Lindow Man Was A Celtic Sacrifice
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ÐLINDOW MAN WAS A CELTIC SACRIFICE
In 1983 the remains of an ancient Celtic body was found submerged in the peat of Lindow and was given the official name of Lindow man. This 2BC to 119 AD body provided information about the ancient Celtic religion and an insight into their world. The ancient Celtics or known as Gauls or galatains was the most feared barbarians of all during the Iron Age. Not much evidence had been found about this ancient culture but the body of Lindow man and further investigation brought about awareness of this ancient civilization. Lindow man was found to have been strangled, drowned, stabbed, received numerous blows to the head and suffering horrific wounds and injuries. This was an interesting case as no other bog body had had these same inflicting wounds. So was Lindow man a human sacrifice as many archaeologists have suggested? This question has been tossed and turned many times as new evidence has disproved many theories. This essay therefore provided information to what extent is the statement true ÐLindow man was a Celtic sacrifice!
Through evidence, such as the Greek writings and the roman writing, this provides information about the ancient Celtic world. These authors such as Julius Caesar, Strabo and Diodorus all provided information about the Celts as the Celts did not read or write since they recorder their experiences and events through word of mouth and memory. However these writing can also be unreliable and biased as these the Greeks and Romans might have the information of the Celtic world wrong. Never the less these writers such as Julius Caesar told about Ðthe overseeing bloody rituals conducted by the druids. The druids were commonly written about as they were a powerful member of their tribe. These writings also reveal that the Celts lived in tribes, wore gold and love to fight and drink a lot of wine. Other writing reveal that the Celts were the most feared of all barbarians at that time.
Druids were the Celtic priest in the Iron Age and were very powerful members of their tribe who were greatly respected. They were separate from the warriors and were classified as wise men, judges, prophets and keepers of the collective memories of their tribe. Littler is known however about the druids as their traditions were passed down by word of mouth, they had no traditional writings, no major temples and were not usually for public appearance. Their job in the tribe was to pass down traditional knowledge and perform priestly functions such as rituals and sacrifices but they were also the enforcers of the law and education. They were known for their barbaric and horrid rituals of human sacrifices in lakes and other holy areas, much like Lindow man was. According the Julius Caesar Ðthe centre of Celtic beliefs was the passing of souls from one body to another. This therefore might indicate that Lindow man wasnt murder but was simply a form of a human sacrifice.
Archaeological evidence found from bogs, lakes and rivers offer information about the Celtics religious belief. Through objects made or iron and other durable material that has survived for all this time has also provided information about the Celts. This included a pair of Brass plaques that was found in1963. These pairs of plaques were decorated with human faces which in archaeologist believed were greatly respected by the Celts (as evidence in writing which stated they would cut off their enemies heads and even their ancestors to worship the skulls). This also connects with roman commentators historians who discovered a lot about the Celts religion. Romans speck of human sacrifice from the Celtics and claim that the Celts Ðrevered human heads as the head to them was a symbol of great spiritual power. also other objects that link their religious beliefs to the Celts was a Snowdon bowl which was more than likely a sacrifice to their god or goddess as this was valuable and a precious treasure to them.
The Celts main feature of their religious belief lies in the remains left behind as a sacrifice to their gods. Through sacrificing it was believed that giving their gods valuable processions would please their gods. Such possessions that were sacrificed included humans, animals, treasures, weapons and anything that was important from them or that they needed from their gods. (For example of they wanted their crops to grow they would offer a plough to other gods.) As the Celts were closely tied with the natural world they would worship their god by placing their sacrifices in sacred places such as lakes, rivers, cliffs, bushes and Boggs. Lindow man was found in a bog
Their festivals consisted of 3 main sacred festivals every year. The festival that Lindow man was thought to be involved in was known as the Beltain which was held