4 Community rite or fad?

Long before the term "living history" was created, 
there was reenacted and staged history.
Very popular events of the 19th century were historical parades. 
Community rite and custom could be portrayed particularly well here. 
War and peace from different times were often chosen as themes.

In the first pile-dwelling reports by F. Keller (1854) 
there is mention of "Celtic lake dwellings in Swiss lakes", thus 
and with that a cultural and chronological equation 
of Celts and pile dwellers. 
Only four years later Keller also knew 
that the lake dwellings must be considerably older. 
But it was too late and he had created an image 
which became especially popular during festive processions.

One of numerous examples is the carnival procession of the city of Zug (CH) from 1870, 
which took the "Celts" as its theme. 
The "Warrior Celts lived in the Zug region 2000 years before the birth of Christ. 
They had a big body size and a lot of strength. 
As main deities of this primitive people Wodan, Thor and Freya are mentioned. 
The Zug Celts lived in lake dwelling villages." 
The quotation shows how carefree Celtic people, 
pile-dwelling way of life and Germanic deities were mixed,
although they were centuries or even millennia apart.

A chronological and thematic differentiation 
was only established much later with scientific research. 
The romantic designation and portrayal of the "pile dwellers" faces
historical folk and tribal names such as Celts and Helvetians. 
In this conception, the "pile farmer" was a peaceful and industrious peasant, 
while Celts and Helvetii behaved wildly, strangely and warlike. 
The pile builder's diligence and the warlike efficiency 
of the Celts and Helvetii were used for historical self-assessment and 
and gladly celebrated by the parade spectators.