MASTER AND APPRENTICE, KNIGHT AND SQUIRE: EDUCATION IN THE 'CELTIC' IRON AGE

Summary. The role of education and agency of children as factors in the formation of Iron Age culture is addressed. Historical sources on education from Iron Age Gaul are compared with later 'medieval Celtic' practices. Fosterage, common Celtic *altros, may have been the evolutionary precursor of apprenticeships and knight–squire relationships, as developed in the feudal states of medieval Europe. Fosterage establishes artificial kinship, strengthens kinship alliances by providing hostages, helps to forge strong emotional bonds between foster parents, children and siblings, and helps to confirm social hierarchies, while providing specialized education. Professional specialists gain increased security outside their own group. It gives children a role in the tradition of culture, and allows them to blend artistic styles and create unique adaptations combining 'local' traditions with 'external' innovations. Fosterage can thus be established as an important method of peer polity interaction in Iron Age and medieval 'Celtic' societies.