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‘Drinking the Feast’: Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

Bettina Arnold

Cambridge Archaeological Journal / Volume 9 / Issue 01 / April 1999, pp 71 ­ 93 DOI: 10.1017/S0959774300015213, Published online: 14 October 2009

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0959774300015213

How to cite this article: Bettina Arnold (1999). ‘Drinking the Feast’: Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 9, pp 71­93 doi:10.1017/ S0959774300015213

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'Drinking the Feast': Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

Bettina Arnold

Drinking and feasting were an integral part of life in Europe and the British Isles. The distribution of food and especially drink in prescribed fashion played a key role in establishing and maintaining social relationships. Alcoholic beverages were important consumable status items in prehistoric Europe, serving as a social lubricant as well as a social barrier. The metal, ceramic and wooden vessels required for the preparation, distribu- tion and consumption of these beverages were a vehicle for inter- and intragroup competi- tion, and underwent considerable change, both symbolic and material, through time. This article will attempt a cognitive analysis of the material culture of Iron Age drinking and feasting by integrating archaeological and documentary evidence. The impact of contact with the Mediterranean world, gender configurations, and the ideology of power and patronage will be discussed in relation to changing material culture assemblages.

-The distribution and consumption of alcohol played Mediterranean opinions on the subject of Celtic an important role in prehistoric cultures in continen- drinking practices were not very complimentary, nor tal Europe as well as in the British Isles. Significant particularly objective, but the documentary evidence ritually as well as socio-politically (Murray 1996), does provide us with useful background informa- feasting behaviour is documented in the archaeo- tion against which to interpret the archaeological logical, historical, and literary records. The drinking record (Champion 1985). Plato, writing in the mid- and feasting equipment itself is made of materials as dle of the fourth century BC (about 150 years after the diverse as wood, ceramic, , leather, iron, bronze, manufacture of the Vix krater), includes the in , and . Elaborate sets of ceramic vessels 'a list of six barbarian warlike peoples who are given associated with the consumption of food and drink to drunkenness, as opposed to Spartan restraint' first appear in Continental European burials at least (Laws 1:637: Tierney 1960, 194). Diodorus Siculus, by the Urnfield period (Kossack 1964,99) and possi- 300 years later, describes the Celts in a similar fash- bly as early as the Late Neolithic (Sherratt 1987; 1995; ion: They are exceedingly fond of wine and sate 1997). In the later and Iron Age, local themselves with the unmixed wine imported by mer- wood and pottery products are gradually augmented chants; their desire makes them drink it greedily, by imported ceramics and metal vessels in the buri- and when they become drunk they fall into a stupor als of elite individuals. Extravagant vessel assem- or into a maniacal disposition' (Diodorus Siculus blages peak in the wealthy chieftains' graves of the V:26,2-3: Tierney 1960,249). Late period, best exemplified by the 1.64 The central role of alcohol consumption in Celtic metre high krater of Vix, larger than any bronze culture is generally accepted (Dietler 1989b; 1990; vessel preserved from the contemporary Greek - Enright 1996). Scholars of Celtic literature, archae- world. The krater was part of the equipment in a ologists, and historians all describe banquets and Gaulish elite burial and was probably manufactured feasts in considerable detail within their respective by Greek artisans for a powerful northern personage spheres of interest. Unfortunately, few scholars look (Joffroy 1962). outside their own disciplines for the cognitive system

71 Bettina Arnold

underlying this drinking and feasting behaviour. This heavily patinated by Christian influences, but pre- is particularly true of archaeology, which is tradi- serving earlier non-Christian elements; 4) the archaeo- tionally wary of literary and historical sources. It logical record, primarily from the Continent, since also applies to disciplines like Celtic studies which the burial and settlement record of the British Isles could benefit from an archaeological perspective in for the Iron Age is much less well documented or distinguishing rhetorical or symbolic elements in lit- preserved (Raftery 1994). erature from those which may contain historical fact.1 This discussion will attempt a text-aided, cog- While some caution is commendable, it can also nitive interpretation of the archaeological evidence be an obstacle to creative thinking. Conservative for drinking and feasting behaviour from the Late scholars argue, for example, that the Celtic literature Hallstatt period in west (600-400 BC), of the British Isles (most post-dating the sixth cen- with reference to late Iron Age evidence from the tury AD), is not relevant to the interpretation of pre- British Isles and the Continent. It is at this time that historic . The argument is that the the peoples known as Celts begin to appear in recog- insular Celtic cultures do not resemble the earlier nizable form in the material record, but the contem- Continental ones in any fundamental or identifiable porary Mediterranean written sources are meagre way. The definition of the term 'Celtic' itself is con- and problematic. The different sources of informa- tested (Arnold & Gibson 1995,2), but continues to be tion intersect or overlap to some extent, so there will used to describe the peoples linked by language and be some repetition of the more seminal arguments. material culture from Spain to the during The information offered by Classical sources for Celtic the Iron Age, and will be used here in its most gen- drinking practices will be examined first. eral sense. More moderate researchers concede some affinity and continuity between British and Conti- The contemporary classical sources: strange nental Celtic cultures, particularly in the areas of people and weird practices material culture and technology. These are of course the best-documented sources of archaeological in- The general formula followed by most Classical au- formation and are not usually as well represented in describing the alien cultures on their peripher- the literature. The archaeological evidence certainly ies was modelled on Herodotus and consisted of documents major social and ideological changes in several categories of information: 1) population; 2) the centuries separating the chieftain of Hochdorf antiquity and ancient history; 3) way of life; 4) cus- (near , ; 550 BC) from Gereint ab toms (Tierney 1960,190). Unfortunately for modern Erbin in the Gododdin (Britain; AD 600) (Powell 1888; scholars the unusual and bizarre aspects of the last Jackson 1969, 150). There is, however, considerable two categories were generally recounted in some continuity through time and space in some areas of detail, while information considered mundane, com- material culture, especially those concerning the mon knowledge or uninteresting was less frequently socio-political and ideological importance of drink- recorded. Two pitfalls facing the modern scholar ing and feasting. The discussion below will explore attempting to derive 'facts' from these accounts are the foundations of this continuity through a com- 'Randvolkeridealisierung' (Tierney 1960, 214) and parison of textual and archaeological evidence. Arafat 'ethnographische Wandermotive' (Tierney 1960,201). & Morgan (1994), among others, have called for a The first is the tendency of Classical ethnographers more emic investigation of how contact with the to romanticize or demonize 'exotic' peoples. The sec- Mediterranean world affected existing patterns of ond refers to the borrowing of descriptions of cus- behaviour, particularly feasting and competitive dis- toms from accounts of one culture and transposing play among elites, in the Early Iron Age of south- them wholesale or only slightly modified to a com- west Germany, eastern France and Switzerland north pletely different group of people, whenever hard of the . The synthesis of archaeological and writ- facts were lacking or could benefit from being fleshed ten 'records' of Celtic 'feasting' patterns which fol- out in a more dramatic way. The problem of succes- lows attempts to do this, although it does not claim sive 'borrowings' of another ethnographer's ideas to be exhaustive, much less definitive. and/or descriptions over several centuries has been The sources of information available for drink- discussed elsewhere (Tierney 1960; Nash 1976). ing and feasting behaviour in the Celtic world are: Despite these potential difficulties, several sig- 1) contemporary Greek and Roman written accounts; nificant themes related to Celtic drinking and feast- 2) extensive legal tracts, especially from Ireland; ing behaviour (both insular and continental) recur in 3) surviving epics and tales from Ireland and Wales, Classical sources. Some of these themes, particularly

72 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

those also found in the later insular Celtic texts, may structure and drinking practices: result from similarities between geographically and When a large number dine together they sit around temporally different groups of Celts (Nash 1976,116). in a circle with the most influential man in the One such theme is that of the king's or hero's por- centre, like the leader of the chorus, whether he tion at, a banquet, described as early as Phylarchus surpasses the others in warlike skill or nobility of (Tierney 1960,197). Another is the concept of guest- family, or wealth. Beside him sits the host and next friendship, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (Tierney on either side the others in order of distinction ... The drink of the wealthy classes is wine imported 1960, 250) and again by Caesar (Tierney I960, 274); from or from the territory of . This is both accounts stress the Celtic emphasis on open- unadulterated but sometimes a little water is added. handedness and generosity as important virtues. The lower classes drink wheaten beer prepared Generosity as the defining characteristic of a with honey, but most people drink it plain. It is good chieftain or king is a common theme in both called corma. They use a common cup, drinking a Classical and insular texts, also in many ethno- little at a time, not more than a mouthful, but they graphically recorded societies at a chiefdom level of do it rather frequently (Athenaeus IV 36, p. 151 E- organization. Athenaeus' account of Lavernius' ban- 152D: Tierney 1960,247). quet is a good example (Tierney 1960,248). The Celtic The custom of feasting in a circle, or in several groups chieftain Lavernius, pleased by the praise of a poet arranged in circles around central beverage vessels at his feast, scatters gold along the plain behind his and/or food cauldrons, described here in a second- chariot, and 'the poet picked it up and sang another century BC context by Poseidonius (transcribed by song saying that the very tracks made by his chariot Athenaeus), reappears in the following passage from on the earth gave gold and largesse to mankind' the sixth-century AD Cododdim 'After wine-feast and (Tierney 1960,248). mead-feast they hastened out, men renowned in [bat- Athenaeus' verbatim transcription of four of tlers traits, reckless of their lives; in a shining array the nine surviving extracts of Book 23 of Poseidonius' they fed together round the wine vessel [my empha- History, the recognized 'Bible' on the Celts, describes sis], they set their hands to wine and mead and malt' food, drink, heroic feasting and combat, and bardic Qackson 1969,140). display at great length. In fact, the passage on food The 'common cup' mentioned in the passage and drink is the longest surviving portion of from Athenaeus might explain the relatively small Poseidonius' Celtic ethnography. This may reflect numbers of drinking vessels compared to containers the special emphasis on food and drink in the Celtic (both mixing and serving vessels) in many Hallstatt world observed by Poseidonius. contexts, in particular those graves with only one The symbolic as well as functional significance beverage container.3 There is another interesting point of feasting is documented in many ethnographic con- to be made here with regard to the status distinction texts (Chapman 1980, 66); such sources provide ad- assigned by Athenaeus to the two beverages wine ditional preindustrial configurations for modelling and beer. Drinking equipment in West Hallstatt buri- prehistoric social organization. The Tlingit potlatch als changes from mostly ceramic in the sixth century is a good example of a society in which feasting acts BC to a mix of metal and imported ceramic vessels by as an institutionalized form of social regulation. As the fourth century BC (Kossack 1964,99; Fischer 1982, described by Kan, 'the unity and solidarity of clan 10; 1995,37). Kossack concludes from his interpreta- relatives were emphasized by the obligatory sharing tion* of Celtic drinking behaviour as primarily reli- of property and food that characterized their rela- gious in nature that this change is due to a change in 4 tionships' (1989,65-6). The status of a Tlingit aristo- religious practices. This is one possible explanation, crat depended on the rank and wealth of his parents but the change could equally well be explained by a (especially his mother), marriage to a person of equal restructuring of elite status markers along the lines or greater rank, the number and scale of potlatches proposed by Miller (1985). He describes successive sponsored by his parents in his honour, and accom- emulation events in which second and third tier so- plishments in activities which generated wealth and cial groups acquire elite status markers, thereby 'de- enabled him to give his own potlatch(es) or actively valuing' them, and forcing elites to acquire new, participate in those given by his matrikin (Kan 1989, - more 'exclusive' items. 82).2 A change in what is being consumed by the Some of the same themes appear in the Medi- Early Iron Age elites in whose burials this equip- terranean sources. Athenaeus' account of a typical ment is found could have been accompanied by a 5 feast offers interesting insights into Celtic social change in the associated paraphernalia. The Italian

