- Sanctuaries and Sacred Places -
Enclosure is an act of boundary. Prior to the Late Iron Age, this boundedness was
often underlined by the physical isolation of cult loci from settlement sites. The early
La Tene quadrangular enclosure at the summit of the oppidum of Zavist (Bohemia)
is one of earliest proposed cult sites to exhibit close settlement links. By the later
Iron Age, many cult loci occur within settlement contexts. Others, like Ribemont,
comprise rural foci which under the Roman hegemony develop into major cult
complexes (Roymans 1988: esp. 63).
As the Belgic examples show, the early phases at most cult enclosures, delimited
by a ditch and sometimes a palisade, had no accompanying internal structures.
Crucially, in many cases, enclosure ditches were themselves a focus of ritual activity,
serving as depositional zones. Brunaux (1988) has argued that among Celtic peoples
enclosures served much the same purpose as the 't£Il£V£<X of the Graeco-Roman
world, but this statement requires qualification. In the Celtic world, an enclosure
ditch was often not simply a delimiter of sacred space; it was itself a primary focus
of cult activity.
Weaponry, in particular, tends to be associated with ditches rather than with
formal structures. The weapons assemblages of both Gournay and St-Maur were
associated with the enclosure ditches; those of Ribemont with the ossuaries and the
ditch edge, and during the first century BC weapons were also placed in the ditch.
Formal structures occur at late stages in the history of these sites. Others may
have had no structural phase at all, for example Mceuvres (Cadoux 1984: 75) and
possibly also the poorly documented closed deposits of weapons and horse gear
such as the Masse[und at Tiefenau (de Bonstetten 1852) and Naillers (Vendee: Lejars
1989: I I).
Ditches, as depositional foci, were thus often intimately associated with cult
activity. The relative chronology of enclosed cult foci merits stressing in this context.
The perimeter - ditch and or palisade - tends to predate internal features. Later
structures, often formalizing pit groups (as at Gournay and Vendeuil-Caply) tend
to be square or rectangular in plan, culminating in square-plan [ana in the first
century BC. Brunaux (1988: 3 I) relates the form of internal structures to the plan of
the enclosure itself, again emphasizing the pre-eminence of the enclosing works.
Whether the development of formal structures is due to Mediterranean influence, as
some commentators maintain (Brunaux 1988: 32; King 1991: 223) is open to debate.
But it is clear that an essential feature of many Celtic cult loci is the act of enclosure,
less as sacred delimiter than as itself sacred space.
SPACE AND SYMBOLISM
Our understanding of the beliefs which structured the organization of sacred space
among Celtic peoples is very uncertain. But the characteristics of cult sites allow us
to see some underlying principles at work, if not the reasons for them.
For example, many Celtic cult sites have east-facing entrances. This feature is
by no means confined to sacred sites, but the frequent occurrence of easterly orienta-
tion suggests it was a symbolic referent informing spatial delimitation in many
contexts. Posidonius, who says the K£A. 'tOt revere the gods by turning to the right459