Pic: Agence Bretagne Press.

Some people on Mannin/Isle of Man may not use the Manx language (Gaelic) from one week to the next, but for others, it is an integral part of their daily life. Very few people these days on the Island would argue that the language is dead, when it is seen and heard all around – on the radio, in newspapers, on signs, used on the street and learnt by hundreds of children at school – and growing on a scale not known for over a hundred years reports the Agence Bretagne Presse.

However, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) the Manx language is extinct and it is not the only Celtic language on list. On Thursday (19th February) UNESCO’s ‘flagship activity’ the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger was updated, which attributed an ‘extinct’ status to both the Manx and Cornish languages. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-03-02 09:16:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Welsh Bilingual Sign Pic: Kit Foster

We recently posted about the imperative necessity of reclaiming our Celtic Roots and our Heritage by helping to restore the Celtic Languages to their pride of place. Often we tend to think that the only way we can properly learn a second language is with ‘formal’ language training and we’re proud to bring you a guest blog by Josh Frazier at Online College Courses to help dispel that myth! Over to Josh:

Are you at a Disadvantage without Formal Language Training?

Research has already demonstrably proven the many benefits of language learning to young children: improved cognitive abilities, math and language arts scores, and even science hypothesizing skills. High school students who study language score better on the ACT and SAT, and they go on to perform better academically in college than their peers. What you may not know is that adult learners can also gain from multiple-language instruction, even if their days of formal, classroom-based education are far behind them.

Studies have shown bilingual adults succumb to memory loss and dementia slower than monolingual people. Even if the adult never becomes fluent, the mental exercise required in language learning is enough to produce positive results. Scientists from the University of Kentucky also found bilingual adults are able to take the lessons they’ve learned in tackling a new language and apply them to other areas of their lives.

In a provocative Jan. 20, 2012 piece for The New York Times entitled “What You (Really) Need to Know,” former Harvard president Lawrence Summers asserted that language instruction has ceased to be essential with the progress in machine translation and the rise of English as “the global language.” Such utilitarian thinking — that learning a foreign language is beneficial only to the extent it is profitable — overlooks the many powerful rewards a learner earns on a personal level. Moreover, this school of thought ignores the concept of motivation, a key component of second language learning. When the rewards for learning a second language are monetary or involve social gain (what Summers seems to envision), it’s called instrumental motivation. A student with integrative motivation, on the other hand, enjoys the people and the culture of the language he’s attempting to learn so that he can at least be familiar with and possibly integrate into that culture.

Machine Translations Pic: Trusted Translations

Guess which results in a more successful experience, from proficiency in the language itself to pronunciation that’s closer to native speakers. If you said integrative, give yourself a pat on the back. Give yourself another one if you can imagine into which group most young students — who’ve been forced to take a foreign language class and picked one at random — fall.

In other words, the proper motivation can be more than enough to offset a lack of formal training. Ken Stewart, the 2006 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year, went so far as to call the desire and drive to learn a language“the single-most determining factors in achieving fluency.” Researchers have even postulated that what makes picking up a language later in life more difficult is not brain plasticity but a tendency to tune out sounds one’s native language doesn’t feature. With the right stimulus, the brain can be retrained.

All that being said, you’ll still need the proper tools to work with. As a distance learner, you have the advantage over schoolkids that you can seek out resources that allow you to immerse yourself in that new language, which many formal classroom settings do not do. Immersion programs can help you learn languages with the same brain processes as native speakers, as well as help you retain the information longer than from a classroom setting.

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone Pic: Wiki

Easily the best-known name in DIY foreign language learning, Rosetta Stone utilizes a technique it calls “dynamic immersion.” To try and replicate the environment in which you learned your primary language at an early age, dynamic immersion uses repetition of vivid pictures in everyday contexts. The TOTALe PRO version for lifelong learners provides live sessions with native speakers and “up to three other learners.”While this tool gets the immersive pedagogy right, it misses on the aspect of integrative motivation. A sample video of Turkish language instruction showed multicultural people — apparently none of them Turks — reading books and drinking water. The context of the language within the culture was lacking. The software will work best with beginning learners who are not in a rush to master a language before traveling to a foreign country, for example, as the training style tends to move somewhat slowly.

