Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Glauberg" in English language version.
it is clear that all these ditches have special astronomic and mathematical meaning, with the great 'Prozessionsstrasse' aiming at the point of the Southern Major Standstill of the moon's 18.61-year precession (maximum extreme of the moon setting), and other ditches aiming at the dates of the solstices. This is evidence for the implications of the whole structure as a ritual or holy place with long term calendrical meaning as well as with short-term seasonal meaning.
The existence of a sandstone statue which has clear parallels to one of the persons buried in the mound (and the existence of at least three more statues that have been entirely destroyed) is itself a hint for a cult, possibly one that refers to the ancestors or 'heroes' from the Glauberg's graves.
Anthropomorphic hilted short swords can be demonstrated to be a rare and specialised weapon whose essential size, style, and human symbolism altered little over some 300 years. A small proportion of these short swords are stamped and inlaid with gold or other metals. These types of stamps are found almost exclusively on the short swords and represent different stages of the lunar cycle and are divided by a vertical line.
It may be suggested that the short swords were used in practices or ceremonies associated with making and keeping the time by counting nights, and determining what was a propitious day. ... The symbols on the short swords represent the passage of time, signifying the phases of the moon which may well have been counted in nights. ... the persons who used the short swords stamped with astral symbols probably had calendrical and astronomical knowledges. ... The weapons may have been used at particular times, and for particular purposes, to mark certain stages in cycles. ... one of the possibilities suggested by the literary sources — an association with religious specialists — is worth pursuing. This is the association with Druids because of the calendrical knowledge ascribed to them and the role(s) attributed to them in conducting religious/sacrificial ceremonies ... Augury and divination are practises in which Druids are stated to have participated, and in which the use of a specialised blade would be appropriate.
The measurement of time in nights is evidenced by later Gallo-Latin calendars which are written in Gaulish and which ultimately derive from an indigenous calendar. The epigraphic evidence is endorsed by literary evidence for Late Iron Age France which speaks of the measurement of time in nights and points to the association of this knowledge with a specialist religious class.
A complete sandstone statue of an Early La Tène warrior, priest, druid or "prince" (or a combination of those statuses) was found in an annex to the ditch surrounding the burial mound with the two main graves from the Glauberg. The statue was complete preserved, missing only its feet and the base, and as such it is by far the best preserved and most elaborate life-size statue of the La Tène period north of the Alps. Some of its features, like the leaf cap ("mistletoe cap"), a necklace, a finger ring, a bracelet, a sword and a shield, have been found as grave goods of the 'princely' burial 1 in the nearby mound.
Anthropomorphic hilted short swords can be demonstrated to be a rare and specialised weapon whose essential size, style, and human symbolism altered little over some 300 years. A small proportion of these short swords are stamped and inlaid with gold or other metals. These types of stamps are found almost exclusively on the short swords and represent different stages of the lunar cycle and are divided by a vertical line.
It may be suggested that the short swords were used in practices or ceremonies associated with making and keeping the time by counting nights, and determining what was a propitious day. ... The symbols on the short swords represent the passage of time, signifying the phases of the moon which may well have been counted in nights. ... the persons who used the short swords stamped with astral symbols probably had calendrical and astronomical knowledges. ... The weapons may have been used at particular times, and for particular purposes, to mark certain stages in cycles. ... one of the possibilities suggested by the literary sources — an association with religious specialists — is worth pursuing. This is the association with Druids because of the calendrical knowledge ascribed to them and the role(s) attributed to them in conducting religious/sacrificial ceremonies ... Augury and divination are practises in which Druids are stated to have participated, and in which the use of a specialised blade would be appropriate.
The measurement of time in nights is evidenced by later Gallo-Latin calendars which are written in Gaulish and which ultimately derive from an indigenous calendar. The epigraphic evidence is endorsed by literary evidence for Late Iron Age France which speaks of the measurement of time in nights and points to the association of this knowledge with a specialist religious class.
The existence of a sandstone statue which has clear parallels to one of the persons buried in the mound (and the existence of at least three more statues that have been entirely destroyed) is itself a hint for a cult, possibly one that refers to the ancestors or 'heroes' from the Glauberg's graves.
The analyses of Prof. Dr. B. Deiss, Institute for Theoretical Physics/Astrophysics at the University of Frankfurt, prove without a doubt that the ditches of the Glauberg "Procession Way" as well as the ditches and post positions in the area of the "Princely Tomb" together provide clear indications of the use as a calendar, which is only possible in certain geographical situations - such as that of the Glauberg. Specifically, they are aligned with the point of the great southern lunar solstice, which recurs approximately every 18.6 years. The ditches in the northwest of the burial mound and several post positions documented during the excavation form a complex, mathematically well thought-out and constructed system for observing these and other astronomical phenomena, all of which are the basis for a calendar that enables long-term observations to be made for the classification of Time phases, especially of a seasonal nature. (Translated from German)
A complete sandstone statue of an Early La Tène warrior, priest, druid or "prince" (or a combination of those statuses) was found in an annex to the ditch surrounding the burial mound with the two main graves from the Glauberg. The statue was complete preserved, missing only its feet and the base, and as such it is by far the best preserved and most elaborate life-size statue of the La Tène period north of the Alps. Some of its features, like the leaf cap ("mistletoe cap"), a necklace, a finger ring, a bracelet, a sword and a shield, have been found as grave goods of the 'princely' burial 1 in the nearby mound.
