The carnyx, an animal-headed bronze horn, once echoed across Iron Age Europe. The book presents a full picture of this dramatic instrument for the first time. It considers the rare surviving fragments, with a detailed study of the Deskford carnyx from Banffshire in north-east Scotland (one of the key pieces of Celtic art on display in the National Museum of Scotland), alongside depictions from Iron Age and Classical art.



Research shifts from details of a single carnyx to a European scale in order to obtain a rounded picture of this striking instrument – including metalworking technology, Celtic art styles, hoards and sacrificial offerings.



This is once again a living instrument … a now iconic reconstruction was made of the Deskford carnyx in 1992 and is widely used for recitals.