Nanette Madan

I am representing Milecastles 58 to 60 and inspiration was sought from artefacts found nearby, habitat types in the surrounding area and historical evidence about the people that lived there. There used to be a clan that went by the name of Carvetii, which translates as “The Deer People.” War bands of the North fought on ponies and an inscription found at Milecastles 59 refers to the Lingonians who were Gauls that were good at jumping on horseback, hence the pony in the picture. The figure on the Cumbrian pony is a fusion of The Deer People with tattooed bodies and Cocidius, a Celtic deity thought to be painted red, possibly with horns. Altars pertaining to Cocidius were found at Milecastles 59 and 60.

Cocidius is twinned with the Roman God of War, or Mars. He is also linked to the God of Forests, groves, wild fields and the alder tree, hence representations of tree foliage, ferns, flowers and alder seeds in the print. Emperor Hadrian’s reign fell in what historians labelled as Rome’s Golden Age. However, along the line of the wall, Romanisation didn’t take because Celtic culture was too powerful, which is indicated by daubs of gold around the deity.

The red bog cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccus is on Cocidius’ shield, partly because of the red connection, but also because this plant is found in the mires near the Milecastles. It seems ironic that the God of Forests has a picture of the bog cranberry whose habitat must be maintained by keeping trees to a minimum. Furthermore, swathes of trees would have been cut down at the time of the building of the wall in order to be able to erect it and also so that the enemy approach could be seen for miles around.

I chose Gelli plate printing because of the fantastic range of tones and textures that can be achieved with this technique and the impressions of live plants can easily be made.