of symbolic or sacred purpose. Barrows dot the surrounding
countryside, while a roadway lined with ditches and banks
leads the way to the nearby river Avon. Debate rages as to
Stonehenge’s purpose, but it may have had a calendrical or
ceremonial function.
Bronze Age rock art chiseled on rocky outcrops in many
parts of Scandinavia as well as in the Alps includes images
of animals, people, and boats, as well as abstract spirals and
suns. Th ese carvings clearly conveyed some sort of spiritual
signifi cance. Some of the scenes found in Sweden show ritu-
als and processions.
Celts adopted ancient megalithic sites as their own; his-
torians believe that the Celts created legends of fairies and
other supernatural beings to explain the existence of these
mysterious structures. Th e Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ire-
land, was a particularly sacred site in Celtic times. Th e Celts
believed that the hill had been the capital of the mythical
people who lived in Ireland before them. On top of the hill
was a fort built during the Iron Age, perhaps around 1000
b.c.e.; this fort contained a standing stone called the Lia Fáil,
or Stone of Destiny. Celtic kings were crowned next to the Lia
Fáil, which was supposed to shriek out loud if the feet of the
rightful king rested on it.
Most ancient Europeans believed that trees had spiri-
tual signifi cance. Th e Roman historian Tacitus observed that
ancient Germanic peoples worshipped sacred groves of trees,
especially oak trees. He described a ritual in which Germans
performed annual human sacrifi ces in the sacred groves.
In Denmark and Scandinavia people selected particular
ash trees as sacred objects. Oddly shaped trees oft en gained
particular spiritual signifi cance and were believed to be the
homes of spirits.
Celtic people throughout Europe believed that certain
groves of trees were sacred. Forests sacred to the Celts of
F r a n c e i n c l u d e d t h e F o r e s t o f P a i m p o n t n e a r R e n n e s , t h e g r o v e
in the Greek colony of Massilia (modern-day Marseilles), the
Augustonemeton in the Auvergne region of central France,
the Memetacum in the Artois region of northern France, and
the Forest of Huelgoat in Brittany. Th e Roman historian Pliny
mentioned a Spanish people called the Nemetatae, named af-
ter a sacred grove in northern Spain. (One Celtic word for
a “sacred grove” was nemeton.) A Celtic group in Germany
called themselves the Nemetes, or “people of the sacred
grove.” Sacred groves left their mark on some modern place
names, such as Nemetostatio in Devon and Vernemetum in
Nottinghamshire, England.
Many rivers, wells, springs, bogs, and hot springs were
sacred to ancient European peoples. Archaeologists have
found religious artifacts at many watery locations, such as
the river Shannon in Ireland and the Seine in France. At Flag
Fen in England, Bronze Age and Iron Age people deposited
hundreds of bronze objects, as wel l as a nima l sacrifi ces, in the
bog. Across northern Europe bogs and marshes have yielded
thousands of objects that could only have been thrown in
deliberately as off erings. Th e famous Iron Age bog bodies,of which Tollund Man and Grauballe Man in Denmark and
Lindow Man in England are but three examples, were prob-
ably individuals who were sacrifi ced ritually (or perhaps ex-
ecuted for crimes) and then cast into the bogs, where the soil’s
unusual chemistry preserved the bodies remarkably well.
Hot springs were especially attractive to ancient peoples.
Th e natural hot mineral springs at Bath, in southwestern Eng-
land, were fi rst frequented by hunter-gatherers around 8000
b.c.e. Celts built a shrine to the water goddess Sulis there
around 700 b.c.e. Th is shrine became a major religious center
for Celts in the area. Romans took over the shrine around
65 c.e. Although their name for the town was Aquae Sulis
(Waters of Sulis), they replaced Sulis with the Roman god-
dess Minerva as the focus of worship. Among her many other
roles, Minerva was the goddess of medicine, and the shrine
became a destination for people hoping to regain their health.
Over the next four centuries the townspeople improved the
facilities, constructing temples and bathhouses. Other well-
known sacred hot springs existed (and still exist) at Baden-
Baden in Germany, Perrier in France, and Evian-les-Bains on
Lake Geneva.
Ancient Europeans oft en considered mountains sacred.
Celts believed that their gods lived on top of high mountains.
Islands were also sacred. Th e island of Anglesey in northern
Wales was believed to be the home and power base of Druids.
In about 60 c.e. Romans attacked the island, slaughtered theLindow Man (Iron Age, mid-fi rst century c.e.), found in Lindow
Moss, Cheshire, England, and thought to have been ritually murdered;
Germanic and Celtic human sacrifi ce took place at the site of peat
bogs, where the bodies were then thrown. (© Th e Trustees of the British
Museum)sacred sites: Europe 9030895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i903 903 10/10/07 2:30:22 PM