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[Anew]

Here's an interesting piece :

} Wikipedia on the Wandsworth Shield {

} a close-up {

Though this piece appears to have been a dress-shield, its designs bear consideration . I interpret the beaks as hooked ~ like a raptor's . As it occurs in a military setting, and the talons are not represented, an inference may be drawn that these were birds of carrion . Though the implicit statement may have been that the enemy would die ~ to be eaten by vultures ~ armies also recover their wounded and dead when possible, often calling truces to do so . Thus this may also draw on an older tradition : If one accepts the idea that the Celts were descended from the local builders of stone circles, and that they retained some of the old beliefs and symbolism, (note the elegant counter-spirals in the birds' wings) ; this find could add some weight to the idea of excarnation of, (some or most of), the dead in prehistoric times .




edit to add : Then again, eagles include the top avian predators, (with hawks not far behind) . They often appear in heraldry and insignia, (including without talons showing), so it could have been as simple as that .