Yabla

Assuming the language you want to learn is one of the six it offers (including English), Yabla and its “language immersion through online video” is a solid (though pricey) choice for lifelong learners looking for immersion software. The videos include real news reports from the country of the language’s origin and original videos shot on location and featuring native speakers using authentic tongue. As the video plays, subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen in two languages. You can slow the speed, go back, and skip ahead, plus click on words to see definitions.

Yabla scores in the culture immersion department, but the $9.95 a month pricing may turn off some students. There is also no way to interact with native speakers, so you would need to supplement your learning with another program to do so. And, of course, if you want to learn Arabic, Russian, or Portuguese, you’ll have to look elsewhere, but for French and especially Spanish, Yabla is a great option.

Language Learning Networks

The next best thing to flying halfway around the world to converse with native speakers of a foreign language is to connect with them over the Internet through sites like Busuu, Livemocha, Lang-8, and MyLanguageExchange. Each has its own system of instruction, but all of them offer a way to communicate with native speakers via audio, video, text, and/or instant message. Each of them can also be used for free and three may be upgraded with a paid subscription, although most users opt to stick with the free versions.

Language Learning Networks Pic: Profesor Baker

With millions in investment funding and claiming 25 million users, Busuu is the most established of the bunch. It only offers instruction in 12 languages but it does make available smartphone apps with vocabulary, audio and video recordings of native speakers, and interactive tests. Busuu arguably has the most active, helpful members and a search tool for finding them and thus provides your best chance to connect with a speaking partner you’ll want to stick with throughout your language learning journey.

Livemocha may only have half the members of Busuu, but it offers three times the language instruction and does more to drive home the community aspect of learning. Users may chat directly with others users based on a ready-made script or in freeform, have practice exercises reviewed by the community, and review others work to earn points that can be used toward premium services. Users can pick their partners based on their listed numerical reputation on the site, feedback they’ve left other people, and even age and hobbies.

The glaring hole in Lang-8′s system is that speaking is left out of the equation. Before you write it off, however, you should know that what it does cover — writing, more specifically blogging — it does very well. Create a journal in which you write in whatever language you’re learning, submit it, and it comes back with comments and corrections from native speakers. (Obviously, don’t get away any private security information, and don’t be more personal than you’re comfortable with.) When you do your duty as an editor, you’ll get to learn about the personal experiences of someone in the culture you’re learning about. It’s totally free to use and you can log in with your Twitter of Facebook accounts if you choose.

With just 1 million users, MyLanguageExchange beats Lang-8′s several hundred thousand but falls far short of the Busuu and Livemocha communities. Still, the site has cool features like the “Club Library” where you users can share the slang and informal words from their native languages you wouldn’t pick up in a classroom. The site advises beginners to start with email (pen-pal) communication and work up to text and audio-visual chat later. Customer service has received some poor reviews, so as with the other language providers, stick with the free option and you won’t have any buyer’s remorse.

Which community you choose to use will depend largely on personal preferences and the quality of users you’re able to meet on each site. Livemocha and Busuu are very similar but Livemocha can connect you with knowledgeable tutors for hire, so students looking for (and willing to pay for) dedicated help should choose that site. Lang-8 is advisable for learners looking to be truly social and improve their foreign language writing but is not a great fit for beginners looking to start from square one. And learners looking for other students or speakers of rarer languages can do well on MyLanguageExchange, although they might have to sort through some abandoned accounts before they find a helpful partner.

Language Immersion for Chrome

Language Immersion for Chrome Pic: Chrome Webstore

For a free, easy way to turn your Web browsing into an immersive foreign language experience, Google offers Language Immersion for Chrome. This extension translates English words and phrases on a given Web page into one of 64 languages, from a few here and there to half the page or more, depending on the level of difficulty you select. Click on them, and they revert to English.

