Our Lost Ancient Cultures (pt1)

There was a recent Channel 4 series called "Empire's Children" in which celebrities examined how the history of the British Empire affected them, and our modern nation of Britain. I was struck by the thought of how much we, in particular the English & Ulster people, define our history and identity by the history and legacy of the empire.

The history of the British Isles stretches back for thousands of years, to the pre-Celtic age, post-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Norman, yet because of the size and scope of the British Empire we seem unable to remember anything beyond 100-200 years ago. Beyond the history of the empire, colonialism and two World Wars, what do we remember or appreciate from our ancient history? We may go back perhaps to learn about dates in a history book, to the "Black Death", Picts, Greeks and Romans etc etc. But what do we really know of our ancient culture and folkways?

Any one who has ever been interested in studying Aboriginal cultures, will know that we in the modernised west have lost our indigenous culture, we believe that "native peoples" or "tribes" are the reserve of American Indians, Zulus and Aborigine's. It is clear also we're not alone in this respect, American Indians have also lost a lot of their pre-contact cultural ways, as have Australian Aborigine's, and some African people as well. Television presenter and bush craft expert Ray Mear's produced a show not so long ago about Britain’s aboriginal past, examining the pre-Celtic Neolithic culture of the British Isles, something which highlighted the depth of our lost ancient cultures and survival skills.

Many people will scoff at the idea of examining the ancient past for any worth today, to even suggest we have an aboriginal or Neolithic culture of value, is to set one self up to be mocked and ridiculed perhaps. We do not perhaps even have to go back so far to become closer to our not-so-recent ancestors, in Ireland for example the Pre-Gaelic Celts, Cruthin, Gaels and Ulster-Scots all have a way of life we can appreciate and revive. In England, Scotland and Wales, the pre-Roman Celts and Gaels, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Each of these cultures provides ways of life, not just to be studied or written about, but also to be examined for merit to guide us in our modern ways of life.

We might benefit also from reconnecting with our land and environment, today we have no knowledge of our surroundings or our survival skills, and we have lost our ability to use the flora and herbalism that our ancient ancestors relied on. If Al Gore's recent Oscar winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" is accurate, then it will take a lot more than a pop concert, celebrity sound bites and government funding for scientists to solve. With the modern talk of "saving the environment", "reduce your carbon foot print", "Stop global warming", is it not difficult to succeed without re-examining our lifestyles? When we have lost our connectedness to our own surroundings, is it any wonder we cannot help the environment?