Ancient Druid Civilization from Archaeological Texts
(Work in progress by David Olmsted, Illinois, USA)
(May 13, 2023) The past is Pagan yet Pagan history has been defined by those antagonistic towards it. All ancient texts until now have been translated by Non-Pagans and translated without standards. This has allowed bias and fraud to corrupt those translations. Without standards, peer review does not exist but only group-think. Those who control ancient text translations define history and that control has been exercised by both nationalists and dogmatic, faith based religions to suppress the universalist Pagan past in Europe ... until now.
Ancient Druid Civilization is defined as the Akkadian speaking Neolithic farmer civilization which swept out of Mesopotamia and into Europe and around the Mediterranean starting around 8500 BCE. They are the ones who built Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments. The last holdouts of this pre Indo-European civilization were the Minoans, Phoenicians, Aegean Islanders, Etruscans, Carthaginians, Nordic/Germanic, and Israelites. All their archaeological texts are in Akkadian.
David Reich – How One Small Tribe Conquered the World 70,000 Years Ago
(September 2, 2024) Dwarkesh Patel interviews David Riech about his latest thoughts on ancient genetic history. Humans exhibit 4 time scale levels of change: genetics, epigenetics, culture, and reason. Epigenetics is the new concept in which a very small section of genes code for the expression strength of all other sections. Epigenetics seems to have changed the vocal tract and hence language abilities.
Prior to the Neolithic people existed as small isolated tribes with ever decreasing genetic variations. Only once in a while did a few mix changing their culture and once again increasing their genetic density. Of these only a few were groups able to outcompete other groups and quickly spread over Eurasian and north Africa. The group which did this at the dawn of history were the Neolithic farmers who were then followed by the Indo-Europeans.
He has some new insights on the Indo-European expansion. It started with the Yamnaya people who were only adapted to steppe living so could not and did not expand into the forests of Europe. Instead, over a period of time, they mixed with the people at the forest edge represented by the Corded-Ware material tradition (3000 BC – 2350 BCE). It was the males of this new mixed culture who then conquered the rest of Europe.
Stonehenge People (Druid Culture) Spoke Akkadian
(July 19, 2022) "Druid Civilization" or Druid Culture" is the term I use for the long lost European/Mediterranean culture which existed prior to the invasion of the Indo-Europeans. These were the Neolithic farmers who built megalithic monuments and whose culture survived until 500 CE as an Akkadian speaking priestly class as evidenced by the Elder Futhark Runestones. Yet only now is their Akkadian speaking culture being recovered from their archeological texts.
Genetic evidence shows that these Neolithic farmers migrated out of Mesopotamia starting around 8500 BCE (see images). The Indo-European invasion began around 3500 BCE. This means the builders of Stonehenge spoke Akkadian .
The earliest European/Mediterranean Akkadian writing is the 1800 BCE Minoan Phaistos Disk and the 1700 BCE Minoan Linear A tablets and these are in Akkadian. All later alphabetic writing derives from these Minoan texts. Writing formally labeled as Celtic, Tartessian, Etruscan, Phoenician, Punic, Paleo-Hebrew, Archaic-Greek, and Aramaic are all really an alphabetic form of Akkadian. These texts show Druid culture was the source for both classical philosophy and the authentic teachings of Jesus.
The word "Druid" is Akkadian and its means "Eternal Form - Channeler" which derives from the Akkadian words DR-ID (duru-id) (Olmsted 2022). Eternal forms are the invisible "platonic" forms into which amorphous matter (dust) flows to manifest itself as a physical object.
The word "Ovate or Vate" associated with "Druid" in Roman texts is another Akkadian word meaning "Motion-Magic.Crafter" from from 'W.T (’û-tû or a'u.tu). This word has the letter ayin as its first letter which does not exist in Latin or Greek so it tends to be either ignored or replaced with the letter "O" in Europe and "A" in the near east. This division between life priests who deal with the creation and growth of life, and magic crafters who deal with translational motions is a common one in ancient Druidic texts.
