Fire dog

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"fire dogs", dating to the 11th to 9th c. BC, found in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, kept at the Swiss National Museum.

Firedog, also moon idol or moon horn (German Mondhorn), is a term used to refer to an an artifact type of late Bronze Age Europe (ca. 1300 to 800 BC), typically made of clay, found in the area of modern France, Switzerland and Germany, associated with the Urnfield culture.

Apparently a cult item of Early European Religion, it looks like a pair of horns or a crescent moon on a pedestal, and was variously interpreted as testifying to Bull worship, Moon worship, or as a holder for wooden logs to be used in a fire altar.

[edit] Literature

• Babes, M. und Mihailescu-Bîrliba, V.: Germanische latènezeitliche "Feuerböcke" aus der Moldau 1971
• Mondhörner - Urgeschichtliche Messgeräte in Helvetica Archäologica 32/2001
• Derungs K.: Geheimnisvolles Zürich ISBN 3-905581-22-1
• Steuer, H.: Germanische "Feuerböcke" aus dem Hannoverschen Wendland, Arch. Korrespondenzbl. 3, 1973

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