By J.S. Dunn
Theories change
over time in archaeology as with other disciplines. The 19th century
emphasis on the Mediterranean and Egypt as the cradle-of-everything, given that
was the region where most early digs occurred, is shifting as more digs are
conducted in northern Europe relative to exploration in the 18th and
19th century. Sometimes it is easier to dig in your own back yard,
for various reasons beyond the scope of this piece.
A remote corner
of Scotland provides the latest major discovery. First, some background. In the Isles, experts
like Cunliffe at Oxford had already emphasized the importance of pre-Roman
culture. For example, the Isles' natives knew how to survey and build straight
roads between two points, and they had organized settlements with defensive
walls, and all happened well before the southern area of Prydain (Britain)
was forcefully annexed to Rome's Iron Age empire. It is also accepted that the
Newgrange or Bru na Boinne complex in Ireland predates the Pyramids (and
Stonehenge).
The Isles were
not a cultural backwater waiting for rescue by Rome or anyone. The Neolithic
cultures who built great passage tombs had connected very early (well prior to
3000 BCE) by marine trade to many areas of the Continent. Irish gold jewelry
set the fashion from ca. 2500 BCE onward as attested by pieces found all over
northern Europe. The Isles' early smelting of copper in southwest Ireland
radically changed the megalithic culture along the Atlantic coasts. This change
is portrayed in Bending The Boyne. With bronze smelting (1 part tin, 9
parts copper) from tin in Wales and Cornwall, the Isles became the innovators
in weapons and bronze metallurgy for over a thousand years, roughly 2000 BCE to
600 BCE when iron weapons and tools took over. During this time frame and up to
what is considered recorded history* the Isles supplied tin for bronze to the
Continent and made superior finished metal goods. Cornish tin may have equipped
warriors at Troy with bronze spearhead and helmets, and formed Achilles' famed
shield.
Now comes a
further, major shift from a massive new dig on Orkney off the northeast corner
of Scotland. Over prior decades, Orkney
had yielded the remarkable stone dwellings clustered at Skara Brae, the massive
passage tomb of Maes Howe roughly contemporaneous with Bru na Boinne in
Ireland, and the Eagles' Tomb burial site along with stone circles like
Stennes. All this could be seen, touched, evaluated. Much has been dated to the
Neolithic. But the biggest discovery lay buried underneath a long hill, a
ceremonial complex that archaeologists literally drove past without giving it a
second thought. Then one professional living on Orkney decided to dig at the
Ness of Brodgar, a finger of land holding the hill barrow. The size of the
complex, the skilled masonry of its walls and flagged paths, and varied
artifacts coming to light, are all supporting Orkney as a major cultural
center. Bits of painted wall and rock, and a small anthropomorphic statue, are
a first in the Isles' Neolithic. The cultural center for Prydain was at Orkney,
not Wessex, and lasted around a thousand years.
Its demise is thought to have happened around 2300 BCE ( see Bending
The Boyne). http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/oct/06/orkney-temple-centre-ancient-britain
; also http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/01/orkney-temple-predates-stonehenge-by.html#.U_YsMvldWAk
Archaeology's
theoretical shift over the past decade has yet to be fully explored in
historical fiction. Native Gaelic-speaking clans in the Isles, Iberia, and
Gaul, are still portrayed in fiction as having less sophistication or intelligence
than the militaristic Romans who arrived fairly late on the scene and wearing
sandals despite the climate! Any skills the Gaels do exhibit in certain fiction
tend unfortunately to be vague or based on occult practices by mythical
“Druids” hunting mistletoe who rule over an unskilled, unwashed populace. This is like using the imagery of Grimm's
fairy tales to portray medieval Europe's culture. This is as offensive as
calling native Americans Indians.
There's plenty
of room for different styles in fiction, yes. But less fantasy, and a lot more
accuracy, would greatly benefit readers seeking historical fiction about the
ancient Gaels. This is an instance of truth being stranger than fiction, that
little Orkney holds the remains of the largest ceremonial center found to date
in northern Europe. See also : http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/news/neolithic-temples-of-the-northern-isles.htm
*Linguist
John Koch's work on Tartessian script in southwest Iberia is pushing back the
time frame for written Gaelic. See Celtic From The West, Vol. 1 and Vol.
2, Oxbow Books (2012 and 2014).
About
The Author
