Calendar of Coligny

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Overview of the fragments
Part enlarged

Coligny calendar is the name of a Celtic calendar from the Gallo-Roman period, which was found at Coligny ( Département Ain ) at the end of the 19th century in the form of pieces of bronze sheet metal. Investigations showed that these pieces were the remains of a Gallic calendar that was laid out for a period of five solar years.

history

In November 1897, two kilometers north of the small community of Coligny in south-eastern France, parts of a 174 cm bronze statue of the god Mars were discovered together with 153 fragments of a sheet bronze plaque. This board originally had a size of 148 × 90 cm and around 45% of its original area could be put together. The table fragments are inscribed with Latin letters (Roman capital letters ) in the Gallic language . The clip-on calendar comprises 2021 lines with around 60 words in the surviving part and was for a long time the most extensive text in the Gallic language, only surpassed by the inscriptions from Chamalières and Larzac . After the find situation, the statue and the calendar were apparently originally kept in a sanctuary, where they may also have served cultic purposes. They were previously dated to the 1st century AD, more recent palaeographical research suggests a development towards the end of the 2nd century. The calendar is now kept in the Musée de la civilization gallo-romaine in Lyon .

Comparable calendar fragments were also discovered in 1807 and 1965 in Villards-d'Héria , which is only about 30 kilometers east of Coligny. As far as can be seen, the inscription and structure are identical.

construction

The calendar is set up according to the lunisolar cycle . The basis is a lunar year with 12 months and 355 days, with seven months each having 30 and five months each having 29 days. The difference to the solar year is compensated by inserting a leap month of 30 days beginning with the 1st year and after two and a half years - i.e. 31 months. The leap months are named Quimonios and Rantaranos (or Bantaranos). The calendar found thus contains 62 months. Each month is marked with a name and also with the words MAT - for 30 days - or ANM (AT) - for 29 days. These additions may be associated with the Middle Cymrian words mad (" bringing good luck ") and anfad ("ominous"), but the words "complete" and "incomplete" can also be meant. Religious festivals or names of gods are not recorded despite attempts to interpret them to the contrary - in contrast to other ancient cultures.

Position and order of the months on the board (leap months are highlighted in yellow)
Qui
1.		 Riu
4.		 Gia
8.		 Aed
12.		 Riu
16.		 Gia
20.		 Aed
24.		 Riu
28.		 Ran
32.		 Equ
35.		 Sam
39.		 Ogr
43.		 Equ
47.		 Sam
51.		 Ogr
55.		 Equ
59.
Ana
5.		 Sim
9.		 Can
13.		 Ana
17.		 Sim
21.		 Can
25.		 Ana
29.		 Ele
36.		 Dum
40.		 Qut
44.		 Ele
48.		 Dum
52.		 Qut
56.		 Ele
60.
Sat
2.		 Ogr
6.		 Equ
10.		 Sat
14.		 Ogr
18.		 Equ
22.		 Sat
26.		 Ogr
30.		 Gia
33.		 Aed
37.		 Riu
41.		 Gia
45.		 Aed
49.		 Riu
53.		 Gia
57.		 Aed
61.
Dum
3.		 Qut
7.		 Ele
11.		 Dum
15.		 Out
19.		 Ele
23.		 Dum
27.		 Out
31.		 Sim
34.		 Can
38.		 Ana
42.		 Sim
46.		 Can
50.		 Ana
54.		 Sim
58.		 Can
62.

Despite the many missing fragments, the calendar can be reconstructed thanks to its clear scheme. The only exception is the 9th month of Equos . In years 1 and 5 it is a full month of 30 days, but is still marked as an Anmatus . So he would have to have 2, 3 or 4 fewer days in at least one of the years. However, these fragments do not exist. However, by specifying the total number of days in the 3rd year, a month length of 30 days in the 3rd year can be concluded. There remains an uncertainty for years 2 and 4. In the literature there are mainly 2 interpretations. First by Mac Neill, who assumes 28 days for each of the two missing months, and Olmsted's interpretation, which has 28 days for the second year and 29 days for the fourth.

