Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-06T05:10:07.528Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Carnyx in Iron Age Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2011

Abstract

This paper reviews the evidence for the carnyx, the Iron Age animal-headed horn, in its European setting. The starting point is the head from Deskford, north-east Scotland: the results of recent work are described and a revised dating proposed. Excavations at the findspot strongly indicate it was a votive deposit. The nature of the wider European evidence and its biases are reviewed, to provide a firmer basis for commenting on the date and distribution of the instrument. Finally, attempts to reconstruct the carnyx are described.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albrethsen, P H 1987. ‘Carnyx. En keltisk krigstrompet som møntmotiv og romersk sejrstrofæ’, Nordisk Numismatisk Unions Medlemsblad, 5, 102–23Google Scholar
Alfoldi, A 1937. ‘Zum Panzerschmuck der Augustusstatue von Primaporta’, Römische Mitteilungen, 52, 4863Google Scholar
Allen, D 1958. ‘Belgic coins as illustrations of life in the late pre-Roman Iron Age of Britain’, Proc Prehist Soc, 24, 4363CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D 1973. ‘Temples or shrines on Gaulish coins’, Antiq J, 53, 71–4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amy, R, Duval, P-M, Formigé, J, Hatt, J-J, Piganiol, A, Picard, C and Picard, G-C 1962. L'Arc d'Orange, ParisGoogle Scholar
Armit, I 1997. Celtic Scotland, LondonGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, R J C and Piggott, S 1955. ‘The Torrs chamfrein’, Archaeologia, 96, 197235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, D 1995. ‘A Gaul from Egypt’, in Sites and Sights of the Iron Age (eds Raftery, B, Megaw, V and Rigby, V), 13, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Behn, F 1954. Musikleben im Altertum und Frühen Mittelalter, StuttgartGoogle Scholar
Bendinelli, G nd. Un Arco imperiale eretto in ‘Augusta Taurinorum’ nel Io secolo dopo Cristo, TurinGoogle Scholar
Bergquist, A and Taylor, T 1987. ‘The origin of the Gundestrup cauldron’, Antiquity, 61, 1024CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beswick, P, Megaw, M R, Megaw, J V S and Northover, P 1990. ‘A decorated late Iron Age torc from Dinnington, South Yorkshire’, Antiq J, 70, 1633CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, M C and Coulston, J N C 1993. Roman Military Equipment, LondonGoogle Scholar
Bol, P C 1989. Forschungen zur Villa Albani. Katalog der antiken Bildwerke I, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Boube-Piccot, C 1966. ‘Trophée damasquiné sur une statue impériale de Volubilis’, Bulletin d'Archéologie Marocaine, 6, 189278Google Scholar
Brailsford, J 1975. Early Celtic Masterpieces from Britain in the British Museum, LondonGoogle Scholar
Brilliant, R. 1974. Roman Art from the Republic to Constantine, LondonGoogle Scholar
Caló, Levi A 1952. Barbarians on Roman Imperial Coins and Sculpture, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Campbell, D M and MacGillivray, T 2000. ‘Acoustics of the carnyx’, in Hickmann et al. (eds), 357–63Google Scholar
Caprino, C, Colini, A M, Gatti, G, Pallottino, M and Romanelli, P 1955. La Colonna di Marco Aurelio, RomeGoogle Scholar
Coles, J M and Simpson, D D A (ed) 1968. Studies in Ancient Europe. Essays presented to Stuart Piggott, LeicesterGoogle Scholar
Connolly, P 1991. ‘The Roman fighting technique deduced from armour and weaponry’, in Roman Frontier Studies 1989: Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (eds Maxfield, V A and Dobson, M J), 358–63, ExeterGoogle Scholar
