- Chapter Twenty-Five -
The mystery of the Gundestrup Cauldron may never fully be solved. It is possible
that south-east European craftsmen were commissioned to make a great cult-vessel
for a Celtic clientele. The cauldron could have been looted from Gaul by Teutonic
raiders, perhaps the Cimbri, and later buried by them for safety or as an offering to
their own gods (Green 1992a: 108-10; Olmsted 1979).
Vincent Megaw has pointed out (1989: 160) that the Euffigneix stone boar-god
was perhaps carved by a craftsman who was more familiar with working in wood
than in stone. There is no doubt that images of gods were made in wood, which
usually does not survive. That they may have been common during the Iron Age is
suggested by the chance preservation of these figures in waterlogged contexts (Coles
1990: 3 I 5-33). Five pinewood images of naked warriors with shields and detachable
phalli, set in a simple boat model, were found at Roos Carr in the Humber estuary:
they may date from as early as the seventh century Be. A wooden female image
dating to the first century Be comes from a wicker structure at Ballachulish, Argyll
(Green 1986a: fig. 5; Megaw and Simpson 1979: 477); and there are other stray British
figures. Oak carvings of animals, dendro-dated to 123 Be, come from a shaft at the
Viereckschanze of Fellbach-Schmiden in southern Germany (Figure 25.3) (Webster
1986a: 95; Planck 1982; Green 1992a: 96-7).
The first phase of the great healing sanctuary dedicated to Sequana, goddess of the
source of the Seine at Fontes Sequanae near Dijon, dates to the interface between the
free Celtic and Romano-Celtic periods. This primary, first century Be, phase is
represented by more than 200 wooden votives, depictions of pilgrims and the parts
of their bodies requiring a cure, which were offered to the power of the sacred spring.
Of similar date (first century Be to first century AD) are the more numerous wooden
images at Chamalieres (Puy-de-Dome), a holy place where two springs met (Deyts
1983,1985; Vatin 1969: 1°3-14). We are reminded of Lucan's statement concerning a
sacred grove near Marseilles, encountered by Julius Caesar's army:
The images were stark, gloomy blocks of unworked
timber, rotten with age, whose ghastly pallor
terrified their devotees.
(Pharsalia IlI.412-17)
We are unable positively to name or identify these pre-Roman gods whose images
were carved in stone, wood or bronze because this iconography is unsupported by
inscriptions or documents, although their accompanying symbolism may sometimes
suggest their possible function.
Ritual Behaviour
It is clear that iconography is by no means the sole evidence for religious expression
in the pre-Roman period. Discussion of ritual practices is properly the remit of
Chapter 23 but here it is useful to allude briefly to recurrent cult activity which
implies a relationship with specific elements of the supernatural world. Perhaps the
most prominent iron age ritual behaviour concerns the deposition of prestigious
objects, often of a martial nature, which were frequently buried on dry land or in
watery contexts. These implements and weapons were often deliberately bent or