The presence of Torques (alternatively Torc) in Bronze Age digs such as this adds weight to the theory that the "Celts" were already in the British Isles prior to the supposed Celtic invasion/diffusion in the mid-1st milennium BCE. This pertains to our theory that Gaelic & Brythonic Celtic languages developed directly from the North-West Indo-European spoken by the Beaker Folk (2200 BCE), and were not brought to the British Isles at a later date. This is because Torques were largely absent from non-Celtic cultures, except for occasional finds in the east at Scythian/Indo-Iranic sites.

See also ^

“The national type of the invader remained purest in Sparta. The Dorian race gave Pindar his ideal of the fair-haired warrior of proud descent, which he used to describe not only the Homeric Menelaus, but the greatest Greek hero, Achilles, and in fact all the ‘fair-haired Danaeans’ [another name for the Achaeans who fought at Troy] of the heroic age” (Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, 1939, by Werner Jaeger, Director of the Institute for Classical Studies, Harvard).

This account fits with that of the contemporary source, Herodotus, who, as previously mentioned, referred to the Dorian Spartans as the 'purest of all the Greeks'.

“But to us, Apollo, splendid in your golden hair, grant in your own contests..”
- Pindar, Odes (472 BCE)

“Golden-haired Apollo still loves the state of Syracuse and honors Hieron, the city's lawful ruler.”
- Bacchylides, Epinicians (470 BCE)

“The golden-haired god [Apollo] sent gentle-minded Eleithuia and the Fates to help her.”
- Pindar, Olympian (472 BCE)

“..beloved of the gold-haired god, Apollo, in fullness of heart..”
- Pindar, Odes (472 B.C)

“Golden-haired far-darter, son of Zeus..”
- Aristotle, Rhetoric (367 BCE)

"In all Hellas, Spartan women were known for their great beauty and respected for their serenity and maturity. The poet Alcman of Sparta (7th century BCE) dedicated a poem to a woman champion competing in chariot races, praising her for her "golden hair and silver face". Two centuries later, another poet, Bacchylides, wrote about the "blonde Lacedaemonian", describing her "golden hair". Given that dyes in Sparta were banned, we can deduce that racism and the Apartheid instincts of the Spartans, with respect to the aboriginal Greeks, was strong enough so that no more and no less than seven centuries after the Dorian invasion, blonde hair still predominated among the citizenry of the country."

César Tort, The Fair Race's Darkest Hour (2014)

As a people of conquest, expert in warfare, weaponry represented authority in both a practical & symbolic sense. The Parliamentary Mace in Britain today can trace its lineage to Indo-European times in terms of name & also likely symbolism:

mace (n.1)

"heavy one-handed metal weapon, often with a spiked head, for striking," c. 1300, from Old French mace "a club, scepter" (Modern French massue), from Vulgar Latin *mattea (source also of Italian mazza, Spanish maza "mace"), from Latin mateola (in Late Latin also matteola) "a kind of mallet." The Latin word perhaps is cognate with Sanskrit matyam "harrow, club, roller," Old Church Slavonic motyka, Russian motyga "hoe," Old High German medela "plow" [de Vaan, Klein]. (source)

"If the Mace is not there, bills cannot pass through parliament. Sometimes MPs, particularly unhappy about something, run out into the centre isle & pick up the Mace so that debate cannot take place. The entire debate must stop until the MP is apprehended & the Mace restored.” (source)

“Maces began as clubs made from particularly big, heavy sticks. The big-stick arms race eventually led to big sticks with heavy balls of wood or rock affixed to the end. The next evolution was "heavy wood balls with knobby protrusions." The knobby protrusions hurt a lot more than smooth wood & caused more damage.

Eventually, with the advent of bronze & iron, metal maces came into fashion.

Flanged maces (maces with angular metal edges & points protruding from the head) were popularized circa 1200, when thick, nearly impenetrable plate armour was rendering both swords & maces less effective. The flanges were capable of focusing an enormous amount of power into a very small point. This allowed the mace to penetrate the armour.” (source)

As the symbol of power in Parliament, a battlefield of words alone, a softening of its lethal design is seen. Where once were flanges designed to inflict maximum damage, we now see a stylized “crown” in their stead as a finial.

“In the west, a beautifully-carved flint mace-head was one of the artifacts discovered in excavations of the Neolithic mound of Knowth in Ireland & Bronze-age archaeology cites numerous finds of perforated mace-heads.

The usage of maces in warfare is also described in the ancient Indian epics "Ramayana" and "Mahabarata". Unique types of maces known as "Gadha" were used extensively in ancient Indian warfare.

Another class of mace known as the “Saintie” are classed Indo-Persian [pictured.]

Persians used a variety of maces attributable to the mode of Persian warfare. Unlike Romans, Persians fielded large numbers of heavily armored and armed cavalry (see cataphracts). For a heavily armed Persian knight, a mace was as effective as a sword or battle axe. In fact, 'The Book of Kings' a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE known as the Shahnameh has countless references to heavily armored knights facing each other using mace, axe, or swords.” (source)

Romantic Landscape With A Temple
Thomas Doughty (1834)

Asthall Barrow is an Anglo-Saxon hlæw (pre-Christian tumulus), Oxfordshire, England.

"The monument includes an Anglo-Saxon hlaew or burial mound situated on a north-facing slope, 100m south of Barrow Farm. The barrow mound was constructed within a drystone wall, 0.5m thick and up to 1.5m high, which has since been repaired. The mound, including its revetment wall, measures 17m in diameter and stands up to 2m high. The barrow was partially excavated by G S Bowles in 1923 and found to contain Saxon pottery and a primary cremation burial."
(Source)

Burial mounds, or Kurgans, are an innovation of the Indo-Europeans. #Yamnaya archaeological sites are littered with this distinctive custom, as are historical sites across northern Europe. The spread of these sites across #AngloSaxon England demonstrates some sort of cultural/religious continuum between the Steppe peoples and their Germanic progeny.

The Clava Cairns (Bronze Age burial chambers) in Inverness, Scotland.
c. 2200 BCE

There are 3 famous cairns at Balnuaran of Clava, and more than 50 across the area 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Source: https://www.visitinvernesslochness.com/property/clava-cairns-inverness/

There is an element of solar alignment to the structures -- the pictured burial mound directly faces the rising midwinter sun.

Coinage from Pāratarajas-era Pakistan, displaying ruler Bhimarjuna & #Swastika.
C. 220 - 235 CE

Necklace with #Swastika pendants excavated from a burial mound in Kaluraz, Iran.
Bronze Age c. 1200 - 1000 BCE

In Ancient Iran, the Swastika was sometimes known as Mithra's Wheel or the Revolving Sun.

Hellenic Mosaic #Swastika from a Byzantine Church in northern Palestine.
c. 4th - 7th century CE

Iron & Bronze Age Swords, Must Farm
(Peterborough, England).

These items are associated with the Indo-European Bell Beaker Culture.

Germanic Sword Hilts, Type A (Oldest) — hilts such as these were commonly found in England, Denmark and Northern Germany.

Das zweischneidige Schwert der Völkerwanderungszeit (1939), Elis Behmer

Cont. — Germanic Sword Hilts, Type A

Distribution of Indo-European langauge family, c. 400 BCE