Coligny calendar

The Coligny calendar is a bronze plaque with an inscribed calendar, made in Roman Gaul in the 2nd century CE. It lays out a five-year cycle of a lunisolar calendar, each year with twelve lunar months. An intercalary month is inserted before each 2.5 years. It is the most important evidence for the reconstruction of an ancient Celtic calendar. It is written in Latin inscriptional capitals and numerals, but terms are in the Gaulish language.

Overview of the re-assembled tablet found in Coligny, France
Drawing by de Ricci[1][lower-alpha 1]

It was found in 1897 in France, in Coligny, Ain (46°23′N 5°21′E, near Lyon), along with the head of a bronze statue of a youthful male figure. It was engraved on a bronze tablet, preserved in 73 fragments, that was originally 1.48 metres (4 ft 10 in) wide by 0.9 metres (2 ft 11 in) tall.[3] Based on the style of lettering and the accompanying objects, the bronze plaque probably dates to the end of the second century, although the copying errors indicate the calendar itself is much older.[4][5] It is now held at the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière.

Eight small fragments of a similar calendar were found at the double-shrine of Villards d'Heria. It does not have the holes of a peg calendar[6] that the Coligny calendar does, but otherwise has the same notations. It is now held in the Musée d'Archéologie du Jura at Lons-le-Saunier.

List of months

The names of the twelve lunar year months are reconstructed as Samonios, Dumannios, Rivros, Anagantios, Ogronios, Cutios, Giamonios, Simivisonnios, Equos, Elembivios, Edrinios, and Cantlos. The names only occur in the form MID SAMONI (gen.), MID DUMANNI, MID RIVRI etc. on the calendar. The name of the first intercalary month is unknown being on a lost fragment, the second is reconstructed as Rantaranos, Bantaranos, or Antaranos.

Samonios refers to summer (samo-) while Giamonios refers to winter (giam-). The meanings of the other names are less clear.

ValueName DaysEtymology Interpretation
I-1Unknown30UnknownIntercalary for year one
1Samonios30Samo- is Gaulish for summer.[7]: 267 May
2Dumannios29Compare to Latin fūmus. Delamarre suggests "month of fumigations."[7]: 154 June
3Rivros30Compare to Old Irish remor (stout, thick, fat) and Welsh rhef (thick, stout, great, large). Delamarre suggests "fat month."July
4Anagantio29Delamarre[7] suggests "month of ritual ablutions."
5Ogronnios30Delamarre[7] suggests a month of cold or winterSeptember
6Cutios30Delamarre[7] suggests a month of invocationsOctober
I-2.antaranos30Unknown meaningIntercalary for year three
7Giamonios29This name is derived from giamos, the Gaulish word for winter.[lower-alpha 2] mi gam is Old Irish for November, according to Cormac's Glossary.[8]November
8Simivisonnios30Simi could mean half, so "half the course of the sun."[7]: 274 December
9Equos29 or 30Possibly a month of horses or livestock.[7]: 165 January
10Elembivios29Month of the stag.[7]: 161–162 February
11Edrinios30Compare with Old Irish áed (fire, "heat).[7]: 34 March
12Cantlos29Delamarre suggests "month of chanting."April

Reconstruction

The Coligny calendar was a lunisolar calendar. It synchronized the solar year and the lunar month[9]. The common lunar year contained 354 or 355 days.

Detail of Samonios (year 1), with Quimon- visible at the top.

The first month of the year was Samonios. The name was based on samo-, Gaulish for summer.[7]: 267  This indicates that the Celtic year started in the summer season. Various claims have been made about the start of the calendar year, including le Contel & Verdier.[10] who suggest the summer solstice, and Monard[11] who argues for an autumn equinox start by comparison with Irish Samhain.