73 Bettina Arnold

merchants were described by Diodorus Siculus as been much more secure if based on a consumable regarding 'the Gallic love of wine as their treasure commodity which could be controlled and stock- trove' (Diodorus Siculus: Tierney 1960, 249). There piled for maximum effect by a limited number of has been considerable debate as to how extensive individuals.6 the contact between West Hallstatt elites and the There may be a chronological dimension here: Mediterranean (via Massalia/Marseille) actually was the initial exchange (between 600 and 550 BC) took (Bintliff 1984; Dietler 1990; Arafat & Morgan 1994, the form of inter-elite distribution of imported drink- among others). Are the drinking vessel sets of Medi- ing vessels, but the later movement of trade goods terranean manufacture in West Hallstatt elite burials may have focused more on the mutual exchange of trade items, diplomatic gifts, or personal booty? If perishables: forest products and other resources for there was regular trade, how extensive was it, and wine and olive oil. Ultimately, then, contact with the how was it organized? Perhaps equally important, Mediterranean did not create the West Hallstatt what was the primary focus of that trade? The sherds chiefdoms, but it seems to have offered some elites of Attic pottery found at sites like the an alcoholic beverage which could be strategically (Germany), Mont Lassois (France) or Chatillon-sur- stock-piled and distributed in a way not possible Glane (Switzerland) suggest several things: 1) the with beer (which had to be consumed more or less small number and size of Attic sherds found exclu- immediately) or mead (which was much more diffi- sively in settlement contexts in the late Hallstatt pe- cult to' produce, and was never available in large riod (and not all on : cf. Biel 1989) indicates enough quantities for its distribution to have been that the imported pottery used to serve alcoholic subject to the kind of strategic manipulation possi- beverages was curated; 2) the relative scarcity of ble with wine7). In short, the new alcoholic beverage such imported pottery may have been artificially provided individuals, referred to by formalist post- maintained by elites, since breakage or inclusion in a processualists as 'aggrandizers' (Clark & Blake 1994; high status elite burial seem to have been the only Hayden 1995), with the opportunity to intensify their ways these vessels became part of the archaeological political influence. They were able to do this because record (Attic kylikes, interestingly enough, do not alcoholic beverages had been of fundamental reli- appear in elite burials until the early La Tene period; gious significance and socio-economic importance the Vix burial is right on the cusp of that transition); in west-central Europe at least since the Bronze Age. 3) the focus of archaeologists on imported vessels as More archaeological investigation is essential if the primary trade item may be a case of the tail we are to advance any of these interpretations of wagging the dog. If it was wine that was moving contact between the Mediterranean and the West along the Rhone-Saone corridor and thence to the Hallstatt area. Very few settlements of this Hallstatt centres, the picture of limited contact be- period have been investigated systematically, and tween the Mediterranean and the Hallstatt chiefdoms only one — the Heuneburg on the upper — which is currently in vogue in the British literature extensively, so such statements must remain hypo- (Arafat & Morgan 1994) needs to be re-examined. thetical. The fact that very few elite burials have Granted, the number of amphorae (the distinc- imported metal vessel sets as extensive as those of tive pottery vessels used to transport wine and olive Hochdorf or Vix is similarly ambiguous. Looting oil in the Mediterranean world) that are known from over the centuries has decimated high-status burials late Hallstatt sites is fairly modest, particularly when in particular, and only a very small percentage of the compared to contemporary sites in southern France original number of such graves has been preserved. (Dietler 1989a; 1990). On the other hand, there are That there is a shift in the material of which drinking ways of transporting wine, particularly overland, vessels were made (pottery to metal), and an in- which do not involve imperishable containers. Casks crease in the number of imported vessels (indig- or barrels of wood, or wineskins, could all have been enous to imported) is clear. The pattern is suggestive, used in such trade. Archaeologists seem to have no and seems to indicate changes in drinking behaviour difficulty assuming that trade in perishable raw ma- as well as in aspects of social organization in the terials was going the other way (Wells 1980; 1984; West Hallstatt zone, 1985; Arafat & Morgan 1994, among others). We Poseidonius (quoted by Athenaeus in the pas- should consider the possibility that once a group of sage cited earlier) was describing the social conven- primary elites had established themselves, partly on tions of the late La Tene Celts of southern France, the basis of imported drinking vessel sets, the main- among whom the high-status consumption of wine tenance of their socio-political hegemony would have seems to have been a commonplace social marker.

74 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

Yet the congealed liquid preserved in the bottom of ... a king or chief supported at his court a 'war- the great bronze cauldron (also of Mediterranean band' or 'retinue', a bodyguard of picked and manufacture) found in the spectacular Late Hallstatt trained professional warriors whose special task it burial of Hochdorf c. 550 BC (about 400 years before was to defend him in battle with their lives, and whose memory would be disgraced if he were killed Poseidonius' time) was mead, not wine. Several cen- and they had not died fighting to save him. In turies later, however, wine was being served from return for this professional military service, the Etruscan bronze vessels and drunk from the imported lord supplied them with board and lodging, weap- Attic kylikes found in early La Tene elite burials in ons, presents, and the rest; and, as feasting in the the north.8 In other words, the change in drinking great hall was the supreme form of this, it is equipment corresponds to a change in what was summed up metaphorically as their 'mead' . . . being consumed by the aristocracy as a status bever- 'Mead' is the stock metaphor, but the same idea is sometimes expressed of other drinks (Jackson 1969, age. 36). We may assume a status division by Poseidonius' day in the different kinds of alcohol and the vessels Jackson points out the similar part played by mead from which they were imbibed. At the time of the in Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry, and quotes a warrior Hochdorf chieftain honeyed beer or mead could have in : T remember the time when we used to been the beverage reserved for elites and consumed accept mead in the banqueting-hall, when we prom- on special occasions, while 'plain' beer was drunk ised our lord who gave us these arm-rings that we by the rest of the population.9 When wine became should repay him for our war-equipment if ever more readily available in the areas farther from the straits like these befell him' (Jackson 1969, 37). Mediterranean sources as a result of increased trade, Sherratt makes essentially the same point in his de- it appears to have replaced mead as the elite drink of scription of Homeric Greece: choice. ... access to wine and the ability to provide osten- This is not to say that mead and plain beer were tatious feasts were important levers of political not drunk by late Hallstatt elites; it is clear from the power: the Homeric hero 'feasts at equal feasts', literature that all three beverages continued to be forming alliances and securing the following of his own warrior band... The dynamics of such chiefly consumed. Wine consumption by non-elites may, or aristocratic societies have parallels both in eth- however, have been a sumptuary restriction that did nographic descriptions and in the world of the not apply in reverse, i.e. the common folk could Norse sagas (Sherratt 1995,19). drink anything but the current status beverage and the aristocracy could drink anything they liked. Even I would argue that the similarities between Celtic without such sumptuary restrictions, wine would feasting and Homeric Greek or Norse commensality have been too costly for the average person to af- are functionally linked to social organization, whereas ford, and mead produced with honey was probably the similarities between late Hallstatt feasting and not an everyday drink either. Bees were not domes- that described in the insular literature are due to a ticated until considerably later, so that the honey fundamental cognitive continuity. This continuity used to produce the Hallstatt period mead was gath- can be traced through the material culture related to ered from wild hives, a time-consuming and poten- feasting in the Celtic world. For example, several tially dangerous activity. My suggestion is that Classical authors describe the equipment used by intoxicating beverages were probably subject to the the Celts at their banquets. Athenaeus mentions serv- same rules of exclusivity as the containers they were ers bearing around the drink in 'terracotta or silver stored in, served in, and drunk from, and must there- jars like spouted cups. The trenchers on which they fore be considered an integral part of Early Iron Age serve the food are also of these materials, while oth- elite material culture.10 ers they [sic] are made of bronze, or are woven or Wine never completely replaced mead or beer wooden baskets' (Athenaeus IV 36, p. 151 E^152 D: in Celtic society. This is indicated by the relative Tierney 1960, 247). The 'jars like spouted cups' de- frequency with which all three beverages are men- scribed here are probably Etruscan-inspired Schnabel- tioned in the Gododdin (which relates events c. AD kannen, and although the ones found in graves are 600). Mead and wine are the drinks most commonly primarily of bronze, ceramic 'spouted jars' are known cited in the Gododdin, particularly mead, but bragget, from: malt and ale are also mentioned (Jackson 1969,35). • Durmberg Graves 34,52,56, 71,85,103,154, Aus- Jackson discusses the role of mead in the heroic tria; poetry of Dark Age Britain: • Poix Grave 41, Marne, France;

