VERRACOS - CELTIC ART IN PENINSULA IBERICA
... ABOUT BOARS AND MORE

Celtia, Julia Manach

When searching for a post I was writing to Maruadiat es Gaul group, dealing with Celtiberia and Celtic migrations, I came across the granite sculptures of quadrupeds that we can find in the Spanish provinces of Avila, Salamanca, and Zamora, but also in the North of Portugal and Galicia. I am not pretending it's a deep, interesting subject, but I find the sculptures amusing and even intriguing… I don't expect anyone to share this sudden fascination for pigs, more precisely verracos (another word for the more popular berrão, a boar), but here I am, trying to find more on the subject, and most precisely, what was their function.

In this context, the name verraco actually covers some different quadruped species, such as boars, bears, and bulls. The most known sculpture of this type in Portugal is the so-called Porca de Murça (Murça's sow).

The local people have a legend about this sow. Some think it's a bear. The zoomorphic sculpture would be some sort of memorial for all the bears they had to kill for saving their beehives. All this long before the moors, they say. Another storyteller reports that "In the middle of the village square, facing the town hall, one can see a stone block, which can be a pig, a bear, a hippopotamus or an elephant (!!!).

Back to the VIIIth century, this part of the country was haunted by wild-boars and bears. The village landlords, together with the country people, chased them furiously. But among the animals, there was a ferocious, corpulent bow (some say it was a she-bear), that always managed to escape. The local hero, after many tricks, and a great amount of courage, could finally free the country of this "uninvited guest."

The monument would be then a tribute to his courage. We know the legends where the hero kills the beast; we have Hercules, Cuchulainn and many others. More curious stories are connected with this Murça's verraco. In the XIXth century, they found out marks of red painting in the beast. According to the local tradition, it seems that it was used in judgments, to certify the culpability or innocence of an accused. The red was for guilty. Lately, they would paint the boar in red or blue, depending of the political party ruling. So we have the saying "Trustworthy as the sow from Murça"... she would change color very easily.

Even if these popular stories are interesting, and they could explain this particular piece, they don't explain the great number of sculptures that spread in the north and center of the Peninsula, more precisely, in the areas once occupied by Celtic peoples (mainly the Vettones, Vaccaei, Carpetani and Varduli in Spain and the Seurri and Zoelae in Portugal). Needless to say, scholars themselves suggest quite different explanations and functions for the granite zoo (some of the pieces are even found together, by groups). The more current theories are:

• The figure had a function of protection. They were some sort of magical guardians of the cattle and sheep, protecting them from evil.
• They acted as landmarks, they would limit a territory among the Celtic tribes, they were termini entities. They could also act as a sign for paths to herding.
• Their presence in necropolis or near them would suggest a funerary cult. Some of these verracos have Latin inscriptions, which leads that this sort of rite survived the Roman times.
• They were fecundity symbols.

More globally, they were part of a pagan belief, a zoolatry. They were venerated as sacred. They could also be ex votos, offerings to a divinity. I also read about being a kind of totem, in parallel with shamanic beliefs.

Either we accept one of those explanations or we combine some of them, the symbolic charge of these monuments cannot be dismissed. We know from mythological history how the bull was a fascinating iconographic symbol in ancient times, under different peoples. This symbol can still be found nowadays in the controversial bullfights of Peninsula Iberica or Picasso's imaginarium on the Minotauro.


Main source : Religiões da Lusitânia, by J. Leite de Vasconcelos, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda

THE EGYPTIAN BUILDING MANIA

Egypt, Onions Hatshepsut

Among the most honored of professions in ancient Egypt was that of architect, or Chief of Works. This was the man (all the cases we know of were men) who oversaw the plans for building and constructing royal tombs, temples, pyramids, and other important edifices of the Egyptian ages.

Examples of men who filled this role include Imhotep, circa 2650 BCE (who was actually revered as being at least semi-divine until the Late Period, although some of this reverence may also be due to his status as physician and all-round polymath). Imhotep presided over the buiding of Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara.

We can also include Amenhotep son of Hapu, circa 1360 BCE, as an influential Chief of Works who was remembered long after he died, and who was deified in Ptolemeic times. He served the ruler, Amenhotep III. Senenmut, Chief of Works for Queen Hatshepsut, built Deir el-Bahari, a terraced temple. Some of his notoriety of course stems from the uncertainity of his relationship with his liege lady.

A study of the rocks that make up many of the temples, monuments, and pyramids can determine from which quarry the stone was obtained. As many of the ancient quarries were not used in the last couple millenia, studies can be now done to match up many structures with the source of the stone used to build them.

Limestone often came from caves; these quarries are located from near current-day Cairo up to the Luxor region. A very white limestone, calcite alabaster, came from open mines near Amarna. Quartz came from the eastern Cairo region, and near Aswan. Basalt could be obtained north of the Fayum oasis.

Other types of stone came from as far away as Nubia. Rose granite, important for the making of Old Kingdom obilisks, came from the Aswan region. Red sandstone was quarried near Edfu, and became incorporated into temples at Karnak, Dendera, Edfu, and other upper Egyptian locales — generally downriver of the quarry site, for ease of transport. At many of these quarries, if untouched for the past couple millenia, one can decipher the types of stone cutting tools used, and one can determine that ramps carved into base rock were used to move the stone.

Often, it appears that in order to remove excess weight, initial and rough carving of blocks of stone to be used for statuary would be done before shipment away from the quarry site.