An intercalary month was inserted before every 30 lunar months, or two and a half years. The additional months were placed before Samonios in the first year, and between Cutios and Giamonios in the third year. The name of the first intercalary month is not known with certainty, the text being fragmentary. The name of the second intercalary month is reconstructed as Rantaranos, Bantaranos or Antaranos, based on the reading of the fifth line in the corresponding fragment.[lower-alpha 3]

The months were divided into two halves, between which is the term atenoux.[lower-alpha 4] The basic unit of the Celtic calendar was thus the fortnight or half-month, as is also suggested in traces in Celtic folklore. The first half was always 15 days, the second half either 14 or 15 days.

Months of 30 days were marked MAT, months of 29 days were marked ANM(AT). This has been read as "lucky" and "unlucky", respectively, based on comparison with Middle Welsh mad and anfad, but there is no indication of any religious or ritual content,[13] and the meaning could also be merely descriptive: "complete" and "incomplete", or "full" and "partial".[14]

The Coligny calendar as reconstructed consisted of 16 columns and 4 rows, with two intercalary months given half a column (spanning two rows) each, resulting in a table of the 62 months of the five-year cycle, as follows (numbered 1–62, with the first three letters of their reconstructed names given for ease of reference; intercalary months are marked 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.
Sam
2.		Ogr
6.		Equ
10.		Sam
14.		Ogr
18.		Equ
22.		Sam
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.		Qut
19.		Ele
23.		Dum
27.		Qut
31.		Sim
34.		Can
38.		Ana
42.		Sim
46.		Can
50.		Ana
54.		Sim
58.		Can
62.

In spite of its fragmentary state, the calendar can be reconstructed with confidence due to the patterns of its notations. An exception is the 9th month Equos, which in years 1 and 5 is a month of 30 days but in spite of this still marked ANM. MacNeill[15] suggested that Equos in years 2 and 4 may have had only 28 days,[15] while Olmsted[16][17] suggested 28 days in year 2 and 29 days in year 4.[16][17]

The following table gives the sequence of months in a five-year cycle, with the suggested length of each month according to Mac Neill[15] and Olmsted:[16][17]

month nameYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5
(unknown)30––––
1. Samonios3030303030
2. Dumannios2929292929
3. Riuros3030303030
4. Anagantio2929292929
5. Ogronnios3030303030
6. Qutios3030303030
Rantaranos––30––
7. Giamonios2929292929
8. Semiuisonns3030303030
9. Equos30283028/2930
10. Elembiuios2929292929
11. Aedrinios3030303030
12. Cantlos2929292929
year length385353385353 or 354355
total length1831 or 1832 days

The total of 1831 days is very close to the exact value of 62 × 29.530585 = 1830.90 days, keeping the calendar in relatively good agreement with the synodic month (with an error of one day in 50 years), but the aim of reconciling the lunar cycle with the tropical year is only met with poor accuracy, five tropical years corresponding to 5 × 365.24219052 = 1826.21 days (with an error of 4.79 days in five years, or close to one day per year).

As pointed out already by Ricci,[18] based on the mention of a 30 year cycle used by the Celts in Pliny's Naturalis historia (book 16), if one intercalary month is dropped every thirty years, the error is reduced to 30 – (6 × 4,79) = 1.27 days in a 30 year period (or a shift of the seasons by one day in about 20 to 21 years).[lower-alpha 5]

Steinrücken[19] has proposed that Pliny's statement that the Celtic month begins on the sixth day of the month[lower-alpha 6] may be taken as evidence for the age of this system: Assuming that the month was originally aligned with lunations, a shift of 5 days corresponds to a period of 975 years, suggesting a starting date in the 10th century BCE.[19][lower-alpha 7]

In the Coligny calendar, there is a hole in the metal sheet for each day, intended for a peg marking the current date.