Cosma, V 1966. ‘Archäologische musikalische Funde in Rumänien’, Beitrage zur Musikwissenschaft, 8, 314Google Scholar
Couissin, P 1927. ‘Les armes Gauloises figurées sur les monuments Grecs, Étrusques et Romains’, Revue Archeologique, 5th ser, 25, 301–25Google Scholar
Coulston, J C and Phillips, E J 1988. Hadrian's Wall west of the North Tyne, and Carlisle, Corpus of Sculpture of the Roman World, Great Britain, I, fasc I, LondonGoogle Scholar
Crawford, M H 1974. Roman Republican Coinage, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Creed, J 2000 ‘Reconstructing the Deskford carnyx’, in Hickmann et al. (eds), 347–50Google Scholar
Crous, J W 1933. ‘Florentiner Waffenpfeiler und Armilustrium’, Mitt Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, 48, 1119Google Scholar
Daremberg, C and Saglio, E 1887. Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, 1, 2, ParisGoogle Scholar
De la Tour, H 1892. Atlas de Monnaies Gauloises, ParisGoogle Scholar
De Maria, S 1988. Gli Archi Onorari di Roma e dell'Italia Romana, RomeGoogle Scholar
De Marinis, R 1987. ‘II Mantovano tra invasioni galliche e romanizzazione: appunti per una ricerca’, in Gli Etruschi a nord del Po, II (ed Marinis, R De), 183–7, MantovaGoogle Scholar
De Marinis, R 1990. ‘L'età gallica in Lombardia (IV–I secolo a.C.): Risultati delle ultime ricerche e problemi aperti’, Atti 2 Convegno Archeologico Regionale 13–14–15 Aprile 1984, 93172, ComoGoogle Scholar
De Marinis, R 1997. ‘La tomba gallica di Castiglione delle Stiviere (Mantova)’, Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi, 5, 115–77Google Scholar
Deschler-Erb, E 1996. ‘Vindonissa: Ein Gladius mit reliefverzierter Scheide und Gürtelteilen aus dem Legionslager’, Jahresberichte Gesellschaft pro Vindonissa, 1996, 1331Google Scholar
Dungworth, D 1996. ‘The production of copper alloys in Iron Age Britain’, Proc Prehist Soc, 62, 399421CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dungworth, D 1998. ‘EDXRF analysis of copperalloy artefacts’, in Main, 347–52Google Scholar
Durry, M 1922. ‘Les Trophées Farnèse’, Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire (École Française de Rome), 39, fasc 4–5, 303–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Espérandieu, E 1907. Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule Romaine, I, ParisGoogle Scholar
Espérandieu, E 1925. Recueil général des bas-reliefs, statues et bustes de la Gaule Romaine, IX, ParisGoogle Scholar
Espérandieu, E 1928. Recueil général des bas-reliefs, statues et bustes de la Gaule Romaine, X, ParisGoogle Scholar
Ferris, I M 2000. Enemies of Rome: Barbarians through Roman eyes, StroudGoogle Scholar
Field, N 1986. ‘An Iron Age timber causeway at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire’, Fenland Research, 3 (1985–6), 4953Google Scholar
Fischer, F 1959. Der spätlatènezeitliche Depot-Fund von Kappel (Kreis Saulgau), StuttgartGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A P 1989. ‘The submission of the Orkney islands to Claudius: new evidence?’, Scottish Archaeol Rev, 6, 2433Google Scholar
Foster, J 1977. Bronze boar figurines in Iron Age and Roman Britain, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frere., S 1987. Britannia: A History of Roman Britain, 3rd edn, LondonGoogle Scholar
Gagnière, S and Granier, J 1986. Avignon de la Préhistoire à la Papauté, AvignonGoogle Scholar
Garces, F S 1993. ‘Los relieves de armas del teatro de Merida’, Lucentum, 2, 243–83Google Scholar
Gergel, R A 1994. ‘Costume as geographic indicator: barbarians and prisoners on cuirassed statue breastplates’, in The World of Roman Costume (eds Sebesta, J L and Bonfante, L), 191209, MadisonGoogle Scholar
