Epona.net | Y Ceffyl Du

Back from vacation; Research update

Oct 012008

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve written a real post (that wasn’t an article snippet or a copy of a joke). My coauthor was in town for a week, so I wasn’t on here much.

We spent a lot of time at UNC’s Davis Library Epigraphy Room. What a wonderful resource! The Epigraphy Room has complete sets of two of the sources we rely on for inscriptions: L’Année épigraphique and Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). There was also a copy of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. We were like kids in a candy store. Great fun.

We also had some excellent disucssions on the role of the horses and equids within the scope of our research. I’ll write more about that as the research progresses.

Chariot find at settlement site

Archaeology, Epona.net No Responses »

Sep 042008

Archaeologists have uncovered a small – but vital – clue to the use of a chariot in Moray. The presence of a chariot (or peices for one) indicates the high status of the people who lived 2,000 years ago in the two roundhouses currently being excavated. A few Roman coins were also found.

Remembering an Exhibit

Epona.net, Writing No Responses »

Aug 012008

A while back, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History had an exhibit about Stabiae, called In Stabiano. (Stabiae was a small resort town near Pompeii and Herculaneum when Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E.) The exhibit was widely advertised on television and online. I managed to be in Washington, DC, on a business trip shortly after the exhibit opened in 2005.

The Smithsonian is supposed to be one of the best museums in the U.S. The Natural History Museum was my favorite place when I was little.

I was very disappointed. The artifacts were shown in a sterile environment. The exhibit’s focus was centered around showing the architecture and the amazing quality of the finds. I only remember one plaque that mentioned the name of the person who owned the villa and it briefly mentioned the person’s name, status, family members, and a little about where he was stationed. If that information is known then why wasn’t it used to create a connection for the viewing audience?

How can people relate to artifacts without knowing how the artifacts were used and *who* used them? The exhibit did not tell a story; it was a sterile display of items to be admired like artwork devoid of cultural context.

The exhibit book, on the other hand, is fantastic and makes up for the disappointment from the exhibit itself. My advice? Skip the exhibit and get the book.

Dinner with friends -- good times

Archaeology, Epona.net No Responses »

Jul 212008

There are days like Sunday where so much happens it makes your head spin.

I met two friends at Barnes and Noble in the evening. We sat in the book store for three hours taking about Roman archaeology, giggling over the “research” (or severe lack thereof) in several books, griping about lack of citations, and admiring sketches and artwork.

One of my friends is working on a romance novel that has steamy sex scenes. She had out copies of the Kama Sutra, Taoist books on sex, and others along similar lines. And interesting discussions ensued — not well suited for posting on a blog.

We went to dinner at a really good Chinese restaurant called Red Lotus. It was excellent — and very reasonable. They have the best calimaria I’ve tasted. I don’t remember what I had (beef with wide noodles and sauce with some veggies). One of my friends recommended the dish. Wow. Good stuff.

Fabulous evening with good friends. I really had fun.

Aside: I picked up a book called Celtic Animal Symbols because it has a section on horses that mentions Epona. It might be useful to review books that have articles on Epona in them: pointing out what is wrong, what is unsupported, and what is borrowed from another mythology. The reviews would not be of the entire book; rather it would focus on information related to Epona.

Blogging in France

Epona.net No Responses »

Nov 242007

Blogging in France did not go as expected. I didn’t have consistent internet access, unfortunately. At the cottage we had an internet connection that was set up using an extended wifi antenna. The router was connected to the antenna with a wire through the living room window. For the first few days at the cottage, there was a windstorm. When we tried to connect the wifi network, the window kept blowing open. It was propped closed with a stack of heavy books. The wind still blew it open several times.

Did I mention that it was friggin’ cold outside with the wind? I was sleeping in the living room, and the thought of the window blowing open was um… not delightful. The sofa bed where I slept was directly across from the window. Burr.

The house itself was lovely. We were lucky to have such a place to stay. It is centrally located in the middle of the first Epona cluster (Aedui/Sequani territory primarily) in Bourgogne.

I’ll post things here and catch up as I recover from jet lag and delayed posts…

Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

Epona.net No Responses »

Nov 152007

In 10 minutes, I’m leaving work for a trip that I have been anticipating for months: I’m going to France on a research trip with my coauthor. We’re meeting in Paris and then will be staying at a house owned by an archaeology professor I know (awesome lady). This house is on an Epona find spot.

So many things have come together for this trip. I’m so excited. My friends probably want to smack me because I’ve been writing things like “bouncy bouncy bouncy” all day. It’s like a dream come true having a second opportunity to visit France. The first time was also a research trip — six years ago.

I’m going to try and blog the experience while I’m there and upload pictures. It’s not the prettiest time of year to travel, but it will be like coming home to Aedui territory.

Bouncy bouncy off to the airport!

Recent Books on Equine Archaeology/History

Epona.net, Horses, Writing No Responses »

Nov 082007

I’ve been looking for current publications on equine archaeology and history. You would be surprised what is out there! I found four books that covered proceedings from the International Council for Archaeozoology meeting in Durham, UK, 2002. It sounds like it would have been an awesome conference.

