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Druids call for burial
3:37pm Thursday 1st February 2007
Comments (24)DRUIDS are demanding the re-burial of a child's skeleton displayed in the stone circle museum in Avebury.
On Tuesday the Council of British Druids backed up their request with a small ceremony at the Alexander Keiller Museum.
The child's skeleton was discovered during excavations at the North Ditch at Windmill Hill in 1929. Dubbed Charlie or Charlotte, is one of the most popular exhibits in the museum.
Now the Order of Druids, the group that celebrates mother earth and holds solstice ceremonies at Avebury, wants the skeleton reinterred.
The druids are in talks with the National Trust, which runs the museum, over the issue.
Experts say it is likely that many skeletons, skulls and other human remains in British museums will have to be considered for reburial.
In Australia the Aboriginals and in the USA the Native Americans have successfully fought for the return of ancestral remains.
Now the National Trust and other museum authorities in the UK could face a similar barrage of requests.
David Thackray, head of archaeology at the National Trust, and Sebastian Payne, chief scientist at English Heritage, issued a joint statement.
It said: "Human remains have a unique status within museum collections and should always be treated with respect."
Leading Avebury archaeologist Mike Pitts said he was sympathetic to the request from the druids. He said: "The issue of how we handle and display human remains in museums is of great importance." The ceremony outside the museum was led by the druid Lady Archdeacon of Glastonbury Denise Price and involved prayers for the child.
Paul Davis from the Council of British Druids said he was sure their request would be successful.
Mr Davis said: "It will happen, it's just a case of whentomorrow, in ten years or in 100 years."
Exciting find
Archaeologists have found a huge ancient settlement used by the people who built Stonehenge.
Excavations at Durrington Walls, near the legendary Salisbury Plain monument, uncovered remains of houses dating back to 2,600-2,500 BC, the same period that Stonehenge was built.
Experts say people seem to have occupied the sites seasonally, using them for ritual feasting and funeral ceremonies.
In ancient times, the settlement would have housed hundreds of people, making it the largest Neolithic village ever found in Britain.
Archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson, from Sheffield University, said: "This is where they went to party - you could say it was the first free festival.
"In what were houses, we have excavated the outlines on the floors of box beds and wooden dressers or cupboards."
The researchers have excavated eight houses in total that belonged to the Durrington settlement. But they have identified many other probable dwellings using geophysical surveying equipment.
The archaeologists think there could have been at least 100 houses. Each one would have measured about 5m (16ft) square: "fairly pokey", according to Professor Parker Pearson.
Your Say YourThe Wiltshire Gazette and Herald
Vetch Yue, Tunbridge Wells says...
7:31pm Thu 1 Feb 07
C. Swanson, SLC, Utah says...
7:42pm Thu 1 Feb 07
Cerridwen, Wigan says...
7:58pm Thu 1 Feb 07
Cerridwen HPS Triple Moon Coven Wigan
oops, daisy says...
2:47pm Fri 2 Feb 07
John Jones, London says...
9:36am Sat 3 Feb 07
I believe that people have the right to believe in what they want to believe in as long as those beliefs do not inspire violence.
As far as I can see, Druids mean no harm to others, so I respect their freedom of conscience though I don't agree with them. I said this in a previous post about Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs.
There have been no police raids this week about Druids planning to saw anyone's head off.
Council of British Druid Orders, London says...
12:24pm Sat 3 Feb 07
Tim Lloyd, says...
4:06pm Sat 3 Feb 07
A Druid who was present at the call for reburial., Somerset says...
6:18pm Thu 8 Feb 07
Council of British Druid Orders wrote:Has this been proven in a court of law? No it has not. until such a time refrain from making such claims.
The Council of British Druid Orders would like it to be known that the people mentioned above are NOT members of CoBDO, having been suspended from our organisation last year. Neither do they speak for Druidry, Paganism nor the people who hold ceremonies at Avebury. The real CoBDO have been based since 1989 at BM Oakgrove, London WC1N 3XX and any queries regarding who is a member of the Council and whether or not they speak for us, should be directed here in the first instance.
Do not tar all with the same brush jon, without all the facts please, as we are not all ego driven media whores as you believe but genuinly concerned about OUR ancestors remains. Thankyou J /|
Denise M Price, Glastonbury says...
11:19am Fri 9 Feb 07
All I want to do is rebury the dead, and I am currently enjoying the support of the Council - with obvious exceptions.
The idea of reburial is more important than jealous people on power trips attempting to steal the lime-light.
Thank you again for a great article.
Paul Davies (Oddie)
COBDO /|
Senua, Cardiff says...
8:40pm Fri 9 Feb 07
Also it should not just be pagan groups consulted about issues like this.
They are every-ones ancestors therefore all who live in these isles should have a say.
eve, says...
11:58pm Sun 25 Feb 07
a shaggy golden retriever, kennels says...
12:10am Mon 26 Feb 07
so_much_more_2b_concerned_about, a withering dying culture says...
5:47am Mon 26 Feb 07
Angry of T Wells, Tunbridge Wells says...
1:40am Sat 3 Mar 07
A Druid who was present at the call for reburial. wrote:Don't talk such rubbish. CoBDO have been CoBDO for over 20 years and have no need to go to court to prove it. Your mob of denny, steve and co have been trying to take over the name for the last few months. Maybe YOU should start a court case to prove you're the real CoBDO. No? I thought not - you've not got a leg to stand on.
