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.
Tag: Iron Age
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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Jul 21
Gnaeus Julius Agricola
- Filed under Agricola, Articles, Leaders, Roman, Roman army, Roman navy
In a series of annual military campaigns Agricola put down revolts in north Wales, subdued the Brigantes tribe in the north, extended Roman control over the Scottish lowlands, where he established a string of forts between the Forth and the Clyde, sent troops into Galloway, and made inroads into the eastern Highlands. During the latter campaign his vessels were the first to circumnavigate the islands.
- Agricola, Antoninus Pius, Barochan, Barwick in Elment, Brigantia, britain, Camelon, Carlisle, Cartimandua, Clyde, Fifeshire, Forth, Gask Ridge, ireland, Iron Age, Lake District, Lancaster, Legion XX, Littlechester, Lune, Maryport, Mersey, Mollins, Ribble, Roman, scotland, Stainmore, Stanegate, Tay, Venutius, Wilderspool, Wrotexeter
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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? …
Jun 27
Prehistoric mounds, cairns and boundary earthworks in Coverdale
- Filed under Archaeology, Barrow, Boundary Marker, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Bronze Age, Burial Mound, Dark Ages, Dark Ages Brigantia, Early Christian, Early Medieval, Guide, Iron Age, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Motte and Bailey, Mound, New Sites, Roman, Terraces, Visible Remains
A gazetteer of probable prehistoric mounds, cairns and boundary earthworks in Coverdale. It is not complete and is still being researched.
Jun 16
Hillforts: Defence or Ritual? – Part 1
- Filed under Archaeology, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Critical Thinking, Defensive Structures, Earthworks, Guide, Hill Fort, Univallet Hillfort, Vitrified Fort
Over the last five years Iron-Age specialists have been re-examining what British hillforts were really for. The question is no longer just “fortress or farm?” but whether many of them were built first and foremost as places of gathering, display and ritual.
- Ad Gefrin, Barry Cunliffe, battle, Bowden, Castle Dykes, Ceremony, Debate, Defence, Hill Fort, Hill of Tara, hillfort, Iron Age, Julius Caesar, Maiden Castle, McOmish, Mortimer Wheeler, Northumberland, Paulinus, Ringforts, ritual, Ritual First, tacitus, Thornborough Henges, vitrified, Yeavering Bell
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Hill Figures
- Filed under Britain, Hill Figure, Landscape feature
The Hill Figures of the British Isles Hill figures are large Geoglyphs cut into Britain’s chalk and Limestone hillsides, their bright-white forms visible for miles across the landscape. They range from abstract Bronze‐Age symbols to concrete horses and even regimental badges of the 20th century, each marking different moments when local communities, landowners or military …
Jun 11
Guide: Spoil Heaps
- Filed under Archaeology, Guide, Industrial Heritage, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Mining, Spoil Heaps
These are artificial hills made from the unwanted rock, shale and tailings that come up with coal, metal ore, stone or clay when it is being mined or quarried. Because extractive industry is both deep and long-lived, single collieries or pits can generate tens of millions of cubic metres of spoil; pushed out by locomotive, conveyor or tippler wagon and dumped in successive layers, the piles quickly become a distinctive landform.
Jun 10
Guide: Barrows
- Filed under Archaeobotanical, Barrow, Bell Barrow, Bowl Barrow, Bronze Age, Dark Ages, Disc Barrow, Europe, Guide, Iron Age, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Long Barrow, Neolithic, Ring Barrow, Ritual Landscape, Roman, Round Barrow, Square Barrow, Steppe Kurgan
A barrow is a mound of earth and/or stones raised over a grave or group of graves. Used from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age (roughly 4000 BCE to 500 CE), barrows were often constructed to honour elite individuals, such as tribal leaders, warriors, or chieftains. They are frequently found singly or in cemeteries known as barrow fields.
- AngloViking, Arras Culture, barrow, Barrow Timeline, Bell Barrow, Bowl Barrow, britain, Bronze Age, Burial Mound, Disc Barrow, Eastern Europe, Hallstatt, Iberian Peninsular, ireland, Iron Age, la tene, Long Barrow, Neolithc, Nordic Bronze Age, Ring Barrow, Roman, Round Barrow, ScandinaviaUkraineCentral Europe, Square Barrow, Steppe Kurgan, timeline
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May 29
Guide: Common Features of Iron Age Hillforts
- Filed under Archaeology, Dike, Earthworks, Enclosure, Guide, Hill Fort
This article attempts to serve as a guide for many of the features of the hillforts found in Britain, in particular. It explains the basic elements of the design and architecture of a hillfort.
- Defensive Ditche, Defensive Ditches, Defensive Spike, Defensive Spikes, Four-Post Structure, Four-Post Structures, Hillfort Features, Hut circle, Hut circles, Iron Age, Multi-Room Hut Circle, Multivalate, Platform Hut Circle, Promontory Hillfort, Promontory Hillforts, Rampart, Ramparts, roundhouse, Roundhouses, Simple Entrance, Simple Entrances, Storage Pit, Storage Pits, Timber-laced, univallate, Valley Fort, Valley Forts, Yeavering Hut Circle
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May 25
Brigantes Tribe
- Filed under Articles, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Celtic Tribes, Europe, Iron Age
The name Brigantia represents three separate concepts: a goddess, a people, and a tribal federation. By the Roman period, the name represented a tribal federation compromising all of what would become the Roman province of Britannia Secunda, except for the Parisi territory, east of the River Derwent.
