind us of a fighting spirit as wild and free as the land itself.

This post was about five ancient Welsh tribes: The Silures, Ordovices, Dematae, Gangani, and Deceangli.

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