Complete cycle as well as the interpretation of the month lengths according to Mac Neill and Olmsted
Month name Days in year 1 Days in year 2 Days in year 3 Days in year 4 Days in year 5
Quimonios 30th - - - -
1. Samonios 30th 30th 30th 30th 30th
2. Dumannios 29 29 29 29 29
3. Riuros 30th 30th 30th 30th 30th
4. Anagantio 29 29 29 29 29
5. Ogronnios 30th 30th 30th 30th 30th
6. Qutios 30th 30th 30th 30th 30th
Rantaranos - - 30th - -
7. Giamonios 29 29 29 29 29
8. Semi-annuals 30th 30th 30th 30th 30th
9. Equos 30th 28 30th 28 or 29 30th
10. Elembiuios 29 29 29 29 29
11. Aedrinios 30th 30th 30th 30th 30th
12. Cantlos 29 29 29 29 29
Annual total 385 353 385 353 or 354 355
Total 1831 or 1832 days

These 1831 days are very close to the real 62 × 29.530585 = 1830.90 days for 62 synodic months . In contrast to our current Gregorian calendar , the phases of the moon are shown very well with this calendar . The goal of also meeting the 365.24219052 × 5 = 1826.21 days for the 5 tropical solar years , however, is missed around 1831 - 1826.21 = 4.79 days. After every 5 years, the seasons start about 5 days earlier.

However, Ricci mentioned as early as 1898 that, according to Pliny the Elder, in the 16th book of his natural history, the Celtic calendar was based on a 30-year period. If one skips a leap month in these 30 years, so the assumption, the solar time corrects itself to an error of only 30 - (6 × 4.79) = 1.27 days.

The accuracy of the moon phases will also improve in 30 years if there is no leap month. There are now 6 × 62 - 1 = 371 calendar months with 6 × 1831 - 30 = 10956 days. This results in a month length of 10956/371 = 29.53100 with an error over 30 years of (29.531 - 29.530585) × 371 = 0.154 days. Thus the beginning of a moon phase is only shifted by one day after 30 / 0.154 = 195 years. We also learn from Pliny that the month would not begin until the sixth day of the moon . If one assumes an original correspondence between the month and the moon, the calendar in Pliny would have been 195 × 5 = 975 years old. That would correspond to an origin around the year 900 BC. Chr.

Regular basic structure of all months without special notations
Month with 30 days Month with 29 days
• I VIIIMD • I VIIIDM.
• II VIIMD • II VIIDM.
• III VIMD • III VIDM.
• IIII VMD • IIII VDM.
• V IIIID M.AMB • V IIIID M.AMB
• VI IIIMD • VI IIIDM.
• VII IIMD • VII IIDM.
• VIII I.MD • VIII I.DM.
• VIIII MD • VIIII DM.
• X IIIIIMD • X IIIIIDM.
• XI IIIID M.AMB • XI IIIID M.AMB
• XII IIIMD • XII IIIDM.
• XIII IIMD • XIII IIDM.
• XIIII I.MD • XIIII I.DM.
• XV IIMD • XV IIDM.
ATENOUX ATENOUX
• I VIIIMD • I VIIIDM.
• II VIIMD • II VIIDM.
• III VID M.AMB • III VID M.AMB
• IIII VMD • IIII VDM.
• V IIIID M.AMB • V IIIID M.AMB
• VI IIIMD • VI IIIDM.
• VII IID M.AMB • VII IID M.AMB
• VIII I.MD • VIII I.DM.
• VIIII D M.AMB • VIIII D M.AMB
• X IIIIIMD • X IIIIIDM.
• XI IIIID M.AMB • XI IIIID M.AMB
• XII IIIMD • XII IIIDM.
• XIII IID M.AMB • XIII IID M.AMB
• XIIII I.MD • XIIII I.DM.
• XV IID M.AMB DIUERTOMU
Complete month using the example of Samonios in year 2
M SAMON MAT
• I N DVMAN IVOS
• II ITI MD IVOS
• III TII D. DVM IVO
• IIII MD
• V D. AMB
• VI MD
• VII PRIN LOVDIN
• VIII D. DVM
• VIIII IIT MD
• X MD
• XI D. AMB
• XII MD
• XIII TII MD
• XIIII ITI MD
• XV IIT MD
ATENOUX
• I D. DVMAN
• II IIT D. TRINVXSAMO
• III D. AMB
• IIII TII MD
• V ITI D. AMB
• VI IIT MD
• VII D. AMB
• VIII N INIS R
• VIIII N INIS R
• X TII MD
• XI ITI D. AMB IVOS
• XII IIT MD IVOS
• XIII D. AMB IVOS
• XIIII MD IVOS
• XV D. AMB IVOS

