WHERE BARRY FELL – CASTLE GARDENS, WYOMING #2:

Castle Gardens, Fremont County, WY.

Photograph Peter Faris, Sept. 1992.

On September 14, 2013, I posted a column entitled Where Barry Fell – Castle Gardens, Wyoming, that discussed Fell’s discovery and documentation of the First Iberian Bank of Moneta, Wyoming, based upon petroglyphs that he deciphered. For Fell the presence of ancient Celts was confirmed by the presence of the petroglyphs illustrated below. The first illustration is found at Castle Gardens and the second comes from near Writing-On-Stone, Alberta, Canada.

"Lug, the Celtic God of Light", Fig. 7-1, 

Barry Fell, Bronze Age America, p. 155.

“Chief of the Celtic gods was Lug, god of the sky and of light, and creator of the universe. His emblems are his spear and his sling-shot. With the latter he once destroyed a one-eyed monster named Balar, who, with his sorcerer attendants the Fir-bolg, had gained the mastery of Ireland. Balar is depicted in an unlettered inscription on the Milk River, near Writing-on-stone, Alberta. He is shown as having one leg and one arm, held aloft over his gigantic eye, which could kill hundreds merely by its glance. In this pictograph, Figure 7-2, Lug has just loosed the thong of his slingshot and the monster is about to bite the dust. Another and evidently much later depiction of Lug is that in Figure 7-1, where his name is given in Norse runes, one of many examples we now have of Norse influence on the western Celts in North America. Presumably the Norsemen came down from Hudson Bay to enter the prairie lands. In this petroglyph Lug is shown holding his magic spear, by means of which he defeats the forces of darkness each year, to usher in the returning spring. The last mentioned petroglyph occurs on cliffs at Castle Gardens in Wyoming, and at the same site another Celtic god is identified by his name written in Norse runes. This is Mabona (or Mabo), the Celtic Apollo, god of music and of sports and the presiding divinity in charge of male fertility. In this context his symbol is the phallus, shown in the petroglyph on the rock above him.” (Fell 1982:154)

“Figure 7-1. Lug, the Celtic god of light, is here identified in Norse runes of the period A.C. 750-1050. The name is in the possessive case: Lug’s (site or his image). This remarkable petroglyph occurs at Castle Gardens near Moneta, in Wyoming, and the drawing is traced from a photograph taken by Ted C. Sowers of the Wyoming Archaeological Survey (1941). Although this is the work of an artist of relatively modern times, the theme harks back to the Bronze Age, as does the formalistic style, like that of the earliest Bronze Age.” (Fell 1982:155)

Close-up, Castle Gardens, Fremont County, WY.

Photograph Peter Faris, Sept. 1992.

As can be clearly seen below the figure in the photograph there are a large number of linear markings of various ages (including a historic addition in English) superimposed, and it would not seem to be much trouble to find any rune or letter you wished by careful selection of the right lines. Indeed, in his figure 7-1, Fell’s last two letters can be seen in the close-up to consist of the disassembled neck and torso of a “V-Necked Anthropomorph” figure from a prehistoric petroglyph. The proper question here is not what was found by careful selection (and a lot of imagination) on the rock, but instead what was overlooked because it did not fit with preconceptions intent on finding that message.

"Lug, God of Light", Fig. 7-2, Barry Fell, 

Bronze Age America, 1982, p.158.

“Figure 7-2. Lug, god of light (right), prepares to fire his slingshot at the giant (closed) eye of the one-legged monster, Balar, who is attended by one of the Fir-bolg. Alberta Provincial Park.” (Fell 1982:158)

I don't even know how to address the nonsense of Fell's figure 7-2. He sees a Celtic god armed with a sling where I see a Native American warrior armed with a bow and arrow. Then he sees on the left the giant closed eye of a one-legged monster named "Balar, who is attended by one of the Fir-Bolg." (Fell 1982:158) Here I see another Native American warrior who is holding a shield to defend himself from the arrows of the first warrior.

If we rationalize hard enough we can imagine almost anything - but that does not make it true. As I have said before, falsification and prevarication are never acceptable.

REFERENCE:

Fell, Barry

1982    Bronze Age America, Little, Brown and Company, Boston.