Gaulish history

Nous voudrions ici porter à connaissance un nouveau cas de toponyme gaulois *Lugudūnon (Montlieu, Charente-Maritime), et revenir sur l’identification erronée de deux autres cas proposés antérieurement (Saint-Lizier en Ariège et un Lugdunum cantabre en Hispania Tarraconensis).
ABSTRACT. We would like to highlight here a new case of Gallic toponym
*Lugudūnon (Montlieu, Charente-Maritime), and return to the misidentification of two other cases (Saint-Lizier in Ariege and a cantabrian Lugdunum in Hispania Tarraconensis).

In hAmanar Colighnu ach in Blédhn Nói Celthach: Athanséru. /// The Coligny Calendar and the Celtic New Year: An Analysis.

Abstract /// Edhichléthan

A linguistic and historical analysis of the names of the months of the Coligny calendar reveals that they contain information regarding the seasons they were to be situated in. This is compared to data extrapolated from historical calendars from the other Celtic countries. It is found that an archaic division of the year in two seasons, summer and winter, was shared across all the calendars examined. The equation of Gaulish Samon with Irish Samhain is questioned, examined closely and found to be false. An investigation of the arguments which have historically led to an identification of the Irish festival of Samhain and its modern counterpart All Saints' Eve with a presumed former concept of a pan-Celtic New Year found that this identification was erroneous. Instead the data strongly indicates that the start of the Celtic new year, as illustrated by the Coligny calendar, took place around the start of what is now the month of May, and was associated with what is now generally referred to as May Day celebrations, known in an Irish context as Bealtaine and in a Welsh context as Calan Haf.

Dicheltha athanséru tenguchwidhíach ach spathlamanach anúé mísé in hamanar Colighnu o delgha sí berwénu am shonchingé o ré ví sí eradháthu enís. Esi sin cosáthu can verwénu dichléthu e hamanáré 'pathlamanach e in bróié Celthach al. Esi í uríthu o bú coraníthu ran goth in blédhn en dhá sonching, sam ach gíam, tré in hamanáré hol hathéchoserwíthu. Esi pethaníthu swéian Samon Galáthach can Shamhain Éirach, esi í hathéchoserwíthu in nhes, ach esi í uríthu bis ancherth. Ré húri ensáithl urgharúé o duchíthu sí in 'pathlamanach a 'wéian lith Éirach Samhain ach ó rhan'ur haiedhnú Nesnóith Cádhé Ol can goménu cinach covuríthu Blédhn Nói Celthach Ol o bú in 'wéian-sin hancherth. Enwái gwerchalgha in berwénu in nherthach o ré chwéri dianthu in blédhn nói Celthach, co chwerlóchwíthu tar in hamanar Colighnu, am dhianthu sé och esi í in wís Mái nú, ach o bú í nesconathú can shé och esi í nú atheverthu adhí in goranach co lhitháné Dí Mái, gníthu en gleth Éirach co Vealtaine ach en gleth Comróich co Galan Haf.

It is often asserted that the term "Celtic", when used in relation to languages, culture, history or, specifically, a people or group of people, is a modern invention, is inaccurate and inappropriate, and should not be used. This essay offers a brief discussion of the historicity of the use of the term.

FR/EN
L’intervention du Service National des Fouilles à Pommeroeul (province de Hainaut, Belgique) en 1975 a permis de mettre au jour les vestiges d’une installation portuaire d’époque romaine à proximité d’une voie antique (chaussée Brunehaut) reliant Bavay à Blicquy. La fouille a néanmoins livré du matériel relatif à d’autres périodes. Les niveaux appartenant aux âges des Métaux ont été dégagés dans l’un des anciens bras de la Haine, rivière tributaire de l’Escaut. La période laténienne représente une phase tout à fait intéressante dans la chronologie du site. En effet, c’est durant La Tène finale que l’on peut véritablement parler - au vu du matériel mis au jour - d’occupation ou, du moins, d’une présence humaine liée à certaines pratiques.

Épées, fourreaux, quelques fragments de céramique et autres objets du commun, des monnaies et un demi-torque en or... Mais, sans structure connue, comment interpréter la présence de ces objets sur le site, dans le fond d’une rivière ? À l’aide d’éléments de comparaison et de remises en perspective de ce matériel, nous reposerons la question de l’occupation pré-conquête de Pommeroeul.

