by hvered » 9:19 am
The ceremony was already seen as archaic by the Romans. Interesting about the fall guy or 'scapegoat' and the ritual beating of sticks to get the season going. It reminds me of some of the so-called Easter ceremonies involving a dead cat, hare or boot or whatever, bit like a drag hunt.
The twelve shields or ancilia suggest the whole hunting re-enactment had been taken over by the priesthood. Would they have been drums originally, beaters making a lot of noise as they move closer together?
The sacrifice being quartered suggests a 'blessing of the foundation stone' or altar, Romans being very keen on founding places. Ancile seems to be an omphalos but it doesn't half sound like ankh which Wiki also notes:
Ancient sources give varying etymologies for the word ancile. Some derive it from the Greek ankylos (ἀγκύλος), "crooked". Plutarch thinks the word may be derived from the Greek ankōn (ἀγκών), "elbow", the weapon being carried on the elbow. Varro derives it ab ancisu, as being cut or arched on the two sides, like the bucklers of the Thracians called peltae.