What is it about?
Despite their elusiveness, the people referred to as “Celts” by ancient chroniclers left behind certain archaeological remains that may be interepreted from the perspective of archaeoastronomy in an attempt to discover a calendrical “root” for them. In recent years, a number of studies on Late Iron Age sites, Roman or romanised locations and Christian landscapes in Hispania and Gallia have raised the possibility of detecting physical evidence of the celestial concepts that some classical authors attributed to the Celtic mystics, the Druids. However, these studies have dealt with certain key aspects of how the Celts organised time that are not generally known, and which tend to be presented in a summary way. Here, we explore aspects of the subject such as the difficulty of referring to a “Celtic calendar” per se, the difficulties of adjusting for the cycles of the Sun and the Moon, and how “horizon calendars” may have played a role in actions that left a physical footprint that can still be seen today at several archaeological sites. We show that, although there may be common aspects that connect all Celtic sites and areas, there was no common calendar as such, although there are solid indications of the usage of a shared time-reckoning system
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Why is it important?
There a number of different approaches to the different aspects of the "Celtic calendar". Our paper tries to put them in a whole perspectif stressing the advantages and limits of each kind of source. We propose also the utility of the idea of "Horizon Calendar" to identify archaeological rests of public buildings related to Celtic calendric ideas and, by this means, to a more general cosmovision.
Perspectives
In the paper we propose a state of the art at present. But our intention is to produce new research about a series of related subjects. Our main hypothesis at the present is that the series of beginning of season Celtic feast (traditionally fixed in Ireland the 1st november, february, may and august), was first introduced in the Julian roman calendar in west Gaul during the reign of Augustus and then exported to Ireland via the Christianization. This means that it is necessary a deep research in the whole Gaul, and Britain to correctly evaluate the true impact of pre-roman and Roman public structures oriented towards the dates above cited.
Marco García Quintela
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
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This page is a summary of: Archaeological Footprints of the “Celtic Calendar”?, Journal of Skyscape Archaeology, March 2017, Equinox Publishing,
DOI: 10.1558/jsa.31039.
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Entre el cielo, el mar y la tierra: el santuario rupestre del castro de Baroña (Porto do Son, A Coruña)
Se analizan elementos arqueográficos del castro de Baroña (Porto do Son, A Coruña), susceptibles de interpretarse como un “santuario rupestre”. Esta interpretación se impone al considerar alineaciones solares significativas relacionadas con diferentes sectores de ese “santuario”. Además, una de esas alineaciones relaciona el castro con los petroglifos de Monte Gurita, recortado en el horizonte. Allí se representa un sol y también se detectan diferentes alineaciones astronómicas. Se interpreta el conjunto como la materialización de una cosmovisión indoeuropea y céltica que concibe el mundo dividido en tres pisos – cielo, tierra e inframundo oceánico – puesto que el castro de Baroña se sitúa en la intersección entre esos mundos, lo que sugiere la posibilidad de que se trate de un “castro-santuario”. Este análisis entronca con los estudios arqueológicos que identifican procesos intelectuales complejos en las formas materiales y, en este caso concreto, con una ideología del orden espacial y temporal que organiza la vida social
Le 1er août à Lugdunum sous l’Empire romain : bilans et nouvelles perspectives
Le débat sur l’interprétation de la fête du Concilium Galliarum, le 1er août, à Lugdunum, oppose les tenants d’une position « celtisante » inaugurée par d’Arbois de Jubainville à ceux d’une position « romaniste » fondée par Jullian. Les auteurs envisagent la nécessité de son dépassement en actualisant des aspects de l’agenda d’Audin. Ils étudient le tracé urbain de la colonie et du sanctuaire municipal du culte impérial en constatant son orientation vers le lever du Soleil au 1er août. De plus, les animaux mentionnés dans le mythe de fondation de Lugdunum sont migrateurs et présents dans la région pendant l’hiver et l’été. En conclusion, ils proposent d’aller au-delà du débat entre assimilation et résistance à la romanisation en mettant l’accent sur l’interaction entre les cultures. Le premier prêtre de l’autel, C. Iulius Vercondaridubnos, est un représentant de cette réalité complexe. The debate over the interpretation of the festival of Concilium Galliarum (1 August) in Lugdunum sets supporters of the Celtizing position instated by Arbois de Jubainville against that of the Romanists established by Jullian. The authors consider it necessary to move on from this stand-off by reconsidering aspects of Audin’s calendar. They study the urban traces of the colony and the municipal sanctuary of the imperial cult, noting the latter’s orientation towards the rising sun on 1 August. In addition, the animals mentioned in the foundation myth of Lugdunum are migrating creatures and present in the region during winter and summer. In conclusion, the authors propose moving beyond the debate on assimilation and the resistance to Romanization, and place emphasis on the interaction between the two cultures. The sanctuary’s first priest, C. Iulius Vercondaridubnos, is representative of this complex reality.
