cromwell@pur-ee.UUCP (Robert L Cromwell) (12/05/85)
I have a question dealing with Celtic mattters for all of you. My roommate is curious about the Druids. Other than saying, 'They built Stongehenge, and so they obviously had it together mathematically and astronomically', I can't come up with much. How much is known about this group of people? What were they like? What was the basis for their religion? Are there people today who practice this religion, or a closely-related one? What area and time did they inhabit? Is there any other development they are known for? Thanks a lot, Bob Cromwell pur-ee!cromwell
barnett@ut-sally.UUCP (Lewis Barnett) (12/05/85)
In article <3549@pur-ee.UUCP> cromwell@pur-ee.UUCP (Robert L Cromwell) writes: > > My roommate is curious about the Druids. Other than saying, > 'They built Stongehenge, and so they obviously had it together > mathematically and astronomically', I can't come up with much. Though it's a popular misconception, the Druids didn't build Stonehenge. I'm not up on the Druids, per se, but Stonehenge is believed to have been built by a people referred to as the Beakers. They were named after beaker shaped pottery that is found littered about places where they used to live. As best I recall, the construction of Stonehenge is dated between 1800 and 1500 B.C. Had the Celts made it to that part of the world then? (I guess that proves I'm not really up on the Celts, either!) Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 "Frankly, there's something about reality that gives me the shivering willies!" -- Hank the Hallucination -- -- barnett@sally.UTEXAS.EDU, barnett@ut-sally.UUCP, {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!barnett
andrews@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jamie Andrews) (12/05/85)
In article <3549@pur-ee.UUCP> cromwell@pur-ee.UUCP (Robert L Cromwell) writes: > My roommate is curious about the Druids. Other than saying, > 'They built Stongehenge, and so they obviously had it together > mathematically and astronomically', I can't come up with much. You'll probably get a lot of responses to this article, so I'll just write about the topic I'm most familiar with. It's not at all clear that the Druids built Stonehenge, or even that they understood the more subtle astronomically significant arrangements of stones in the circle. After all, we "modern" people had no widespread knowledge of its significance until fairly recently. The modern Druids who celebrate the solstice at Stonehenge are riding on this new wave of knowledge and interest. Stonehenge may have been built by even more primitive peoples than the Celts. In this respect, it may be like the "medicine wheels" built by some early Plains Indian tribes, which were evidently used to help track the heavenly objects. This fact was generally lost on the later Plains tribes, and on the white man, until recently. --Jamie. ...!ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!ubc-cs!andrews "Yeah, let's get sushi -- and not pay"
ronc@fai.UUCP (ronc) (12/06/85)
>> My roommate is curious about the Druids. Other than saying, >> 'They built Stongehenge[....] >Though it's a popular misconception, the Druids didn't build Stonehenge. >[...] >Lewis Barnett,CS Dept, Painter Hall 3.28, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 *** Oh my god. Let's not start that tired discussion again. This topic was beat to death in net.misc a couple years back. Please! Some believe the Celts built Stonehenge, some believe otherwise. Let's leave it at that. This time. Pretty please? -- -- Ronald O. Christian (Fujitsu America Inc., San Jose, Calf.) ihnp4!{pesnta,qubix}!wjvax!fai!ronc Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: "If you are seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it."
wayne@utflis.UUCP (Wayne Young) (12/07/85)
[Be a SQUID, and sink a ship...]
Apparently, modern anthropological sources have come to concrete conclusions
regarding the origins of the people known as the 'Celts'. Based to a great
degree on the morphological hereditary sign called the Mongolian spot, as
well as certain linguistic similarities, one may conclude, with a great
degree of certainty, that the earliest origins of the Celtic cultural group
are in fact from within the boundaries of modern Afghanistan.
(The Mongolian Spot is dark pigmentation that is commonly found at the base
of the spines of Asians.)
-Hermetically Sealed-rlp@cbosgd.UUCP (Dazed and Confused) (12/08/85)
In article <3549@pur-ee.UUCP> cromwell@pur-ee.UUCP (Robert L Cromwell) writes: > > I have a question dealing with Celtic mattters for all of you. > > My roommate is curious about the Druids. Other than saying, > 'They built Stongehenge, and so they obviously had it together > mathematically and astronomically', I can't come up with much. Even that is wrong. Constuction at Stonehenge began in 2700 BC and the last major (non-destuctive) modifications were made no later than 1100 BC. The druids did not appear until a good 1000 years after this. The most that can be said (although no supporting evidence is available) is that the druids arose from some earlier tradition that was responsible for the monument. More likely, it is a complete canard started by the 17th century antiquarian William Stukely. Joe Knapp cbosgd!nscs!jmk -- +----+ R. L. Platt /| /| AT&T Bell Laboratories +-|--+ | Columbus, Ohio | +--|-+ |/ |/ cbosgd!rlp +----+ (614) 860-4850 "They say it's automatic, but actually you have to push this button"
chmorris@watrose.UUCP (chmorris) (01/13/86)
>I have heard that our present day Christmas tree tradition dates back >to Druidic traditions concerning the worship of nature and oak trees in >particular. Can any one comment or otherwise shed light upon this ? The Christmas tree tradition is German in origin, from what I've heard; it came to England about the time of the King Georges (I-III). The story goes that a Christian missionary came along to convert the people to Christianity. Their religion involved a sacred tree (Woden's ?) and the saint-to-be took an axe and chopped it down. When he wasn't struck by lightning, the natives were very impressed and decided his God was more powerful than theirs. As an alternate symbol, he gave them the Christmas tree. I've forgotten some of the details and the saint's name, and whether the original tree was an oak or not.
dbmk1@stc.UUCP (01/21/86)
In article <7751@watrose.UUCP> chmorris@watrose.UUCP () writes: >The Christmas tree tradition is German in origin, from what I've heard; >it came to England about the time of the King Georges (I-III). Last I heard it was introduced by Albert - Prince Consort to Queen Victoria. -- Regards Derek !seismo!mcvax!ukc!stc!dbmk1 If anyone wants these opinions they're free, and worth what you pay for them