Matunus or Matunos was a god in
Brythonic Celtic polytheism
Ancient Celtic religion, commonly known as Celtic paganism, was the religion of the ancient Celts, Celtic peoples of Europe. Because there are no extant native records of their beliefs, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, ...
. His name may be derived from the same root as
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...
''*matu-'' meaning
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
. He was worshipped in
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caes ...
and altar-stones raised to him have been recovered in the United Kingdom, such as at
High Rochester (1265
D213 and at
Risingham.
The god may be parallel with
Mercury Artaius, who might also have ursine connotations.
A similarly named
Gaulish god, Matutinus, is attested in at least three inscriptions from Switzerland; in all three he is identified with
Mercury, and in one he is also identified with
Cissonius.
[Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl. 2001. ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Editions Errance, Paris.]
Sources
{{Celtic mythology (ancient)
Gods of the ancient Britons
Animal gods