Ginsberg-Klar, M E 1981. ‘The archaeology of musical instruments in Germany during the Roman period’, World Archaeol, 12.3, 312–20Google Scholar
Green, M 1996. Celtic Art: Reading the Messages, LondonGoogle Scholar
Gschwandtler, K 1981. ‘Dakische Schatzfunde und Griechisch-Römische Bronzen aus dem Gebiet der Sozialistischen Republik Rumänien’, in Die Daker: Archäologische Funde aus Rumänien, 226–35, MainzGoogle Scholar
Hamberg, P G 1968. Studies in Roman Imperial Art, RomeGoogle Scholar
Hickmann, E, Laufs, I and Eichmann, R (eds) 2000. Studien zur Musikarchäologie II: Musikarchäologie früher Metallzeiten/Music Archaeology of Metal Ages, RahdenGoogle Scholar
Hingley, R 1992. ‘Society in Scotland from 700 BC to AD 200’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 122, 753Google Scholar
Holmes, P and Coles, J M 1981. ‘Prehistoric brass instruments’, World Archaeol, 12.3, 280–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Homo-Lechner, C and Vendries, C 1993. Le carnyx et la lyre. Archéologie musicale en Gaule celtique et romaine, BesançonGoogle Scholar
Hucher, E 1874. L'Art Gaulois ou les gaulois d'après lews médailles (deuxiéme partie), ParisGoogle Scholar
Hunter, F 1997. ‘Iron Age hoarding in Scotland and northern England’, in Reconstructing Iron Age Societies (eds Gwilt, A and Haselgrove, C), 108–33, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Hunter, F 1998. ‘Copper alloy’, in Main, 338–46Google Scholar
Innes, G 1845. ‘Parish of Deskford’, The New Statistical Account of Scotland, XIII, 6378Google Scholar
Jacobstahl, P 1944. Early Celtic Art, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Jones, B, Keillar, I and Maude, K 1993, ‘The Moray aerial survey: discovering the prehistoric and proto-historic landscape’, in Moray: Province and People (ed Sellar, W D H), 4774, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Jones, H S (ed) 1926. The Sculptures of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Jope, E M 2000. Early Celtic Art in the British Isles, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Kaufmann, W 1981. Altindien, Musikgeschichte in Bildern, Band II Lieferung 8, LeipzigGoogle Scholar
Kaul, F 1995. ‘The Gundestrup cauldron reconsidered’, Acta Archaeologica, 66, 138Google Scholar
Kaul, F 1999. ‘Gundestrup’, in Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 13 (ed Müller, R), 195211, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Kenny, J 2000. ‘The reconstruction of the Deskford carnyx — an ongoing multidisciplinary project’ in Hickmann et al. (eds), 351–6Google Scholar
Klar, M 1971. ‘Musikinstrumente der Römerzeit in Bonn’, Bonner Jahrbücher, 171, 301–33Google Scholar
Kleiner, D E E 1992. Roman Sculpture, New HavenGoogle Scholar
Künzl, E 1988. ‘Politische Propaganda auf römischen Waffen der frühen Kaiserzeit’, in Kaiser Augustus und die verlorene Republik, 541–5, BerlinGoogle Scholar
La Baume, P 1977. ‘Signumscheibe und Merkurrelief von Niederbieber’, Bonner Jahrbücher, 177, 565–8Google Scholar
Laing, L and Laing, J 1986. ‘Scottish and Irish metalwork and the ‘conspiratio barbarica’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 116, 211–21Google Scholar
Leander, Touati A-M 1987. The Great Trajanic Frieze, StockholmGoogle Scholar
Lepper, F and Frere, S 1988. Trajan's Column, GloucesterGoogle Scholar
Lippold, G 1936. Die Skulpturen des Vaticanischen Museums, Band III. I, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Livens, R G 1976. ‘A Don terret from Anglesey, with a discussion of the type’, in Welsh Antiquity (eds Boon, G and Lewis, J M), 149–62, CardiffGoogle Scholar