Although it shouldn’t be considered anything more than a supplemental learning tool for those using another system to master a language, Language Immersion is a fun way to expose yourself to a second language in a setting in which you otherwise would not be gaining any foreign language ability.

Duolingo

It’s not immersion software, but Duolingo is an exciting creation of Carnegie Mellon University that teaches you a new language by having you translate the Web. Prove you have at least a basic knowledge of a language — which Duolingo helps you acquire with fill-in-the-blank, pronunciation (with voice recognition), and other exercises — and then you’re off to translate a Web page on a topic of your choosing. Your answers are compared to others and you earn points as you go along. Not only do you get to freely benefit from material developed by a provider of “formal” education, an independent study found that Duolingo was even more effective than a university course.

So, are you at a disadvantage if you miss out on “formal” language training? Absolutely not. There has never been a better time than now to be a lifelong learner, with the sheer volume of resources already existing and being released every day that make self-guided learning, even in the languages, possible. With the ability to virtually immerse yourself in a new culture, coupled with the inherent motivation of lifelong learners to expand their horizons, you’ve got everything you need. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, in any language.

The original of this fascinating article can be found on the Online College Courses website.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Children show model of Caerau Hillfort they helped to make Pic: Your Cardiff

A school and community initiative that has fired up interest in Cardiff’s history and archaeology has showcased its work at St Fagan’s National History Museum reports Your Cardiff. The community exhibition Share Your Story was produced by children and community members from Caerau/Ely who have been working with Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion on the Caerau and Ely Rediscovering Heritage Project (CAER).

The exhibition will be a chance to discover more about the little known Caerau Iron Age Hillfort.

The 12-acre location of the hill fort was the subject of an excavation by the experts of Channel 4’s Time Team in April, when they found 3,000-year-old homes and artefacts.

About 90 pupils from Fitzalan, Mary Immaculate High and Glyn Derw took part in a range of activities, from Iron Age pottery workshops to the creation of archaeology themed eco-graffiti art and artefact analysis. Pupils and community members have also been directly involved in archaeological research, undertaking a geophysical survey of the site and participating in a recent televised excavation in conjunction with Channel 4’s Time Team.

And it’s not just the teenagers of Cardiff who are interested in the history of the area; Sheila Spinks, from Adamsdown, is part of the adult learners group and has discovered places in the city she never knew existed. The grandmother of five said:

It’s amazing and it’s been so informative. Last Saturday we went on walks to Tinkin’s Wood, St Ruthin’s, the Caerau hill fort and to a World War II decoy bomb shelter, it’s all been mind-blowing.

I love archaeology and it’s a really important part of Cardiff’s history.

The display of work by the pupils and adult learners will be on display at St Fagans National History Museum in July and August and will be going to the Cardiff Story Museum in the new year.

Read the full story on the Your Cardiff website.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Search Districts in Scotland Pic: Tobar an Dualchais

The Tobar an Dualchais (http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/#) website contains over 30,000 oral recordings made in Scotland and further afield, from the 1930s onwards. The items you can listen to include stories, songs, music, poetry and factual information. You can search their wonderful website using their interactive version of the Scottish Map pictured left. They say:Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o Riches is a collaborative project which has been set up to preserve, digitise, catalogue and make available online several thousand hours of Gaelic and Scots recordings. This website contains a wealth of material such as folklore, songs, music, history, poetry, traditions, stories and other information. The material has been collected from all over Scotland and beyond from the 1930s onwards.

The recordings come from the School of Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh), BBC Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland‘s Canna Collection.

Please note that not all material from the School of Scottish Studies Archives is available on the website.

Examples from these collections include

• Stories recorded by John Lorne Campbell on wax cylinders in 1937
• Folklore collected all over Scotland by Calum Maclean in the 1950s
• Scots songs recorded by Hamish Henderson from travelling people in the 1960s
• Conversations recorded on Radio nan Gàidheal

Please note that the sound quality is variable on of some of the recordings due to the sound recording equipment available at the time.

