The Castlestrange Stone (circa 100 B.C.).

Located beside the river Suck near Athleague in County Roscommon, Ireland.

Created (possibly?) to symbolise and to celebrate the human brain - the most sophisticated item of organic chemistry in the known universe.

If the intention really was to celebrate the human brain, then it is interesting to note that no obvious attempt has been made to indicate whether it belongs to a male or a female, a Celt or a non-Celt, a white person or a black one, or that of someone with brown, red, or yellow skin. Neither is there any obvious suggestion of what the person's social status, religion, or age might be.

Academic references exist which suggest that the ancient Celts may well have revered the human brain as a "pars pro toto" type symbol for representing EVERYTHING in the universe: both material and non-material (i.e. spiritual); and, as the brain actually is the instrument most responsible for all perceptions and feelings, such speculations may have considerable merit?

"EVERYTHING": the entity perceived by the human brain to be so vast, so complex, and so mysterious that it cannot be fully understood or described in an integrated way by the human mind, and which the ancient Celts may have thought of as GOD?

The very distinctive La Tène (Switzerland) style of art used for the Castlestrange Stone leaves little doubt about the ancient origins of the people and culture which produced it, and it is widely considered to be one of the best examples of Iron Age Celtic stone-art in existence.

The similarly ancient and closely related Turoe Stone, which is located approximately 25 miles to the south-west of the Castlestrange Stone, in the Turoe & Knocknadala (Hill of Parliament) area of East Galway, is believed to be the most important piece of Celtic stone-art in the world.

Some basic information relating to the Turoe Stone can be found at >>>
http://homepage.eircom.net/~williamfinnerty/protest/nov21_stone.htm