The Neolithic Druidry revealed by the archaeological texts is not exactly the same as the Druidry described 2000 years later by the Romans. Iron Age Druidry like all cultures had been corrupted by the lordification process from political centralization and by the dualism from the Persian Empire. This led to forced personification and feminine suppression of divine powers (deities) and their division into good and evil. This in turn lead to deity appeasement and worship with sacrifices and submission.
The Indo-European people from the eastern steppe started invading Europe about 3,500 BCE. They were initially illiterate and had no native stone building traditions so they adopted much of the culture of the Druids. What they did bring was a more militant, godfather type culture with more intensive farming practices using crop/animal rotation to keep the farmlands fertile away from the flooding river valleys.
References
Spread of Farminghttps://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/bogucki_1996_spread_farming_europe_american_scientist.pdfGenetics of Early Farmers at: https://www.eupedia.com/europe/origins_haplogroups_europe.shtml
Curry, Andrew (August 25, 2022) ‘Phenomenal’ ancient DNA data set provides clues to origin of farming and early languages. Online at: https://www.science.org/content/article/phenomenal-ancient-dna-data-set-provides-clues-origin-farming-early-languages
Gronenborn, Detlef and Horejs, Barbara (2021) Expansion of farming in western Eurasia, 9600 - 4000 cal BC (update vers. 2021.2. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/9424525/Map_Expansion_of_farming_in_western_Eurasia_9600_4000_cal_BC_update_vers_2021_1_
Haak, Wolfgang and all (2010) Ancient DNA from European Early Neolithic Farmers Reveals Their Near Eastern Affinities. Online at: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000536)
Hamon, C. and Manen, C. (2021) The Mechanisms of Neolithisation of Western Europe: Beyond a South/North Approach. Open Archaeology Volume 7 Issue 1. Online at: https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2020-0164
Olmsted, David D (2022) Mediterranean Akkadian Lexicon 3rd Edition -2022. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/66851810/Mediterranean_Akkadian_Lexicon_3rd_Edition_2022
(September 2, 2024) The original extent of the Eurasian steppe. Notice the lands along the Danube rivers where the merger of Indo-European culture with Druid culture's Corded-Ware material tradition (3000 BC – 2350 BCE) would have taken place. (image from Encyclopedia Britannica at: https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Steppe
(August 29, 2024) Images show the matrilineal genetic closeness (green) of modern populations compared to a representative sample of Neolithic burials (image A) and to the Neolithic burials at one northern German cemetery (Image B) at Derenburg dating to the Linear Pottery culture of 5500-4500 BCE. This and other studies show that northern Mesopotamian genetics spread with the neolithic farming culture. These neolithic farmers originated in northern Mesopotamia where Akkadian was the native language according to cuneiform writing. They spent about 2000 years in Anatolia where their culture differentiated from Mesopotamia before exploding across Europe. (Map from Haak and all 2010)
Europedia Correlates Material Culture, Dating, and Genetics Of The Neolithic Farmers
https://www.eupedia.com/genetics/haplogroups_of_neolithic_farmers.shtml
Starčevo–Kőrös–Criș Material Traditions (c. 6200-4500 BCE)
Very few graves have found in the Starčevo culture, and those were generally single graves. Most burials identified belonged to women or children. They were inhumed under the floors of personal residences as they were in Anatolia, a practice that continued until 4000 BCE. Graves rarely contained goods. When they did, it was pottery, grinding stones, flint tools or jewelry.
DNA tests show these people had fair skin, brown eyes and dark hair, while Mesolithic Europeans had darker skin, dark hair, but blue eyes.
More information at: https://www.eupedia.com/genetics/haplogroups_of_neolithic_farmers.shtml
Linear Pottery (LBK) Material Traditions (c. 5600-4250 BCE)
Burial customs began to change during this time. Cemeteries containing from 20 to 200 graves make their appearance from 5000 BCE and included both male and female skeletons, apparently arranged in groups based on kinship.
DNA tests show these people had fair skin, brown eyes and dark hair.