Lund, C S 1986. ‘The ‘phenomenal’ bronze lurs: data, problems, critical discussion’, in The Bronze Lurs (ed Lund, C S), 950, StockholmGoogle Scholar
MacGregor, M 1976. Early Celtic Art in North Britain, LeicesterGoogle Scholar
Main, L 1998. ‘Excavation of a timber roundhouse and broch at the Fairy Knowe, Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire, 1975–8’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 128, 293417Google Scholar
Mansuelli, G A 1958. Galleria degli Uffizi pane I, RomeGoogle Scholar
Marcel-Dubois, C 1937. ‘Notes sur les instruments de musique figurés dans l'art plastique de l'Inde ancienne’, Revue des Arts Asiatiques, 11, 3649Google Scholar
Maryon, H 1971. Metalwork and Enamelling, 5th edn, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Mattingly, H 1926. ‘The restored coins of Trajan’, Num Chron, 5th ser, 6, 232–78Google Scholar
Mattingly, H 1930. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum. Volume II, Vespasian to Domitian, LondonGoogle Scholar
Mattingly, H 1940. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum. Volume IV, Antoninus Pius to Commodus, LondonGoogle Scholar
May, A 1995. ‘Seitlich angeblasene Hörner in der antiken Darstellung. Nachtrag zur systematischen und historischen Einordnung des Middewinterhorns’, Bentheimer Jahrbuch 1995, 291–7Google Scholar
May, A 2000. ‘Quergeblasene Hörner — ein Beispeil einer ethnographischen Analogie’, in Hickmann et al. (eds), 365–72Google Scholar
Mazois, F 1824. Les Ruines de Pompéi, I, ParisGoogle Scholar
Megaw, J V S 1968. ‘Problems and non-problems in palaeo-organology: a musical miscellany’, in Coles and Simpson (eds), 333–58Google Scholar
Megaw, J V S 1970. Art of the European Iron Age, BathGoogle Scholar
Megaw, J V S 1991. ‘Music archaeology and the ancient Celts’, in Moscati et al. (eds), 643–8Google Scholar
Megaw, J V S and Megaw, M R 1989. Celtic Art: From its beginnings to the Book of Kells, LondonGoogle Scholar
Meucci, R 1989. ‘Roman military instruments and the lituus’, Galpin Soc J, 1989, 8597CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreau, JAnkner, D, Boudet, R, Dhénin, M and Fecht, M 1995. Le Sanglier-Enseigne Gaulois de Soulac-sur-Mer (Gironde), Soulac-sur-MerGoogle Scholar
Moscati, S, Frey, O-H, Kruta, V, Raftery, B and Szabo, M (eds) 1991. The Celts, MilanGoogle Scholar
Pearson, G 1796. ‘Observations on some ancient metallic arms and utensils; with experiments to determine their composition’, Phil Trans, 86, 395451CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perdrizet, P 1921. Les Terres Cuites Grecques d'Egypte de la Collection Fouquet, NancyGoogle Scholar
Picard, G C 1957. Les Trophies Romains, ParisGoogle Scholar
Piggott, S 1959. ‘The carnyx in early Iron Age Britain’, Antiq J, 39, 1932CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piggott, S 1968. ‘An ancient Briton in North Africa’, Antiquity, 42, 128–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polito, E 1991. ‘Due rilievi d'armi ritrovati’, Jahrbuch Berliner Museen, 33, 3746CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollini, J 1995. ‘The Augustus from Prima Porta and the transformation of the Polykleitan heroic ideal: the rhetoric of art’, in Polykleitos, the Doryphoros, and Tradition (ed Moon, W G), 262–79, MadisonGoogle Scholar
Powell, T G E 1980. The Celts, 2nd edn, LondonGoogle Scholar
Purser, J 1991. Scotland's Music, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Purser, J 1994. ‘Homecoming of the Deskford carnyx after 2000 years of silence’, in Cultural Tourism (ed Fladmark, J M), 374–84, AberdeenGoogle Scholar
Purser, J 2000. ‘The sounds of ancient Scotland’, in Hickmann et al. (eds), 325–36Google Scholar
