10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1957-58. II. THE HUMAN HEAD IN INSULAR PAGAN CELTIC RELIGION. BY ANNE BOSS, PH.D., F.S.A.ScoT. INTRODUCTION. A Scottish Tricephalos said to come from Sutherland. Throug generosite hth Trusteee th Dice f yo th f kso Institute , Kilmarnock, importann a t carved hea kina t hithertf do dno o recorded from Scotlans dha been addeNationae th o dt lonlr Museum.fo g d beeha nt I exhibite1 e th n di Institute's museu earln a onle s mya th yfontd recor s provenancan , it f do e is '' Sutherlandshire.'' This head, 4-7 ins. high and 5-4 by 5 ins. broad, is shaped like a ball, truncated top and bottom. The top is hollowed into a conical cup about 3 ins. across and 2-6 ins. deep. The base is slightly concave. Three faces have been carved roun e sidesdth . Rounded incisions about J—. widin J e d abou an deptn i t. h^in outline three pair f eyeso s , chin droopingd san , triangular moustaches, whil lina e e continuous roun e stondth e indicates mouthse th . Broader lines -were use indicato dt innee eth r curvee th f o s cheeks and the sides of the drop-shaped noses. Between the faces there are similarly incised crosses, equal-armed, abou ins2 t . overall excep r onefo t , now damaged, abou. higin h1 t wit verha y uncertain horizontal strokt eno more than \ in. long. The ston granites ei , speckled black, whit pinkd ean . Mis . MacDonalsH d of the Geological Survey and Museum, South Kensington, has kindly examined it. She describes it as a medium-grained microline-granite and notes thavers i t yi t simila specimeno t r f biotito s e microline-granite from Norway. It does not resemble English or Irish granites in their collection, nor according to Miss MacDonald and Dr J. Phemister of the Survey's Scottish officet i Scottish s i lattee , Th r. doe t thinno s k tha a naturat l errati f Norwegiaco n granite woul foune db Sutherlandn i d . Some other continental origin is also possible as the Survey's collection of granites is not exhaustive. Unless the Sutherland provenance is incorrect, one may speculate whether the head was brought to Scotland by fugitives from the Romans, for a date 1 Acquire Johr M . Clarke nS y db , sometime F.S.A.Scot, fro ma Glasgo w antique shop before th e First World War. E HUMATH N HEA PAGAN DI N CELTIC RELIGION1 1 . about the turn of the Christian era is possible for it, or whether possibly t i retaine s significancit d e sufficientl ye broughb lon o t g e t th ove y b r Norsemen.1 Scope of the Study. appearance Th thif eo s tricephalo pertinenr fo y s openwa t e questionsth s as to its place in archaeological chronology, its function and its artistic relationships. Alone, it can tell us little. Its three faces imply a religious significanc somf eo crossee eth sort d san , which tak place eth earf eo s would lead to the conclusion that the religion in question was Christianity. The drooping triangular moustaches are a typically Celtic feature, familiar to us from numerous example a TenL f eo s metalwor d certaikan n Bomano- British religious representations. This three-faced head divorced fros mit proper context can thus yield little specific information. It so happens, however, tha pagan i t n Celtic religious representative tradition attesten i , d Celtic social custom and in early Welsh and Irish written sources, the head figures naturalistically, or in bi- or tricephalic form, as an independent entity to a striking degree; to such an extent that it is possible from an examinatio more somf no th f eeo outstanding examples placo ,t e this Scottish tricephalos fairly confidentl originas it n yi l artisti religioud can s orbit. It is proposed to concentrate the following investigation of head symbolism on the evidence from Britain and Ireland. The Gaulish material is more plentiful, but the major examples have been discussed recently by Lambrechts, d aparan 2 t froe mth f o drawin o tw gr o attentio e on o t n continental monument r comparativfo s e t purposesproposeno s i o t t i d, study theo concludet mthin d i le s e context,ar mainle W . y froe mth Gaulish evidence, that the head was the bodily member which was especially venerate Celtse th y ,db tha heae regardes th t dwa seae they f dth b o tms a soule th centre vitae th ,th f le o essence , symboli regenerative th f co e forces of life. We have evidence from classical sources, fully substantiated by early insular vernacular tradition, that the head was prized by the Celts as a war trophy. The fact that severed heads were impaled on stakes about their dwellings and temples implies that they had a dual significance for their owners, i.e. as irrefutable evidence of military prowess, and as amulets. 