It is a truth universally acknowledged that British people have loved a good ole rave, but research revealed in August from western England suggests body painting festivals are an ancient part of the archipelago’s culture.
A 6,500-year-old prehistoric site in England may have once housed a major body painting festival, according to The Independent. It’s believed a 1.2 acre island in the Riven Eden was used for ritually and economically significant gatherings throughout history, given the slew of artifacts recovered from the site.
Of those artifacts, the most interesting are the 600 or more red ochre fragments and grinding stones that were used to turn the ochre into a powder. This powder was then likely used to create pigments.
The Celtic words “pritani,” which means “the painted ones,” were tied to the site, the Independent claimed. It’s long been known that body painting was part of cultural traditions, but this is likely the first physical evidence of the practice.
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Celts and Druids (Welsh, Scottish, not English) were systematically slaughtered by Roman invaders throughout history, who tried their best to eradicate every inch of our history, language, and traditions. Much of our history is lost to time, but so many of our ancient traditions are still prevalent in our habits today.
Going to a festival or rave is part of British teenagers’ right of passage into adulthood to this very day. Even if you absolutely hate the experience (sorry guys, I hated Boomtown except for Gentleman’s Dub Club and Collie Buddz), gathering together to get sweaty, drunk, smelly, and gross is part of our bonding process. (RELATED: Netflix Documentary Could Rewrite All Of Human History)
We don’t care what we look like, or what other people think. We’re there to revel in the music and have an extended experience of escapism from the monotony and terrible weather that so often defines day-to-day life in Britain. It’s pretty cool to know our ancestors started this trend, and we’ve kept it as part of our identity for millennia. (RELATED: Human History In The Americas Gets Pushed Back Again After Stunning Find In Brazil)
Other findings at the site suggest communities throughout the British Isles at the time were far from the hunter-gatherers the Independent described. Given the slew of artifacts, some of which originated hundreds of miles from British shores, there were clearly significant trade networks in existence at the time.
But mainstream archaeologists don’t want us to know that, because admitting it would mean a total rewrite of the history books.