Mar 31 2009
Were Druids cannibals? Say what!
 Pic: puritani35 |
Recent evidence that Druids possibly committed cannibalism and ritual human sacrifice—perhaps on a massive scale—add weight to ancient Roman accounts of Druidic savagery, archaeologists say. After a first century B.C. visit to Britain, the Romans came back with horrific stories about these high-ranking priests of the Celts, who had spread throughout much of Europe over a roughly 2,000-year period reports the National Geographic. |
Recent gruesome finds appear to confirm the Romans’ accounts, according to Secrets of the Druids, a new documentary that aired on Saturday 28th March on the U.S. National Geographic Channel.
Julius Caesar, who led the first Roman landing in 55 B.C., said the native Celts “believe that the gods delight in the slaughter of prisoners and criminals, and when the supply of captives runs short, they sacrifice even the innocent.”
First-century historian Pliny the Elder went further, suggesting the Celts practiced ritual cannibalism, eating their enemies’ flesh as a source of spiritual and physical strength.
Perhaps the most incriminating evidence is the 2,000-year-old, bog-mummified body of Lindow Man, discovered in England in the 1980s. Lindow Man’s manicured fingernails and finely trimmed hair and beard suggest that he may have been of high status—possibly even a Druid himself.
Read the full article at the National Geographic website.
The idea that Druids sacrificed from their own ranks is an old and accepted idea; first proposed by a comparison with Old Irish tales. It was in reaction to bad harvests etc…However, the discovery of mass graves in Western England from the time of Agricola in no way proves mass sacrifice…dog bones present only show the pastoral people’s attachment to those animals.
One split femur is not proof that the Druids performed ritual cannibalism. If Jeffrey Dahmer’s refrigerator were discovered in a thousand years by archaeologists, would it follow that American’s practised ritual sacrifice? No.
I am suprised at NatGeo for presenting this “evidence” and bolstering millenia old Roman propoganda.
The program’s end would leave the viewer with the idea also that all of Celtic Britain rolled over, consumed itself and expired…where’s Boudicca? Cartimandua? Calgacus or Caractacus?
The site of Mons Graupius, Agricola’s great “victory” over the Caledonians as told by Tacitus, has never been agreed on and indeed, no site bearing the remains of near 30,000 fallen has ever been found…that too was propoganda. If the defeat of Caledonians was so awesome, why then did the Romans start immediately building frontier forts and eventually walls to contain them?
Roman propoganda has a long arm and reaches right through the millenia distorting the reasoning power of modern “theorists” and National Geographic. Let us remember that these were the “civilized” people whose recreation included watching combat to the death and live human lion fodder being torn apart…I’ll stick with the Barbarians.
MacSheumais
Well said
En Discovery Cannel, hace mas o menos, cuatro ( 4 ) años, tambien habian mostrado un documental donde los arquelogos y medicos forenses sospechaban o afirmaban sobre la posibilidad de que los Galatas, los cuales eran celtas o galos instalados en Asia Menor, ( hoy Turquia asiatica ) dos siglos antes de Cristo, hubiesen practicado canivalismo, junto con sacrificios humanos.
Yo agregaria como indicio o evidencia, los cuentos infantiles sobre brujas o lobos “parlantes ´´, practicantes de antropofagia, los cuales a su vez estan basados en leyandas de tradicion oral de antigua data; y bien es sabido que las leyendas y los mitos tradicionales suelen tener algo ( o mucho ) de verdad.
Los “parientes cercanos´´, por no decir los “hermanos gemelos´´,de los Celtas son los Germanos y por ende lo son los antiguos Escandinavos, tambien conocidos como Normandos o Vikingos. Segun arqueologos e historiadores suecos, estos ultimos solian sacrificar niñas recien nacidas o de muy pocos dias de vida, es decir practicaban infanticidio femenino. Uno de los metodos de inmolacion sufridas por estas pequeñas inocentes, era el “Ritual de Uturbur´´ ( si mal no recuerdo ), y que consistia en abandonar en la interperie a las niñitas, y dejarlas morir: de hambre, sed, frio, o devoradas por animales salvajes, como…es obvio: EL LOBO (the wolf ).
Rituales como estos pudieron ser la inspiracion de los cuentos infantiles mas famosas pero no tan inocentes y bastante aterradoras como los de “Caperucita Roja´´o “Hansel y Grettel ´´; la primera devorada por un lobo, ( como las niñitas nordicas, victimas del ritual de “Uturbur´´ ), y los segundos casi devoradas por una bruja, que bien puede reflejar una sacerdotisa pagana druida, ya sea celta o germana.
Bing Translator translates this comment as:
In Discovery Cannel, makes it more or less, four (4) years, also had shown a documentary where the arquelogos and forensic doctors suspected or claimed on the possibility that the Galatas, which were Celts or installed in Asia minor, Gauls (today Turkey asiatica) two centuries before Christ, have practised canivalismo, together with human sacrifices.
I agregaria as indication or evidence, the children’s stories about witches or “talking” wolves, cannibalism, which in turn are based on oral tradition of former leyandas data; practitioners and is well known captions and traditional myths often have something (or long) of truth. ”
“Relatives cercanos´´, not to say”gemelos´´, brothers of the Celtic are the Germans and therefore are ancient Scandinavian, also known as Normans or Viking.”" According to arqueologos and Swedish historians, these solian last sacrifice girls just born or very few days of life, is practised female infanticide. One of the methods of inmolacion suffered by these small innocent, was the “Uturbur´´ Ritual (if wrong I remember), and to leave in the interperie the niñitas, and letting them die consistia: hunger, thirst, cold, or devoradas by wild animals… clearly: EL LOBO (the wolf).”
Rituals such as these could be the inspiration of the children’s stories more famous but not so innocent and quite frightening as the of “little Riding Hood Roja´´o”Hansel and Grettel”; the first devorada by a Wolf (such as the nordicas niñitas, victims of the ritual of”Uturbur´´”), and almost devoradas seconds by a witch, which may well reflect a Druid, pagan Priestess Celtic or Germaine.” ”
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I surmise that your basic premise is that many horrific practices of our ancient ancestors that we may or may not understand from archeological evidence are often ascribed to later cultures, i.e. Celtic or Germanic. I think you are also arguing that such horrific practices such as cannibalism, human sacrifice and infanticide did actually take place. I also interpret your comment as meaning that many modern myths may actually have a grain of truth in them as regards such horrors; little red riding hood, for example.
I do hope that for our English speaking readers I have managed to summarise your comment fairly accurately. My own response is that without doubt some practices that today we would find morally unacceptable did, in fact, take place in our distant past. The existence of the slain bog men is one such proof. I also feel that we have lost so much meaning in losing continuity with our distant past, that we are almost unable to judge or comment on the meanings of these practices of our ancestors.
I’m sure there are many acts of atrocity that are commited today (inside slaughterhouses for example), that without documentary evidence, future generations relying only on archeological evidence may have trouble properly understanding.
There is so much to learn..
Gary
Nice website. I’ll be back.