Vessels of Death: Sacred Cauldrons in Archaeology and Myth

Abstract

This paper explores links between the archaeology of cauldron deposition during the European Iron Age and the mythology of cauldrons as presented in the early vernacular texts of Wales and Ireland. During the last millennium BC, cauldrons were apparently the focus of repeated ceremonial activity, involving their deliberate deposition in watery contexts. Evidence for such cauldron deposits comes from all over temperate Europe. The medieval mythic texts of Wales and Ireland contain references to cauldrons as instruments of death and resurrection. Models are proposed to explain the possible link between allusions to sacred cauldrons found in the early vernacular myths and their presence in archaeological contexts. It may be that redactors of myth were influenced in their writings by observation of ancient cauldrons either in situ or recovered from watery sites, or that they may have learnt about them through oral tradition.