The beginning of each day line is provided with a hole in the metal for a pen, with which the current date was marked. A month is divided into 15 + 15 or 15 + 14 days. After the 15th day the note atenoux can be found, which apparently indicates the middle of the month. Atenoux is made up of 'ate' and 'noux'. 'Ate' would go back to the Indo-European 'ati', with the meaning "above", "behind" and also with the Irish "aith" "again". 'Noux' could have arisen from the Indo-European origin 'nokow-ts' "night", like the Irish 'i-nnocht' or the Welsh 'nos'. Mac Neill and Olmsted see the meaning of the word 'atenoux' as something like "The return of the night". If the months start with the new moon, then at the time of 'atenoux' full moon and the designation it would be clear that the new moon is approaching again.

The additional day note 'prinni loudin' stands for the first day of the first month 'Samonios'. After that, 'prinni loudin' appears again in the next 'MAT' month on the second day, in the third 'MAT' month on the third day and so on until the end of a year. So the 'MAT' months are counted up. The same increase is also used with the day note 'prinni laget' for the 'ANMAT' months, only that they start six months later with the month 'Giamonios'. 'Prinni laget' is also counted up to the next 'Giamonios' for a year, sometimes one or two months longer. According to Olmsted's derivation, 'prinni' means way, course or path, 'loudin' growing or increasing and 'laget' decreasing. So he can see the course of the sun through the half-year distance. 'Prinni loudin' in the month of 'Samonios' would therefore denote the winter solstice and 'Prinni laget' in the month of 'Giamonios' would mean the summer solstice .

'Prinni loudin' may also be a good example of how some days on the calendar are shifted. So the first entry is not on the first day of 'Samonios', but on the first day of the following month 'Dumannios'. A prefixed month name, here 'Samon', shows the goal of the shift. Such shifts occur everywhere on the calendar, whether for reasons of space or other reasons.

Further daily notes are 'diuertomu' (at the end of the short months), 'edutio ...', 'exo', 'gano', 'ivos', 'ns', '... amman' and so on.

The fact that many of the above-mentioned Gaulish names for the Gallo-Roman period were already considered incomprehensible suggests older models for the calendar. The month names are samon- (30), dumann- (29), riuros (30), anagantio- (29), ogronn- (30), cutios (30), giamoni- (29), simiuisonna- (30), equos (30), elembiu- (29), edrini- / aedrini- (30), cantlos (29) and are mostly without a plausible etymology and without any information about the reason for the naming. There are possible explanations for equos (in Gaulish * epos , Irish ech , "horse" - see also the Calabrian "horse month " ίππιος ) and cantlos (in Irish cétal , "song"). In samon- and giamoni- "Summer" is (to irish samråd , welsh haf ) and "Winter" (to irish geimred , welsh Gaeaf ) suspects. In the end, however, it remains unanswered whether this refers to the beginning, the middle or the end of these seasons. To associate the uncertainly readable word LVGO with the god Lugh, which occurs in the text , is mostly doubted, as is the connection to the god Taranis with the letters BANTARAN . Birkhan also interprets ogronn- as "cold".