Equids in time and space, edited by Marjan Mashkour (2006). From the description: “There are methodological as well as historical chapters dealing with problems ranging from the earliest purported evidence for domestication, to the role of horses in the classical periods; the geographic scope is also vast, spanning Portugal to China, and Siberia to Africa.”

The First Steps of Animal Domestication edited by J D Vigne, J Peters and D Helmer (2005).

Behaviour Behind Bones: The zooarchaeology of ritual, religion, status and identity, edited by Sharyn Jones O’Day, Wim Van Neer and Anton Ervynck (2003).

The books below were also listed in the Oxbow Books catalog, but were not ones I would purchase just yet. Sorely tempted by both of the books, but not by their prices. Yikes.

Horses and Humans: the Evolution of Human/Equine Relationships edited by Sandra L. Olsen, Susan Grant, Alice M. Choyke, and LÃ¡szlÃ³ Bartosiewicz (2000).

An Atlas for Celtic Studies: Archaeology and Names in Ancient Europe and Early Medieval Britain and Brittany by John T Koch, in collaboration with Raimund Karl, Antone Minard and Simon O’Faolain. ($100) An Atlas of Celtic Studies is a unique and comprehensive reference book that presents a huge amount of information on what is known about the Celts in Europe in the form of detailed maps. It combines thousands of Celtic place- and group names, as well as Celtic inscriptions and other mappable linguistic evidence.

While I was looking through books that have recently been published, I also checked the ones I have on the book case.

Early Riders: Beginnings of Mounted Warfare in Asia and Europe by Robert Drews (2004). “In this controversial study of when, where and why military riding first took place, Drew refutes and disproves claims that date back to c.4000 BC. Instead, he presents evidence that, even though accomplished riding was in existence much earlier, military riding did not take place until c.900 BC.” http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/40499

The Horse in the Ancient World by Ann Hyland (2003). Ann Hyland is best known for her studies of the horse in the Middle Ages but here she looks further back to the ancient world of Babylonia, Assyria, Persia, Egypt and Greece.

Equus: The Horse in the Roman World by Ann Hyland (1990). Published by Yale University Press.

Training the Roman Cavalry: Ars Tactica by Ann Hylander (1993). Published by Sutton Pub Ltd.

Plus about five other books on the Roman cavalry tactics, equipment, units and placement throughout the Roman empire.

Cites for Northern Gaul

Epona.net No Responses »

Oct 302007

A friend of mine asked about book recommendations for Northern Gaul. I pulled together a brief bibliography and sent it to her. I’m also including it here in case other people find it useful.

Cunliffe, B. W. (1988) Greeks, Romans, and barbarians : Spheres of interaction. New York, Methuen. ISBN 0416019919

Derks, Ton. (1998) Gods, Temples and Religious Practices: The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in Roman Gaul. Amsterdam Archaeological Studies 2. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1998. Pp. x, 325. ISBN 90-5356-254-0. F85/$39.50.
Review: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1999/1999-10-34.html

Green, M. (1996) The Celtic World. Routledge. Searchable content on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Celtic-World-Miranda-Green

Hamilton, E. G. (1996) Technology and Social Change in Belgic Gaul. Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology/Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/50293

Macready, S. (1983) Cross-Channel Trade between Gaul and Britain in the pre-Roman Iron Age. London: Society of Antiquaries of London. 232p, 89 illus, 21 figs ISBN-13: 978-0-85431-239-9 ISBN-10: 0-85431-239-0

Roymans, N., editor From the Sword to the Plough: Three Studies on the Earliest Romanisation of Northern Gaul. Distributed for Amsterdam University Press. 260 p. 8-3/4 x 12 1996 Series: (A-AAS) Amsterdam University Press – Amsterdam Archaeological Studies

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/15545.ctl

Google books preview: http://books.google.com/books?id=6faemfaETroC&dq=northern+gaul&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=Kd5rkO1r1e&sig=bIHq7JAnLj5sYT4P4RChzohY4U0#PPA1,M1

Watson, A. (2007?) Religious Acculturation and Assimilation in Belgic Gaul and Aquitania from the Roman Conquest until the end of the Second Century CE. ISBN-13: 978-1-4073-0036-8 ISBN-10: 1-4073-0036-9 http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/81039

Wells, P. S. (1999) The Barbarians Speak: how the conquered peoples shaped Roman Europe. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691058717

Wells, P. S. (2001) Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythians: Archaeology and Identity in Iron Age Europe. Duckworth Publishers. Searchable content on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Celts-Germans-Scythians-Archaeology

Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythians: Archaeology and Identity in Iron Age Europe (Duckworth Debates in Archaeology) (Duckworth Debates in Archaeology) by Peter S. Wells (Paperback – Aug 20, 2001)

Woolf, G. (1998) Becoming Roman : the origins of provincial civilization in Gaul. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521414458 (hardback) 0521789826 (paperback)

This site (compiled by Ton Derks) has some excellent links:

http://www.unc.edu/awmc/toc.html

French resources

Faudet, I. (1993) Les Temples de Tradition Celtique en Gaule Romaine Paris, Editions Errance. ISBN 2877720748

Arabians and Numidians

Epona.net, Horses No Responses »

Oct 052007

Arabian horse owners often talk about the Arabian horse as being one of the oldest breeds. And they are, thanks in large park to the work of the Bedouin tribes preserving this lovely breed and recording the pedigrees.