Abstract: The intervention of the Service National des Fouilles at Pommeroeul (Hainaut province, Belgium) in 1975 uncovered the remains of a Roman period port facility near an ancient road (Brunehaut road) linking Bavay to Blicquy. However, the excavation did provide material from other periods. The levels corresponding to the Metal Ages were excavated in one of the former arms of the Haine, a tributary river of the Scheldt. The Latenian period represents a very interesting phase in the chronology of the site. Indeed, it is during the Late Latenian period that we can truly speak - in view of the material uncovered - of occupation or, at least, of a human presence linked to certain practices.

Swords, sheaths, some ceramic fragments and other common objects, coins and a half-torque in gold.... But, without a known structure, how can we interpret the presence of these objects on the site, at the bottom of a river? With the help of elements of comparison and putting this material into perspective, we will re-examine the question of the pre-conquest occupation of Pommeroeul.

This brief overview of Gaulish religion finds indications that the Gaulish worldview was animistic in nature, without dichotomy between humans and their surrounding world. Phenomena such as thunder and lightning, and entities such as mountains and rivers appear as deities, and seem to have played an important role in people's lives.
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Úra apísan'uchel vrío in credhlói Galáthach sin o bú in hapisan'víthu Ghaláthach hanathasach en hamvith, echan dhavíon enther dhoné ach só víthu erís. Bathwía dichenorúé comíu tarthar ach lócheth, ach ganvisúé comíu bríé ach avóné co dhévisúé, ach bathwía í o ré shuvor sí ran lhúithwár en víthé in tóth.

This brief essay examines how narratives in popular culture dealing with the concept of “The Last Of The Gauls” may be presenting an inaccurate version of reality. To this end some of the evidence pertaining to the survival of the Gaulish language and culture is examined, and a proposal is made for the tentative identification of people who may be considered the last of the Gauls.

Found in Georgia, the Metcalf Stone describes the poisoning of all the Aeduimi chiefs, their families and prize war oxen at Lyon in France in the spring of 63 BC, an event that precipitated the Gallic War. It uses the same script and ideas presented in the Glozel Tablets, found near Vichy. In these tablets, nearly everyone is dead or has fled. Therefore a Gallic ship transported the scribe to America in 63 BC.

The date for the demise of the Gaulish language has been a moot point in Celtic historical linguistics since the inception of the discipline in the late 19th century. Because Gaulish text monuments are scarce and limited to Roman Age epigraphy and Late Antique glosses, most linguists have been hesitant in expanding the chronological reach of the Gaulish language beyond the actual attestations. Metalinguistic remarks by Late Antique and Early Medieval commentators talking about a late lingua Gallica are therefore generally regarded in a skeptical manner. An under-appreciated perspective on the Late Gaulish language is  offered by several classical and recent etymological studies in French and Romance dialectology. In this lecture, I want to focus on the information on the Late Gaulish language that those investigations offer and how we can reconcile this data with our other sources for Late Gaulish. I will also present some of my own findings about Late Gaulish which will be defended in my dissertation later this year.

This is the translation of the Coligny Calendar of the Druids of Gaul discovered in Coligny, France. The first translation of Year Thirteen of this western lunar calendar that measures the moon, the sun, and the stars was printed for our age in 2013-2014. Year Thirteen may now be used for the year 2032-2033.

As with much of the early history of the Roman Republic, the Sack of Rome c.390BCE is known more from legend than verifiable historical fact and is subject to several varying retellings in later Latin and Greek literature. One of the key variations, however, lies in who, precisely, is responsible for the attack on the city. The majority of accounts place the blame on a largely undifferentiated mass of Gauls, recently arrived in the Italian peninsula from beyond the Alps. This conflict gives rise to a centuries-spanning cultural enmity between Rome and the Gallic race in total. However, the unusually detailed first century BCE accounts of Livy and Diodorus both attribute the attack to the Senones, a single group of Gauls already resident in northern Italy for several generations. Since this latter version appears better supported by archaeological and linguistic evidence, it seems that cultural memories of the Sack gradually became warped, and the guilt of the Senones was transferred...

In the context of discussions about the people and the language of the area historically known as Gaul or Gallia, there are several errors of terminology that are often encountered. This paper analyses the various terms associated with this area, its people and its language, and aims to set the record straight.