The project will ensure that Scotland’s rich oral heritage is safeguarded and made widely available for educational and personal use for future generations.

[source]

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The famous timber circle dating back 4,000 years which was found in the sea off the Norfolk coast (England) is to return to the county in a permanent display. Seahenge, with 55 oak posts and a central upturned stump dating from the Bronze Age, was found emerging from a beach at Holme-next-the-Sea in 1998. Timbers were studied at the Bronze Age

Centre, Peterborough, then preserved at the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth. Next month Seahenge will go on display at the Lynn Museum in King’s Lynn.

After Seahenge was excavated, 3D laser scanning revealed the earliest metal tool marks on wood ever discovered in Britain. Archaeologists at the Bronze Age Centre, believe between 50 and 80 people may have helped build the circle, possibly to mark the death of an important individual. Seahenge became exposed at low tides after the peat dune covering it was swept away by winter storms.
Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Norfolk County Council has been provided for the Seahenge Gallery project at the Lynn Museum which will house the timber, displayed in its original formation.

The central stump, which is still being treated, will join the gallery at a later date. The main display at the museum is mirrored by a full-sized fibreglass replica showing how the structure would have appeared when it was constructed in 2049 BCE, complete with a model of a Bronze Age man. Visitors can enter and explore this area.
Lynn Museum project manager Hannah Jackson said mystery still surrounds what prompted the Bronze Age people to create the circle.

“The upturned stump could have been like a table top on which the body of a very important member of the community who had died would be laid out for the birds and animals to pick the flesh off. Then they would remove the bones for burial elsewhere, and that fits in with what we know of Bronze Age burial rites,” she said.

John Gretton, of Norfolk County Council, said:

“Whilst the research done on the timbers has led to some historians drawing conclusions, the original function of Seahenge remains mysterious, and I hope that visitors will flock to the newly restored Lynn Museum to speculate on the ancient meaning behind the timbers – which we were able to rescue for all time from further damage.”

The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Admission is £3 adults, £2.50 concessions and £1.65 for four to 16-year-olds.

Source

A replica of an Iron Age roundhouse, created after extensive research on prehistoric sites at West Heslerton and Pickering, has been built at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole (North Yorkshire, England), and is expected to attract thousands of tourists this summer. The venture has seen teams of youths on the Community Pay-Back Scheme, five local schools, and scores of volunteers working on the project. “It has been a real community project, ” said Bex Carver, the museum’s learning manager.

In addition to fitting out the roundhouse as it would have been in the Iron Age, the venture also has its own livestock. In the next few weeks a small flock of Soay sheep from the Orkneys will be lambing.

The project has also been given help under the Every Child Matters Campaign, and local teachers are being encouraged to use the roundhouse to provide pupils with ‘hands on’ history lessons, through placement sessions which are being arranged said Bex.

It is an educational resource centre which we feel will be invaluable to Ryedale schools in bringing history alive.

Source

Originally posted 2008-03-31 14:31:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A Basket-full of Ceilidh Dancing Pic: Derek E-Jay

An important form of expression in any culture is its music, each culture having its own independent style. This cultural expression is enhanced through the instruments it is played on. In our Celtic culture, the main instruments were and are the BODHRAN (drum), the FEADAN (whistle) the CLARSACH (harp) and the PIOB (bagpipes). All of these instruments still have the power to stir ancestral memory in people of today. BODHRAN The first of these, the Irish drum, the bodhran, is the oldest form of musical instrument, its equivalent being found all over the world. The Bodhran was traditionally made in the following way: A circular hoop was made out of the wood of the ash tree and an animal skin, usually of deer, calf or goat, which had been soaked in a stream for nine days, was stretched over the hoop and secured firmly around the edge of it.

