Ci Da yn Gwella

Penny Hill

Cerflun bach manwl o gi heb fod dros 5cm o daldra fyddai wedi’i orchuddio â haen o dun neu arian mwy na thebyg. Mae tyllau yn y gwaelod metel yn awgrymu ei fod yn esitedd ar blinth.

Un o ddau gerflun bach o gŵn a ganfuwyd yn Llys Awel. Mae ei dafod allan yn barod i lyfu.

Mae’r ci wedi bod yn gyfaill mynwesol i ddyn ers cyn cof. Gwelwyd straeon eto’n ddiweddar am gŵn yn achub bywydau drwy ffroeni cancr, neu wella cylchrediad gwaed drwy lyfu coesau a breichiau.

Ond nid darganfyddiad newydd yw’r cysylltiad rhwng pobl, cŵn ac iechyd. Yn y casgliad archaeoleg, ymhlith grŵp o wrthrychau a ganfuwyd yn llys Awel, Conwy mae dau ffigwr bychan o gŵn. Mae dau blac aloi copr yno hefyd. Addurn pwnsh dot o amlinell ci sydd ar y cyntaf, ond mae’r ail wedi dirywio a gallai fod yn gi arall, neu’n enw duw. Y gred yw taw allor wedi’i gysegru i dduw iachaol oedd y safle, ac mae’r gwrthrychau eu hunain wedi’u dyddio i gyfnod y Rhufeiniaid ym Mhrydain, rhwng diwedd y ganrif 1af AD a diwedd y 4edd ganrif AD. Mwy na thebyg i bobl adael y gwrthrychau yn offrwm i’r duw yn y gobaith y byddai’n sicrhau iechyd da ac yn eu gwella rhag afiechyd.

Pam cŵn?

Cai’r duw meddyginiaeth Groegaidd Asklepios (Aesculapius oedd enw’r Rhufeiniaid arno) ei ddangos yn aml yng nghwmni ci. Mwy na thebyg bod pobl wedi gweld cŵn yn iachau eu hunain drwy lyfu a’r cysylltiad wedyn wedi tyfu. Adeiladwyd noddfa fawr i’r cwlt yn y 4edd ganrif CC yn Epidaurus, Groeg. Tyfodd hon yn un o ganolfannau iachau mwyaf yr hen fyd. Un elfen o’r ddefod iachau oedd derbyn llyfiad gan gi dwyfol y noddfa. Yr unig esiampl gyffelyb y gwyddir amdani ym Mhrydain yw cwlt Nodens, y duw Romano-Brydeinig oedd â’i noddfa yn Lydne, Swydd Gaerloyw. Canfuwyd 9 portread o gŵn yno, ac fel yn Llys Awel mwy na thebyg taw pererinion yn chwilio am wellhad rhag afiechyd a’u gadawodd.

Yn 5cm o daldra ac wedi’u gwneud o aloi copr, eistedda’r ddau gi â’u cynffonau rhwng eu coesau a’u tafodau allan yn barod i lyfu. Mae’r manyldeb arnynt yn hynod, gyda’r llygaid a’r clustiau, y trwynau, y pawennau a’r ffwr i gyd yn amlwg. Mwy na thebyg iddynt gael eu creu drwy ddefnyddio’r dull colli cwyr, felly dim ond un cyfle oedd i gastio’r metel. Castiwyd un ci mewn un darn ond mae’r llall yn fwy cymhleth.

Wrth wneud gwaith cadwraeth, dysgwyd sut y cynhyrchwyd y cerflun. Castiwyd darnau ar wahân cyn eu sodro at eu gilydd.

Darlun o blac offrwm gydag arlliwio ychwanegol yn amlygu amlinell ci.

Darlun o blac offrwm. Yw’r llinellau toredig yn yr hanner gwaelod yn sillafu enw duw sydd bellach yn angof, neu ai ci arall sydd yma?