75 Bettina Arnold

• Sien, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (Haffner 1972); cal significance of drinking in Celtic society, we • the Hellbrunnerberg in Austria; would expect this pattern to be reflected in the mate- • and the Heuneburg, Baden-Wiirttemberg, Ger- rial culture of feasting as well.14 The discussion which many.11 follows attempts to test this theory against both the Bronze 'trenchers' or basins are known from most written and the archaeological evidence. wealthy chieftains' graves of the continental Celtic In the Mesca Ulad, which Hennesy describes as Iron Age; for example, three large basins or serving 'the only story to be found in the existing remains of trays and nine plates of bronze were found in the Irish literature, the chief feature of interest in which Hochdorf burial. Wooden or basketry vessels cer- is based upon the result of a drunken revelry' (1889, tainly existed, but these are rarely recovered from iv), we find the following description of Conor's Early Iron Age contexts owing to problems of pres- regal generosity as reflected in his feasts: ervation. Baskets have been found in a secondary A year was the province thus, in three divisions, burial in the Rauher Lehen (Bittelef ah 1981, until the feast of Samhain was made by Conor in 384), in Grave 6 of the Hohmichele tumulus (Riek Emain-Macha. The extent of the banquet was a 1962, 92), in Kappel Grave 2 (Kimmig & Rest 1954; hundred vats of every kind of ale. Conor's officers Kimmig 1988,262), and in Tumulus 1 of the Geigerle said that all the nobles of Ulad would not be too cemetery (Keefer 1977, 204-22), all in Baden- many to partake of that banquet because of its Wiirttemberg. A wooden bowl was found in Hunder- excellence. (Hennesy 1889,3) singen Tumulus 4, Grave 23.12 Fintan's banquet, described in the same poem, is The 'vats filled with expensive liquor' described similarly lavish, and also rife with number symbol- by Athenaeus in his account of 'the wealth of ism: Lavernius, father of Bituis, who was dethroned by The Ulidians arrived to the festive assembly, so the Romans' (Athenaeus IV 37, p. 152 D-F: Tierney that there was not a man of a half-bally in Ulad that I960, 248) undoubtedly resembled the huge bronze did not come there ... As if only a company of nine cauldron from the Hochdorf burial (total capacity had reached the place — so were they attended. 500 litres) or the even larger Vix krater.13 Such quan- Provisions for food and ale were poured out for tities of liquor would indeed have taken even a com- them, so that the allowance of a hundred of food and ale reached every nine of them (Hennesy 1889, pany of hard-drinking Celts several days to consume.. 13). Drinking horns were another important item in the arsenal of Celtic drinking equipment. Eight of Multiples of three as a means of describing the prepa- the nine drinking horns from the Hochdorf burial rations for a banquet, the quantity of food and drink were of horn (possibly or some other spe- consumed, the numbers of guests, and the length of cies of ; they were too poorly preserved to say). time required to consume the provisions laid before They were ringed with gold and bronze bands (which the company are a constant theme in the Irish and is why they could be identified and recovered), and Welsh literature. Mael Duin and his company 'sleep each one held about 1.1 litres (Biel 1982a,b; 1985). an intoxication of three days and three nights' during Jackson notes that the banqueters described in the their visit to the lofty island (Stokes 1888, 487). At Goddodin 'drank chiefly out of horns, which are fre- the island of the brazen fortress they are refused quently mentioned' (1969, 34), although other ves- entrance twice: "Then they saw before them in the sels types are also used. In conclusion, the material house a couch for Mael Duin alone and a couch for culture of drinking and feasting seems to have re- every three of his people . . . She gave a share (of mained remarkably constant for about 1100 years in cheese) to every three' (1888, 491).15 It takes Carpre two different parts of the Celtic world. Cathead and his fellow conspirators three half years to prepare their feast in Morand's Fiirstenspiegel, and Number symbolism and feasting in archaeology they spend nine nights feasting before the visiting and literature noblemen are murdered (there are, naturally, three conspirators) (Thurneysen 1929, 65). In the Mabinogi 'Question: How many banquets are there? Answer — it takes Owein three years to prepare the banquet in Three; a godly banquet, a human banquet, a demon honour of Arthur's arrival, and three months for his banquet' (Senchus Mor, vol. 3, in Hennesy et al. 1865- company and Arthur's to consume it (Gantz 1976, 1901,19). Celtic society is characterized by a heavy 209). The allowance of meat and drink to officers emphasis on number symbolism, especially multi- and attendants at the court of Ancwyn is quoted by ples of three. Given the ritual as well as socio-politi- Powell as follows: 'The Penteulu: his allowance is

76 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

three messes and three hornfulls of the best liquor that axe at a time when the axe was no longer commonly there shall be in the house' (1888,223). used as an offensive weapon (Patterson pers. comm.). There is no doubt that the number three and its Cynddilig of Aeron, one of the champions elegized multiples had magico-religious significance for Celtic in the Gododdin, is described as follows: Tt was his peoples (Ross 1986,123); the curvilinear triskele, one custom to attack in front of nine champions in the of the most common elements in late Iron Age de- presence of the battle-shout of the army, and to pro- sign, is an obvious example from the decorative arts. voke them' (Jackson 1969,148). Another passage from The triangle is its geometric counterpart in Early the same poem describes a fighting configuration of Iron Age ceramics and metal work. There are nu- three champions: 'Three lords wearing gold torques, merous examples from other sources (triple-headed three bold horsemen, three battle-peers, three equal deities, tripods, etc.), but it is the close association chiefs bounding forward together; they routed the between this number in the archaeological record enemy bitterly. Three in fight, in hardship, they slew and drinking and feasting in the literature which is . . . easily(?)' (Jackson 1969, 123). The Briton war intriguing. It may simply be a coincidence that the chief Mynyddog reportedly led 300 picked chiefs or Hochdorf chieftain had nine drinking horns hanging 'knights' into battle against the Saxon (i.e. English) on the walls of his burial chamber and nine plates armies at Catterick/Catraeth as late as AD 600; the total number of Mynyddog's forces might have been with three serving basins stacked up on his four- 16 anything up to three thousand (Jackson 1969, 15). wheeled wagon. On the other hand, given the fact Significantly, only the chieftains are numbered and that almost all other chieftains' graves from this pe- elegized, and the number 300 as a multiple of three riod were disturbed before excavation, it is possible conforms to the rhetorical pattern and symbolism of that multiples of three were common in the drinking the poem. The poet was obviously concerned less and serving vessel sets placed in Iron Age burials of with historical accuracy than with traditionally aus- wealthy individuals. Two other examples are the picious number configurations. nine plates from the elite burial of Corminboef, Swit- zerland (Drack 1989,77-82), and the eight small cists The number nine is one of the most important and one large bucket from the elite burial of Kappel multiples of three in Celtic tradition; according to am Rhein (Dehn 1979). Rees & Rees, 'it has been described as the northern In the literature, multiples of three have both counterpart of the sacred seven of Near Eastern cults' rhetorical and symbolic significance. It may be that (1961,192). They argue that multiples of three men, in the fully equipped chieftain's burial, multiples of and nine men in particular (3 x 3), had both military three were also meant to represent a symbolic or and magico-religious significance in Celtic culture: actual number of guests or followers. Nine men might Irish literature abounds with 'companies of nine', have been required for a quorum, or perhaps a chief- and in a considerable number of cases it is made tain's entourage or retinue traditionally consisted of clear that the nine consist of a leader and eight oth- eight others besides himself. There is some evidence ers [my emphasis]. This is strikingly illustrated in a description of Medb's mode of travel in Tain Bo from both the Classical sources and Celtic literature Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley): 'and nine for this: chariots with her alone; two of these chariots be- The accounts of the invasion of Greece and the fore her, and two behind, and two chariots at ei- attack on Delphi by the in Pausanias and ther side, and her own chariot in the middle Justin are thought to be derived from Hieronymous between them'... Nine, like five, symbolized the of Cardia, who was writing in the period 270-260 BC. Their main interest is historical, but a few pas- k whole (Rees & Rees 1961,193). sages are of ethnographical interest. He describes Drinking horns, often of gold, appear frequently in the Celtic battle-custom called trimarcisia in which the early Irish tales. One of these is the description of two servants of a mounted cavalry-man provide St Patrick's encounter with the remnants of the Fenian him with remounts or take his place in battle. bands and their account of their wanderings in (Tierney I960,196) Agallamh na Senorach, 'The Colloquy of the Ancient The medieval Scots mercenaries in Ireland, known Men'. Patrick says to Caeilte, 'Good Caeilte, in the as \he galloglassf also fought in groups of three, called houses in which you dwelt in before our time, were a 'spar'. The galloglass fighting unit consisted of the there drinking horns, or cups, or goblets of crystal fighter, a groom, and a boy to cook for them. This and gold?' And Caeilte answers that 'the number of configuration was probably an extremely ancient one, the horns that were in my lord's house was as fol- indicated by the galloglass preference for the battle lows — twelve drinking horns and 300 made of gold

77 Bettina Arnold

Finn had; whenever they came to the pouring out be attended by tribesmen from these petty king- the quantity of liquor they held was immense' (Ross doms also . . . Most important of all was the pro- 1986,17). The association of multiples of three with vincial fair, held in the neighbourhood of the chief drinking horns in this passage is suggestive, given stronghold and attended by all the tribes of the province; it lasted several days, and there was an the pattern of horns from the Hochdorf burial. On elaborate programme of public business and enter- the other hand, only two gold termi- tainment (Binchy 1958,124-5). nals were found in the early La Tene Kleinaspergle burial near Stuttgart (Jacobsthal 1944, 106). Either Binchy is describing a much more centralized and there were seven additional horns made of perish- politically stratified society than probably existed able material without metal decoration in this grave, during most of the pre-Roman Iron Age, but the or the significance of number symbolism in drinking basic elements of obligation exist in any society where equipment was not constant through time on the patron-client relationships define social interaction. Continent. Clearly caution is indicated when The obligation of the chieftain to his vassal lords analyzing such a fragmentary material record. There is illustrated in the following passage from the is little doubt, however, that multiples of three had Mabinogi when Culhwch arrives at King Arthur's particular significance in , military configu- court and is refused entrance by the gatekeeper, who rations, and feasting customs as early as the Late tells him 'Knife has gone into meat and drink into Hallstatt period. Awareness of such a pattern might horn, and there is a throng in Arthur's hall. Except- serve to stimulate reanalysis of previously excavated ing the king of a lawful dominion or a craftsman material. who brings his craft, no one may enter' (Gantz 1976, 139). Culhwch insists, and the gatekeeper goes to The role of the oenach: redistribution and complain to Arthur, who replies, when Kei counsels reciprocity him 'not to abandon the custom of the court for this lad's sake': 'Not so, good Kei. We are noble men so When he went forth in the country his praise went long as others come to us, and the more gifts we distribute before; the greater will be our reputation and fame and glory' He poured out wine; he was a golden torque wearer. [my emphasis] (Gantz 1976,139). He afforded a bright example, handsome and The reciprocal nature of the relationship be- gorgeous; tween a chieftain and his warrior nobles was subtle He was a sent offspring, a banished knight, He led a hundred men, he was a courteous but clear; his sovereignty depended on their sup- warrior; port, and that was maintained' through a redistri- Only son of Kian from the transmontane country butive mechanism which was centred around the 'human banquet' of the Senchus Mor: 'What is the (The Gododdin ofAneurin Cwawdrydd: Powell 1888, 158; Jackson 1969,103). human banquet? The banquet of each one's feasting house to his chief according to his (the chief's) due; The generosity expected of a model chieftain was to which his (the tenant's) deserts entitle him; viz., a more than just a desirable quality; it was an obliga- supper with ale, a feast without ale, a feast by day' tion, part of the relationship between a man of high (Hennesy et al 1865-1901, vol. 3, 21). This type of status and the men who put him in a position of banquet, as distinct from the recreational 'demon banquet'17 and its antithesis, the 'godly banquet', is authority. Binchy discusses the system of reciprocity described as being 'given for earthly obligation' in pre-Christian Ireland at some length (1936; 1941; (Hennesy et al 1865-1901, vol. 3, 25), 'a banquet for 1958; 1963). which another is given in return' (Hennesy et al. From several statements in the laws (e.g. Crith 1865-1901, vol. 3,23). The distinction made between Gablach) it is clear that the king of each tribe was the demon and the human banquets is important bound to convene an oenach at regular intervals. At because it indicates that any excessive consumption such gatherings, besides the exchange of goods and the holding of games, horse racing, and vari- of alcohol and food in large groups by 'sons of death ous athletic competitions, the 'public business' of and bad men' (Hennesy et al 1865-1901, vol. 3, 25) the tuath, including important lawsuits between gathered for purposes of debauchery was consid- different kindreds and the issue of special ordi- ered taboo, i.e. an activity in which only marginal nances was transacted ... The importance of a fair individuals like those listed (lewd persons, satirists, was proportionate to that of the king who presided jesters, buffoons, mountebanks, outlaws, heathens, over it. Hence a fair held by an over-king, to whom harlots and bad people in general) would engage. the rulers of several tuaths owed allegiance, might

78 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

The fact that these individuals are 'outside' soci- been generous to you. It is not a hand in a poor ety is significant and emphasizes the role of the garnered field. Plentiful are food and ale for you banquet or feast as a mechanism for enforcing and with the Prince who has protected you' (Hennesy maintaining social order. This passage is one of the 1889,49). oldest in the Senchiis Mor, which supports the con- And from the Gododdin, the eulogy for Eidol, son of tention that although drinking behaviour as re- Ner: corded in the laws has obviously been modified by the influence of Christianity18 (the godly ban- Eidol was a man quet is described as given 'for heavenly reward') Of the best conduct, (Hennesy et ah 1865-1901, vol. 3, 25), it is clearly And remarkably wise... an ancient institution. The mead and wine were divided By this knight of the battlefield The human banquet not only strengthened and In small measures ... reinforced the bond between a chieftain and the war- A minister of mead he would be, rior nobles in his retinue, it also served to rank his Possessor of mead ... followers according to their relative status within Red gold he deserves, the uppermost echelon. This practice, also described Renowned overwhelmed by Athenaeus, is well illustrated in the following Affluence he provided, passage from the Mesca Ulad: And shelter he rendered, And rewards he gave for song. His drinking house was afterwards arranged by Pre-eminent he was; Conor according to deeds, and parts, and families; He gave protection according to grades, and arts, and customs, with a FroTn the violence of a foe view to the fair holding of the banquet. Distribu- (Powell 1888, 275-9). tors came to distribute, and cup bearers to deal and door-keepers for door-keeping. Their music, and their minstrelsy, and their harmonies were played. Here is a paragon among chieftains, the ideal leader Their lays, and their poesies, and their eulogies of men, the model ruler. were chanted for them; and jewels, and valuables, The political significance of maintaining this and treasures were distributed to them (Hennesy balance, through the medium of feasting and gift- 1889,13). giving, between the chieftain and his dependents (who could be of paramount status within their own The function of a feast as a reaffirmation of an indi- domains and as such were a real threat to each other vidual's relative ranking in the group is symboli- and to the chieftain to whom they were usually bound cally represented by the coire aisicain or ansirc, which by necessity, blood or both) is best illustrated by is described as follows in 'Cormac's Adventure in instances of a breakdown in the system. Binchy dis- the Land of Promise': cusses the frequent cases of 'hinderings' at feasts, It was a cauldron of this kind that used to be of old where various vassal groups 'fasted' against the in every hostel of the royal hostels of Erin. And this king/chieftain and threatened supernatural sanctions is why it was called coire aisic, 'cauldron of restitu- against anyone attending the oenach in order to get tion', because it used to return and to deliver to the compensation due them (1958,117). every company their suitable food... Now each in Occasionally revolts were staged or attempts turn was brought up to that cauldron and every- one was given a fork-thrust of it. So then his proper made on the life of the most powerful individual portion came out to each, to wit, a thigh to a king present at such a gathering. Coups were frequent and to a poet, a chine for a literary sage, a shinbone occurrences (Binchy 1958,119). The revolt of Carpre for young lords, heads for charioteers, a haunch Cathead and his fellow conspirators, described in for queens, and every due share besides. Where- Morands Fiirstenspiegel, is a good example of such a fore in that assembly his proper due fell to each temporary breakdown caused by violation of the 19 (Stokes 1891,206). obligatory generosity and gift-giving required of the model chieftain: 20 In return for services rendered, the chieftain is There was great dissatisfaction among the vassal praised for his generosity at the end of a feast; again farm tribes of Ireland during the time of the three the Mesca Ulad: Irish kings . . . Great and immeasurable was the When they were merry, Senchas clapped his hands. burden of taxation and the size of the tribute and They all listened to him. 'Give ye, now, your bless- the pressure of domination under the three kings... ing on the Prince who has protected you, who has The vassal farmers were discontented with the pow-

79 Bettina Arnold

erful servitude which oppressed them, and by the illustrated by the three examples from the insular hardship of their service ... And this then was the literature cited above. Put more succinctly, a suc- decision which they made: to organize a feast in cessful inauguration feast was a prerequisite for lead- the house of Carpre Cathead, in the Bruiden of ership status. In the Mabinogi, for example, Pwyll is Mac-da-Reo in Brefne, and to invite their overlords to the feast there and to murder them, so that the on the verge of celebrating his marriage to Rhiannon kingship would be with themselves. (Thurneysen when his rival Gwawl appears on the scene and 1929, 65, translated from the German). demands her and the feast. Rhiannon rescues Pwyll by stating that while she is Pwyll's to give (and The mead flows freely at the banquet, and the blood Pwyll had promised Gwawl 'anything7 in a fit of as well, and by the time the slaughter is over a new prenuptial generosity), the feast belonged to her and ruling class has seized power. Dillon describes a had already been promised to the assembly. Since he similar attempted coup in Caithreim Cellaig which cannot get the feast, i.e. the symbol of sovereignty, ends in death for the would-be usurpers: Gwawl consents to wait a year-and-a-day for The swineherd provided food for all the company Rhiannon, by which time another wedding feast will and led Cu Choingelt to the house where the four be ready (Gantz 1976, 55-G).22 murderers were holding a feast for their inaugura- In societies dominated by what Lenski has called tion as lords of the territory. He went disguised the 'redistributive ethic' (1966, 165), wealth can be and ordered his men to follow. When all within given to others to send a variety of messages. The were drunk his men stormed the place and seized flaw of most cultural ecological and materialist ex- the four usurpers. Their followers were slain be- planations of redistributive systems (the Northwest fore their eyes, but Cu Choingelt bade the assem- bled guests continue the feast, for he knew they Coast potlatch is a good example) is their neglect of were his friends (1946, this multivocality (my emphasis) of the food and gift items which serve as a mode of communication (Kan While I would not like to make too much of this 1989,249). One of the problems with using the later analogy, the evident breakdown of social order docu- Celtic literature from the British Isles as a source of mented in the archaeological record c. 400 BC in the working hypotheses for Early Iron Age social or- West Hallstatt area (marked by the abandonment of ganization on the Continent is its overemphasis on the 'Fiirstensitze' and Tiirstengraber' of the late the heroic warrior construct at the expense of most Hallstatt period) might be due to a similar internal other forms of dependent relationships. In fact, drink- upheaval.21 Trade routes to the south were disrupted ing, feasting and gift-giving were probably impor- by the shift of Greek trade from Massalia to Spina as tant means of communicating rank and status the main port. This also stopped the flow of feasting relationships between individuals and groups be- equipment and possibly imported alcoholic bever- yond the chieftain and his entourage. Dietler's dis- ages from the Mediterranean to the West Hallstatt cussion of the work-party feast offered by elites in region. If political stability in this area had come to exchange for labour is a good example (1990). The be dependent on such imports (through the mecha- Irish legal texts also discuss this form of obligation, nism of redistributive feasting along the lines of the in which a client owes his aristocratic patron labour oenach), then internal revolt may have resulted once in the construction and maintenance of cashels and those supplies were cut off. The secondary elites raths, the residences of the early Irish elites. who most likely constituted the chiefly retinues were Blair Gibson has translated one of the passages then in a position to challenge the ruling or primary dealing with this form of obligation from the Senchus elites for their failure to live up to their end of the Mor as follows: 'Manual labor, that is, a man for all social contract. While there probably was never a services, to the making of his dun (the capital site of a late Hallstatt/early La Tene Carpre Cathead leading chieftain), or of his working party, that is the dun, or a conspiracy to overthrow the clan chieftain on the his hosting with him' (1990, 308). Clients and ex- Heuneburg hillfort, the insular literature helps us tended kin relations23 probably made up the labour colour in the largely monochrome picture we have pool of these Irish Late Iron Age elites, and one of of events on the Continent. At the very least it pro- the mechanisms for gathering such a labour pool vides a series of scenarios from a related cultural was the work-party feast. Relationships and respon- context which may help us to understand the ar- sibilities of this sort are implied by the chaeological record. systems of hillforts like the Heuneburg, and by the The connection between the right to assemble a impressive burial mounds characteristic of the Early company for a feast and the right to rule is clearly Iron Age.

