His research seeks to establish when and where a common ancestor of all Celtic languages emerged by examining connections and differences in the words people used and how they constructed sentences.
The latest genetic research provides “a very strong argument” that early Celtic languages moved westwards from around 1200 BC with people associated with the Bronze Age Urnfield culture of central Europe, followed by the Iron Age Hallstatt and La Tène cultures. The languages spread into France and Great Britain, eventually reaching north-eastern Spain.
This closely matches the model developed by historical linguists for the spread of Celtic from central Europe. However, Mr Kroonen and his colleagues note that an earlier migration from south-western Europe to Britain means the process was “potentially more complex”.