More information at: https://www.eupedia.com/genetics/haplogroups_of_neolithic_farmers.shtml
Megalithic Material Traditions (c. 4800-2000 BCE)
Ancient DNA tests have shown that Atlantic Megalithic people had a variety of skin tones ranging from pale-intermediate to dark. Almost all had brown or black hair. The majority had brown eyes. They like the earlier Neolithic farmers were lactose intolerant.
This map is incomplete as Megalithic structures are also found as far east as the Caucuses. Again, material traditions do not define culture.
More information at: https://www.eupedia.com/genetics/haplogroups_of_neolithic_farmers.shtml
Animation of Indo-European Genetic Spread
(October 31, 2023) An excellent video by The Geographer. While being more warlike and having a godfather/war-chief type of culture, Indo-European genetic spread was mostly from having better farming methods then the slash and burn methods used by the Akkadian speaking Neolithic farmers outside of annual flooding river valleys. The Indo-Europeans simply came in and took over abandoned fields left by the Akkadian speakers and made it a permanent farm with crop rotation and manuring. When Akkadian speaker farms lost their fertility no more good vacant land was available to turn into a farm.
Origins of Humans and Culture
David Reich: "Origins of Humans and Culture" made in 2021. He is one of the leading researchers in the field. https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/
Latest Genetic Info Shows Ötzi the Iceman Had Pure Neolithic Farmer Genetics. Therefore, He Was Speaking Akkadian in 3300 BCE
(November 9, 2023) Ötzi was found in 1991 on the Southern slopes of the eastern Italian (Ötztal) Alps . He is the world's oldest glacier mummy. Radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis date him to between 3350–3120 BCE. Based on the dating he could have been killed by some Indo-European invaders. Here is a quote from the Max Plank Institute Press Release dated August 16, 2023:
Ötzi's genome was decoded for the first time more than ten years ago. This was also the first time the genome of a mummy had been sequenced. The results provided important insights into the genetic makeup of prehistoric Europeans. Advances in sequencing technology have now enabled a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Eurac Research to reconstruct Ötzi’s genome more accurately. The results of this recent analysis refine the Iceman’s genetic picture: compared to other contemporary Europeans, Ötzi’s genome has an unusually high proportion of genes in common with those of early farmers from Anatolia. And, contrary to previous findings, at the time of his death, Ötzi had advanced hair loss and may have even been bald. Furthermore, his skin was darker than previously thought. Ötzi’s genes also show a predisposition to diabetes and obesity.
This is interesting linguistically because the Alpine region and Eturia just south of the Alps continued to speak and write Akkadian until conquered by the Romans.
References
Max Plank Institute Press Release dated August 16, 2023: https://www.mpg.de/20711365/0804-evan-dark-skin-bald-head-anatolian-ancestry-150495-x
Ke Wang, Kay Prüfer, Ben Krause-Kyora, Ainash Childebayeva, Verena J. Schuenemann, Valentina Coia, Frank Maixner, Albert Zink, Stephan Schiffels, Johannes Krause. (1923) High-coverage genome of the Tyrolean Iceman reveals unusually high Anatolian farmer ancestry. Cell Genomics, 2023; 100377 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100377
Spread of Druid Civilization's Alphabetic Writing from Minoan Crete (1900 BCE) to the Runes of Scandinavia (1300 CE)
(August 19, 2023) Map showing the spread of Alphabetic Akkadian writing as known in 2023. Red is the Bronze Age spread from Minoan Phaistos disk. The northern branch is Minoan Linear A script which became Phoenician script while the southern branch is the Serabit el-Khadim script. At this time the Minoans had extensive trade relations with the New Kingdom of Egypt. Orange is the spread after the collapse of the Bronze Age. The last major Alphabetic Akkadian text is the Codex Runicus of 1190 CE from Denmark. All the Nordic runes texts are Akkadian and this codex (book) is the culmination of Druid philosophical writing which began with the debate recorded on the Minoan Phaistos Disk. The Druid civilization with its decentralized government, trade, religion and freedom of expression was the real beginning of Western (now Oceanic) civilization.