80 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

Laith/flaith: alcohol and sovereignty belluno situlae (Eibner 1981, 262 & 268), indicating the significance of this association in Etruscan sym- In ancient Ireland, as in ancient Wales, a wedding- bolism. Eibner interprets the scenes as associated in ceremony took the form of a feast or symposium, some way with fertility rites (Eibner 1981, 268), and hence the Irish name for the ceremony, banais or acknowledges the possible connection with a 'sacred banfeiss, literally 'wife-feast'. It is likely that in pa- wedding' (Eibner 1981, 269 & 288 footnote 48) but gan times the acceptance by the bridegroom of a does not link these activities with the drinking equip- draught of liquor handed to him by the bride signi- ment in the same scene, or with the fact that the fied mutual consent to the marriage. If so, we may representations themselves are found on vessels used suppose that this part at least of the ceremony to serve alcoholic beverages. Such situlae are occa- originated in imitation of the religious wedding sionally found in Hallstatt contexts through trading ritual performed at the inauguration of kings (O'Rahilly 1946,15). links between Etruria and the Hallstatt centres (Bonfante 1981).24 The distribution of alcohol as a means of maintain- Couches like those depicted in the Etruscan ing kingship or sovereignty was one aspect of Celtic 'erotic' scenes also are found in high-status elite * drinking practices. Alcohol also served the purpose graves in the West Hallstatt area (Fischer 1990). Was of establishing an insular chieftain, lord, or king the symbolic mating of two people (or of a male elite through its consumption by the new ruler at his individual and a female goddess or goddess-substi- inauguration ceremony or banais rigi. In effect, alco- tute), depicted on the Sanzeno situla a concept shared hol was the vehicle by means of which divine sanc- by these two cultures, or did the Hallstatt elites tion was transferred to the mortal individual being merely appropriate the trappings of this ritual with- established in a position of power. The rhyme words out its content? The connections between the West laith, 'liquor' andflaith, 'lord, lord-ship', and the ety- Hallstatt and Etruscan centres during the Early Iron mological identity of Irish/7fl/7/j/lord, lord-ship' and Age suggest the possibility that an inauguration ritual Welsh gwlad, 'country' underline the fundamental similar to that described in the Irish literature may nature of this aspect of insular Celtic kingship have existed in both cultures. The fact that situlae are the drinking vessels most often depicted in these (Wagner 1975,11). 25 If alcohol was the medium or vehicle by which 'ritual' scenes makes the argument for a connection kingship was passed on to each new ruler, it was between drinking equipment and sovereignty in sovereignty in her role as earth goddess," embodied Early Iron Age west central Europe even more com- in the epics by the king's wife, who was the arbiter pelling. of this transfer of power to a new earthly vessel. Several Irish tales associate drinking, women, Binchy, Dillon, O'Rahilly and a host of other schol- wells and sovereignty. A good example is the story ars have explored the connections between laith and of Niall of the Nine Hostages and his four step- flaith and the role of the queen or earth goddess in brothers, Brian, Fichra, Aillil and Fergus. The broth- the inauguration ritual. O'Rahilly shows that the an- ers are given arms by a smith and sent hunting to cient inauguration ritual of the kings of Tara and prove themselves. They come across a well, guarded Connacht amounted to a symbolical mating (feis, by a monstrous black hag, who will grant each banfeis) with the local earth goddess (1946, 114ff.). brother in turn use of the well only on condition that There are numerous examples of this connection in he kiss her. They all refuse except Niall, whereupon the literature. the hag turns into a beautiful woman. When Niall Intriguing hints of this symbolic mating are asks her 'What art thou?', she replies 'King of Tara, I found also in the archaeological record of the conti- am Sovereignty', and, with the water she hands him, she gives him superiority over his brothers (Rees & nental Iron Age. An Etruscan situla from Sanzeno is 26 decorated with scenes which combine fertility sym- Rees 1961,73-4). bolism (men with oxen ploughing a field, a man and Another example can be found in the Irish epic a woman embracing on a couch) with drinking equip- the Tain. Each of Medb's husbands became King of ment. The man and woman are being attended/ Ireland; she was the wife of nine of the Kings of anointed by a figure holding a dipper in one hand Ireland in succession. 'Great indeed was the power and a situla in the other. Could this be a figural of Medb over the men of Ireland, for she it was who representation of a banfeis in an Etruscan context? would not allow a king in Tara without his having Representations which link erotic scenes with plough- herself as a wife' (Rees & Rees 1961, 75). As the ing are also found on the Nesactium and Monte- Reeses so succinctly put it, 'Sovereignty is a bride,

81 Bettina Arnold

the server of a powerful drink, and the drink itself tain, 500 litres of mead to smooth the way to sover- (Rees & Rees 1961, 76). Medb in herself performs all eignty on the Other Side) may have been the equiva- three functions, for her name means 'alcohol, the lent of a social status passport. Similarly in Celtic intoxicating one'. Possession and 'consumption' of burial rites, which are rarely mentioned in the insu- Medb/mead are therefore required for the accession lar literature: of each new King of Tara. The Celtic chieftains were interred with all their Dillon, who discusses the taboos of the kings of personal insignia and trappings, equipped as war- Ireland, interprets the inauguration ceremony as an riors, with their chariots, weapons and accoutre- induction of the new chieftain into the realm of the ments necessary to the Otherworld where they Otherworld: 'The king was a personification of his would partake, not as their reward but as their people and was in some measure divine' (1951, 1). right, of the Otherworld feast and continue an ex- istence in no way markedly different from the one He also presents the notion of ale or beer as the they had known in life (Ross 1967,357). medium of this divinity in the following passage relating the five 'lucky things' (buada) of the king of Documentary references to the feasting equipment Leinster: 'To drink by the light of candles of pure itself are also of interest in interpreting the archaeo- wax/in Dinn Rig for the famous king —/Safe is the logical evidence on the Continent. Although caul- lord of the hills by means of that —/the ale of Cualu, drons in the later literature tend to be mentioned in games at Carman' (Dillon 1951,13). For each of the association with eating (in discussions of the king's rulers of the five kingdoms, the consumption of ale or hero's portion, for example), there are several or beer is a prescription, for 'these semi-divine per- descriptions of large drinking vessels. Wagner sons, upon whom the welfare of the people de- records one such instance from the Tochmarc Emire pended, had to be protected by magical devices' [The Wooing of Einer], the 'iarn-gnalae . . . the enor- (Dillon 1951, 1) and the consumption and distribu- mous iron vessel out of which Conchobar and his tion of alcoholic beverages were at once a protection fellow Ulstermen used to drink' (1975,22). Drinking and a justification of that semi-divine status. vessels and the beverages served in them function as Ireland is frequently depicted as a goddess in insignia and marks of elite status in the literature. Irish thought and literature; in Baile in Scail, 'They The close relationship between kingship, divinity saw a girl seated in a chair of crystal, wearing a gold and metal drinking vessels is exemplified by the crown. In front of her was a silver vat with corners of cauldron-bearing Dagda, or 'Good God', the 'Dis gold. A vessel of gold stood beside her, and before Pater', 'divine ancestor god' and 'universal tribal her was a golden cup' (Dillon 1946, 13). The Phan- god' of the Celts (Ross 1986, 124). Unlike oenachs, tom, who has brought Conn and his fellows to his which appear to have combined eating and drinking mansion, offers to predict the number of Conn's off- in no particular order, inauguration feasts seem to spring that will be kings of Ireland, and conjures up have been largely a matter of drinking (comol); the spirits of future rulers who file past the girl one O'Rahilly emphasizes the wording of the phrase ic ol by one. na fleide, literally 'drinking the feast' (1946, 14), in this context. Ross cites a similar phrase used to de- When she went to serve the ale, she asked to whom scribe the oenach of Tara: the cup of red ale (dergflaith) should be given, and the Phantom answered her. When he had named The term 'Drinking the Feast of Tara' was used to every Prince from the time of Conn onwards, express the total feast of Tara which took place Cesarn (the/i/i) wrote them down in ogam on four during the sinister season of Samain, early Novem- staves of yew. Then the Phantom and his house ber, the Celtic New Year. The official name of the disappeared, but the vat and the vessels and the Assembly Hall of Tara was Tech Midchuarta, 'The staves remained with Conn (Dillon 1946,14). House of Mead Circling' (1986,72). It is as significant as the rest of the allegory that the Along the same lines, Binchy sees the Scela Cano drinking equipment from which the ale of sover- Meic Gartnain as far more than a eignty is offered to Conn's successors by the per- mere catalogue of the ales drunk all over Ireland as sonification of Ireland remains with him as a symbol well as among the Saxons and . For in every of his right to rule. This passage has interesting im- case, the poet is referring to the figurative ale of plications when considered in the light of the vessels sovereignty which is drunk at the 'wedding-feast' from the Hochdorf burial and other Iron Age chief- marking the inauguration of the tribal king. We are tains' graves. Possession of the equipment necessary in effect given a list of kingdoms over which the hero of the poem has achieved dominion (1963, for feasting (and in the case of the Hochdorf chief- xxvi).

82 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

Binchy also makes a point of the ciiirm chualand, 'the Greek world was essentially an all-male activity. The drinking horns of Chualand which are a symbol of fact that the Etruscans and Romans allowed their sovereignty over the province' (Binchy 1963, 462). wives and daughters to participate in such gather- This has implications for the interpretation of the ings was considered a manifestation of their 'lack of nine drinking horns of the Hochdorf burial as well culture and immorality' (Murray 1990,6). Similarly, as those found in other Iron Age chieftains' graves. Cooper and Morris describe a case from Classical Drinking horns as symbols of sovereignty are a Greece in which 'a witness testifying to the appear- particularly good example of the continuity and con- ance of a woman at a symposion helps eliminate her servatism through time and space of Celtic drinking claim to citizenship' (1990, 80). The elite early La practices and associated equipment. The Kavanagh Tene female burials from the Rhineland, which con- Charter Horn, for example, exhibited in Ireland and tain elaborate sets of drinking vessels as well as gold Germany as an outstanding piece of Celtic metal ornament and other markers of extraordinarily high work, was still the basis of the Kavanagh family's status, seem to suggest that women were not only claim to direct descent from the royal house of participating in such feasting in the Celtic world; Leinster as late as the fifteenth century AD (Irische they may in some cases have been able to host them Kunst aus dfei Jahrtansenden 1983,185). The horn is of in their own right. Although the West Hallstatt elites ^ with a brass mouthpiece and terminal, and its made use of both Greek and Etruscan imports in the stand is formed by a brass band supported on two distribution and consumption of alcoholic beverages, brass legs ending in webbed duck's feet. This whim- 27 they seem to have followed the Etruscan rather than sical design concept is common in Celtic metal work. the Greek practice of mixed gender feasts (Arnold Drinking horns as status objects in exchange and ) trade were important in early medieval Ireland: Wagner comments on 'the female aspect of lord- That some of the gift objects are not merely luxu- ship' in which 'in Celtic tradition the inauguration ries, but also symbols of authority can be seen in the of the king is symbolized by the offering of intoxicat- frequent references to horns in poetry as a symbol of ing liquor by the queen to her chosen king' (1975, kingship (my emphasis). They are also depicted on 11). He quotes the Yellow Book of Lecan: 'Medb took the high crosses, particularly clearly on the Cross the kingship of Connaught and adopted [my empha- of Scripture at Clonmacnoise (Doherty 1981,74). sis] Aillil into lordship and it is in Inis Clothrann In the epics (for example, Medb and Aillil in the that she consumed the laws of Connaught' (Wagner Tain), and in symbolic form in a chieftain's inaugu- 1975,12). This sort of arrangement, although clearly ration ceremony as documented in the Laws, it is symbolic rather than historical in this context, has through marriage that sovereignty is transmitted. In implications for the interpretation of high-status elite each case the arbiter of kingship is female. This sug- burials such as the Vix grave (Arnold 1991; 1996). gests several possible interpretations. Some scholars The Mesca Ulad provides us with the following argue that prehistoric Celtic society was matrilineal account of such an inauguration banquet: (Pauli 1972,115-33). While this may have been the At this time a conversation occurred between case at certain times and in certain regions, generali- Cuchulaind and Emer. 'Methinks', said Emer, zations are obviously not possible. Interesting hints 'Conor is now arch-king of Ulad'. 'Not sad, though in the literature and in the archaeological record do, it were so', said Cuchulaind. 'It is time to prepare however, support Pauli's hypothesis. Gantz discusses his banquet of sovereignty for him now', said Emer, this issue in reference to the cycle of Welsh tales 'because he is a king forever'. 'Let it be made, known as the Mabinogi: "The stress on sisters' sons in then', said Cuchulaind. The banquet was prepared; and there were 100 vats of every kind of ale in it. the northern branches of the Mabinogi — Beli, (Hennesy 1889,9) Penarddun, and Bran; Bran, Branwen, and Gwern; Math, Don, and Gwydyon; Gwydyon, Arianrhod, O'Rahilly in his turn refers us to the Tochmarc Emire and Lieu — suggest a system of matrilinear descent' 'where there is mention of the banais rigi made by (1976,225).28 Strabo may be hinting at such a system Lug on his succeeding to the kingship after the death also when he reports 'Their practice in regard to of Nuada' (1946,14). He also discusses the ceremony male and female, of distributing their tasks in a way in which Petta (or Gyptis) is espoused in the legend opposite to our custom, is one which is common to of the founding of Massalia, viz. by her proffering a many other barbarian peoples' (Tierney 1960,269). bowl of liquor to the man of her choice at the wed- This disdain of different customs extended to ding feast (O'Rahilly 1946,15). Dillon describes such 'barbarian' commensality as well. Feasting in the a fled baindsi in Fled Duin Na Nged: 'The King (Domnall

