At its core the “hero” is the figure who steps out of ordinary society, confronts chaos or a monster, and returns (or dies) having secured order for the group. In Jungian and comparative-myth terms it sits in the “warrior-champion” slot of the collective story-board; evolutionists would say it crystallises the survival value of decisive coalition leadership in small bands.
Category: Neolithic
Aug 02
The hero archetype and Lugh
- Filed under Breogans, Britain, Bronze Age, Castro Hillfort, Celtic Gods, Celtic Life, Celtic Tribes, Dark Ages, Dragons, Early Christian, Early Medieval, France, Giants, Ireland, Iron Age, Lugh, Medieval, Mercury, Mesolithic, Myth and Legend, Neolithic, Palaeolithic, Portugal, Roman, Roman Culture, Roman Gods, Spain, The Devil, Viking, Wales
- !Kung, Ache, Achiles, Arjuna, Arthur, Balor's Eye, Bee, Bees, Bhagavad Gita, britain, Buffalo, Castro, Catalhoyuk, Cattle, Cúchulainn, Deity, Divinity, Egypt, Embodiment, France, Galicia, gaul, Geryon, Gilgamesh, Giraffe, Gobeki Tepe, god, Greogans, Haasi, Hadza, Hector, Heel, Heracles, Hercules, Hero, Hero Archetype, Hoan, Hunter Gatherer, Hydra, Integration, Inuit, ireland, Iron Age, Ivory, Kalahari Desert, Kudu, la tene, Lagash, Legend, Lion-Man, Lugh, mammoth, Mercury, MeriamTurtle, Mesopotamia, Monotheistic, myth, Narmer, Naro, Nuliajuk, pagan, Paraguay, Pharoh, Poigs, Proto-Hero, Raven, religion, Roman, Salish, Salmon, San Culture, Seal, Sedna, Serpent, Snake, Sockeye, Sorcerer, Spain, spear, St Michael, Sumer, Synchronicity, T-Pillars, Ulster, Zebra
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Long Meg and her Daughters standing stone and stone circle
- Filed under Agriculture, Archaeology, Medieval, Neolithic, ploughing, Stone Circle
Long Meg and her Daughters is a remarkable Neolithic monument located near Penrith in Cumbria, England.
Cana Barn Henge
- Filed under Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Class IIa, Europe, Henge, Liminal Spaces, Neolithic, New Sites
The stats for this Neolithic monument are astounding: 200m across, once a great circle of earthen banks and deep ditches. Today, almost lost: 5,000 years of plough and neglect have flattened the banks and filled the ditches, and Cana Henge is now nothing but a smoothly undulating grassy field on the moor overlooking Ripon.
Anciens Arsenaux Neolithic Settlement, Sion – Switzerland
- Filed under Animal Remains, Augustus Caesar, Civil Structure, Dragons, Early Neolithic, Enclosure, Europe, Field Systems, Hamlet, Hoof marks, Julius Caesar, Myth and Legend, Neolithic, New Sites, Planig‑Friedberg ware, Polished Stone Adze, Pottery, Quern Stones, Roman army, Roman baths, Roman City, Roman Culture, Roman Villa, Switzerland, The Devil, Vasi a Bocca Quadrata ware, Witches
Sion lies midway along the upper Rhône Valley, an east‑west trench gouged by repeated Pleistocene glaciers and now flanked by the Pennine and Bernese Alps. The settlement area sits on the alluvial fan of the Sionne torrent, a cone of well‑sorted sands and gravels that projects onto the wider Rhône flood‑plain.
- adze, Ard, Bronze Age, Causewayed enclusure, Chambered tombs, Cross Cut ploughing, cross ploughing, Early Neolithic, Europe’s oldest plough furrows, Flintbek LA, Guldager-Nygård, Iron Age, Les Arsenaux, Long Barrow, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Oppida, Oppidum, palaeolithic, Planig‑Friedberg ware culture, Pleistocene glaciers, ploughing, polished adze, Pottery, Quern, Rhône Valley, Roman, Seduni, Sedunum, South Street Long Barrow, Stone Tools, Torsted-Langagergård, Vasi a Bocca Quadrata culture, Vasi a Bocca Quadrata ware, VBQ
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Jul 21
Snake Iconography in the British Isles
- Filed under Archaeology, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Mace Head, Neolithic, Passage Tomb, S-curved, Snake Mound
Syncretism through the ages Syncretism, the amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought, has its roots in the ancient world. Thoughts on Celtic Religion – Raimund, Karl To begin with, lets first look at the sources available to us: There are quite numerous sources available, contrary to Read more Hillforts: Defence or Ritual? …
Millbarrow long barrow (Winterbourne Monkton)
- Filed under Animal Remains, Antler Pick, Barrow, Britain, Early Neolithic, Europe, Flint Scatters, Grooved ware, Human Remains, Landscape feature, Long Barrow, Mortlake ware, Neolithic, Peterborough ware
Millbarrow once stood on a low chalk spur 2 km north‑west of Avebury, just above the spring‑line where the Kennet valley opens onto the Marlborough Downs (NGR SU 0943 7221). From its east–west‑aligned crest the ground falls gently south to Windmill Hill and east into the Kennet valley, giving the mound clear sight of the Avebury monument complex, and easy access to water and pasture.
Horslip (Windmill Hill) Long Barrow, Avebury
- Filed under Barrow, Britain, Early Neolithic, Europe, Flint Scatters, Long Barrow, Neolithic
Sitting on the south‑east shoulder of Windmill Hill (grid ref. SU 086 070), 140 ft (43 m) above the Kennet valley, the Horslip long barrow commands the same chalk ridge that carries the famous Early‑Neolithic causewayed enclosure 400 m upslope.
