WHAT better way to mark the Year 2000 than by looking back to the dawn of the first millennium, 2000 years ago. What was it like to live in Craven way back then, asks district museums officer Siobhan Kirrane.

The new Celtic Craven exhibition at Craven Museum offers a chance to find out, or at least to hazard a guess.

One of the problems is that evidence is scarce, and archaeologists have different opinions about how to interpret it. This exhibition presents some of the evidence and encourages visitors to make up their own mind.

The Celtic display looks back to the first century AD when the people of Craven shared a similar language and lifestyle with other tribes across a broad swathe of Europe, from Ireland in the west to the Black Sea in the east.

The Greeks described this group of "barbarians" as "Keltoi". It is unlikely that the "Celts" of Craven thought of themselves as Celtic however, they would have been first and foremost members of the local tribe.

In Craven, they spoke a dialect known as "Brythonic" or "P-Celtic". A few traces have survived in local place names, not so much in the villages or towns, which tend to be Anglian or Viking, but in the land itself.

Pen-y-Ghent, for example, means Hill of the Winds, the River Wharfe means Winding River and the River Aire - Strong or Fresh.

In fact the name 'Craven' is Celtic, although scholars are divided as to whether it means scraped land, or the less romantic - garlic, which grows profusely in local woodlands.

We know that there were many farms dotted around, small groups of stone and timber buildings set among fields.

The livestock consisted of primitive breeds of cattle and sheep (something like Dexters cattle, and Soay or Manx sheep.) This supply of meat would have been supplemented by wild boar from the many patches of wood-land.

The main crops were probably oats and barley, perhaps with some wheat in the more sheltered low lands.

If anything the climate was even wetter than it is now, and managing to produce enough food must always have been a challenge. Today it is still possible to see traces of these early farms, in the form of low banks and shadows on the hillsides.

As the Celts never wrote anything down we have to rely on descriptions from outsiders. Diodorus Siculus, in his 'Library of History' (V 28 - 30) described the Celts of France:

"The Gauls are tall and their flesh is very moist and white, while their hair is not only naturally blond, but they also use artificial means to increase this ... For they continually wash their hair with lime-wash... the hair is so thickened by this treatment that it differs in no way from a horse's mane

"The nobles shave the cheeks but let the moustache grow freely so that it covers the mouth.

"The clothing they wear is striking - shirts which have been dyed and embroidered in varied colours, and breeches...and they wear striped cloaks, fastened by a buckle on the shoulder... in which are set checks of varied hues."

All that survives of Celtic costume in Craven are the buckles, pins and brooches made of metal, bone or jet.

We know that at that time the north of England, including Craven, was controlled by a tribe, or confederation of tribes, known as the Brigantes.

Craven can boast the highest hill fort in the country, on the summit of Ingleborough. In fact the name "Brigantes" means the "high ones" or perhaps the "hill dwellers".

Status symbols have always been important.

We are extremely lucky to have the Flasby Sword at the Craven Museum. This has a beautifully worked, bronze scabbard and was made by a Celtic craftsman in around 50AD. It would have belonged to an aristocratic warrior, one of the most important figures in Celtic society.

Other status symbols to have been discovered in Craven include the Ingleton mirror handle, now in the British Museum and the Embsay torc, a beautiful bronze necklace which was found in the 1840s but has since disappeared without trace.

The most momentous development to take place in the first century AD was the Roman conquest of Britain. The local politics of the conquest itself makes fascinating reading.

The Brigantian Queen Cartimandua allied herself with the Romans, whilst her husband led rebel forces against them.

The story is too complicated to recount here, but is full of intrigue, betrayal and battles. Unfortunately, the records are contradictory, so we will never really know what happened.

The Romans established forts at Ilkley and Elslack, Wensley and Bainbridge, and an efficient network of roads to link them.

There was also a Roman style villa at Kirk Sink near Gargrave. This must have stood out in the countryside, - a bright, square building with an orange roof, very different to the traditional, earthy roundhouses of the native population.

(One wonders if it would have received planning permission if things had been more like today.)

The Romans exploited the local lead ore, and gathered taxes from the Craven people, probably in the form of farm produce as there was no coinage in this part of Britain.

As the years passed Roman fashions influenced some styles of brooches and pottery.

On the whole however, for the Craven farmer struggling to make ends meet, the Roman presence may have seemed no more than a remote and exotic presence in the land.

One of the most difficult areas of first century life for us to understand is the Celtic view of religion and spirituality.

We know that the Celts revered the human head as the seat of the soul. They gathered heads as trophies and believed they had magical powers.

At least one skull has been recovered from a roundhouse site in Craven which may have been placed there as part of some sort of ritual.

It is unlikely that we will ever fully understand Celtic myths and rituals but certain traces remain with us even to this day.

Why do people throw money into pools - even in modern shopping centres? This may date back to an ancient Celtic practice, making offerings to the waterspirits.

As we move into the 21st century it is interesting to look along the average high street and see how many shops sell 'Celtic' items: jewellery, ornaments, items connected with health and spirituality.

These may have no basis in the archaeological or historical record, but isn't it interesting that after thousands of years we still don't want to let the Celts go?

To find out more, visit the 'Celtic Craven' exhibition in the Craven Museum, which will run from April 15 to September 30 2000 and admission is free.

There will be a lively programme of events and activities starting with the arrival of three historical re-enactors who will wear Iron Age costume and demonstrate crafts from the period.

They will be available to answer all your questions outside Morrisons supermarket on Thursday April 13 and on the High Street outside Skipton Town Hall on Saturday and Sunday April 15 and 16, from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.