83 Bettina Arnold

son of Aed) went home and prepared a feast for his under certain circumstances be paramount... Since inauguration. The kings of the provinces were bid- the various sheet metal objects functioned as grave den to that feast, with their petty chiefs and lords goods, it can at the very least be claimed that the and soldiers and artists ordinary and extraordinary' images of combat and funeral feasting were pro- duced in honour of the deceased (1964, 99, trans- (Dillon 1946,59-60). lated from the German). The archaeological evidence: conclusions I would remark, first, that the belt plates and mirrors with feasting, games and other figural scenes de- What inferences can be drawn about prehistoric picted on them are not found outside the area men- drinking behaviour from the connections between tioned, and second, that the few metal vessels of the consumption of alcohol, feasting, and kingship indigenous manufacture with figural ornamentation in historic Celtic cultural contexts? Binchy provides in the West Hallstatt province are most often found a starting point when he states "There seems no rea- in hoards, bogs, or as votive deposits in rivers, and son to doubt that all kings in Ireland, great and seldom in burials as grave goods. The vessels deco- small, were "dedicated" by a ceremony of this kind, rated with figural ornament in the West Hallstatt though the details may have varied from tribe to area seem to have served a different purpose, quite tribe' (1958,135). As I have attempted to show in the possibly purely ritual, from the East Alpine objects foregoing discussion, many of the integral aspects of described by Kossack, and should be considered insular drinking and feasting behaviour can be iden- separately from the standard drinking equipment tified in continental Celtic cultures at least as early found in West Hallstatt burials. The same is true in as the Late Hallstatt period. Britain: Bronze buckets and iron cauldrons are found in Other objects of a cult nature or significance have many of the wealthy graves of the Early and Late been recovered from wells, and are suggestive of Iron Age together with assorted drinking parapher- offerings made in water, such as, for example, the nalia (Spindler 1983, 214-15). It is strange therefore cauldrons and metalwork objects found at that no attempt has been made to formulate a social Carlingwark, Eckford, and Blackburn Mill in Scot- and functional interpretation of this group of ob- land and the pony cap and horns found at Torrs in jects. Hawkes & Smith's treatise (1957) on Bronze Kirkcudbright (Ross 1967,31). and Iron Age cauldrons and buckets, for example, The role of wells, springs and all other sources of does not discuss drinking behaviour itself or its pos- ground water (including lakes and rivers) as en- sible social functions or significance. While the arti- trances into the Otherworld is discussed in detail by cle is useful as a compendium or inventory of bronze Wagner, who mentions the segais 'out of which the vessels from the British Isles, it does not deal with Irish poets (filid) drink their science' (1975, 2); he the issue of their use or the nature of their role in explains that 'what is meant here is probably not the Celtic society. The early buckets and cauldrons (the sea but the bottom of the fresh water under the earth Marlborough vat and the Aylesford bucket, both from which creation and fertility derive . . . That manufactured c. 50 BC, are good examples) were poets should seek the substance of their science in manufactured on the Continent (Hawkes & Smith the same place is not unnatural' (Wagner 1975,3). 1957,147); the fact that they may have been used, as The archaeological correlates, both in Britain imports, in indigenous drinking ritual suggests strong and on the continent, are the enigmatic Viereck- cross-Channel connections at least with regard to schanzen, rectangular enclosures of varying size, with the consumption of alcoholic beverages. earthwork ramparts surrounding one or more deep Kossack's study of drinking equipment focuses shafts or wells sunk into the earth. These shafts, only on what he perceives to be the ritual aspects of some over 40 metres deep (Cunliffe 1979, 92), often drinking behaviour illustrated in the situla art of the contain objects of wood, ceramic and other materials North Italian and East Alpine areas. Kossack con- which may represent votive offerings. Liquid and cludes that the scenes depicted on the situlae, belt solid food may also have been offered at these places. plates and mirrors of this Hallstatt zone do not rep- These enclosures are generally dated to the Late La resent 'profane' activities, but rather have a con- Tene period, but recent more systematic excavations comitant spiritual significance which is paramount: have uncovered earlier wooden structures beneath the La Tene earthworks (Schwarz 1975; Schiek 1977, It is common knowledge that in ancient times the transcendental element played a role especially at 42-3; Planck 1985; Krause & Wieland 1993; Murray the banquet, indeed, its role in this context could 1996; among others). Furthermore, many of the Con-

84 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

tinental enclosures are located near Late Hallstatt represent lineage monuments, as the site of clan chief- tumulus cemeteries, seeming to indicate some conti- tain inaugurations. The consumption of food and nuity with earlier periods. While no metal drinking drink at such inauguration rituals and subsequent vessels have been found in these shafts, there may community festivals can also be assumed, although well be a thematic connection between sources of at present the archaeological evidence for such activ- water as wells of inspiration and fertility and earthly ity is relatively scanty. vessels of liquor serving the same purpose. The link between drinking equipment in Iron The fact that Viereckschanzen frequently appear Age burials and the relative position of the indi- within a few kilometres of one another has also puz- vidual in society is also important. One of Kossack's zled researchers, who have tended to interpret them basic assumptions is that the inclusion of drinking as territorial markers. If this interpretation is correct, equipment in an otherwise average wealthy grave is some of the territories thus marked would have been an indication of the special status of the individual very small indeed. If, however, they were intended thus interred: to act as monumental Vessels' (complete with well Of course not every male grave of the early Hallstatt shafts linking the participants to the Otherworld) for period outfitted with a sword, horse trappings and "the inauguration ritual of a new chieftain, and sub- a four-wheeled wagon included such a drinking sequently served as meeting places for gatherings vessel assemblage. But where this is the case, such like the Irish oenach, then their frequent close prox- a grave good set imbues a grave with extraordi- imity is less problematic. We should perhaps con- nary importance. In these cases one must assume sider insular models again here, especially given the that a form of social distinction is being repre- sented, and that such warriors belonged to a group changes brought about on the Continent in the course which was not only united by a common concep- of the Late Iron Age, first by the Romans, and later tion of 'knightly' existence, but also shared a spe- by the in-migration of . Irish Celtic cial drinking ritual across significant geographic society, for example, was a fluid and shifting affair, distances (1964,103, translated from the German). with clans within tuaths rising to prominence and themselves being replaced by other clans over the Certain symbols of power and authority remained decades. Some of these power shifts occurred within constant through both space and time in the Celtic a single generation (Byrne 1971; Patterson 1994; 1995). world. Four-wheeled wagons in the Hallstatt pe- Scottish chiefdoms before 1745 seem also to have riod, two-wheeled chariots in the later La Tene pe- been significantly dependent on the circulation of riod and beyond, are a good example of how the alcoholic beverages and other commodities within a form of a status object might change while maintain- complex system of fluidly structured clans whose ing its essential significance, in this case that of a fortunes and preeminence were fickle and subject to wheeled vehicle. A passage from Morands Fiirsten- challenge (Dodgshon 1995). If Viereckschanzen were spiegel lists three of these symbols of power and associated with inauguration rituals, and were in authority in its description of the noblemen slain by fact initially constructed to act as the site of a new the peasant uprising: 'Noble was yonder brood of clan chieftain's inauguration, then landscapes which boars. It was a herd of steers of good breeding, a today preserve evidence of several such enclosures herd of boars fed on rich acorn mast, it was the could be interpreted as socio-politically contested fittings of a noble wagon' (Thurneysen 1929,66, trans- space (Murray 1996). lated from the German). The fact that Viereckschanzen appear at a time The wagon or chariot as a status symbol has when the archaeological evidence for lineage monu- already been discussed; it was probably derived from ments in the form of large burial mounds is no longer Near Eastern prototypes. The significance of the wild found suggests that these two categories of monu- boar (Eber) as a symbol of power, virility and nobil- ment may have played similar symbolic roles within ity is well documented in the archaeological record Celtic social systems. Bradley has discussed the mu- of the Hallstatt period; boars' tusks, either real or tually exclusive nature of symbolic behaviours in carved of other substances, are frequently found in prehistoric Europe (votive deposits vs. elaborate dis- burials as grave goods (Pauli 1975). The boar is in- posal of the dead in mounds, for example) (1984; voked as a symbol of bravery and courage five times 1985). The mutual exclusivity of burial mounds and in descriptions of battle prowess in the Gododdin Viereckschanzen and the frequent proximity of (Jackson 1969,100,102,129,133 & 143). In four out of Viereckschanzen to tumulus groups of the Hallstatt the five instances it is specifically described as a wild period support the idea that the Viereckschanzen also boar. It is likely that the qualities attributed to the