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- Biefing – The Myth of Breogán and the Tower of Heracles
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- Briefing – Roman Interaction with Galicia and the Iberian Peninsula
- Church of Santa María de Cambre, Cambre near A Coruña
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Heritage Gateway
Announcing: The Brigantian News!
- Roman Road to the West uncovered under Manchester Street 16 July 2025
- What might Stonehenge Mean? Dartmoor and Carnac add to the Picture 3 July 2025
- Megalithic Stone Monuments in France May Be Europe’s Oldest 1 July 2025
- Drumanagh Promontory Fort – First Ever Intact Roman Pot Found in Ireland 5 June 2025
Portable Antiquities News
An incomplete cast copper alloy double looped trapezoidal buckle of post medieval date. Only one loop remains. The frame is narrow with bevelled edges and a narrowed strap bar. There is no visible decoration. [...]
An incomplete cast copper alloy Roman bow brooch, of plate headed hinged T-shaped type dating to the 2nd century AD. The arms are narrow and cylindrical, enclosing an axis spindle and with a notch at the centre [...]
A worn and corroded post-Medieval copper-alloy Nuremberg Jetton of anonymous 'ship-penny' type (c. 1490-1550). Obverse has a sailing ship, the reverse has four fleur-de-lis in a lozenge. Illiterate legends. Cf. Mitchiner 1152-1165. [...]
Lead token, tally or boardgame piece. Hammered bifacial disc with one side bearing a pattern or device resembling a stylised tree with stocky fringed trunk and an arcing ‘legend’ of dots between faintly defined circles. [...]
A post Medieval uniface cast lead alloy token, 20mm in diameter. One side depicts a saltire of crossed keys. [...]
Silver coin fragment. Worn long cross round halfpenny, broken to achieve well under one farthing’s weight, issue of 1280-1327Obverse description: worn smoothReverse description: long cross, three pellets in each angleReverse inscription: CIVI/[TAS]/(----)Diameter: 14.3mm, Weight: 0.23gms [...]
Silver coin. Short cross cut halfpenny of John (1199-1216) or Henry III (1216-1272), London mint. Class 6a1 issue of 1208-1218Obverse description: facing bust with sceptre left, hair left of two oval curls, beard of fine [...]
Copper alloy unidentified object fragment. Cast square-section bar with a stepped and rounded end; other end broken. The rounded tip forbids interpretation as a nail shank, which this object otherwise resembles. Suggested date: possibly Roman, [...]
Copper alloy finger ring. Cast oval bezel and tapered/constricting shoulders of a finger ring; the bezel is filled with blue enamel, sunken in the middle and crazed by recent impact; Guiraud type 1. The rest [...]
Silver coin. Penny of Edward I (1272-1307), class 10cf3 issue of 1307-1309, London mintObverse description: facing bust with broad bifoliate crown cf3 with break in band, drapery of angled wedges, initial cross pattee.Obverse inscription: +EDW [...]
A Medieval silver groat of Edward III (AD 1327-1377). Series E (North 1163) dating to AD 1354-5. London mint. North (1991: 51). Edge on the lower right quarter on the obverse has broken away. Coin measures 28.3mm in diameter. [...]
Silver coin. Voided long cross cut halfpenny of Henry III (1216-1272), probably class 3a issue of 1248-1250Obverse description: facing bust no sceptre, legend starts at 12 O’clock, hair comprises two neat curls and pellets left [...]
Copper alloy stud. Cast ball-headed stud with tapered square-section shank of 4.5mm by 4.8mm at its thickest point; fiercely abraded. Probably from furniture. Suggested date: Roman, 43-410Length: 29.9mm, Diameter (head): 12.7mm, Weight: 9.04gms [...]
Copper alloy brooch fragment. A now-cruciform scrap of a cast plate brooch, possibly Mackreth type British Plate [unspecified], comprising the paired U-shaped lugs from the seat for a hinged pin, with a flat front retaining [...]
Silver coin. Denarius of an indeterminate early Roman emperor, cut with the loss of about one fifth of the flan, probably issue of AD14-138.Obverse description: bust laureate draped right, clean-shaven and jowled, lightly tousled hair.Obverse [...]
A worn and corroded Roman copper alloy nummus of the House of Constantine dating to AD 330-340 (Reece period 17). VRBS ROMA type with a reverse depicting Romulus and Remus suckling a wolf, with three stars above. Mint of Trier. Cf. LRBC Vol [...]
Lead and iron possible steelyard weight, as kindly suggested by the finder. An irregular plano-convex lump of cast lead retaining relicts of a heavy iron suspension loop with recent breakage evident; the lead is slightly [...]
A Roman copper alloy nummus of Constantine II (AD 317 - 340) dating to AD 327 (Reece period 16). PROVIDENTIAE CAESS reverse depicting a camp-gate of two towers with a star above. Mint of Arelatum / Arles. [...]
A post medieval, lead human figurine probably dating from the late 18th- 19th century.The figurine is in the form of a standing figure, possibly female holding a baby. Possibly depicting Mary with child. The reverse is flat [...]
A medieval cast copper alloy single looped oval buckle, complete with plate and pin. The frame has a rounded front edge and a recessed strap bar with lobes at either end. The plate is sub triangular [...]
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