Raftery, B 1983. A Catalogue of Irish Iron Age Antiquities, MarburgGoogle Scholar
Raftery, B, Duval, P-M, Frey, O-H, Kaenel, G, Kruta, V, Ryan, M, Sherratt, A and Szabo, M 1990. Celtic Art, ParisGoogle Scholar
Ralston, I B M 1980. ‘The Green Castle and the promontory forts of north-east Scotland’, in Settlements in Scotland 1000 BC - AD 1000 (ed Thorns, L M), 2740Google Scholar
Ralston, I B M, Sabine, K and Watt, W 1983. ‘Later prehistoric settlements in north-east Scotland: a preliminary assessment’, in Settlement in North Britain 1000 BC - AD 1000 (eds Chapman, J C and Mytum, H C), 149–73, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Rolland, H 1977. L’Arc de Glanum, ParisGoogle Scholar
Rotili, M 1972. L’Arco di Traiano a Benevento, RomeGoogle Scholar
Russo, S 1981. ‘Fregi d'armi in monumenti funerari Romani dell'Abruzzo’, Rivista di Archeologia, 1981, 3043Google Scholar
Rusu, M 1969. ‘Das keltische Fürstengrab von Ciumeşti in Rumänien’, Bericht der Römisch-Germanisch Kommission, 50, 267300Google Scholar
Scarre, C 1995. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, LondonGoogle Scholar
Simpson, M 1968. ‘Massive armlets in the north British Iron Age’, in Coles, and Simpson, (eds), 233–54Google Scholar
Simpson, M 1970Some Roman-Iron Age finger rings’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 102 (1969–70), 105–8Google Scholar
Sims-Williams, P 1998. ‘Celtomania and Celtoscepticism’, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, 36, 135Google Scholar
Smith, J A 1868. ‘Notice of a remarkable bronze ornament with horns, found in Galloway, now at Abbotsford. Also of a bronze ornament like a ‘swine's head’, found in Banffshire’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 7 (1866–8), 334–57Google Scholar
Stead, I M 1991. ‘The Snettisham treasure: excavations in 1990’, Antiquity, 65, 447–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stemmer, K 1978. Untersuchungen zur Typologie, Chronologie und Ikonographie der Panzerstatuen, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, R B K 1966. ‘Metal-work and some other objects in Scotland and their cultural affinities’, in The Iron Age in Northern Britain (ed Rivet, A L F), 1744, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Strong, D E 1961. Roman Imperial Sculpture, LondonGoogle Scholar
Tate, J, Barnes, I and MacSween, A nd. ‘Analyses of massive bronze armlets’, in The Laboratories of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland Volume 2 (eds Bryce, T and Tate, J), 8994, EdinburghGoogle Scholar
Taylor, T 1992. ‘The Gundestrup cauldron’, Scientific American, 266/3, 6671CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tempesta, A 1992. ‘I rilievi con armi Cesi: ipotesi di ricomposizione ed interpretazione’, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, 94, 309–40Google Scholar
Thomas, C 1963. ‘The interpretation of the Pictish symbols’, Archaeol J, 120, 3197Google Scholar
Tortorella, S 1981. ‘Le lastre campana. Problemi di produzione e di iconografia’, in L’Art Décoratif à Rome à la fin de la république et au début du principat, 61100, RomeGoogle Scholar
Trillmich, W, Hauschild, T, Blech, M, Niemeyer, H G, Nünnerich-Asmus, A and Kreilinger, U 1993. Hispania Antiqua. MainzGoogle Scholar
Vendries, C 1999. ‘La trompe, le gaulois et le sanglier’, Revue des Études Anciennes, 101, no 3–4, 367–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von, Prittwitz und Gaffron, H-H 1993. ‘Der schiefe Prunkhelm’, in Geschichte aus dem Kies (eds Schalles, H-J and Schreiter, C), 5963, KölnGoogle Scholar
Zanker, P 1988. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus, Ann ArborCrossRefGoogle Scholar