What if we turned the clock back two thousand years? Would someone like Caesar or Hannibal recognize the modern Arabian? I think they both would, because the ancestor of the Arabian horse, the Numidian or Libyan horse, was used by both generals in their respective cavalries.

Hannibal used these horses with great success during the Second Punic Wars. The Romans initially were not fond of the Numidian breed because it did not meet a Roman ideal of equine confirmation. Romans preferred a stocky, muscular horse, preferably taller. Horses at that time were shorter then they are today: a tall horse would be 15 hands high (~60 inches, 4 inches per “hand,” the average width of a man’s hand). For example, staff at the International Museum of the Horse, learned that 12 hands was the idea height for a horse driving a reconstruction of the Wetwang chariot, an Iron Age chariot uncovered in East Yorkshire, U.K.

The Carthagian general Hannibal discovered that the Arab’s smaller stature, slighter build, and large eyes made them ideal for charge and retreat tactics on the battlefield. He brought 1,950 African cavalry, mostly Numidian, through Iberia and over the Alps into Italia, during the Second Punic Wars (218-204 BCE). Ann Hyland, in Equus: Horse in the Roman World illustrates the important role this breed played during successful cavalry charges:

While Hannibal’s massed bridled and heavy cavalry, mostly Spaniards, took the brunt of a head-on charge, the Numidians on their smaller, nimbler horses and using their charge and disperse tactics fought on the blanks, being most effective at Ticinus where they swamped the Roman’s Gallic cavalry, taking a heavy toll with their harrying, relying on their short daggers once javelins were spent. With an eye to the main chance, the Celts in the Roman pay then deserted to Hannibal, boosting his cavalry to over 10,000. At Trebia the Numidians were again the most useful of Hannibal’s cavalry. Employed on the flanks of the army they used their favourite hit, run and re-form, recharge and harry techniques, terrifying the Romans. At Trasimene, when the trap was sprung, Hannibal’s cavalry pursued the cornered Romans, driving them down into the waters of the lake where they were killed or drowned. (Hyland, 1990: 174-5)

The Roman’s also learned to rely on Numidian cavalry. In 125 BCE, the Romans, engaged with the Gauls in Arles, were bailed out by a Numidian cavalry force attached to the legions. The modern day Carmargue pony is said by French writers to have descended from indigenous stock crossed with the Numidian horses of the auxiliaries. (Hyland, 1990: 24)

How is this ancient breed related to the modern Arabian? The best concrete evidence of how similar the modern Arab is with the ancient Numidian breed is from a horse skull found in Newstead, Scotland. Hyland cites James Curle’s 1911 book, A Roman Frontier Post and its People, where he describes 14 hands high horses found with the auxiliaries in Newstead, Scotland. The front index measurements of one of the slender-limbed horses was almost identical to the skull of an Arabian mare (Jerboa) in the British Museum:

Length in mm: Jerboa–368; Newstead–372
Width in mm: Jerboa–205; Newstead–201

References

Hyland, Ann, and John Mann. 1990. Equus: the Horse in the Roman World. B.T. Batsford, Ltd., London.

All the queens’ horses : the role of the horse in British history. 2003. Harmony House Publishers, Goshen, KY.

Book on Belgic Gaul and Aquitania

Epona.net No Responses »

Sep 012007

On a mailing list I’m on, one of the members posted a notice about the following book. It looks pretty interesting. Not too terribly expensive. I’m going to see if I can get the book through interlibrary loan. I am very interested in seeing the discussions on temple design.

From the Oxbow Web site (UK version):

Religious Acculturation and Assimilation in Belgic Gaul and Aquitania from the Roman Conquest until the end of the Second Century CE
by Alasdair Watson

This volume sets out to prove that, far from being simply assimilated or subsumed into Roman religion, Gallic rites continued, and continued to be the basis of Gallo-Roman religion. The number of these Gallic beliefs and customs which continued after the Roman Conquest is examined and it is demonstrated that, for example, Celtic sanctuary design was the basis for Gallo-Roman temple design and that Gallo-Roman religion continued to be Gallic as well as Roman. 260p b/w illus (BAR 1624 2007) 9781407300368 Pb Â£38.00

Older Entries

Back from vacation; Research update

Chariot find at settlement site

Remembering an Exhibit

Dinner with friends -- good times

Blogging in France

Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

Recent Books on Equine Archaeology/History

Cites for Northern Gaul

Arabians and Numidians

Book on Belgic Gaul and Aquitania

Gallery

Meta

Search

Ceffyl on Twitter

Recent comments

Subscribe