1 I am indebted to Mr E. B. K. Stevenson, Keeper of the National Museum of Antiquities for these3 kinr detailfo d d permissiosan publiso nt heade hth . 2 Lambrechts, Pierre, L' Exaltation Tetea l e d dans Penstea l danst e I'Art des Celtes, Bruges, 1954. " When they depart from battle they han heade gth f theio s r enemies fro e neckmth f thei o s r horse3 s . and nail the spectacle to the entrances of their homes." Strabo IV, 4, 5. (Loeb n, 247). "The heads of enemies of high repute, however, they used .to embalm in cedar oil and exhibit to strangers, and they would not deign to give them back even for a ransom of an equal weight of gold. ..." Strabo. 12 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1957-58. The apotropaic significance of the human head is fully attested by the enigmatic antefixa from Caerleon, Silchester, Dorcheste d Towcesteran r , where sculpted heads, or representations of heads in relief must have been quite common numerous a , s mould fragmentd san antefixf so a show.1 Their appearanc sucn eo h objects would serv streso et s their amuletic function. The frequency with which the head figures on Gallo-Roman religious monuments, both in the round and in relief, is sufficient to substantiate its religious connotatio givo t Gauln ni esatisfactord a an , y corpu evidencf o s e for insular comparison. The striking tricephalic heads from the territory of the Remi in particular illustrate the reverence accorded to the head. Here the deity is symbolised by an enormous bearded tricephalos, having a leaf-crown usualld an , y equated wit classicae hth l Mercury.2 These particu- lar representations would seem to testify to the concept of some autochthonous deity as a head alone, the head sufficing for the total being, the vital part, embued with the power of the whole. somn I e respects e studth , Celtif yo c religio evidences na d from Gauls i , facilitate wealte th y actuaf dhb o l religious representation classicay b d san l references which, although few in number, do contain some information which can help to guide the investigator through the pitfalls of interpretatio Romana. In Britain considerably less material evidence is available, and thi discouragingls si y scattere heterogeneoud dan mucd t seemingli s an f ho y unrelated large Th e. corpu f earlo s y Iris Welsd han h text hela n sca o pt certain extent, but only when the archaeological evidence has been examined and classified. A study of the confused corpus of religious representations d epigraphicaan l material does, however, indicate certain patternd an s tendencies which t uniquno f i ,Celtio et c religious idio temperamentd man , are distinguished by the emphasis laid upon them. One of these recurrent and predominant themes is the human head. It would, of course, have been possible to study the Scottish head from e pointh f vieo t f tricephaliwo c deitie generaln i s , s feli bii t i t that such representations and the concept that underlies them are but a single mani- festation of a more general cult of the head, and it -was thought more satis- "When their enemies fall they cut off their headsand fasten them about the necks of their horse. s and carry them off as booty, singing a paean over them and striking up a song of victory, and these first fruits of battle they fasten by nails upon their houses . the heads of their most distinguished enemies they embalm in cedar-oi carefulld an l y preserv chesa thesd n ei an t e they exhibi strangerso t , gravely maintaining that in exchang thir efo s head someon theif eo rhimself n ancestorsma e ,th refuser o , e dth offer of a great sum of money. And some men among them we are told, boast that they have not accepted an equal weight of gold for the head they show. ..." Diodorus. (Loeb in, 173). " The consuls . got no report of the disaster till some Gallic horsemen came in sight, with heads hanging at their horses' breasts or fixed on their lances, and singing their customary song of triumph." . (Loe11 , 459), Liv26 b IV , .yX 1 P. 28 ff. EsperandieuV 2 , Emile, Becueil General des Bos-Reliefs Statues t Busiese Gauledea l Romaine,, V pis. 3651, 3652, 3655, 3656, 3657, 3762, et seq. E HUMATH N HEA PAGAN DI N CELTIC RELIGION3 1 .