The Bradford Heads

[Althalus]

In the Bradford district of West Yorkshire hundreds of weird stone heads have been discovered in recent years. Some have been dug up, others have been found built into old stone feild walls or the walls of cottages and cattle sheds. They are typically Celtic, exhibiting features of Celtic art of more than 2 thousand years ago.

The heads have aroused a good deal of controversy. An unpleasant custom of the Celts was to exhibit the heads of enemies on spikes at the entances to their homes, as guardians against harmful spirits. As they became more civilized they substituted stone masks for real heads, and in some instances the heads were carved with a hollow in the top for votive offerings.

Yet some of the Yorkshire heads appear to be no more than about a hundred years old. The implication is that the ancient cult must have survived in some form until quite recently, and that when Queen Victoria was on the throne, people were still fashioning them.

[man_in_mudboots]

how big were the heads? i mean, were they about like a normal human head, or giant?

[Emperor]

This book review 9and the book) might prove helpful on this topic:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2386/1...1/article.jhtml

Emps

[Althalus]

Each stone head was supposed to be able to fit in the palm of the hand.

[man_in_mudboots]

that small? weird.

[Fairie]

I'm sure I've heard a story about someone finding two heads in their garden, of a boy and a girl. They're not supposed to be the luckiest of items to possess either. However, it's kind of weird that people kept producing them maybe there was some kind of group that were keeping up old customs, like in 'The Wicker Man' only less extreme, (hopefully!).

Fairie