There is an additional marker prinni loudin in 30 day months (MAT), at the first day of the first month (Samonios), the second day of the second 30 day month, and so on. The same system is used for 29 day months (ANMAT), with a marker prinni laget. In Olmsted's interpretation, prinni is translated "path, course", loudin and laget as "increasing" and "decreasing", respectively, in reference to the yearly path of the Sun, prinni loudin in Samonios marking summer solstice and prinni laget in Giamonios marking winter solstice.[16]: 76, 176–177 

Sample month

The following table shows the arrangement of a complete month (Samonios of year 2, with TRINVX(TION)SAMO(NII) marked on the 17th day). This is the only month out of 62 that has been preserved without any gaps.[12]: 182 

Each month is divided into two half-months or "fortnights" divided by the word atenoux. Within each half-month, the arrangement is tabular, beginning with the double circle "◎" indicating the peg-hole for marking the current day in the first column, followed by a Roman numeral for the day's position in the half-month. In the second column are occasional "triple marks" of the form ƚıı, ıƚı, or ııƚ, usually in that order[21]. In the third column, each day is marked by the letter N or D (excepting days marked as prinni loudin or prinni laget). In the final column, days are marked with additional information, such as IVOS,[lower-alpha 8] INIS R,[lower-alpha 9] AMB (only found on odd days), among others.

In the month Samonios depicted above, the 17th day is marked TRINVXSAMO, corresponding to TRINOSAM SINDIV in Samonios of year 1[25] .

The name of the following month, DVM(AN), is mentioned several times (on days 1, 3, 8 and 16). Conversely, the following month marks days 1, 8, 16 and 17 with SAMON(I). This "exchanging of days" in one month with the following is also found in other parts of the calendar.

Skribbatous[26] offered a modern reconstruction of the Coligny calendar under a Creative Commons license.[26]

Footnotes
  1. The arrangement by de Ricci[1] misplaces four fragments, according to Duval & Pinault.[2]
  2. "L'étymologie est transparent puisque le nom du mois et fait sur celui de l'hiver giamo-." — Delamarre (2003)[7]: 179 
    [The etymology is transparent since the name of the month is made on that of the winter "giamo-".]
  3. A gnomic verse pertaining to intercalation, taking up the first two lines, reads as:
    CIALLOS B(IS) SONNO CINGOS.
    Delamarre[7] interprets the term SONNO CINGOS as "sun's march", meaning "a year".[12]: 192 [7]: 116 
  4. cf. Old Irish athnugud "renewal".
    The interpretation of atenoux as "returning night" is improbable[7]: 58  and "renewing" would seem more probable; thus the month would start at new moon and atenoux would indicate the renewal, i.e. the full moon.
  5. This proposed omission of the intercalary month once in 30 years also improves the accuracy of the lunar calendar, assuming 371 lunations in 10,956 days, or an assumed synodic month of 371/10956 = 29.53010 days, resulting in an error of one day in 195 years.
  6. The Latin text of the specific passage in Pliny[20] is
    ... est autem id rarum admodum inventu et repertum magna religione petitur et ante omnia sexta luna, quae principia mensum annorumque his facit et saeculi post tricesimum annum, quia iam virium abunde habeat nec sit sui dimidia.
    — Pliny, Natural History 16.95[20]
    English translation by Bostock & Riley:[20]
    "The mistletoe, however, is but rarely found upon the oak; and when found, is gathered with rites replete with religious awe. This is done more particularly on the sixth day of the moon, the day which is the beginning of their months and years, as also of their ages, which, with them, are but thirty years. This day they select because the moon, though not yet in the middle of her course, has already considerable power and influence; and they call her by a name which signifies, in their language, the all-healing."
  7. Omsted[16] proposes an origin around 1150–550 BCE by a similar argument:
    "Most probably the 30 year calendar developed in a purely preliterate tradition as the displacement of the Irish quarter festivals suggests in projecting an origin around 850 ± 300 BC ... If so, the calendar must have been preserved from generation to generation by a body of supportive gnomic verse."[16]: 107 
  8. Series of days labelled IVOS occur in sequence, marking a period of eight or nine days running from the end of one month to the beginning of the next (mostly 26th to 4th), often interpreted as "festival days". The word ivos has long been associated with the Celtic word for "yew" – Rhys (1910),[22]: 52  c.f. Ivo, īwaz – but Zavaroni[23]: 97  suggests that in this context it means "(con)junction".
  9. INIS R always follows N in the preceding column.[24]