Cadwraeth

Yn ystod gwaith cadwraeth, gwelwyd bod pedwar cast – pen, corff, cynffon a thafod – wedi’u sodro at eu gilydd i greu cyfanwaith. Awgrym pellach o hyn yw’r rhigolau yn y metel ger uniad y pen a’r corff, fyddai’n gymorth i’r sodrwr ddal y ddwy ran wrth weithio. Ceir tystiolaeth hefyd bod castio’r ffigwr wedi achosi cryn drafferth i’r crefftwr, a’r aloi copr ddim yn llifo ac yn llenwi’r mowld bychan. Bu’n rhaid trwsio’r trwyn a’r goes flaen dde gan dorri’r deunydd oedd heb gastio’n gywir a sodro rhannau newydd yn eu lle. Mae’r trwyn newydd wedi diflannu ond mae’r goes newydd gyda ni o hyd, a gellir gweld nad yw’r gwaith mor gywrain â’r goes chwith.

Mwy na thebyg i’r cerflun gael ei orchuddio mewn tun neu arian i guddio’r camgymeriadau a gwella’r golwg terfynol er mwyn dyrchafu pedigri’r ci bach. Ni chafwyd canlyniadau pendant o ddadansoddi’r arwyneb fodd bynnag ac nid yw’r gorchudd, os oedd un yn bodoli erioed, wedi goroesi. Bydd yn rhaid i ni ddychmygu sut olwg oedd ar y ci ar ei newydd wedd, ac a wnaeth yr offrwm ennyn trugaredd y duwiau?

sylw (4)

Nid yw sylwadau ar gael ar hyn o bryd. Ymddiheuriadau am yr anghyfleustra.
Andrew Johnson
24 Mehefin 2020, 09:59
Thanks for this interesting article. The Romano-Greek belief in the healing power of dogs can be traced back to ancient Zoroastrianism (Mary Boyce, 'Dog in Zoroastrianism', Encyclopaedia Iranica, also http://www.salleyvickers.com). It persists in parts of modern Spain, especially in villages whose patron saint is St Roch (Vallejo et al. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2017) 13:47 DOI 10.1186/s13002-017-0175-6). According to legend, when St Roch fell ill he was attended by a dog which brought him bread to eat and licked his wounds. Mediaeval images of St Roch often show his dog with a loaf of bread in its mouth, sometimes looking rather like an outsized tongue, suggesting the possibility that they might be based on earlier folk-images such as the examples on this page. See, for example, https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/saint-roch-the-plague-the-cult-and-the-image/CgIyRLvGRYOWLw
Dineo Heilmann
20 Mehefin 2018, 20:14
I believe in the healing powers of dogs. I have had two Boxer dogs in my life. The first one was an exceptional animal. My sister was a nurse at a mental institution and would take him there once in a while. He would be a different dog once he walked through the door of the institution. He would go from patient to patient, letting them love on him. If a patient was in having a behavior episode, they would stop as soon as they saw him. Another incident - He was not a crotch or butt sniffer; however, he started sticking his nose in my crotch very frequently, it was quite embarrassing. Come to find out, I had prostate cancer.
My new Boxer is now 1 yr and 2 months old. He goes to a day care for animals. They have some children there also. One day I went to pick him up and they told me that he was very interested in the new litter of kittens that their cat just had. They said he would watch them by putting his head over the side of the bed where the mother was nursing them. I asked them if the mother cat let him do this and they said it didn't seem to bother her. A week or so went by and I asked how the he was doing in regards to the kittens, they told me that he would wait until the mother cat would leave and then he would go over to the kittens and nudge all the kittens away from this one and then he would gently pick it up and take it to the center of the room and start licking it and when he was finished he would take it back. I asked what the mother cat did while he did this and they said nothing, she let him do what he wanted.
Another incident - I am a suffer of migraines and one weekend I ended up having a migraine and had ran out of medicine. I was in bad shape. I got out of bed and went in and laid on the sofa. My dog came in and nudged me to move and let me let him lay next to me. He is a big dog, and he started to lick my face and mouth and was as sweet as could be. Before I knew it I know longer had a migraine. I could not believe it. I got up and we had a great day!
Liz Davies
2 Mehefin 2017, 09:26
I am not an archaeologist but a museum curator, working on an exhibition about an iron Age coin hoard and referencing a site discovered close to St Neots (Loves Farm) and wondering what was the significance of a dog burial there where the eye has been marked with a white stone in the skeleton, perhaps it had some ritual significance - thanks for explaining about the Greeks sacred licking dogs - really fascinating.
Pam parfitt
24 Ionawr 2017, 04:00
There is an ingredient in canine saliva that helps wounds to heal. Maybe that is why the do's tongues are out licking.