Part of the problem with identifying true Cucullati is that their main attribute, the hooded cloak, is also shared by the Greco–Roman deity, Telesphorus and both the time and locatoin of the deities' worhip overlap. Telesphorus was the child of Asklepios the healer deity he is generally depicted as a cloaked figure of small stature. Telesphorus' particular powers lie in the realms of sleep and drams and he is also considered the protector of children and a fertility deity. However, unlike most of the Cucullati, Telesphorus wears no shoes and this may well have been a particular feature of his cult. In Britain there can be little doubt that the Cucullati, in their triple aspect, are Celtic in origin. Unfortunately only one depiction of triple Cucullati is known from continental Europe, a clay tablet found at Kärlich, Germany. All otherdepictions are singular and this has led to a heated debate about the origins of the cults of the Cucullati and Telesphorus.