85 Bettina Arnold

wild boar — ferocity, cunning, swiftness and endur- men in banquets, far from being a sign of dissolu- ance — were somehow thought to be transferable tion — as maliciously stated by many Greek writ- through the tusks (and possibly other perishable body ers, astonished and scandalized at a custom quite parts such as the tail or the hide) to the individual in foreign to the of Classical times — is a mark of social equality (1975,137). the burial. Such objects were probably worn during life also, for the amuletic qualities mentioned. Pasquier regards this as evidence of a close affinity Bulls or oxen are similarly important design between Celtic and Etruscan drinking practices, and motifs (Wells 1981,137), in part also because of their notes that a burial like that at Vix would have been economic significance. In the Irish epics the bull sym- impossible in a contemporary Greek context (1988, bolized leadership and sexual preeminence. This is 330). This suggests that although the Celts imported well illustrated in the Tain by the defection of the Greek drinking paraphernalia and wine, their drink- bull Finnbennach to King Aillil's herd, 'refusing to ing practices varied significantly from those of their be led by a woman' (Kinsella 1985, 55) i.e. Queen Greek contemporaries, and may have been more di- Medb. Bulls are referred to seven times in the rectly influenced by contact with the Etruscans (1988, Gododdin (Jackson 1969,107, 111, 129,132,136,145 & 330-31). The Greek symposium seems to have had 154). Bulls and wild boars are the most frequently very little or no influence on indigenous Celtic drink- invoked animals in the poem; other animals which ing practices; in fact, Mediterranean writers make a appear in descriptions of heroes are lions, bears, point of their peculiarity. Diodorus, for example, wolves, stags, oxen, serpents, eagles, hawks and drag- singles out the Celtic practice of drinking wine neat, ons (Jackson 1969, 41). Unlike boar/pig, however, rather than mixed with water in the Greek fashion, cuts of beef are rarely found in burials, although and only some of the equipment required for the faunal analysis from settlements shows cattle were Greek symposium seems to have been used in Celtic clearly the most important source of meat in Early drinking (Dietler 1990,381-3).79 Iron Age diet (von den Driesch & Boessneck 1989, The archaeological record itself provides us with 140). The apparent avoidance of beef in Early Iron some useful evidence in this discussion. The drink- Age mortuary contexts in the West Hallstatt area ing equipment of the Hochdorf burial, for example, might repay closer examination, considering its sig- invites comparison in several regards with the role nificant representation in contemporary settlement of alcohol consumption we have shown in Celtic contexts. society. The model chieftain is supposed to be lavish Celtic drinking behaviour and equipment can not only in his distribution of liquor, but in his con- be linked to the Etruscans and the Greek colonies of sumption of it as well. Wagner describes Aillil as the Mediterranean coast during the Hallstatt period, follows: 'It is the king of whom we are told that he and to the Roman world during the La Tene period. spends a third of the day oc ol chorma, "drinking The Greek symposium has occasionally been cited as cuirm'" (1975, 12). The Hochdorf chieftain is cer- the inspiration for Celtic import of Mediterranean tainly represented as a great drinker in his burial wines from 600 BC, but Etruscan influence seems chamber, for his personal drinking horn, of iron with better supported by the archaeological evidence. gold and bronze bands, hung over his head on the Pasquier discusses the role of women in drinking wall of the chamber and had a capacity of 5.5 litres, behaviour in those cultures with whom the Celts of five times that of the eight companion horns which west central Europe had contact. He bases his argu- hung on the south wall and 'only' held 1.1 litres ments mainly on depictions of women and drinking each. The 500 litre bronze cauldron would have been practices in Greek and Etruscan art, and notes the the focus of every gathering convened by this indi- absence of women as active participants in Greek vidual; the patches and repairs in evidence on all of feasting scenes (Pasquier 1988, 329). When women the serving equipment including the cauldron (Biel do appear in Greek drinking and feasting scenes, 1985, 94) indicate that these gatherings were fre- they appear in the passive role of servers. Etruscan quent and probably fairly boisterous affairs. art, on the other hand, depicts women as active par- It is also significant that no food remains were ticipants in the drinking and feasting activity, appar- found in the burial; only the mead residue in the ently equal to men in rank and status. Pallottino cauldron represented the Otherworld feast. Accord- notes that ing to Biel, no remains of food are known from the other Fiirstengrtiber with drinking equipment (1985, in Etruria woman's place in society was remark- 30 ably high, and certainly quite different from that of 94). It seems that the concept of 'drinking the feast', Greek women. The fact that women took part with i.e. an emphasis on the consumption of large quanti-

86 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

ties of alcoholic beverages with food a necessary but the vessels used to serve it in ritual contexts in lakes, subordinate accompaniment, applied in Early Iron rivers, wells and springs as well as burials. Age times as well, at least in contexts such as the Wagner briefly discusses the magical nature of Otherworld feast. This makes it probable that the alcohol, specifically whiskey: 'As a matter of fact mead in the cauldron was intended as one more in uisce beatha could be a taboo word, because it has the array of status markers in the burial, some of been pointed out by O hEochaidh that 'they used to which were actually produced on the spot after the call poteen and the instruments connected with chieftain's death (Biel 1985). The absence of recover- poteen-making by terms' (1975, 23). It is able food remains in the Hochdorf grave (though unfortunate that we know so little about the actual implements for processing large cuts of meat were production of alcoholic beverages during the Euro- included), together with the presence of a quantity pean Iron Age, for it would be interesting to dis- of mead, which must have represented a small for- cover if a respect, perhaps even fear, was associated tune in the Early Iron Age world of the Hochdorf with the production of alcohol similar to that often chieftain, strengthens the link between alcohol con- ethnographically documented for the profession of sumption, rather than feasting more generally, and iron working. Both processes involve a change in the "sovereignty in this sixth-century BC context. nature, or 'magical' transformation, of an essential The cauldron contained large quantities of element: in the one instance fire and iron ore, in the beeswax (88 g) and pollen in high concentrations. other water and grain, grapes or honey. The produc- This suggests that the mead was not ready to drink tion of alcoholic beverages may also have had impli- at the time of the mortuary ceremony but was in- cations for the construction of gender in European tended to settle and ferment after burial. According Iron Age societies. If beermaking was traditionally a to the results of the pollen analysis, the quantity of female occupation (and there is documentary evi- mead in the cauldron would have required a year to dence to suggest this) the production of alcoholic beverages should be viewed as a female parallel to ferment sufficiently to be consumed (Korber-Grohne 31 1985,121-2), so it follows that it was not meant to be the male transformative magic of the smith. drunk by the dead man in the Otherworld until that This discussion has identified three primary period of time had passed. The emphasis on 'a year functions of the drinking cult, existing in a mutually and a day' as the time required to prepare a feast in supportive network: 1) alcohol in its ideo-political the Celtic literature (Patterson pers. comm.) may shed manifestation as the vehicle of kingship in the inau- some light on the significance of the unfermented guration ceremony of the chief or king; 2) alcohol in mead buried with the Hochdorf chieftain. Perhaps its socio-political manifestation as the means of main- this was the length of time required for the prepara- taining the chiefly prerogatives through feasting and tion of an 'inaugural' feast in the Otherworld. It is the distribution of liquor among the warrior elites also possible that some form of feast in the world of and clients as an incentive and reward for service; the living was timed by the survivors to coincide 3) alcohol in its ideological manifestation as an with the arrival and/or inaugural feast of the de- emblem of sovereignty in the complex of status ceased in the Otherworld. One year after death was markers meant to accompany a chieftain into the considered the ideal time for a Tlingit potlatch (Kan Otherworld. 1989, 182), for example, since it would take the de- The multiple signification of drinking and feast- ceased that long to find his or her way to the ing equipment and its socio-political function in Otherworld village. Tlingit society may provide a parallel here: The mood-altering nature of alcoholic bever- The exchange of potlatch food and gifts was a rich ages themselves also must be considered. Alcohol and complex system of communication, in which temporarily transports the drinker beyond normal material objects carried metamessages about es- restraints, which probably explains the Celtic prac- chatology, power, and rank as well as success in tice of drinking before battle. In the Gododdin, for subsistence activities, trade, warfare, and key cul- example, Medel 'drank transparent wine/Design- tural values and structural principles. Using the artifacts circulating in the potlatch system, the par- ing to excel in fight' (Powell 1888,181) and the son of ticipants negotiated their social and power rela- Nwython is described as 'a mead-fed hero with a tions as well as expressed their feelings and large heart' (Powell 1888, 349). Inspiring when im- attitudes towards each other. (Kan 1989,209) bibed in moderation, destructive when over-indulged in, alcohol as such must have been imbued with spe- Celtic drinking and feasting customs may have cial qualities, and it is therefore no surprise to find served similar ends, both in prehistoric and early

87 Bettina Arnold

historic times, as the material record and the litera- 3. The serving vessels are made of pottery or metal, ture attest. The sharing of food and drink has deep which certainly contributes to their archaeological social and often religious significance in many cul- over-representation. Drinking vessels made of per- tures, serving as a social lubricant while simultane- ishable materials such as wood or horn would be less likely to survive. ously communicating messages of membership and 4. Kossack's religious interpretation of Hallstatt iconog- exclusion. This was particularly true in Celtic soci- raphy has been contested by Alexandrine Eibner ety, where communal feasting served to rank indi- (1981), whose discussion of the symbolism on situlae viduals in relation to one another while confirming is more convincing than the comparison with the and strengthening existing relationships of depend- Tammuz festival proposed by Kossack. I would like ence and dominance. to thank one of the anonymous reviewers for bring- The hypotheses presented here suggest inter- ing this point to my attention. esting avenues for further research. Drinking equip- 5. In India, Srinivas (1966,14-16) cites examples of low ment is not found in every wealthy Iron Age burial. castes being punished for appropriating object assem- blages considered the exclusive property of upper It follows that this artefact complex must have par- castes, including a provision prohibiting the use of ticular significance beyond the obvious display of 32 metal as compared to ceramic vessels. Achaemenid Per- wealth. This discussion has presented evidence for sians considered it a disgrace to be made to drink a connection between Celtic drinking and feasting from an earthenware cup rather than one of precious equipment and sovereignty or political control over metal (my thanks go to one of the anonymous review- others. Up to now the term 'chieftain's grave' or ers for this observation). Miller adds that not surpris- Filrstengrab has been indiscriminately applied to any ingly, the symbolic associations of food and water Iron Age grave in Western Europe with an above have been extended to the vessels which are used for average accumulation of 'luxury' grave goods. The them, a second field of reference being derived from the material from which the vessels are made (1982, arguments developed here show that this term should 92-3). The question of which first came to be pro- be applied only to those burials which contain a full scribed by sumptuary regulations in the Early Iron range of drinking and feasting equipment, including Age, the food and drink served in the vessels found in an especially large metal storage vessel, in addition elite graves or the vessels themselves, will probably to the usual trappings of a wealthy Iron Age indi- never be answered. By the late Hallstatt period at vidual. The next step would be to examine the re- least it is likely that both the vessels and the consum- gional and temporal distributions of burials of this ables served in them were governed by such regula- description to determine 1) whether the hypothesis tions. The shifting of medium from a common resource, such as pottery, to a comparatively rare re- is supported by the archaeological evidence avail- source, such as metal, may have helped to preserve able, and 2) if so, what this might tell us about terri- the contrast between elites and non-elites through torial boundaries and the size and organization of their differential access to wealth and power (Miller population groups in the Early Iron Age. By the end 1982, 97). of the early La Tene period these sets of drinking 6. Sherratt also makes this point: 'Much of the traffic of vessels disappear, together with the Fiirstengrtiber prehistoric times must have involved organic sub- (Biel 1985,95). There is good evidence that this time stances (even though these are less prominent in the saw a breakdown of the existing social order, and it archaeological record than durable items like stone is not surprising that the balance between the chief- axes or bronze ornaments); and the wine trade was tain and his warrior elites maintained through drink- undoubtedly a mainstay of the ancient Mediterranean ing ritual should temporarily vanish from the economy in Greek and Roman times' (1995,8). 7. See Sherratt on this subject: 'Although valuable as a archaeological record. That it did not disappear per- sugar supplement, honey is unlikely to have been manently is evidenced by the importance of that sufficiently plentiful [during the European Bronze same institution in the maintenance of insular Celtic AgeJ to sustain an alcoholic tradition on its own .. . kingship in the later literature. Mead was an expensive, elite drink' (1995,25). 8. Residue analyses of bronze vessel contents have con- Notes firmed this (Kimmig 1988). 9. This is conjecture, but it is conjecture based on abun- 1. Enright's recent study, Lady with a Mead Cup, is an dant ethnographic evidence. Most societies that en- exception, but he focuses primarily on the Late Iron gage in social drinking differentiate between alcoholic Age and later periods, and the discussion of archaeo- beverages consumed on an everyday basis and those logical evidence is the weakest part of the book (1996). produced for ritual purposes. The Matis of western 2. Note the key role played by feasting in establishing Brazil, for example, brew several different types of and maintaining status in this society. beer from a variety of starchy crops, such as sweet

