- As is so often the case with the Iron Age, researchers are offered two routes into an understanding of how religion and ritual was practised at the time. The first is via the written sources, provided in part by the Romans, and the writings of Julius Caesar in particular, and by the much-later ‘Celtic’ literature of Ireland and Wales. It is argued that the latter captured much earlier epic poetry and myths, passed down through generations by way of an oral tradition. Archaeologists often view the material evidence through these literary prisms, and figures such as Miranda Green have written widely on the subject (for example, Green 1986). It is clear, however, that the idea of a uniform framework of religious beliefs and practices which spanned centuries and much of continental Europe cannot be accepted uncritically. There is ample scope – and indeed ample evidence – for regional variation and for changing practices over time.
- Nonetheless, certain recurring themes can be tracked across extensive tracts of space and time. One striking aspect is the almost complete absence of human remains from across the region. One exception is the supposedly ‘Roman’ burial from High Torrs, Luce Bay, where a cremated individual was buried beneath a small cairn with items of Roman material culture. These included two fragments of Samian Ware and a carved gemstone or ‘intaglio.’ Another is the recent discovery from Adie’s Brae, Moffat. Here, the cremated remains of a male aged at least 17 were recovered during the excavation of a settlement site. The cremation was either placed within or beneath the roundhouse structure, and was dated to between the second half of the 1st century BC and the end of the 1st century AD.
- An outstanding feature in the region is the practice of votive deposition in wet places. The placing of metal objects in wet places such as bogs or rivers has its origins in the Bronze Age, though this seems to have been less widely practised in South West Scotland than in other areas. In fact, if anything the practice is more prevalent in the Iron Age.
- The region has earned a particular reputation for its finds of fine metalwork, often comprising examples of what appear to be unique highly decorated (and presumably highly prized) objects. Items which spring to mind include the Torrs chamfrein or pony cap, the Balmaclellan mirror and accompanying case-mounts and the Lochar Moss neck ornament. In addition, there are hoards of arguably less prestigious items, such as the Middlebie hoard of chariot fittings. This included bridle bits, harness-fittings and rein-guides or ‘terrets’, items which – while perhaps lacking the visual impact of the apparently unique objects listed above – were nonetheless a prestige item linked with elite warfare, and what is inevitably described as ‘Celtic warrior culture’.
- All of the pieces mentioned above are manufactured from copper alloy, and the majority of votive metalwork tends to comprise decorative items used to adorn and enhance either the appearance of the human body, or of the chariot team, or of an individual’s weapon or shield (the Bargany scabbard). The mirror from Balmaclellan is a more complex item: today we view mirrors as associated with personal care but in the past, they could also take on a religious or ritual function through their use for scrying, enabling communication with a god or spirit. The lack of more mundane iron objects in a votive context could be at least in part down to issues with survival, as hoards of utilitarian items are not unknown. Sometimes, these acts of deposition included huge quantities of metalwork: the Carlingwark Loch hoard included metalwork of Roman and local manufacture deposited together in a large cauldron or bucket. Debate has continued as to whether it represents an act of sacrifice undertaken by intrusive Roman soldiers of ‘Celtic’ ethnicity, or by an indigenous community who lived in the area and who had access to Roman material culture. Modern interpretations tend towards the latter. Carlingwark Loch has also produced a Late Bronze Age sword find, and it was also the site of a crannog. It seems likely that it had formed an important focus for religious practices long before the Iron Age hoard was placed there.
- It is easy to become distracted by the metalwork finds. Less tangible but also potentially important in Iron Age ritual practices are offerings of organic items, also placed in mosses or bogs. These include complete human bodies, perhaps ritually killed before being placed in the ground. Similar practices are reported in Roman texts, and evidence is also widespread archaeologically. In South West Scotland, possible examples include human remains recovered from Lochar Moss. These were recovered from the same area of moss where the necklet was recovered, and finds of Roman coins have also been reported from the same general location (Cowie et al 2011).
- It is also possible that the human remains (including two skulls) recovered from sediments within Borness Cave represent some kind of votive offering, as opposed to evidence for a formal burial rite. This site revealed a varied range of material culture, including bone combs and whetstones, as well as dateable finds such as a Samian Ware cup, a brooch and a fragment of glass armlet (Clarke 1876; Clarke 1878). These inferred that some activity on the site took place in the 1st to 2nd century AD, that is, potentially coeval with the Roman occupation of South West Scotland. It is possible, however, that the first activity on the site, including its use for the deposition of human remains, originated much earlier, in the Late Bronze Age.
