Celt (tool)

In archaeology, a celt /ˈsɛlt/ is a long, thin, prehistoric, stone or bronze tool similar to an adze, a hoe or axe-like tool.

The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became enshrined in the authoritative Sixto-Clementine printed edition of 1592; however the Codex Amiatinus, for example, does not contain the mistake. In the passage: Stylo ferreo, et plumbi lamina, vel certe sculpantur in silice (from Job 19:24, "Let it indeed be carved with an iron pen on a plate of lead or in stone"), the certe ("indeed") was spelled as celte by mistake, which would have to be the ablative of a non-existent third-declension noun celtes or celtis, the ablative case giving the sense "with/by a celt". Neither the Hebrew text (בעט־ברזל ועפרת לעד בצור יחצבון) nor the Septuagint (εν γραφείωa σιδηρώ και μολίβδω η εν πέτραις εγγλυφήναι) has a word corresponding to either certe or celte.

This is now considered to be the case by most scholars, although some are still prepared to consider the existence of a real Latin word. A 'Celt' was thus wrongly assumed to be a type of ancient chisel. Early eighteenth century antiquarians, such as Lorenz Beger, then adopted the word for the stone and bronze tools they were finding at prehistoric sites; the OED suggests that the imaginary etymological connection with the Celts may have assisted its passage into common use.

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