Recent technological advancements have led to an increase in the accuracy of archaeological investigations, opening the way to new social and cultural interpretations and connotations. Such progress continues to pose an old and unavoidable question: could these relics from ancient cultures be better understood through the metaphorical language of myths and folk stories? John Waddell offers to solve this dilemma in his new book Myth and Materiality, a study not of myth or archaeology alone, but an attempt to observe how they converge, and what could we gain from this endeavor.
Starting from the conviction that myth could shed light on archaeology, the author recounts the rich Irish literature written in Old Irish in a time frame of 600 to 900 AD and in Middle Irish from 900 to 1200, as evidence supporting archaeological finds from areas of his interest, famous places of cult sites such as the royal sites of Rathcroghan in Co. Roscommon, Navan in Co. Armagh and Tara in Co. Meath. It is a challenging task which Waddell undertakes with experience and courage, in spite of the “myriad of difficulties and questions—and for some it may be thought unworthy of any serious attention” (34). Navigating through such difficult waters the author is aware of misleading assumptions and quick to signal false results when the literary evidence and the archaeology do not agree. Such a case was connecting the medieval description of the Conchobar’s royal house with contemporary accounts of Carolingian royal dwellings, to reveal the discrepancy between medieval romance and archaeological reality (19). These stories form the bases of the archaeological interest in mythic themes, as for example the myth–archaeology correlations between the place called Banqueting Hall and its association with rituals of sacral kingship (2). Discussing the literary aspect of the Irish heritage, the author observes that in recent times there “is a greater understanding of the interactive and mutual influential character of both oral and written genres in early medieval Ireland,” demonstrating the coexistence of two sets of cultural aspects, “one indigenous and oral in its medium, the other ecclesiastical and literate” (25). This observation helps with the old-time disregard and mistreatment of the oral literature, both raised by archaeologists and mythologists alike. The discovery of Troy and Mycenae by Heinrich Schliemann is probably responsible for the changed attitude.
Admitting that his expertise is not in mythology, Waddell explores in the chapter “The Mythic Past” structures revealed in Irish medieval texts as the epic Tain Bo Cuailnge, the story of the cattle raid, the legendary warrior Cu Chulainn, and his many mythical aspects, which are remnants of some mythic themes that may have very old roots. Considering these archaic roots presents more complex difficulties for the researcher since the stories came through the mentality of the Christian authors, who, faced with the olden world of warriors, kings, and splendid dwellings, did their best to conceal the references to pagan ritual ceremonies. Yet, with the help of the comparative method, the “identification of ancient mythic themes” (36) will clearly improve the chances to understand the past.
Even though archaeologists avoid the use of the term “king” as it may imply the existence of monarchy and state formation, the author dedicates a chapter to the subject of “Sacral Kingship–The Mythology,” and of many archaeological locations associated with kingship, Teamhair na Rig, “Tara of the Kings,” or the hill Rath na Ri, “the Fort of the Kings,” places with a very old history. As shown by the discovery there of a passage tomb dating from the third millennium BC (37), the sacral kingship was a well-established institution in prehistoric Ireland, linked to the concept of “the prince’s truth or the ruler’s truth” (40) and the fatal consequences of untruthfulness. An important aspect of the sacral kingship was the sacred marriage between the prospective king and the goddess of sovereignty, as found in Echtra mac nEchach Muigmedoin “The Adventure of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedon” (43). This story gets validation by a similar account retold by Herodotus in his Histories of Darius and the Paeonian woman (45) whose ritual actions including a water jar, a horse, and a spindle, symbolizing the kingship of Paeonia offered to Darius. The Irish sacral kingship centers on the symbolical marriage of the king, representing the land and the cosmos, with a supernatural woman personifying sovereignty and his kingdom (52).
In the chapter “Kings in Archaeology,” the author relates the Irish stories of sacral kingship with the possibility “that some of the elites identified in the prehistoric archaeological record had a sacral character,” mostly that Rathcroghan was the place where the sacral kings were installed, even though there are no wealthy settlements or rich burials (56). The evidence comes from the archaeological discovery of a bronze cardiophylax in Loughnaneane, Co. Roscommon, an item similar to the decorations on the stone statue of an armed warrior from Capestrano, Italy. More so, Waddell offers a remarkable example of archaeology illuminating myth in the exceptional burial at Hochdorf (Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), the princely grave in which the corpse was laid on a bronze couch, surrounded by symbolic objects, such as nine drinking horns, feasting containers, personal ornaments—all specific items offering a remarkable glimpse into funerary practice and the symbolism related to the royal passing (66).
The next discussion centers on “The Otherworld,” a realm signifying disorder and inverted nature, with terrible winter in time of summer, the place where the legendary warriors encounter the avatars of supernatural creatures to receive initiation. It is the theme well served by the archaeological evidence with the large data on burial monuments, displaying inverted grave goods, upside-down pottery vessels, images of the sun going from left to right in the netherworld, and so on. The symbolism of a reversed world is also featured by the inverted sacred tree as found at Holme in Norfolk and dated to 2049 BC, perhaps an early expression of “a cosmic tree with roots buried in the sky and its branches covering the whole earth” (110), an axis mundi metaphorically connecting heaven, earth, and the world below.
“The Ancestors of Epona,” the horse goddess, amply discussed in chapter 7, presents the beautiful female deity in her many manifestations and functions, with her role in the sacred marriage to the ruler of the land, as described in medieval Irish literature. Known from carvings, coins, and inscriptions, Epona is a Celtic deity whose name links her to the Indo-European *ekwos “horse,” the root of the Old Irish ech (129), the equine feature that connects her to Macha and Rhiannon, her older and more powerful predecessors. On the archaeological dimension, the author brings in the goddess’s association with ritual horse sacrifices as shown by the pits in which there are many horse skeletons (137), as well as by chariots and horse burials, which are evidence of the cultic role of the horse in Celtic society. But an important discovery comes from Blewburton, Oxfordshire, where the remains of a woman placed astride a horse relates to the images on coins of a naked horse-riding female, perhaps a war goddess (138).
While there is no denial of the archaeology-mythology relation amid the probable temporal and spatial contacts as it is stated in the “Epilog,” “a striking feature of this material is the fact that the archaeological evidence comes from different periods and from widely different places” (148). Overcoming these difficulties, John Weddell’s work is an important contribution on the potential of myth to support archaeological evidence, bringing together symbols and ritual practices intended to convince the specialist and laymen alike.
A couple of shortcomings that are not major are the lack of a general index, an Irish glossary, and the small illustrations in need of clearer descriptive marks, but these should not prevent Mythology and Materiality being considered a valuable reference tool among the researchers of both areas.
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[Review length: 1315 words • Review posted on February 25, 2019]