ON THE ORIENTATION OF TWO ROMAN TOWNS IN THE RHINE AREA
The aim of the present paper is to extend the archeoastronomical study sample on the orientation of Roman cities to the analysis of a number of cases in the Rhine area. The starting point is a study of the orientation of Augusta Treverorum (present day Trier; Goethert, 2003). Goethert assumed that the orientation of the decumanus maximus was towards sunrise at the autumn equinox, on September 23rd as the dies natalis of the city. This event would deliberately coincide with the anniversary of the birth of Augustus, and would have determined the establishment and orientation of the new urban layout. However, our in situ measurements of the orientation of the urban network at several sites of the Roman town rule out this hypothesis. We find an orientation that is more in line with those documented for other Roman cities and camps elsewhere in the Roman provinces (González-García et al., 2014; Rodríguez-Antón et al., 2016). Moreover, measurements made in the Lenus Mars temple indicate a recurrent phenomenon of cultural hybridization. Here the temple, located outside the city walls on the west bank of the river Moselle, combines a possibly Celtic orientation with Roman symbolic beliefs. In reality, the alleged orientation towards the dies natalis of Augustus is verified for Cologne. There are a number of circumstances that make this choice logical for a city that was initially planned as the capital of the Augustan province of Germania and the seat of an ara of imperial worship.
THE ORIENTATION OF LUGDUNUM CONUENARUM AND THE CELTIC FEASTS MARKING THE START OF THE SEASONS IN ANCIENT GAUL
There is a long-lasting debate, started in the nineteenth century by d‟Arbois de Jubainville and Jullian, among others, regarding the pan-Celtic nature of the mid-season (or rather, start of season) feasts known from the Mediaeval Ireland (set on 1 st November, February, May and August). D‟Arbois indicated that one of these feasts coincided with the festival celebrated during Roman times at Lugdunum (Lyon) on August 1st from 12 BC onwards. We recently verified that the orientation of the earlier parts of this Roman colony were laid out facing the sunrise on this date since its foundation in 43 BC, prior to any possible link with Augustus. This fact prompted us to investigate the orientation of other Roman cities in Gaul, particularly those named Lugdunum which still contain Roman buildings capable of being measured. The most complex of these is Lugdunum Conuerarum (present-day Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges). With a Celtic name and mixed Aquitaine-Latin culture, it is oriented towards the sunrise on February 1 st . Other cities in Gaul and Hispania have also been considered, which have similar orientations. We therefore verify the pan-Celtic character of the mid-season feasts. Finally, we present the hypothesis that the conversion of these feasts from a luni-solar calendar to the solar Julian calendar took place in the centre of Gaul at some time between the reigns of Caesar and Augustus. At a later stage, this model would be exported by early Christianity into Ireland, then serving as an interpretative inspiration for scholars such as d‟Arbois de Jubainville and others.
FROM HAGIOGRAPHY TO CELTIC COSMOLOGY: ARCHAEOASTRONOMY AND CHRISTIAN LANDSCAPE IN OURENSE (NW SPAIN)
The cult of Santa Mariña is very popular in the region of Galicia, in northwest Spain. According to tradition, she was born and martyred in two sites at the heart of the modern-day province of Ourense: she was born and grew up around the lagoon of Antela, and was martyred in the parish of Santa Mariña de Augas Santas, where she performed miracles and where her tomb is still preserved. Both places are located in the territory of the Limici, a pre-Roman Celtic tribe, and contain a remarkable amount of archaeological material from the Iron Age and Roman times. An archaeoastronomical study has revealed that the most important archaeological sites have a number of significant solar and lunar relationships attributable to the Celtic tradition (lunistices, Celtic mid-season festivals, the cosmos divided into three levels). Christianity preserved these structures through the feast dates of the saints worshipped in different parishes and other places, and their arrangement in different local landscapes. Episodes of Mariña‟s life and her places of worship are important because they coincide with significant points in the astronomical alignments that have been detected. Hydatius of Chaves (c. 400-469) a Limici scholar, bishop and author of a Chronicle, is considered responsible for introducing the cult of Santa Mariña, and as the driving force behind the Christianization of a landscape/skyscape that was previously defined by a Celtic worldview.
THE 1st OF AUGUST AT LUGDUNUM: ASTRONOMY AND IMPERIAL CULT IN GALIA
The longstanding debate about the interpretation of the Concilium Galliarum, celebrated at Lugdunum on Augusts 1st has been traditionally divided among those in favor of a ‘Celtic’ tradition and those advocating for a ‘Roman’ praxis. We advocate, following the works by Audin, that the study of the urban layout may shed light into this controversy. We find that this Roman grid has a remarkable orientation consistent with the orientation towards the rising sun on days close to this festivity. The location of the main sanctuaries of the city, the municipal sanctuary devoted to the imperial cult and the Three Gaul sanctuary, situated on both sides of the river, reveals interesting astronomical relations. These could be interpreted as an attempt at the time of the early Empire to include the Augustus and Rome cult even in areas with a strong pre-existent tradition, like the Gaul
THE IRON AGE SAUNAS OF THE NORTHWEST IBERIAN PENINSULA: AN ARCHAEOASTRONOMICAL PERSPECTIVE
In some of the Iron Age hillforts of the northwest Iberian Peninsula (“Gallaecia”, in antiquity), public buildings used as saunas have been found. So far some twenty examples are known, in different states of conservation. These are distributed between two separated regional clusters, northern and southern. The southern cases display a single pedra formosa (“beautiful stone”) to define the entrance to the sweat room. In some cases these are richly decorated with “astral” motives. This fact, and the longitudinal pattern of the layout of the buildings, invites a search for eventual astral alignments. 21 saunas (10 northern and 11 southern) were measured. The results confirm the regional difference also in this respect: Only three of the northern saunas show solstitial orientations, but four of the southern are oriented towards the southern lunar standstill and three others towards dates compatible with the mid-season Celtic feasts
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