Council of British Druid Orders wrote: The Council of British Druid Orders would like it to be known that the people mentioned above are NOT members of CoBDO, having been suspended from our organisation last year. Neither do they speak for Druidry, Paganism nor the people who hold ceremonies at Avebury. The real CoBDO have been based since 1989 at BM Oakgrove, London WC1N 3XX and any queries regarding who is a member of the Council and whether or not they speak for us, should be directed here in the first instance.Has this been proven in a court of law? No it has not. until such a time refrain from making such claims. Do not tar all with the same brush jon, without all the facts please, as we are not all ego driven media whores as you believe but genuinly concerned about OUR ancestors remains. Thankyou J /|
Fed up,, SW England says...
7:04pm Mon 5 Mar 07
ric, london says...
10:58pm Wed 7 Mar 07
ric
Vetch, t wells says...
3:29pm Sat 10 Mar 07
jim bardic chair of avebury, Avebury says...
6:55pm Sun 22 Apr 07
Fake Fur.
Antlers Donated by Forestry Commision.
And the gentleman is a Wiccan, not a Druid.
With regards to the bones.
Reburying them up there will only attract Kooks who might steal them.
So grind them to dust and scatter them from the Sanctuary.
With regards to Cobdo members being Cobdo members. The people in question are COBDO WEST. A non-acredited organisation that is made up of a few ex COBDO members. That is the Truth.
So mote it be.
Fred, Cornwall says...
10:57pm Sun 3 Jun 07
How can EX members form an unauthorised "western" version of a council that they are no longer members of, without the sanction and ratification of said council?
By all means, form a western council of druids or druids orders, but do not steal another long-established council's name in the process. The group above have no authorisation to use the name "CoBDO" or "Council of British Druid Orders" in any of their work, and as such should not be passing themselves off as being affiliated with the REAL CoBDO.
As for reburial, the above people are undermining the respected work of another already established organisation, H.A.D. (Honouring the Ancient Dead), by storming in with hobnail boots without any thought for the sensitive nature or such negotiations.
The above persons are nothing more than pompous trouble making nothings desperate to be "media somethings".
Namaste.
Fred.
Adam, devizes says...
5:56pm Sun 2 Mar 08
Druin, Somerset says...
8:45pm Fri 7 Mar 08
Oddie, Bath says...
12:27pm Mon 23 Jun 08
Buried with meaning, and blessed with love, the bodies of our ancestors help make sacred this Earth. Through decay our brothers and
sisters become part of Her body. In return this Goddess gives Her spirit to the ancestor. Ancestor and landscape become one.
As pilgrims, we enter into Avebury's ancestral landscape and through ritual acts become part of the spirit of place. Through meditation, poetry and prayer we respect and respond to all that is sacred every stone, tree, flower, insect, bone, every ancestor. And when we call to and honour our ancestors, they answer and part-take in our ceremonies, and when they come, they come as spirit people blessed with the spirit of the land into which they were placed the womb of the Great Goddess from which we are reborn.
(The Council of British Druid Orders feel that though it is clear that no single form of words can ever express this matter adequately for all, the substantial majority of its members would be unlikely to find in this description anything to which material objection could be made, and further that for many it might well be found wholly acceptable as an expression of the dictates of their individual conscience. CoBDO June 2007. Similarly, in the US and Australia, differing tribes have differing views on ancestors and their remains.
Paul Davies,
Committee for Reburial,
Council of British Druid Orders
Donna Brooke, Albion says...
12:34pm Tue 3 Feb 09
We note that in June 2008, a Mr.Paul Davies and his false cobdo group, posted a comment on this site. I must now inform you and your readers that they have been posting inaccurate information, which also breaches our trademark registered Council of British Druid Orders(CoBDO)intelle
ctual property rights.
Mr Paul Davies and his false cobdo group are NOT the legal owners of the name Council of British Druid Orders, or the name CoBDO, and Mr. Davies, who claims to be reburial officer for the Council, has no authority or right whatsoever to speak for CoBDO, for its Heads of Druid Orders, or for its many thousands of members, on account of the fact that the post of reburial Officer with the real Council of British Druid Orders, was closed down by unanimous vote of the authentic Council, on 2/12/06.
Mr Davies and his small group have ignored official warnings from both copyright attorneys, Greaves Brewster LLP, of Cheddar, and recovery solicitors Ashfords of Exeter and Bristol, who subsequently issued a notice of intended prosecution against them, 17/01/07.
The authentic Council of British Druid Orders, established for over twenty years, are the legal owners of the name Council of British Druid Orders(CoBDO), and would request that you no longer give this small group a platform from which to deceive the public and authorities alike.
Mr. Davies is now the subject of three separate government departmental enquiries, as he unbeknown to us, has apparently launched a very costly public consultation process, by means of the fraudulent use of our trademark name.
If you wish further information about CoBDO and its genuine members, please see www.cobdo.org.uk
Rollo Maughfling
Founder Member
Council of British Druid Order.(CoBDO)
PRAYERS: From left, Druids Paul Davis, Denise Price and Steve Bust with the child's skelton (21955/4)
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Jon Swift, Swindon says...
6:24pm Thu 1 Feb 07
No one has found any evidence whatsoever to link Avebury with Druids.
The Druids were driven into the sea by the Romans and Avebury had been deserted for a long time before the Celtic Druids arrived on these shores.
These modern Druids are just ego driven media whores.
Jon