In some cases a crosspiece was inserted at the back to hold it with.  The Bodhran is played either with the hand or a beater. Most Irish players are also greatly skilled at playing what is called “the bones”, these  are played held in the hand, in a very similar manner to the castanets, and as the name suggests were at one time made from bone, usually from the rib cage of a pig. Nowadays, like the beater, they are made from wood.
Some of the Bodhrans that are played are of an extremely large size. These are war drums, and could explain how the sound of the drum played at a fast speed arouses such strong feelings within us. The Bodhran can also create many other feelings within us, such as the strange trance like and Otherworldly effect that can be created by skilled players, bringing almost into reach long forgotten memories of the past. In many parts of the world one of the first tasks of the shaman was to make his own drum from the raw materials that were in the area where he lived, so that the drum would be linked to the ancestry of the land just as his people were.

THE FEADAN

The second instrument is the whistle, Feadan, which was originally made from the wood of the alder, the centre of it being extremely soft and easy to hollow out. The tin whistle of today is a longer lasting version of the wooden feadan. The feadan gives that distinctive sound to Irish and Scottish music, making it recognisable anywhere. The jigs and reels soon have everyone tapping their feet and going with the music. The feadan, too, has that other side to it. It can sound so hauntingly beautiful, crying out for the listener to follow…The selkies or seals are extremely fond of the sound of the feadan and its haunting melodies, so much so that they will surface and come out of the water onto the rocks to listen to it being played.

THE CLARSACH

The Celtic harp needs no introduction, such is its popularity. There is no mistaking how people’s faces light up with pleasure at seeing this beautiful instrument, even today it still holds a magical quality for us. The soundboxes of the ancient clarsachs were hollowed out of solid pieces of wood, mainly oak or willow, and were strung with whatever animal gut that was available. Twisted horsehair was also used. Nowadays the clarsach can be strung with metal, nylon or the original gut strings, each giving a different sound to the instrument. Harpers were one of the members of the establishment of the Highland Chiefs.

Many of the ancient harpers and bards decorated their clarsachs with precious jewels, silver and gold, one of the reasons for this was his clarsach could not be taken from him in payment for debts he owed, as it was considered the tool of his trade. The old law still stands today.

The clarsach was seen by many as a gift from the Gods, giving it an inseparable link with the Otherworld. This was strengthened by the bards themselves who, through their legends, could carry people on fantastic Otherworld journeys to the lands of Promise. No one can deny the effect the clarsach has on our emotions, there is no instrument that can compare in sound to its melodious song that can lift and carry us to lands of beauty, sadness and sorrow like a bird hopping from branch to branch.

PIOB

There is much speculation on the origins of the bagpipe in Scotland. However, this is largely futile as it would appear to be an ancient instrument everywhere, and there is no way of knowing if it is indeedindigenous or not. Certainly we know from sculptural evidence that the pipes were in use in Scotland from the 12th century onwards. Some people believe that the Firbolgs, the Men of the Bags, were the first to use bagpipes made from pigs’ bladders in ancient Ireland and Scotland.

The first pipes probably only had one drone, the second being added around 1500. The two drone Highland Pipes were the traditional war pipes of the clans. The traditional music of the bagpipes is known as “Piobaireachd”, or Ceol Mor (big music), the classical pipe music. CeolBeag (little music) was the music of the people, the popular or folk music. The scale of the pipes is completely unique to itself, making the instrument difficult to accept by other musicians, who will declare the pipes to be out of tune! However, the pipes were never intended to be played in harmony; it is a solo instrument. Due to the different intervals of tones and semitones, the pipes can take a while to get accustomed to. It does seem that most people either passionately love the pipes or passionately hate them! Either way, there is no denying the strong emotive feelings they seem to evoke in us.

It only remains to say to anyone that decides to listen to these ancient musical instruments and their traditional music that they would be opening themselves to the spirit of our people, which remains strong and pure in the music and can link us once again to our origins and our land.