It is now over a century since the Coligny calendar was discovered, during which time the intricate, complex and interrelating patterns of the various terms that are layered over its months and years have to a large degree been defined, one exception being the triple marks which have so far only been defined in part.  Here the patterns followed by the triple marks are further defined, along with the mark’s interactions with several related notations, including the special treatment of Day 21, the anomalous treatment of triplets that run over the end of a fortnight, and the EXO term.  With the definition of the pattern that governs the years, the systematic pattern underlying the distribution of the triple marks can now be finalised with certainty, rather than filling in unknown days through conflation.   
Le calendrier de Coligny fut découvert il y a plus d'un siècle, au cours duquel les modèles complexes, interconnectés, des divers termes disposés au long de ses mois et années, ont été dans une large mesure définis, à l'exception des signes triples qui jusqu'à maintenant n'ont été définis qu'en partie. Les modèles suivis par les signes triples seront ici définis de manière plus précise, ainsi que les interactions avec plusieurs notations, y compris le cas spécial du Jour 21, le cas anormal des triplettes placées à la fin d'une quinzaine, et le terme EXO. Avec la définition du modèle qui gouverne l'année, le modèle systémique qui sous-tend la distribution des signes triples peut maintenant être finalisé avec certitude, plutôt que de remplir des jours inconnus par assemblage.

At the end of the Gallic Wars in 52 BC Caesar led his legions to the hilltop town of Alesia in Burgundy; inside were over 80,000 Gallic soldiers and civilians commanded by the charismatic leader Vercingetorix. The Roman's decided to starve the defenders out in what has become one of history's most dramatic sieges. This article relates these events and describes the new museum and visitor centre which opened there in 2012.

This preventive archaeological excavation allows us to discover 4,000 square metres of this occupation created by the Gallic generations of the 3rd century BC and occupied until the 8th century AD, probably without interruption. The core of the settlement is delimited by a moat 2 to 4 m wide and 1.50 to 2.00 m deep. The part of the enclosure explored contains a single building, the construction of which probably dates back to the origins of the settlement in the 3rd century AD. The layers of sediment that gradually accumulate in the ditch provide the most important information: horse skull and ox skull, finely decorated ceramic vessels and weapons. The latter, all made of iron, are deformed by blows or twisting. They are reminiscent of the Latin shrines known elsewhere, where the abundance of weapons undoubtedly testifies to the warlike orientation of the cults. Nevertheless, the layout of the entrance to the north and not to the west, which is moreover out of line with the only recognised building, is more in keeping with the diversity of the habitat plans. Numerous examples of well-to-do dwellings are listed in the Senon territory. The presence of mutilated weapons is less frequent, but discoveries are currently multiplying, in the form of small ensembles similar to the one buried at Semoine.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Abstract: The work that we’re about to present deals with the current state of archaeological knowledge of the Region of Aquitaine, France, during Iron Age. Firstly, we will lay out the main historical lines of research of Archaeology of Late Prehistory of this territory. This will include what has been researched, as well as the deficiencies that persist to this day. Using the available archaeological information, we will talk about its palaeogeography, with special attention to its climate and environment, the cultural evolution of the different human groups, and the development of different territories and their connections during the last millennium BC. We will also explain the current state of research regarding the different ethnicities that populated this area during Iron Age II. Lastly, we will cover the impact of the arrival of Rome in the context of the occupation of the Garonne Valley, The Western Pyrenees, Ebro Valley, and The Cantabrian Region.
Keywords: Aquitaine. Iron Age. Research History. Palaeoenvironment. Cultural Development. Territory. Ethnicity.

As with much of the early history of the Roman Republic, the Sack of Rome c.390BCE is known more from legend than verifiable historical fact and is subject to several varying retellings in later Latin and Greek literature. One of the key variations, however , lies in who, precisely, is responsible for the attack on the city. The majority of accounts place the blame on a largely undifferen-tiated mass of Gauls, recently arrived in the Italian peninsula from beyond the Alps. This conflict gives rise to a centuries-spanning cultural enmity between Rome and the Gallic race in total. However , the unusually detailed first century BCE accounts of Livy and Diodorus both attribute the attack to the Senones, a single group of Gauls already resident in northern Italy for several generations. Since this latter version appears better supported by archaeological and linguistic evidence, it seems that cultural memories of the Sack gradually became warped, and the guilt of the Senones was transferred to the entire ethnic category in which they were placed. This paper aims to examine how and why this change occurred and its relationship with the rhetoric of jingoism, ethnic prejudice, and demonization in both the ancient and modern worlds.