88 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

manioc roots or peach palms. While everyday beers tained the bones of a skunk and several other small made from staples are very important, the brand of mammals (Bouloumie" 1988, 378). The large bronze beer the Matis endow with the most significance is basin also found in this burial may have been the corn beer. Corn is a seasonal crop, and corn and corn vessel actually used to dispense alcoholic beverages. beer provide an opportunity for festivities and initia- 14. As Sherratt has pointed out, 'Food is not simply a tion rites such as the tattooing ritual (Erikson 1990). In system of alimentation ... but also a system of non- some societies, different types of alcoholic beverages verbal communication; and its syntax can be illumi- are associated with particular social classes rather than nated by the kinds of structural analysis that have with different types of social activities. An example of been applied to mythology and visual art' (1995,11- such sumptuary classification of alcoholic beverages 12). is documented in India during the Vedic period, where 15. References to couches used in feasting are interesting each of the four varnas was assigned its 'proper' bev- in view of the metal kline from the Hochdorf burial erage (Goody 1982,115; Dietler 1990,365). The impor- and the furniture intaglios from numerous other high- tance assigned to drinking in late Hallstatt society is status elite burials of Early Iron Age date. Jackson documented by the prevalence of drinking equipment describes a typical feasting hall in the Gododdin as in the burial record. Dietler has argued very persua- follows: 'Good living in the way of feasting and drink- sively for the pan-regional importance of social drink- ing was constantly referred to, particularly with refer- ing during this period, and the association between ence to the year-long feast of Mynyddog before imported wine, wine drinking vessels and the Early Catraeth. The scene, and the centre of life in the kingly Iron Age elite seems to indicate that sumptuary re- household, is the great hall . . . The place of honour strictions based on social rank and /or status were in here was "at the end of the couch"'. The scene was operation (Dietler 1990,384-6). one of some richness; '[reclining] on his cushions, 10. This seems to have been particularly true for alcoholic Blaen used to dispense the drinking horn in his luxu- beverages and other psychoactive substances, as rious palace ... he led us up to the bright fire and to Sherratt has indicated: 'Substances causing marked the reclining [seat covered with] white fleece' (1969, behavioural alteration, including some loss of physi- 34). A metal couch (imdae) is even mentioned in the cal control, may be powerful symbols of access to Tain bo Flidaise (Mallory 1986, 35). This is important, esoteric knowledge and communication with other for it implies that such couches were not manufac- worlds. Such qualities may be attractive for individu- tured exclusively for funerary purposes, but may have als in small communities or in societies where politi- been used in drinking and feasting during the life of cal power is in the process of formation' (1995, 16). the individual. The description is accurate even with This certainly seems to describe the West Hallstatt respect to the cushions and the furs found lining the area during the sixth century BC. Hochdorf couch (Biel 1985,148; Korber-Grohne 1985, 11. This is an example of 'dissembling', or skeuomorphism, 117-21). the practice of attempting to reproduce an object typi- 16. Jackson translates the relevant verse as follows: 'The cally made of some valuable resource in a material men went to Catraeth, they were famous; wine and which is less valuable and more readily available. mead from golden vessels was their drink for a year, Renfrew refers to this in his discussion of 'value' in according to the honorable custom; three men and prehistoric society as represented in the material three score and three hundred wearing gold torques. record, and the pitfalls of projecting modern values Of those that hastened forth after the choice drink into the past. Renfrew considers 'dissembling' one of none escaped but three, through feats of combat; the the few dependable indicators of 'value' in prehis- two battle-hounds of Aeron and Cynon the stubborn — toric contexts (1986,149). The gold applique's on some and I, with my blood streaming down, for the sake of of the objects in the Hochdorf grave were cited as an my brilliant poetry' (1969,125). example; ceramic versions of metal drinking and feast- 17. Although I am assuming here that the 'demon ban- ing vessels are another. quet' described was primarily secular and recreational 12. Wooden drinking vessels, especially cups, are also in nature, the obvious polarity established between it mentioned in the Celtic literature. The Gorchan of and the 'godly banquet' hints at a darker past. Origi- Tudfwlch refers to 'the bitter alder cup as well as the nally the 'demon banquet' may well have involved spiral drinking-horns' (Jackson 1969,35 & 153). sacrifice to pre-Christian deities (Patterson pers. 13. It has been pointed out that the relatively thin sheet comm.). bronze walls of the Vix krater could not have sus- 18. Transformations of Celtic culture in the British Isles tained the pressure exerted by its contents when full, under the influence of Christianity certainly occurred, and that it was probably used primarily as a show- but varied in degree depending on the history of the piece (Fischer 1982, 46). Even if the krater had been region and the aspect of social practice affected. fully functional, the logistics of serving a beverage Change can be documented in gender roles, for exam- from its depths would have proved complicated. In ple, and to some extent this overlaps with drinking fact, unlike the Hochdorf cauldron, which contained and feasting practices (Arnold 1991; 1996,159-65). mead when placed in the burial, the Vix krater con- 19. The following passage from the Gododdin describes

89 Bettina Arnold

the right of the most courageous warrior to the hero's feasting activity, as Pasquier points out. Dietler's dis- portion at the banquet: 'When my comrade was struck, cussion of the evidence for 'aboriginal' drinking prac- he struck others, there was no insult he would put up tises in Early Iron Age Europe agrees with Pasquier's with. Steady in guarding the ford, he was glad when conclusions regarding the indigenous genesis of this he bore off the honoured portion in the palace' (Jackson activity (1990,374-5). 1969,105). Athenaeus quotes Poseidonius on the same 30. This seems to be true of dlite Iron Age burials in subject as follows: 'And in former times, he says, when France as well (Bouloumie 1988,377). the hindquarters were served up the bravest hero 31. Thanks are due to an anonymous reviewer for sug- took the thigh piece, and if another man claimed it gesting this possible interpretation. they stood up and fought in single combat to the 32. Kimmig deals with this issue as well: 'These examples death' (Athenaeus IV 40, p. 154 A-C: Tierney 1960, show that a basic set of objects was associated with 247). especially elite individuals, which could be varied 20. The reciprocity of the relationship is expressed par- from one case to the next, in which however certain ticularly directly in the following passage from the vessel types were more or less stringently required... Gododdin: 'The men hastened forth, they were bound- especially with respect to drinking horns, which are ing forwards together, short-lived they were, drunk seldom absent in well-documented elite graves' (1983, over the clarified mead, the retinue of Mynyddog, 170, translated from the German). famous in [battlej-straits; their lives were payment for their feast of mead' (Jackson 1969,129). Bettina Arnold 21. This has in fact been suggested by some researchers Department of Anthropology (Fischer 1982,72). University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 22. I would like to thank Nerys Patterson for drawing my Milwaukee, Wl 53201 attention to this very significant passage. 23. The derbfine, the male descendants of a common great- USA grandfather, was the basic Irish late Iron Age corpo- rate kin unit (Gibson 1990,309). References 24. The association between drinking and copulation as part of an inaugural feast suggests a parallel transfer Arafat, K. & C. Morgan, 1994. Athens, Etruria and the of fluids rather than just a statistical coincidence; Heuneburg, in Classical Greece: Ancient Histories and thanks go to an anonymous reviewer for this observa- Modern Archaeologies, ed. I. Morris. Cambridge: Cam- tion. bridge University Press, 108-34. 25. Figural representations of the sort found on the situlae Arnold, B., 1991. The deposed princess of Vix: the need for described above are also found on other vessels and an engendered European prehistory, in The Archae- objects, but less frequently. Cists, lids and 'double ology of Gender: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual conical vases' are sometimes decorated with such Chacmool Conference, eds. D. Walde & N. Willows. scenes, which are occasionally found on belt plates Calgary: University of Calgary, 366-74. and mirrors also (Eibner 1981,286 footnote 2). Arnold, B., 1996. 'Honorary males' or women of substance? 26. I would like to thank James L. Hodge for pointing out Gender, status and power in Iron Age Europe. Jour- the significance of this passage to the discussion of nal of European Archaeology 3.2,153-68. alcohol and sovereignty in pre-Christian Ireland. Arnold, B. & D.B. Gibson (eds.), 1995. Celtic Chiefdom, 27. See for example the four bronze human legs and feet Celtic State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. which serve as supports for the bronze canteen from Biel, ]., 1982a. Das Furstengrab von Eberdingen-Hochdorf/ Durrnberg Grave 44/2 (Pauli 1980,227-8). Kreis Ludwigsburg, in Fischer (ed.), 22-38. 28. Note that evidence for matrilineal succession in the Biel, ]., 1982b. Der und seine Graber, in Laws is restricted to the south of Wales, where the Fischer (ed.), 38-43. legal rights of women seem to have differed from Biel,-J. (ed.), 1985. Der Keltenfiirst von Hochdorf: Methoden those in the North (Rees & Rees 1961,180-81). und Ergebnisse der Landesarchaologie. Stuttgart: Konrad 29. Many Iron Age researchers would dispute this. Frey, Theiss Verlag. for example, believes that the Celtic peoples of Early Biel, ]., 1989. Vorgeschichtliche Siedlungsreste in Eber- Iron Age west-central Europe imported both Mediter- dingen-Hochdorf, Kreis Ludwigsburg. Archaologische ranean drinking vessels and their 'Speisegewohn- Ausgrabungen in Baden-Wiirttemberg 1989,97-9. heiten' and incorporated them in their burial ritual Binchy, D.A. (ed.), 1936. Studies in Early Irish Law. Dublin: (1989,299). I disagree, primarily because there is good Hodges, Figgis & Co. evidence of continuity in drinking and feasting prac- Binchy, D.A. (ed.), 1941. Crith Gablach. (Medieval and Mod- tices and equipment from at least the Urnfield period ern Irish Series XI.) Dublin: The Stationary Office. through the period in question, beginning well before Binchy, D.A., 1958. The fair of Tailtiu and the feast of Tara. documented contact with the Mediterranean (Sherratt Eriu 18,113-38. 1995). There are also clear differences in the way some Binchy, D.A., 1963. Scela Cano Meic Gartnain. Dublin: The of the vessels were used, and in the participants in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

90 Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe

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