Carnyx: Encyclopedia - Carnyx

Carnyx

The Carnyx was a wind instrument of the Iron Age Celts, attested for ca. 300 BC to 200 AD. It is a kind of bronze trumpet, held vertically, the mouth styled in the shape of a boar's head. It was used in warfare, probably to incite troops to battle.

Carnyx - Evidence for the carnyx

Carnyx - Depiction in sculpture

The instrument is known from depictions, on coins, and notably from the initiation scene of the Gundestrup cauldron.

Carnyx - Literature

The name is known from textual sources, carnyces are reported from the Celtic attack on the Delphi in 279 BC, as well as from Julius Caesar's campaign in Gaul and Claudius' invasion of Britain. Diodorus Siculus said (Histories, 5.30):

Carnyx - Archaeology

A well preserved example is the Deskford Carnyx, found on the shores of the Moray Firth, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1816. Until 2004, fragments of only four other carnyces had been preserved, but in November 2004 archaeologists discovered a first century BCE foundation deposit of five well preserved carnyxes under a Gallo-Roman fanum at Tintignac (Corrèze, France). Four had boars heads, the fith appears to be a serpent.

Carnyx - Carnyx in other cultures

The carnyx was not used by Celts exclusively; its use is attested for Dacia and several are illustrated on Trajan's column as booty resulting from the Dacian Wars. It was perhaps common all over Iron Age Europe.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Carnyx", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki