Celt (Lat. eeltis (?), 'a chisel'), a name by which the axe-heads of the early inhabitants of Europe are known among British and French archaeologists. The Scandinavian archaeologists use the word 'axe' and not 'celt.' Its use is now considered pedantic, and it is fast becoming obsolete. The word is generally believed to have originated from a misreading of Job, xix. 24, in the Vulgate, where Celte, understood to mean 'with a chisel,' was read in place of Certe, 'verily' (corresponding to the 'for ever' of the English Bible). Celte or eeltis is not elsewhere found in Latin. See Notes and Queries (1878), vol. ix. p. 463; vol. x. p. 73.
Celts are either of stone or of bronze. Stone celts vary in length from about 1 inch to 22 inches; but the most common size is from 6 to 8 inches in length, and from 2 to 3½ inches in breadth. They are made of almost every kind of stone, and show considerable diversity of shape, almost all, however, having more or less resemblance to the mussel-shell. The ruder celts are generally of slate, shale, schist, or grit; the finer, of flint, porphyry, greenstone, syenite, or agate. Many of the finer celts are beautifully shaped and highly polished. Some very remarkable examples of this class are in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh, and one found near St Andrews, in Scotland, is described by Sir David Brewster in the Philosophical Journal for 1823. The stone celt was fastened into a handle of horn, bone, or wood.
Bronze celts vary in length from about 1 inch to 8 or 10 inches, the most common length being about 6 inches. They show much greater diversity of shape than the stone celt. As many as four classes have been distinguished by archaeologists: (1) The flat wedge-shaped celt, most nearly resembling the common form of the stone celt. (2) The flanged celt, with the side edges more or less overlapping, and a stop-ridge or elevation between the blade and the part which received the handle. (3) The flanged-edges celt, with side greatly overlapping, with or without the stop-ridge, but with a loop or ear upon one side. (4) The socketed celt, or the celt with a hollow to receive the handle, and generally with a loop or ear upon one side. They are sometimes ornamented with raised lines or circles formed in the mould in which they were cast.
Both stone and bronze celts were probably used for many purposes, serving for chisels, adzes, and axes, as well as for weapons of war, like the stone hatchets of the South Sea Islanders. See under FLINT, STONE AGE, and BRONZE AGE.