The Gundestrup "cauldron" is a late Iron-Age silver ceremonial vessel found in Denmark in 1891. The busts depicted on the seven outer-plates-one is missing-are thought to represent deities but have not been confidently identified. This paper identifies the species of the birds on plate f and its symbolism allowing identification of the deity, the depicted event and its religious significance. The birds have the distinctive zygodactyl foot-morphology of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus Linnaeus, 1758). This species is also identified on a number of other widespread European artifacts where it was previously thought to be a bird of prey. The plate depicts a goddess in triplicate flanked by two cuckoos releasing the first cuckoo of spring. The bird is an obligate brood-parasite, laying its eggs in other birds' nests, leading to misconceptions of its life cycle: no females, nests or identifiable eggs. It was assumed the male birds mated with the host females. Hence, the cuckoo symbolized male fertility across its Eurasian summer range and was associated with several widespread European goddesses of fertility who were probably also associated with mead and the planet Venus. The evidence presented strongly suggests that these deities were known in the Bronze Age. RéSumé Plaque f du « chaudron » de Gundestrup: symboles du printemps et de la fertilité. Le "chaudron" de Gundestrup est un vase d'argent datant de la fin de l'Âge de Fer, découvert au Danemark en 1891. Les bustes représentés sur les sept plaques extérieures, dont l'une est manquante, sont censés représenter des divinités mais n'ont pas été identifiés avec certitude. Cet article détermine les espèces d'oiseaux sur la plaque f et leur symbolisme permettant d'identifier la divinité, l'événement décrit et sa signification religieuse. Les oiseaux ont la morphologie distinctive du pied zygodactyle du coucou commun (Cuculus canorus Linnaeus, 1758). Cette espèce est également identifiée sur un certain nombre d'autres artefacts européens répandus, sur lesquels elle était auparavant considérée comme un oiseau de proie. La plaque représente une déesse en triple exemplaire, flanquée de deux coucous et libérant le premier coucou du printemps. L'oiseau est un parasite de nichée, la femelle pondant ses oeufs dans les nids d'autres oiseaux, les nids ou oeufs ne sont donc pas identifiables. Cela a fait naître des idées fausses sur son cycle de vie, notamment que les oiseaux mâles s'accouplaient avec les femelles hôtes. Ainsi, le coucou symbolisait la fertilité masculine dans son aire estivale eurasienne et était associé à plusieurs déesses européennes de la fertilité largement répandues, probablement affiliées à la planète Vénus. Les preuves présentées suggèrent fortement que ces divinités étaient connues à l'Âge du Bronze.

A myth asserts that at sunrise on the summer solstice 'something' came to the Calanais Stones' central ring heralded by the cuckoo's call. This paper investigates which of the three celestial objects easily visible at sunrise, the Sun, Moon and Venus, might be referred to. The stones have no obvious orientation with the Sun and, while a 'window' of the midsummer full-moons could be seen over the stone ring, complex lunar orbits preclude any precise alignments including the lunar standstill positions. Several widespread European goddesses of fertility and sovereignty were associated with both Venus and the cuckoo, astronomically symbolised by the Pleiades in northern Europe. The east -row of the Calanais Stones is aligned with crossover events of Venus. Three crossover events occurred during the period of the east row construction suggested by radiocarbon dating. The azimuth of the rising Pleiades coincided with the Venus crossover of 1677 and 1674 BC. The 'something' was 'bright, shining, holy' in Brittonic, gwen, while Gwener is the planet Venus. The appearance of the Sun and Venus at sunrise on the summer solstice might represent a divine wedding. This is believed to be the first European prehistoric monument demonstrated to be purposely aligned with Venus.

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