On the second day and in the second half of the month samon- the day trinox [tion] samonis is noted, probably a feast day that Meid tries to translate as "midsummer" (according to Birkhan on the 17th day with the name trinox sam [on] sindiu , "today [is] the three-night [month] of Samon").

Neopagane reception

The uncertain etymology of Coligny's calendar favors a speculative and imaginative interpretation in Neopaganism (neo-paganism) and its versions of Celtic Neopaganism , Modern Druidism , the feminist Wicca cult, and others. The esoteric systems of the Celtic annual cycle , the Celtic tree horoscope and the tree calendar developed from these interpretations .

See also

Web links

literature

  • Seymour de Ricci: Revue celtique. Volume XIX (1898) and Volume XXI (1900).
  • Rudolf Thurneysen : The Coligny Calendar. In: Journal of Celtic Philology. No. 2, 1899. pp. 523-544
  • Eóin MacNeill: On the Notation and Chronology of the Calendar of Coligny. Eriu X, 1928, pp. 1-67
  • Célestin Lainé-Kerjean : Le Calendrier Celtique. In: Journal of Celtic Philology . Volume 23, 1943, pp. 249–284 [1]
  • PM Duval, G. Pinault: Les calendriers (Coligny, Villars d'Héria). Recueil des Inscriptions gauloises, volume III, CNRS, Paris 1986.
  • Hans-Rudolf Hitz: The Gallo-Latin lunar and sun calendar from Coligny. Juris, Dietikon 1991, ISBN 3-260-05308-5 .
  • Garrett Olmsted: The Gaulish calendar. Bonn 1992, ISBN 3-7749-2530-5 .
  • Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
  • Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 2nd corrected and enlarged edition. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
  • Joseph Monard: Histoire du calendrier Gaulois. Burillier, Vannes 1999, ISBN 2-912616-01-8 .
  • Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview. Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-48234-1 .
  • Garrett Olmsted: A Definitive Reconstructed Text of the Coligny Calendar. Washington 2001, ISBN 9780941694780 .
  • Adolfo Zavaroni: On the structure and terminology of the Gaulish calendar. British Archaeological Reports Ser. 1609. Archaeopress, Oxford 2007, ISBN 1407300261 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 81 f.
  2. ↑ a b c Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 786 ff.
  3. ^ Burkard Steinücken: Lunisolar calendar and calendar numbers using the example of the Coligny calendar. 10 
  4. ^ Burkard Steinücken: Lunisolar calendar and calendar numbers using the example of the Coligny calendar. 15th 
  5. ↑ a b Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview. P. 60 f.
  6. ^ A b Eóin MacNeill: On the Notation and Chronology of the Calendar of Coligny , Eriu X, 1928, 1-67
  7. ^ A b Garrett Olmsted: The Gaulish calendar , Bonn, 1992, ISBN 3-7749-2530-5 .
  8. ^ A b Garrett Olmsted: A Definitive Reconstructed Text of the Coligny Calendar , Washington, 2001, ISBN 9780941694780
  9. ^ Burkard Steinücken: Lunisolar calendar and calendar numbers using the example of the Coligny calendar. 7.19 
  10. ↑ Garrett Olmsted: The Gaulish calendar, Bonn, 1992, p 172
  11. ↑ Garrett Olmsted: The Gaulish calendar, Bonn, 1992, pp. 76, 176-177
  12. ↑ Garrett Olmsted: The Gaulish calendar, Bonn, 1992, p 79
  13. ↑ Garrett Olmsted: The Gaulish calendar, Bonn, 1992, pp. 171-190
  14. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 189, note 109.
  15. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: Celtic religion in the testimony of language . Journal of Celtic Philology (ZcP), Vol. 53, No. 1, April 2003, p. 36.
  16. ↑ On the problem of the tree circle see Helmut Birkhan: Observations on the mystical image of the Celts, especially in Austria. Presentation at the Celtic Conference in Hallein 2010, p. 7 f.