1-155-174 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Wicker man, 1st century AD, (1832). A large figure of a man, constructed from flexible sticks, being filled with people prior to being set on fire. Julius Caesar reported the Druids, the priests, teachers and judges of the Celts, making human sacrifice to their gods in this way, although there is little other evidence to suggest that such rituals actually took place. The Druids were suppressed by the Romans around 50 AD.