LINDOW MAN

1. LINDOW MAN Refer to page 132-134 of textbook

2. Our sources are from • Tacitus, a Roman writer from the 1st century AD who observed and described the customs of ancient Celtic tribes. • Strabo, a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher from the 1st century AD. • Julius Caesar, a Roman politician and general (101-44BC) who recorded his observations of Celtic tribes in the records of his campaigns.

3. Briefly explain what each source says about Celtic customs • Source 10.1 (Tacitus) describes what kind of death penalty certain people received for example cowards were “plunged in the mud of marshes” • Source 10.2 discusses tribes going to a forest and offering up “a human life”. It is interesting to note that Tacitus describes victims being ‘bound with a cord’. This corroborates the evidence of many bog bodies having cords around their necks.

4. Briefly explain what each source says about Celtic customs • Source 10.3 – “This task is done by slaves who are then drowned in the lake” is further evidence of certain festivals to worship the Gods/Goddesses and times of the year involving ritual killings. • Source 10.4 – describes killings associated with “sacrifice and divination”. Human sacrifice involved swords and arrows in the back.

5. Strabo, Geography - Source 10.4 • The Romans put a stop both to these customs and to the ones connected with sacrifice and divination, as they were in conflict with our own ways: for example, they would strike a man who had been consecrated for sacrifice in the back with a sword, and make prophecies based on his death-spasms; and they would not sacrifice without the presence of the Druids. Other kinds of human sacrifices have been reported as well: some men they would shoot dead with arrows and impale in the temples; or they would construct a huge figure of straw and wood, and having thrown cattle and all manner of wild animals and humans into it, they would make a burnt offering of the whole thing

6. Source 10.5 • And according to Julius Caesar (writing c. 15 March, 44 B. C. E.) De Bello Gallico 6.16): • All the people of Gaul are completely devoted to religion, and for this reason those who are greatly affected by diseases and in the dangers of battle either sacrifice human victims or vow to do so using the Druids as administrators to these sacrifices, since it is judged that unless for a man's life a man's life is given back, the will of the immortal gods cannot be placated. In public affairs they have instituted the same kind of sacrifice. Others have effigies of great size interwoven with twigs, the limbs of which are filled up with living people which are set on fire from below, and the people are deprived of life surrounded by flames. It is judged that the punishment of those who participated in theft or brigandage or other crimes are more pleasing to the immortal gods; but when the supplies of this kind fail, they even go so low as to inflict punishment on the innocent

7. List the references in the sources that could apply to the manner of Lindow man’s death • Strangulation “hung from trees” • Bludgeoning • Throat – cutting “in the back with a sword”

8. How reliable do you think these sources are? Why? • We have the words of Classical Greek and Roman writers, usually with a political agenda, and often reporting hearsay (Strabo for instance, was repeating the observations of the earlier author Poseidonius), • Strabo's reference to arrows is especially intriguing; there's little or no archaeological data to support Celtic use of bows and arrows. • Julius Caesar account has a bias “ they even go so low as to inflict punishment on the innocent” we know from Source 10.4 the Romans were against sacrifice and divination, so we can understand why Caesar believes that the Celts are “low’ and why Caesar may have a bias against the Celts. May have suited him to paint the Celts as being barbarians to justify his battles against them • Tacitus actually observed the Celts while Strabo was hearsay.

9. How useful do you think these sources are for an understanding of Lindow man’s life and death? • The best archaeological data supporting Celtic human sacrifice is the body of the man placed in Lindow bog in the first or second century C.E. The body most (of it) is so well preserved that scientists were able to analyze his stomach contents to discover his last meal (a partially scorched grain cake). Lindow man was almost certainly a ritual sacrifice; he was strangled, hit on the head, and had his throat cut, in quick order, then surrendered to the bog. This circumstance of Lindow man’s death, corroborates the written sources in their description of ritual killings performed by the Celts and the Druids.

10. The Druids were the religious/scholar/priestly social class,