In his study of lunar symbols on certain anthropomorphic hilted short swords Andrew Fitzpatrick has recently explored interest in the movement of the moon amongst European Iron Age societies (Fitzpatrick 1996). He interprets the crescents, full circles and triskeles (three legs radiating from a common centre) on their blades as different stages in the moon's waxing and waning, and supports his argument for the Iron Age measurement of time in 'nights' by referring to the Coligny calendar and later Gallo-Latin calendars which he considers to have derived ultimately from an indigenous calendrical system [...] It is possible that the astral symbols on the anthropomorphic-hilted short swords may relate to lunar eclipses rather than to phases of the moon, given the extreme shape of some of the crescents. Equally, the symbolism of the triskele - also apparent on one of these swords - could represent the 54-year threefold eclipse cycle of the moon, after which the eclipse returns to the same approximate position in the sky.
The evidence from Fiskerton suggests that there was in Iron Age Britain some understanding of the cyclical nature and periodicity of lunar eclipses. In order to use the Saros series as the basis for eclipse prediction it would have been necessary to employ an accurate calendar that recorded phases of the Moon over a period of several decades. [...] In his study of lunar symbols on certain anthropomorphic hilted short swords Andrew Fitzpatrick has recently explored interest in the movement of the moon amongst European Iron Age societies (Fitzpatrick 1996). [...] Only one such sword with astral signs has ever been found in Britain, three miles northeast of Fiskerton from the Barlings Eau, a tributary of the River Witham. It was recorded by Sir Joseph Banks as a dagger with a gold crescent on one side of its blade (1893: 233) but has since been lost. Another Iron Age dagger recovered from the Witham during the nineteenth century (and also now lost) was an anthropoid-handled short sword. Fitzpatrick suggests that these swords were specialized blades appropriate for use in religious divination and augury by ritual specialists.
These data give a strong impression that several linked pairs of Saros series (27/28, 46/47 and 61/62) may have been used for predicting winter total lunar eclipses at different times during the first millennium BC. [...] We had initially speculated that the observation of lunar eclipse series might have been a solely La Tène-period phenomenon but the evidence for felling dates from the Late Bronze Age causeway at Caldicot hints at a much greater antiquity for this practice. The current tree-ring evidence suggests that midwinter lunar eclipses were marked by timber felling in preparation for piled structures variously interpreted as post alignments, hards and bridges (with the exception of the circular structure at Navan), rather than horizontally laid or pegged trackways. The date range for this phenomenon appears to start earlier than and extend beyond the La Tène period, perhaps extending from 997 BC to AD 43 in Britain and Europe or even as late as AD 560 in Ireland.
the remains of posts that supported an Iron Age walkway built almost 2500 years ago and used, it would appear, by the Druids of eastern England as a platform from which to consign sacrificial objects to the watery depths. [...] These old oak posts suggest that the people who built the walkway were able to predict lunar eclipses
A complete sandstone statue of an Early La Tène warrior, priest, druid or "prince" (or a combination of those statuses) was found in an annex to the ditch surrounding the burial mound with the two main graves from the Glauberg. The statue was complete preserved, missing only its feet and the base, and as such it is by far the best preserved and most elaborate life-size statue of the La Tène period north of the Alps. Some of its features, like the leaf cap ("mistletoe cap"), a necklace, a finger ring, a bracelet, a sword and a shield, have been found as grave goods of the 'princely' burial 1 in the nearby mound.
A complete sandstone statue of an Early La Tène warrior, priest, druid or "prince" (or a combination of those statuses) was found in an annex to the ditch surrounding the burial mound with the two main graves from the Glauberg. The statue was complete preserved, missing only its feet and the base, and as such it is by far the best preserved and most elaborate life-size statue of the La Tène period north of the Alps. Some of its features, like the leaf cap ("mistletoe cap"), a necklace, a finger ring, a bracelet, a sword and a shield, have been found as grave goods of the 'princely' burial 1 in the nearby mound.
Anthropomorphic hilted short swords can be demonstrated to be a rare and specialised weapon whose essential size, style, and human symbolism altered little over some 300 years. A small proportion of these short swords are stamped and inlaid with gold or other metals. These types of stamps are found almost exclusively on the short swords and represent different stages of the lunar cycle and are divided by a vertical line.
It may be suggested that the short swords were used in practices or ceremonies associated with making and keeping the time by counting nights, and determining what was a propitious day. ... The symbols on the short swords represent the passage of time, signifying the phases of the moon which may well have been counted in nights. ... the persons who used the short swords stamped with astral symbols probably had calendrical and astronomical knowledges. ... The weapons may have been used at particular times, and for particular purposes, to mark certain stages in cycles. ... one of the possibilities suggested by the literary sources — an association with religious specialists — is worth pursuing. This is the association with Druids because of the calendrical knowledge ascribed to them and the role(s) attributed to them in conducting religious/sacrificial ceremonies ... Augury and divination are practises in which Druids are stated to have participated, and in which the use of a specialised blade would be appropriate.
The measurement of time in nights is evidenced by later Gallo-Latin calendars which are written in Gaulish and which ultimately derive from an indigenous calendar. The epigraphic evidence is endorsed by literary evidence for Late Iron Age France which speaks of the measurement of time in nights and points to the association of this knowledge with a specialist religious class.