Source

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Artist’s Impression of Long Man defaced

Tomorrow is World Ostomy Day – a day organised by the European Ostomy Association charity to raise awareness of the issues that Ostomy sufferers have to face. All over the world activities will be taking place simultaneously to promote the cause. What are we doing in Britain? Putting an Ostomy bag on the Long Man of Wilmington! Back in 2007, in the face of stiff opposition, the Long Man of Wilmington was used in Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine’s television fashion show Undress the Nation. Trinny, Susannah and 100 women gave the Long Man a temporary female form by using their bodies to add pigtails, breasts and hips. ITV stated that they were given permission for the event by Sussex Archaeological Society and that they took “the utmost care… to protect this historical site” [Wiki]

As a bowel cancer survivor I have a deep and intense, personal sympathy with this cause, but to promote it by defacing a long-standing artefact of our National Heritage, as well as a religious icon to many is not only wrong – it is very, very wrong!

It is akin to painting an eye-patch on portraits of our monarchs with washable paints to promote sight disability awareness. “Oh, the paint will wash off” the promoters may say, caring little for the disrespect to our heritage or to the potential for damage to the underlying painting. Would they place an Ostomy bag on the figures of Christ found in many churches? Or the Cristo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro? I think not.. and yet it is the same logic!

Stop defacing our national treasures to promote charities (or worse, individual businesses!) – if the EOA, whose motto this year is ‘Let’s Be Heard’, wish to be heard then let them use their mouths and speak about Ostomies, instead of creating negative publicity to get their message across.

Thank you to Heritage Action for finding this out. As they say, if you agree you might wish to say so to the European Ostomy Association info@ilco.de and their President president@ostomyeurope.org!

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The 2,800-year-old Lusehøj textile Pic:  The National Museum of Denmark

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer reports:  Ancient scraps of fabric found in a grave in Denmark are not made of cultivated flax as once believed, but instead are woven from imported wild nettles, suggesting the grave’s inhabitant may have traveled far for burial.This discovery, announced today (Sept. 28) in the journal Scientific Reports, casts a new light on the textile trade in Bronze Age Europe, said study researcher Ulla Mannering, an archaeologist at the University of Copenhagen.

“Since the Stone Age, they had very well-developed agriculture and technology for producing linen textiles,” Mannering told LiveScience. “So it’s really unusual that a society which has established agriculture would also take in material from things that are not of the normal standardized agricultural production” — in other words, wild plants.

A luxurious shroud

The soft and shiny fabric dates back to between 940 B.C. and 750 B.C., making it about 2,800 years old. It was discovered in Voldtofte, Denmark, at a rich Bronze Age burial ground called Lusehøj. The Bronze Age ran from about 3200 B.C. to 600 B.C. in Europe.

The fabric was wrapped around a bundle of cremated remains in a bronze urn. It was a luxurious piece of material, Mannering said.

“The fibers we get from the European nettle are very, very fine and soft and shiny, and we often say this is a sort of prehistoric silk textile,” Mannering said. (Silk, made from insect cocoons, is known for its shimmery texture.)

Previous analysis pegged the Danish fabric as woven from flax, a plant widely cultivated in the region. But along with nanophysicist Bodil Holst of the University of Bergen in Norway, Mannering and her colleagues used advanced methods to reanalyze the scraps of cloth. By studying the fiber orientation as well as the presence of certain crystals found in plants, the researchers were able to learn that the fabric is not flax at all, but nettle, a group of plants known for the needlelike stingers that line their stems and leaves.

Nor is the nettle local, Mannering said.

Different soil regions contain different variations of elements. The variation of one of these elements, strontium, found in the fabric, was not local to Denmark, suggesting the plants the textile was made from grew elsewhere.

There are a few regions that match the strontium profile, the researchers found, but the most likely candidate is southwest Austria. The bronze burial urn holding the remains is from Austria, Mannering said, and it makes sense that the fabric might be too.

A well-traveled man?

Despite these imported grave goods, the remains appear to be those of a Danish man,

The personal objects in the grave, such as two razors, suggest he was a Scandinavian, albeit perhaps a well-traveled one. Maybe he died in Austria and was wrapped in this Austrian urn and Austrian textile and was brought back to Denmark in this condition and then put in a big burial mound,”

Mannering said.

