The earliest archaeological evidence of the Celts places them in the western Europe in 1200 BC but they most influenced everyone between the 5th and the 1st centuries BC from Spain to the shores of the Black Sea. Many countries and nations influenced the expansion of this group through the centuries like the Celt�'s invasion of the Greco-Roman world in the 4th century or plundering Rome in 390 BC, Germanic tribes dominating the Celts of central Europe. Celts�' spread of tradition and languages survived in parts of France, Britain and Ireland and many of them lived an agricultural and herding life where speech, customs and religion bounded them together. Christianity which was established in Celtic Britain by the 4th century AD lost its ground to the pagan Germanic invasions of the 5th century. It was centered on monasteries with Irish monks preserving the ancient knowledge. They also sent missionaries among the Germanic people who conquered the Western Roman Empire. The Celtic style is marked and accented for stylized motifs combined in intricate, dynamic and a balanced geometrical patterns even used widely today. Unfortunately, such art on the Continent lost its distinctive style after the period of Roman domination. Diameter: 24 inches