Some types of stone were obtained out in the desert, to be hauled for miles to the Nile. Sleds with runners were used for this purpose.

Very few construction plans survive, although a couple do, indicating that architectural and construction pre-planning, as one might expect, was indeed important.

References:

The Triumviral period in southern Gaul was an important time for Romanization not only in Gaul but also in the entire Roman Empire. Until the Augustan age, the landscape of southern Gaul was still characterized primarily by oppida and rather dispersed tribal organizations. Although Greek colonies were set up in areas in Gaul such as Massilia, the Greeks were not as adamant as spreading their culture throughout Gaul as the Romans were. Prior to the fifties and Caesar's conquest, much of the areas of southern Gaul remained essentially non-Greek, and according to Charles Ebel, "[T]he Greeks did not have an inclination to Hellenize, which is in marked contrast to the Roman's sometimes almost missionary zeal to Romanize" (572). The rapid amount of change seen throughout the region during this time is surely remarkable and there was a large portion of social and political restructuring that allowed the area to become an extension of Italy.

Although the archaeological record of Roman economic and cultural influence is scarce, there is the famous milestone from southern Gaul marking the twentieth mile south of Narbonne on Domitian Way, which was set up around 118 BCE. This appears to be the only Latin inscription prior to the Triumviral Period, and only a few more are dated within the Triumviral Period. In his defense of Fonteius, Cicero provides an example of the Roman view of the isolation of the Transalpine province, calling Narbo a bastion of defense against the threatening Gauls. It is the great architectural monuments of the Empire that have drawn attention away from the less obvious, but these marked the important changes in Gaul during this time.

There is, however, a clear and gradually increasing volume of commercial activity dating back to the 2nd-century BC with the representation of wine trade in the area. Dressel I amphorae found in the area covers the period of time from about 130 to 20 B.C. Although the indication of wines being traded by the Romans in this area of Gaul during this time, it is not an indication of Romanization in Transalpine Gaul. The Gauls imported Italian wine for their own, Gallic, reasons and not because they were adopting the Roman lifestyle. As Andre Tchernia points out, "the way the Gauls used wine was altogether alien, and even shocking, to Roman practice" (Ebel, 575). We see more evidence of this taken from Diodorus Siculus in which he states,

"Being inordinately fond of wine, they gulp down what the merchants bring them quite undiluted. They have a furious passion for drink and get altogether beyond themselves, becoming so drunk that they fall asleep or lose their wits."

(Diodorus Siculus, History of the World V.2)

It is not until after 30 B.C. that we find the first great Roman monuments in which a new level of Romanization begin to show up along the Gaulish countryside. A few examples of which are the triumphal arch and the tomb monument at Glanum, the temple known as the Maison Carree at Nimes, and large warehouse facilities at Narbonne and Arles. Later, but still in the early empire, we find the triumphal arch and theater at Orange and the amphitheaters at Mimes and Arles.

But how did such a change take place so quickly? There had to be political, cultural, and psychological changes prior to the Augustan age and would best be found in the Triumviral Period. The presence of Roman colonies throughout Gaul by sheer transfer made the province more Roman, but in addition they provided ready examples of how the ruling class lived and worked, as well as living illustrations of the advantages of being Roman. It was here that social mobility and cultural change worked effectively, converting southern Gaul into a region that was, by Pliny's day, "more truly Italy than a Roman province."

Primary source:

"Southern Gaul in the Triumviral Period: A critical Stage of Romanization," Ebel, Charles. The American Journal of Philology (1988) 572-590.

ANCIENT TRASTEVERE PORT TO BECOME A PARKING LOT
Third century Trastavere warehouses near the Tiber soon to be topped by a 200-car parking lot

Cornellia Cornelius, Rome

THE STARS ARE TWINKLING!
...THE MIRROR OF EARTH AND SKY
Babylon, Caileadair Etana

The Celestia group in Babylon has been growing quite nicely and getting more content in place. Some of our wonderful members have taken on positions in the group (a deep thanks from yours truly! and *hint hint* there are other positions open *s*). The lovely Miss Vee has taken on the task of Sky Steward. Jonus Hasdrubal is our very talented and warm-hearted Diviner. Dahhhh-link Neima Nebet is our Cultural Chronicler. Last, but not least, our LoreMaster is Aurora Inca.

Club Celestia is rockin' like a supernova with a round of dancin' and drinkin' (the gentlemen have really been amazing the ladies with their smooth moves!). Jocasta Chabrias is keeping us up to speed with astronomy news. Trivia has started over in the Star Arena. We'd love to hear about your own personal skywatching experiences over in Up Close and Personal.

Its a big universe and there's plenty of room for more stars! So, if you've ever wanted to explore the sublime concept of "As Above, So Below" or if you are interested in the starry skies and the way humanity has been fascinated with them over the ages please come by and join us! All are welcome! :)

by Caileadair Etana
Celestia's StarKeeper

OVERHEARD AT THE GREAT HALL......
Eoghain Cumhaill With the approach of Imbolc it can mean only one thing, that Beltainne is just around the corner! The Fianna continue prepare for the spring muster and the return to the forests of Celtia. Join the Fianna today and relive the days of Fionn MacCumhaill and the famous warrior poets of Ireland. New boards have been added discussing Ancient Gaelic Martial Arts as well as The Great Hall where fennidh can discuss activities of the group in real time. As Beltainne approaches great things are in store, so choose to live the life of adventure and become a member of the Fianna today!