 ”The personal objects that were placed inside the urn together with this textile and the bones indicate that he is a male of Scandinavian origin, but it doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have died abroad.

Bronze Age Europeans lived an agricultural life and traded many goods with one another, especially the bronze that gave the era its name, Mannering said. The nettle fabric may have been an ancient luxury good for Bronze Age elite, It shows that they also knew how to get fibers from wild plants, and they wanted these fibers probably because of their very different and unique appearance.”

Researcher Ulla Mannering concluded.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappasor LiveScience @livescience  Facebook Google+

Source

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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The Loki Stone Pic: Phillip Coppens

“A little known Pictish stone in a small museum in the Scottish village of Meigle is a most rare Loki Stone. If confirmed, the history of the Picts might have to be radically rewritten..”  Philip Coppens One of the largest collections of Pictish Carved Stones in Scotland is on display in the Museum in the old schoolhouse in the village of Meigle. Inside is a stone that is identical to the so-called Loki Stone of Kirkby Stephen.

An identified Loki Stone exists in the parish church of Kirkby Stephen, in northwest England. Inside sits a stone that was deemed to be unique in Britain – and of which only two remain in Europe: the Loki Stone.

The 8th century Loki Stone is small and is decorated by a carved figure, chained, with horns. It is one of the few physical survivals from the time when the Vikings had settled in this area. A largely forgotten god, Loki was raised from oblivion for the movie The Mask (1994), in which the “mask” was made into an artefact of ancient Scandinavian culture, rather the African origin it was given in the comics.

Loki is largely the Norse equivalent of the Christian devil. He was a joker and a mischief-maker, who eventually went too far: he caused the death of the god Odin’s son by trickery and was punished by being imprisoned below ground in chains. This is how he is depicted on the Loki Stone: a horned being, with arms and feet wrapped in ropes, so that he cannot move.

A similar stone is located in the Sculptured Stone Museum at Meigle, which displays 26 Pictish carved stones dating from the late 8th to the late 10th centuries, and which is therefore contemporary with the 8th century Loki Stone of Kirkby Stephen.
The collection makes up one of the most important collections of early medieval sculpture in Western Europe. They are all that survives of a centre of Pictish wealth and patronage.

The Picts were a confederation of tribes who lived in eastern Scotland until around 850. They were converted to Christianity in the 6th and 7th century. Meigle was an important centre of power in early medieval Scotland. The villa, or royal estate, at Migdele (Meigle) is mentioned in the time of King Pherath (839–42), shortly before the Picts were united with the Scots under Kenneth mac Alpin.

We know remarkably little about the Picts, and most of what we know of their beliefs comes from the iconography of carved stones, such as those housed in the museum. There is a local tradition that one of these stones also marked the grave of Vanora. She is better known as Queen Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, who was abducted by King Mordred and held captive on Berry Hill, near Meigle. When she returned to her husband, he sentenced her to death by being torn apart by wild beasts. The scene showing Daniel and the lions was believed to depict this tragic event.

A far less well-known stone in the collection, however, does bear striking similarities with the Loki Stone: a horned being, whose arms and legs are held by ropes. Little is known about the Picts, but their very location, in eastern Scotland, near the sea, makes them primary candidates for having been exposed to Viking influence. The timeframe of when the stone was carved, coincides with the time of Viking invasions into Britain. That they therefore carved a stone depicting the chained god Loki, should not come as a total surprise.

Source 1

Philip Coppens is an author and investigative journalist, ranging from the world of politics to ancient history and mystery. He co-hosts The Spirit Revolution radio show with his wife Kathleen McGowan and is a frequent contributor to NEXUS Magazine and Atlantis Rising Magazine. Since 1995, he has lectured extensively and has appeared in a number of television and DVD documentaries, including Ancient Aliens: The Series (The History Channel). He is the author of nine English-language books, including The Stone Puzzle of Rosslyn Chapel, The New Pyramid Age, Servants of the Grail,Killing Kennedy, The Cryptogram of Rennes-le-Chateau, The Ancient Alien Question and The Lost Civilization Enigma.