- It is also worth reconsidering the unusual discovery of human bone from the recently excavated site at Adie’s Brae, Moffat, where the cremated remains of a man aged seventeen or over were recovered from either inside or beneath a roundhouse structure in an enclosed settlement. While the unique nature of this site may reflect the fact that most comparable sites are already too truncated to allow the survival of such deposits, it is also possible that the burial at Adie’s Brae represented a votive deposit of some kind as much as a formal burial place.
- Another source of reference in these acts of votive deposition was the agricultural cycle. There are no clear instances where foodstuffs appear to have been used in this way, but items linked with food preparation and presentation have been found. The waterlogged deposits at Over Rig included a wooden container and a wooden skillet. Both items could potentially have been used for food storage or presentation. Another item linked with food and the agricultural cycle is the quern, with finds of fragmentary quernstones recovered from within the backfill of the souterrain at Auchrannie and from within the rampart construction material at Boonies.
- More mundane offerings also include shoes (Clarke 1876; Clarke 1878). Although we have evidence of marked variation in the items selected for acts of votive deposition, the only means we have of understanding the motivation behind these acts is through written accounts by Julius Caesar and other Roman authors. Once again, it should be remembered that they were referring to what they encountered in Gaul, at a very specific time and in very specific circumstances. Whether these observations can be transposed to South West Scotland and how similar practices might change over time and according to local circumstances is questionable. But they do offer a starting point from which to approach the study of these special deposits and the social context that generated them.
- It is entirely possible that the division we make between ritual and secular practice is an entirely false and misleading one. Ritual may have provided an underlying structure for day-to-day life, and conversely, the routine activities of agricultural practice may have formed the language and syntax of ritual practice. Excavation of Iron Age settlements – and roundhouse structures like the example sited at Black Loch of Myrton – suggests that areas were used for specific tasks, and that the house was orientated in a specific fashion, usually with an entrance facing towards the south. Such practices could have had their roots in practicalities, which ultimately transformed into traditions. Sometimes these changed over time.
- There is also evidence that the life cycle of buildings may have been a focus for ritual practice. The placing of foundation deposits is attested at the well-preserved crannog site of Cults Loch. Here several wooden items, including an ard and some wooden staves, were found incorporated into the crannog structure. The quern fragments recovered from the rampart material at Boonies and the backfill at the Auchrannie souterrain may also derive from similar acts of foundation (and in the case of Auchrannie, closure), inferring that acts of commemoration linked with a settlement’s creation and abandonment might have taken place on a regular basis. If that was the case, then it is also possible that the human remains at Adie’s Brae derived from similar practices rather representing an example of regular mortuary practice.
- Another important example of something which we perceive as mundane, but which instead appears to have played an important role in ritual and religion is metallurgy. Craftsmen often play an ambiguous role in Celtic mythology, with smiths wielding a supernatural power that sets them apart from other members of the community. This ambiguity is expressed physically early in the Iron Age: Heald cited several examples in his PhD thesis where Early Iron Age non-ferrous metalworking took place outwith the external boundaries of hillforts (Heald 2005). Evidence for Iron Age ironworking has also been recovered from a Bronze Age burial site at Moncrieffe, Perthshire. Here, cremated human bone appears to have been used as flux in the iron-working process, a practice which the excavator saw as the desecration of the site’s previous incumbents (Stewart 1987). Placed in the wider context of Heald’s thesis, this unusual re-use of an earlier ritual site can, however, help to make sense of what is arguably South West Scotland’s most intriguing and informative Early Iron Age metalworking site at Hunterston. Here, an industrial practice was taking place in an area physically separated from a nearby hilltop settlement, in a landscape that had seen repeated, though intermittent, use throughout the Bronze Age, back into the Neolithic and potentially even earlier.
- Similar in some respects to the sites at Hunterston and Pict’s Knowe is the large enclosure at Over Rig, Upper Eskdale. Situated near the hillfort site at Castle O’er, the enclosure occupies marshy ground in a natural amphitheatre. An internal platform was identified, presumably raising the ground level to improve conditions underfoot. Structures were identified, but there was no evidence of settlement, in a site which appears to have been used over a very short period coeval with the Roman military occupation of the area. The excavator, Roger Mercer, suggested that it may have had a role in a wider system of linear features and enclosures associated with the management of livestock, perhaps cattle or ponies. This led him to suggest that it may have functioned as a special place where livestock was gathered for acquisition by the Romans, whether through exchange or as tribute (Mercer 2018, 234). It is possible that the activities which took place here may have blended practical and religious aspects of Iron Age life, as some artefacts recovered appeared consistent with votive offerings. These included a wooden container, a wooden skillet and a miniature wooden sword. The latter item was consistent with a miniature weapon a child might use and can be matched with comparable items recovered from peat bogs in Ireland and Orkney (Tipping 2018, 177).