Druid Spirals (Vortices)
This is the common symbol of Druid civilization throughout its long history
Spiral on Sesklo Culture Pottery, North Greece (5500 BCE)
Triskelion Spiral at Newgrange, Ireland (3100 BCE)
Gold Medallion from Vindelev Viking hoard in Denmark Shows Spirals and Letters (550 CE)
This gold hoard is on display at Denmark's Vejlemuseerne at: https://www-vejlemuseerne-dk.translate.goog/viden-og-forskning/artikler/kaempe-guldskat-fundet-naer-jelling/?_x_tr_sl=da&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
(Jan 10, 2023) The Minoan Phaistos disk is significant for these reasons:
- Its language is Akkadian confirming that was the language of Neolithic Farmers
- First European writing
- Source of all alphabets via Minoan Linear A
- First philosophical debate
- Shows tolerant nature-based culture
- Written on a Druid Spiral showing its role as a spiritual symbol
- Describes most of the Druid Pantheon
- First explicit mention of Yahu as I' or Y' (Med 3.11) which later became the national god of Israel as Yahweh (meaning "Power of Yahu" in Akkadian, the glottal stop letter ayin was often slurred into a "h" sound over time in Akkadian)
This disk found at Phaistos on Crete is the earliest writing in Europe dating to 1900 BCE. The text is a mix of phonetic signs (da, di, du, ad, etc.) and alphabetic signs which are just phonetic signs in which the reader provides the vowel. The spiral was the European wide cultural sign of the Neolithic farmer. Because these farmers built Stonehenge I call these Akkadian speaking farmers the Druid civilization. This text essentially summarizes the Ancient Pagan Paradigm and shows the tolerance of differing ideas in Druid Culture.
When the Goddess theory was later discredited what remained was the old nationalistic Greek and Hebrew Source Theory. This combined with the competitive nature of Academia these day is leading to a segmentation of archaeology and linguistics into narrow nationalist specialties pandering to nationalist funding sources. The result is fake history from academic linguists whose "translations" end up being mostly names representing their own nations language. Another result of this is the rise of pseudoarcheology from people who realize the old nationalist models are not valid and so are grasping at any alternative.
Reference
https://www.opusarchives.org/marija-gimbutas-collection/Druid Civilization Theory Supersedes European Goddess Theory
(Feb. 6, 2023) Before there was this Druid theory of European cultural origins there was the Goddess Theory by Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994). She was the first to realize that the archaeological evidence pointed to an earlier and different civilization existing prior to the traditional Greek and Hebrew sources of European civilization.
Yet she failed in defining this earlier civilization for these reasons:
This was before the earliest European archaeological texts were translated so she was going in blind using only archaeological finds which can be interpreted many different ways.
She was mentally trapped and viewed deities in the Biblical way as lord gods, that is, only as people and not also as powers.
She was monotheistic postulating a single Goddess instead of goddesses.
She was caught up in the feminist movement of the era so she simply ignored any evidence contrary to her Goddess superiority concept. In her magnum opus book in which she presented her views (“The Language of the Goddess from 1989) she even turned the masculine icon of the bull into a feminine “regeneration” icon (page 188).
In Gimbutas’ last book The Civilization of the Goddess, which synthesizes the work and theses of her previous books (Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe 1974/1982 and The Language of the Goddess 1989/1991), she wrote,
- “The primordial deity for our Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestors was female, reflecting the sovereignty of motherhood. In fact, there are no images that have been found of a Father God throughout the prehistoric record. Paleolithic and Neolithic symbols and images cluster around a self-generating Goddess and her basic functions as Giver-of-Life, Wielder-of-Death, and as Regeneratrix.”
Further in Civilization of the Goddess Gimbutas outlines the symbolic understanding Old European societies had of the universe and the divine. She wrote,
- “The multiple categories, functions, and symbols used by prehistoric peoples to express the Great Mystery are all aspects of the unbroken unity of one deity, a Goddess who is ultimately Nature herself.”