Source 2

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Shinewater Lake Pic: Gary

Ruthie and I are lucky enough to live within easy walking distance of some outstanding natural beauty. The beautiful Shinewater lake and its natural environs have been our strolling realm for quite a few years now. The large body of water, two lakes named Shinewater Lake and Hydneye Lake, are the homes to some incredible wildlife and the whole area was originally marshland criss-crossed by rivers and drainage ditches.

It was only after we had started the Show in 2008 that we began to learn much more about not only Celtic Mythology, but also the Ancient Celts and their predecessors – the Bronze Age dwellers on our shores, in fact, on our doorstep! We learned about the magical Flag Fen in Peterborough. Flag Fen is well known for its wooden causeways stretching across the marshland, its raised platforms and votive offerings. Put all of these together, along with the vast size of the site, and you have what is possibly the largest Sacred Water-site in England! Perhaps until now that is!

Birth of the Celtic Myth Podshow

In 2002, it was landscaped into the wildlife reserve that is now Shinewater Park. In 1995 some Bronze Age finds were discovered in the marshland, including a Bronze Sickle, and some water-logged wood whose importance we did not understand at the time.

Ruthie and I discovered that not only had similar causeways been found here at Shinewater, but that they were huge, often up to 8m wide! Several tracks were found leading in different directions, one major causeway leading towards Hastings. It is only if you are local that you’ll realise that the land between Eastbourne and Hastings is essentially marshland. We know it as Pevensey Marshes. It is more than possible that the archaeology of this whole area could reveal a sacred site that is larger than that of Flag Fen.

The Importance of the Site is finally Recognised

According to the Eastbourne Herald:

A former Bronze Age settlement in Eastbourne has been officially declared a scheduled monument by English Heritage.

The 3,000-year-old site at Shinewater is considered by experts to be among the best preserved Bronze Age wetland landscapes on the south coast.

In agreeing to schedule the site as an ancient monument, English Heritage concluded the area was of

“undisputed national importance as a rare site type with considerable archaeological potential”.

The scheduling was approved by the Minister for Tourism and Heritage.

The application was made by the county council archaeologist and supported by Eastbourne Borough Council.

Cllr Steve Wallis, portfolio holder for the environment, said,

“Everyone is absolutely thrilled such an important archaeological site, right here on Eastbourne’s doorstep, has been officially recognised as a scheduled ancient monument.”

While the site is largely unexcavated, a large and valuable assemblage of organic and inorganic cultural artefacts was discovered in 1995 during construction of flood alleviation ponds.

The excavation that followed the initial discovery opened up a 50m section of the platform and in 1996, a 60m length of trackway.

A superbly preserved complete bronze sickle with a wooden handle is on permanent display at the British Museum in London.

The site was occupied approximately 3,000 years ago and remains at the site indicate contacts by sea with the continent.

For more details email any questions to localhistory@eastbourne.gov.uk

This news article can be seen in their archives on the Eastbourne Herald website.

Call for Research, Funding and Exploration!

Now we have found out that they discovered Bronze Axes and many other extremely rare artefacts as well as the amazing sickle (now residing in the British Museum). One of the most important facts observed about these items is that they were high-status, expensive items that bore no signs of use. Such items deposited in water are almost universally seen as offerings to the Gods. All of this goes to back up the assertion that site was a sacred site, even though the single dig they undertook revealed an amazing platform-dwelling, a lake-house.

Whilst we recognise the importance of flood-control, which is the purpose of the lakes, why cannot Eastbourne Council be as long-sighted as Peterborough’s council? At Flag Fen, they have made a huge tourist attraction and education resource out of the archaeology that is there, and although the site has its own issues (lack of funding, drying out etc.) – they are going a long way to maximise what they have. Here, in Eastbourne, with a site that is potentially equally important, if not more, we are thankful that the site has finally become recognised and urge the local Council to invest in the local economy by developing and exploring the site in much the same fashion as they have done at Flag Fen!

Thank you for reading

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.