Bubeneč Neolithic Farm, Prague
- Filed under Agriculture, Early Neolithic, Field Systems, Neolithic, New Sites, ploughing, Research
Quite recently, initial excavation evidence from Bubenec, close to Prague was first announced to the public, pending full publication. As part of that media activity, the head archaeologist for the dig, Petra Maříková Vlčková explained that the excavation; below the future Canadian Embassy, in Prague’s Bubeneč district, cut through almost two metres of undisturbed deposits – a rarity in Central Europe.
Wellhill, Dunning Early Neolithic Farm – Perthshire
- Filed under Agriculture, Early Neolithic, Field Systems, Mesolithic, Neolithic, New Sites, Norman, Pottery, Scotland
The village of Dunning in Perthshire, Scotland, has been revealed through excavation as having traces of human activity dating back 10,000 years. This included evidence of what could be the earliest farming activity recorded in Scotland so far, and also remains of hunter-gathering activity dating back to the Mesolithic period.
Dryburn Henge, Cumbria
- Filed under Brigantia, Brigantia England, Bronze Age, Class I, Enclosure, Henge, Late Bronze Age, Neolithic, Ritual Landscape
Dryburn Henge lies on Alston Moor in Cumbria, within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It occupies a strategic nodal point on the high moor, roughly at NY 760 430, where routes across the Pennine watershed converge. The surrounding terrain is underlain by Carboniferous Great Scar Limestone and interbedded Yoredale shales, with scattered fluvioglacial gravels in valley bottoms.
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Announcing: The Brigantian News!
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A fragment of a post-Medieval copper-alloy spur comprising the terminal end of one of the spur's arms. The arm fragment is 35mm in length with a plano-convex cross-section and terminates with two loops in a figure 8 [...]
A copper-alloy Roman nummus of Helena (AD 324-341) dating to the period AD 337 - 341 (Reece Period 17). PAX PVBLICA reverse type depicting Pax standing left holding branch and transverse sceptre. Mint uncertain. [...]
A Roman copper alloy Radiate of Claudius II (AD 268 - 270), dating to the period AD 270-271 (after his death). Reece period 13. Obverse - Right facing radiate bust, [D] IVO CLAVDI [O]Reverse - Altar [...]
An incomplete and very worn copper alloy coin, possibly a Roman nummus or radiate, of uncertain ruler, dating to c.AD 260-410. Obverse and reverse are illegible. [...]
A copper-alloy book mount of Medieval date1300-1550. The mount has a circular dome in the centre that is decorated with two crossed lines coming a saltire motif. Four evenly spaced tabs project from the sides of [...]
Copper alloy Colchester one piece brooch that dates to AD25-60 The spring is cast integrally to the back of the head of the bow, although only the base remains. Small tabs/wing project either side of [...]
A copper-alloy Roman nummus of Constantine II as Caesar dating to the period AD 335-337 (Reece period 17), GLORIA EXERCITVS reverse type depicting Two soldiers holding one standard. Uncertain mintObverse - laureate bust facing right [...]NSTANT[...]Reverse - two [...]
A Roman copper alloy British plate brooch dating to c. AD 80-250. The brooch is broadly sub circular in plan with six projecting knops placed evenly around its circumference, the 1st and 4th knop are [...]
A worn Medieval silver penny of Henry III (AD 1216-1272) dating to c. AD 1248-1250. Class 3b. MInted in Northampton by Philip. North (1991) no: 987. [...]
A silver medieval halfpenny of Edward III (AD 1327 – 1377) dating to the period AD 1354-5. Pre-Treaty Period. Fourth coinage. Series E. Annulet stops. Long cross reverse. Mint of London. North Vol 2, p.51, no.1171. Withers (2002) [...]
A Roman copper-alloy radiate of Quitillus. Reece period 13.Obverse - Bust of Quintillus, radiate, draped, right. IMP C M AVR CL QVINTILLVS AVGReverse - Mars, helmeted, in military attire, walking right, holding olive-branch in right hand and spear [...]
A pierced and heavily corroded copper-alloy coin of uncertain date, possibly Roman. The coin has two perforated holes at either end of the X axis. Owing to wear and corrosion there is detail remaining on either side [...]
A complete bent medieval silver penny of Edward I (AD 1272-1307), class 9a2 dating to AD c.1299-1301. Minted in London. North (1991), p.30, n.1036/2. [...]
A worn lightly clipped silver Post Medieval penny of Elizabeth I (AD 1558-1603), probably third coinage dating from 1582-1603. Unclear initial mark, Tower mint: North (1991) no; 2017. [...]
A Roman copper alloy Radiate of Claudius II (AD 268 - 270), dating to the period AD 270-271 (after his death). Reece period 13. Obverse - Right facing radiate bust, DI[VO CLAVD]I OReverse - Altar and flames, CO[NSECRA]TIO [...]
Roman copper alloy trumpet brooch of Bayley and Butcher 2004, Group B dated to 80-200. Oval head plate, on the reverse is a single loop that holds the spring, which is made from two curves, [...]
An incomplete Roman copper-alloy plate brooch dating to circa AD 80–250. The brooch takes the form of a circular disc, though much of the outer edge is missing, giving the surviving plate a slightly oval [...]
A Roman copper-alloy as or dupondius of an uncertain ruler, dating to c.AD 43 - 260. Reece Period uncertain. Obverse and reverse are illegible. [...]
A copper-alloy Roman nummus of Constantine II as Caesar dating to the period AD 335-337 (Reece period 17), GLORIA EXERCITVS reverse type depicting Two soldiers holding one standard. Uncertain mintObverse - laureate bust facing right [...] ONSTANTI[...]Reverse - [...]
A very worn copper alloy coin, possibly a Roman nummus or radiate, of uncertain ruler, dating to c.AD 260-410. Obverse and reverse are illegible. [...]
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