References
  1. de Ricci, S. (December 1926). "Le calendrier celtique de Coligny". Journal des savants: 448–449.
  2. Duval, Paul-Marie; Pinault, Georges, eds. (1986). Les calendriers de Coligny (73 fragments) et Villards d'Heria (8 fragments). Recueil des inscriptions gauloises. Vol. Tome 3. Paris, FR: Editions du CNRS. pp. 35–37.
  3. Lambert p. 111. Coligny Calendar
  4. Duval, P.M. and Pinault, G., Recueil des inscriptions gauloises, Tome 3: Les Calendriers (Coligny, Villards d'Heria), CNRS, Paris, 1986, pp. 35-37.
  5. Lambert, Pierre-Yves, La langue gauloise, Editions Errance, 2nd edition, Paris, 2003, p.111
  6. Lehoux, D.R. (2000). Parapegmata: or Astrology, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto.
  7. Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental (2nd ed.). Paris, FR: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-237-6.
  8. Cormac mac Cuillenán (c. 900). Stokes, Whitley (ed.). "Sanas Cormaic". Thesaurus Linguae Hibernicae. Dublin, IE: University College Dublin. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
    Russell, Paul; Arbuthnot, Sharon; Moran, Pádraic. "Early Irish Glossaries Database". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
    See Wikipedia article: Sanas Cormaic
  9. McKay, Helen T. (2016). "The Coligny calendar as a Metonic lunar calendar". Études celtiques. 42: 95–121.
  10. le Contel, Jean-Michel; Verdier, Paul (1997). Un calendrier celtique: le calendrier gaulois de Coligny. Paris, FR: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-136-1.
  11. Monard, Joseph (1999). Histoire du calendrier gaulois : le calendrier de Coligny. Paris, FR: Burillier. ISBN 2-912616-01-8.
  12. Dottin (1920). La langue gauloise : grammaire, textes, et glossaire [The Gaulish Language: Grammar, texts, and glossary]. Vol. 53. pp. 182–191.
  13. Maier, Bernhard (1994). Die Religion der Kelten. Götter, Mythen, Weltbild. Stuttgart, DE. pp. 60 ff.
  14. Maier, Bernhard. Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. pp. 81 ff.
  15. MacNeill, Eóin (1928). "On the notation and chronology of the calendar of Coligny". Ériu. X: 1–67.
  16. Olmsted, Garrett (1992). The Gaulish Calendar: A reconstruction from the bronze fragments from Coligny, with an analysis of its function as a highly accurate lunar-solar predictor, as well as an explanation of its terminology and development. Bonn, DE: R. Habelt. ISBN 3-7749-2530-5.
  17. Garrett Olmsted, (2001) A Definitive Reconstructed Text of the Coligny Calendar ISBN 9780941694780
  18. Ricci (1898)
  19. Steinrücken, Burkard (2012). Lunisolarkalender und Kalenderzahlen am Beispiel des Kalenders von Coligny (PDF). sternwarte-recklinghausen.de (Report) (in German). pp. 7, 19.
  20. Pliny the Elder (1855). "Book 16, "the natural history of the forest trees" English translation". In Bostock, John; Riley, Henry T. (eds.). The Natural History. penelope. University of Chicago. "Original Latin". penelope. University of Chicago.
  21. McKay, Helen (2018). Defining the systematic patterns for the triple marks of the Coligny calendar. Etudes Celtiques. Vol. XLIV. pp. 91–118.
  22. Rhys, John (1910)
  23. Zavaroni, Adolfo (2007). On the structure and terminology of the Gaulish calendar. British Archaeological Reports (Report). British Series.
  24. Annuaire. Librairie Droz. École Pratique des Hautes Études. 1966–1967. p. 220. ISBN 9782600053280.
