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Home » Religion and Belief » Pre-Christian worship » Religious offerings

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  • At the start of the Iron Age, c. 600BC, a large quantity of metalwork was deposited in the lake at Llyn Fawr, presumably as an offering to the gods. This hoard was discovered when the lake was drained in 1911 and 1912, more than twenty years after this photograph was taken.
Llyn Fawr, circa 1880's
  • Offerings of metalwork have been found in several lakes in Wales. One of the most important sites of this kind is Llyn Fawr upon which this illustration is modelled. The artefacts shown here have all been found in this lake (now a peat bog), although the wheeled vehicle is based on continental finds and rock engravings.
Reconstruction of a water offering at Llyn Fawr, Rhigos, about 650BC
  • The cauldron became an important item of communal feasting equipment from the late Bronze Age onwards. This beautifully preserved example is one of two found in the Llyn Fawr hoard, alongside other tools and weapons. The hoard contains some of the earliest artefacts of iron from Britain.
Bronze Age cauldron from the Llyn Fawr hoard, near Rhigos
  • A number of blacksmith's tools and agricultural implements of iron were gifted to the Gods. Sickles, like this example, were used for reaping cereal crops grown by farmers during the Iron Age, though they may also have become symbols of fertility and abundance. Druids, the priests of the Iron Age, were said to have used golden sickles to cut mistletoe from oak trees, during their priestly rituals.
Iron sickle from Llyn Cerrig Bach, Llanfairyneubwll
  • This early scale model is based upon the chariot fittings discovered at Llyn Cerrig Bach, Llanfairyneubwll. The artefacts discovered from the lake included the iron tyres of the wheels from at least ten chariots, nave hoops, linch pins, terrets and even part of a wooden chariot pole. More recent chariot discoveries and new research has led to modifications in chariot design, including a more effective suspension system to minimise jolting over rough terrain.
Chariot model made in 1946, based on finds at Llyn Cerrig Bach, Llanfairyneubwll
  • This circular plaque, possibly once a chariot fitting, is decorated with an embossed triskele (three legged) design in the late La Tène (Celtic) Art Style. This piece was used by Sir Cyril Fox, leading archaeologist and once Director of the National Museum of Wales, to define a distinctive British art style for the first time. It remains of international importance today. In the front of the photograph is shown the well preserved bronze bridle-bit, illustrating the casting skills of Iron Age bronze-workers. It was once one of a chariot pair; the decorative boss within the left ring would have faced outwards to be seen.
Circular plaque and bridle-bit from Llyn Cerrig Bach, Llanfairyneubwll