The Lost Kelts

The Lost Kelts! Something that came up on one my lists.

( I use Gaul's and Celts interchangeably I understand this is out of favor 

ASB= Alien space bats

Kesair- Is Cesar remembered in Irish myth)

 The Veneti were the best ship builders- Caesar notes their iron chains and large draught vessels

Therefore we have a Veneti decide to sail off to the White Island, or the Island. ( Great Britain and Ireland respectively) instead of facing Caesar. Indeed this what the Helveti  were going to do. Just by land rather than by sea. 

 Now it could just be possible, for our Gaul's to a rag tag fleet, and get across the Atlantic anyway. (However as its ASB's we will say Abracadabra, and the fugitive fleet  end up an hour away from Nova Scotia or Halifax  Amusingly there is no reason now, why they could not end up on the Miss, or on the James river.  We will however will stick with the Northern Atlantic. So the Gaul's come ashore, and form a beachhead. The iron swords, horses and the odd plague worst the natives Well now what?

  I see a confederation establishing. ( Group of Hillforts-duns. Or perhaps Oppida. That's debatable, but that's the highest form of urbanization I can see happening)  The Gauls will push inland, second sons, raids. 

 When they cannot loot and burn they trade. So as time goes on and things settle we have the Gauls getting rich of the Inland to  Atlantic trade. From the interior. Hides, Metals, slaves, Cattle. Dried fish, metal working, grain being sent back. The result is 100 years or so later after landfall  As  you go inland. There are less horses less cows, less iron tools. Less Sails Less Iron age

 Now it depends, on what level of Civilization the Celts retain. They should have stopped using Chariots. They were becoming rarer. On the other hand. The locals don't have any, and wood is cheap and horses expensive. Coinage is another problem. The Celts have started to use it. But there is less need for coinage as a metal coin. Is more then the locals have. Ditto writing. The Celts are just on the verge. So you could leave it at that. I prefer, to have them keep all 3. Let them get literate, after 500 years, and coinage, to reemerge again I suppose in time there will be trade with Chakotia over land or something So we have a North America, Being settled with Iron tools. 

With Horses and Cattle. The forests cut down. Grain is planted.

Oh and Pigs, terrible, poisonous relentless 

 A few plagues hit. Mines dug. The Druid, prays to the buffalo woman and Lugh  The stories say Kesair, is why we never sail east more then 5 days Kesair, as we all know, stole Lugh's fathers land. However he met Buffalo woman after wandering the seas. His strong son, will one day return Anyway. Rome falls on schedule There is a possibly now. Of them getting contact with Irish monks. They got as far as Iceland. They did go out on boats. Into the middle of the Atlantic. Looking for hermitage. We say one or two get to Greenland, where they meet Indo-Ven fishermen, who point them south. Every now and then you see signs of the ban Christi. A big cross on the track to the shrine of buffalo woman and Kernunnos Amusingly, they might do better further north, more Indian areas. Where there will be less contempt. Rather then resistance. That makes the proto Christians some what of a darker hue. So the Norse sail west Now they start finding signs of life  shipwrecks. fishing camps. The Norse get to Greenland, establish the colony and as in OTL someone sails west. Ahh:) NA is now settled. There is a seaboard to trade and raid. Its possible. That the locals simply kill the Norse. Then Norse never bother to go back. However if they don't and the Norse hit upon a small village. Some sheep, huts a blacksmith. There is something worth having. couple of sheep, couple of swords, axes, pottery. Cloth. Slaves. Something you can seize and build on. I would have the Norse settle, we get a few more Norse ships sailing west. ( basically they simply don't grok how big it is. The trip is difficult anyway) So if in 1300 you ask if there is anyone there. The Norse captain says. Sirri my brother went there. Have a few Irish monks, go as missionaries. They connect at Iceland. 50 in about 150 years. (The Norse seemed to have less passion  for missionary work) So you get some Norse flavoring to the mix. The Norse are allowed to settle. (Amusingly they may spook the Ven-indios. By telling them about the great father who lives in Rome) But more Christianity, by now writing and coinage. We will have the cold, and plague, shut down contact. Okay we get to say 1400. The Grand banks, start to be fished. Columbus sails west. Sooner or later. The fact is inescapable There are other ships. Cabot lands, and is greeted, by a horseman. With a sword, and an mail shirt. Not a medieval knight. Good iron age horse warrior. He is taken, to the Ri a Amorica. The White Christ, we know they are peaceful. (Here it is a religion of woman and slaves, and fir lag. Men of the spear. Indios) No one of good blood, takes it seriously. Then they ask him, about the keys on the tapestry he has on his banner. Oh the Holy See,  The Bishop, and then that word.

 Of Rome Oops Now the Euros come. They are facing people with decent Iron age tech. Who know how to use it. As well a lot of them. Gunpowder, will get you bridge heads. But they have a lot to trade for rifles. In time they can make it themselves. (Irish and Scottish highlanders did) This is Ireland on a Galactic scale. You can take the coasts, You can settle it. You cannot hold the interior. Now the locals, can get help. The French Spanish, etc will all be settling. BTW the French can get people who get close to speaking the language. They have decent ships too. Its a different type of Americas. The locals, can and will grok gunpowder, and there will be a lot of them, and all down to some ships, and some livestock