  25. Olmsted, Garrett (1988). The use of ordinal numerals on the Gaulish Coligny calendar. The Journal of Indo-European Studies. Vol. 16. p. 296.
  26. Skribbatous, Tegos (2019). Reconstruction du calendrier de Coligny par Tegos Skribbatous [Reconstruction of the Coligny Calendar by Tegos Skribbatous] (image / .png). Iconsmedia (tabular chart) (in French). Retrieved 5 January 2022.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Bibliography
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. 2nd edition, Paris, Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-237-6.
  • Dottin, Georges, La langue gauloise : grammaire, textes et glossaire (1920) no. 53, pp. 172–207.
  • Duval, Paul-Marie and Pinault, Georges (eds) (1986). Recueil des inscriptions gauloises (R.I.G.), Vol. 3: Les calendriers de Coligny (73 fragments) et Villards d'Heria (8 fragments). Paris, Editions du CNRS.
  • Hitz, Hans-Rudolf (1991). Der gallo-lateinische Mond- und Sonnen-Kalender von Coligny.
  • Joyce, P.W. (2000). "Old Celtic Romances". The pursuit of the Giolla Dacker and his horse. Wordsworth Editions Limited, London.
  • Laine-Kerjean, C. (1943). "Le calendrier celtique". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, 23, pp. 249–84.
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2003). La langue gauloise. Paris, Editions Errance. 2nd edition. ISBN 2-87772-224-4. Chapter 9 is titled "Un calandrier gaulois".
  • Le Contel, Jean-Michel and Verdier, Paul (1997). Un calendrier celtique: le calendrier gaulois de Coligny. Paris, Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-136-1
  • Mc Cluskey, Stephen C. (1990). "The Solar Year in the Calendar of Coligny". Études Celtiques, 27, pp. 163–74.
  • McKay, Helen (2016). “The Coligny calendar as a Metonic lunar calendar”. Etudes Celtiques, XLII, pp. 95-122.
  • McKay, Helen (2018). “Defining the systematic patterns for the triple marks of the Coligny calendar”. Etudes Celtiques, XLIV, pp. 91-118.
  • McKay, Helen (2022). “Building the Intercalary Months of the Coligny calendar”. Etudes Celtiques, XLVIII, pp. 55-78.
  • Mac Neill, Eóin (1928). "On the notation and chronology of the Calendar of Coligny". Ériu, X, pp. 1–67.
  • Monard, Joseph (1996). About the Coligny Calendar. privately published monograph.
  • Monard, Joseph (1996). Découpage saisonnier de l'année celtique. privately published monograph.
  • Monard, Joseph (1999). Histoire du calendrier gaulois : le calendrier de Coligny. Paris, Burillier. ISBN 2-912616-01-8
  • Olmsted, Garrett (1992). The Gaulish calendar: a reconstruction from the bronze fragments from Coligny, with an analysis of its function as a highly accurate lunar-solar predictor, as well as an explanation of its terminology and development. Bonn: R. Habelt. ISBN 3-7749-2530-5
  • Parisot, Jean-Paul (1985). "Les phases de la Lune et les saisons dans le calendrier de Coligny". Études indo-européennes, 13, pp. 1–18.
  • Pinault, J. (1951). "Notes sur le vocabulaire gaulois, I. Les noms des mois du calendrier de Coligny". Ogam, XIII, pp. 143–154
  • Rhys, John (1909). "The Coligny Calendar". Proceedings of the British Academy, 4, pp. 207–318.
  • Thurneysen, Rudolf (1899). "Der Kalender von Coligny". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, 2, pp. 523–544
  • Zavaroni, Adolfo (2007). On the structure and terminology of the Gaulish calendar, British Archaeological Reports British Series.
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