Celtiberian War Trumpets

[Lugorix]

I'm looking for more images and imformation on this type of ceramic trumpet. I want to make one for fun even though it does nothing for my reenactment. Is anyone familiar with these? A cross section at the mouthpiece would be helpful, though I can almost imagine what it's shaped like. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[attachment=0:280wt065]<!-- ia0 wartrumpets.jpg<!-- ia0 [/attachment:280wt065]

Thanks,
Jeff

[Yeyo]

I can’t see the picture, but I suppose you're meaning this:




All the trumpets are from Numancia (Garray, Soria). If you need any translation...

[Bellerophon]

Those are made with baked clay, if I'm not mistaken. That won't be easy to make, especially if you want to get a sound out of it.

Btw: yeyo, would you also happen to know of any findings from Portugal/ the Lusitanii. I'm looking for such for a long time, but have not be able to find it.

[Yeyo]

In what kind of finds are you interested?

If you mean weapons, there aren’t a lot of archaeological finds of the Iron Age in Portugal. As most of this items are found in necropolis, it is supposed that this fact is related with the funeral rituals of the area, as well as happens in Gallaecia.

Acording to Strabo, the typical Lusitanian warrior was a skirmisher armed with a small circular shield called caetra, a dagger and a lot of javelins. In the Caesar’s comentaries of the Ilerda’s Battle the lusitanian mercenaries were “caetrati” and, in general, all the clasical texts agrees in this point.

The pre-roman Lusitania was in modern Portugal between the Duero and Tajo rivers. Between the 4th and 3th centuries B.C., the most common sword of this area seems to be the atrophied antennae of “Alcacer do Sal” type (Fernando Quesada’s type IV). There are some examples of falcatas, all of them in the south of the Tajo, but the falcata seems to be a weapon more typical from the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

In the occidental part of the northen meseta, in the territory of the vettoni, there are a great deal os necropolis with weapons (La Osera, Las Cogotas, etc.). So maybe we can use it as a reference for the lusitani.

In the south of Gallaecia there are a lot of scultures of warriors that could be a good reference...

[Bellerophon]

Oh no I meant lusitanian wartrumpets. I've seen Iberian and celtiberian ones but I can't seem to find a lusitanian, if there's even one.

[Yeyo]

I'm afraid I don't know any example of lusitanian clay trumpet. And I say "clay" and not "war trumpet", because some scholars, like Fernando Quesada, thinks these instruments weren't used at war...

[Lugorix]

Thanks so much Yeyo! Those drawing will be perfect. I can make things in ceramic easily enough, and the will help especially with getting the mouthpiece right. I'll post pics in a few months after they are finally done. If I can make a recording of the sound, I'll post that as well. This will be a fun project. Thanks again!

[ArthuroftheBritons]

Interesting head, resembles some draco banner head reconstructions I've seen. I read on a Celtic site that in the Roman invasion Celts already fought with dragon banners, wonder if they confused them with one of these?

[Robert Vermaat]

I read on a Celtic site that in the Roman invasion Celts already fought with dragon banners, wonder if they confused them with one of these?

I wonder especially where that website found it's information... :|

[ArthuroftheBritons]

You know, I'd like to know that too.... :|