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Carnyx
The carnyx (pl.: carnyces) is a wind instrument that was common in Celtic cultures during the Iron Age, between c. 200 BC and c. 200 AD. It is a type of trumpet made of bronze with an elongated S shape, held so that the long straight central portion was vertical and the short mouthpiece end section and the much wider bell were horizontal in opposed directions. The bell was styled in the shape of the head of an open-mouthed boar or other animal.
The Celts used the carnyx in warfare, probably to incite troops to battle and to intimidate opponents, as Polybius recounts. The instrument's significant height allowed it to be heard over the heads of the participants in battles or ceremonies.
The word carnyx is derived from the Gaulish root carn- or cern-, meaning 'antler' or 'horn', and the same root of the name of the god Cernunnos. It is cognate with the Welsh corn and carn.[failed verification]
In Iron Age Britain, animal symbolism deliberately conveys aggression and ferocity, with examples including a boar on the Witham Shield, the snouted Deskford carnyx in Scotland and the dragon pair sword scabbard from the River Thames.
There is evidence to suggest that the carnyx would be held by a chieftain, as shown by a potential Gaulish king Bituitos figure.
In 2004, archaeologists discovered a first-century-BC Gallic pit at Tintignac in Corrèze, France 45°20′00″N 1°45′30″E / 45.3333°N 1.7582°E). The deposit contained more than 500 fragments of metal objects, including seven carnyces, one of which was nearly complete. Prior to this discovery, fragments of only five carnyces had been found, in modern-day Scotland, France, Germany, Romania, and Switzerland. Four of the carnyces had boar's heads, the fifth appears to be a serpent-like monster; they appear to represent a ritual deposit dating to soon after the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Tintignac finds enabled some fragments found in northern Italy decades before to be identified in 2012 as coming from a carnyx.
The first example found in Britain was dredged from the River Witham at Tattershall Ferry (53°05′23″N 0°12′53″W / 53.08981°N 0.21462°W), Lincolnshire, in 1768. It is interpreted as a votive offering consigned into the river during the Iron Age. Made from hammered sheets of bronze fastened together with tin solder, it was destroyed during an attempt to analyse the composition of the metal used to make it.
The next example found in Britain is the Deskford Carnyx, discovered at the farm of Leitchestown (57°39′31″N 2°48′15″W / 57.6585°N 2.8041°W), Deskford, Banffshire, Scotland, in 1816. Seemingly, it too was placed as a ritual deposit. Only the boar's-head bell survives. It was donated to Banff Museum, and is now on loan from Aberdeenshire Museums Service to the Museum of Scotland. The location and age of the Deskford Carnyx in the Pictish heartland suggests the instrument may have had a ceremonial use and was not used only in warfare. Before 2004 this was the best surviving example, and generally copied in earlier reconstructions.
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Carnyx
The carnyx (pl.: carnyces) is a wind instrument that was common in Celtic cultures during the Iron Age, between c. 200 BC and c. 200 AD. It is a type of trumpet made of bronze with an elongated S shape, held so that the long straight central portion was vertical and the short mouthpiece end section and the much wider bell were horizontal in opposed directions. The bell was styled in the shape of the head of an open-mouthed boar or other animal.
The Celts used the carnyx in warfare, probably to incite troops to battle and to intimidate opponents, as Polybius recounts. The instrument's significant height allowed it to be heard over the heads of the participants in battles or ceremonies.
The word carnyx is derived from the Gaulish root carn- or cern-, meaning 'antler' or 'horn', and the same root of the name of the god Cernunnos. It is cognate with the Welsh corn and carn.[failed verification]
In Iron Age Britain, animal symbolism deliberately conveys aggression and ferocity, with examples including a boar on the Witham Shield, the snouted Deskford carnyx in Scotland and the dragon pair sword scabbard from the River Thames.
There is evidence to suggest that the carnyx would be held by a chieftain, as shown by a potential Gaulish king Bituitos figure.
In 2004, archaeologists discovered a first-century-BC Gallic pit at Tintignac in Corrèze, France 45°20′00″N 1°45′30″E / 45.3333°N 1.7582°E). The deposit contained more than 500 fragments of metal objects, including seven carnyces, one of which was nearly complete. Prior to this discovery, fragments of only five carnyces had been found, in modern-day Scotland, France, Germany, Romania, and Switzerland. Four of the carnyces had boar's heads, the fifth appears to be a serpent-like monster; they appear to represent a ritual deposit dating to soon after the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Tintignac finds enabled some fragments found in northern Italy decades before to be identified in 2012 as coming from a carnyx.
The first example found in Britain was dredged from the River Witham at Tattershall Ferry (53°05′23″N 0°12′53″W / 53.08981°N 0.21462°W), Lincolnshire, in 1768. It is interpreted as a votive offering consigned into the river during the Iron Age. Made from hammered sheets of bronze fastened together with tin solder, it was destroyed during an attempt to analyse the composition of the metal used to make it.
The next example found in Britain is the Deskford Carnyx, discovered at the farm of Leitchestown (57°39′31″N 2°48′15″W / 57.6585°N 2.8041°W), Deskford, Banffshire, Scotland, in 1816. Seemingly, it too was placed as a ritual deposit. Only the boar's-head bell survives. It was donated to Banff Museum, and is now on loan from Aberdeenshire Museums Service to the Museum of Scotland. The location and age of the Deskford Carnyx in the Pictish heartland suggests the instrument may have had a ceremonial use and was not used only in warfare. Before 2004 this was the best surviving example, and generally copied in earlier reconstructions.