tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50210690842073869792024-03-13T20:48:34.155-07:00lightonecandleA celebration of the mythical and the magical, the paranormal and the philosophical.
Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-65865871759175986202020-07-23T02:39:00.001-07:002020-07-23T02:39:07.859-07:00Taversoe Tuick Burial Cairn<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32sWQRU0QMdW43Z81Vu4qQkHgowrlTAJzHxwRCoLXDxmiLPNWYoz8ixauLZCZnkJ6YnMNuffHUY2exW1gk52-hcHUzb_LnmWd5BCY_DW5CRoBXvvg2bCpXoTwtsTr6LQJEQ2mD-EhfICq/s1600/56.taversoe+tuick2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32sWQRU0QMdW43Z81Vu4qQkHgowrlTAJzHxwRCoLXDxmiLPNWYoz8ixauLZCZnkJ6YnMNuffHUY2exW1gk52-hcHUzb_LnmWd5BCY_DW5CRoBXvvg2bCpXoTwtsTr6LQJEQ2mD-EhfICq/s400/56.taversoe+tuick2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Taversoe Tuick cairn was built on the
island of Rousay in Orkney. Like the dozens of other contemporary monuments
found all across the islands, it was built in the Neolithic Period, around
3300BC, at which time Orkney was home to the most advanced culture in Britain
and perhaps Western Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Orkney’s tombs typically have traits in
common. They are built overlooking the sea, have a wide view over the
surrounding land, but are built into the hillsides so as to be barely
distinguishable from the surrounding landscape. They were not built to impress
the living who looked up at them, as later Bronze Age tombs were designed. They
were built for the eyes of the ancestors to gaze across the land where they
once walked and now guarded and reinforced their descendants’ right to live and
farm there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRc0sznrqnJuDYF9Y1C4sIfhjjp1YQLXOXPkw5vNKwav_NNyL_qdS7g0VMEPkAgrN_UHhp20lt3ON_BlQBAyrK_4ixH_CJkX3TnsqGWXIr1JK2LSf0CXsDWOiGhJbheJx7-YrBVotTMfe/s1600/56.taversoe+tuick5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRc0sznrqnJuDYF9Y1C4sIfhjjp1YQLXOXPkw5vNKwav_NNyL_qdS7g0VMEPkAgrN_UHhp20lt3ON_BlQBAyrK_4ixH_CJkX3TnsqGWXIr1JK2LSf0CXsDWOiGhJbheJx7-YrBVotTMfe/s400/56.taversoe+tuick5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The upper storey of the tomb<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Each tomb is also unique, built to a
design chosen perhaps intuitively by the community it was to serve. Taversoe
Tuick was built on two levels, something found in only one other Orkney tomb. One
crawls through the long and low entrance passage to a chamber containing four partitioned
areas arranged in an arc, where the disarticulated bones of the deceased were
laid. The upper storey is reached by a separate entrance at the back of the
tomb and contained two chambers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The tomb, discovered and opened in the 19<sup>th</sup>
century, was found to contain cremated human bones, the complete skeleton of an
adult, and flint and pottery artefacts. These were perhaps added during the
Bronze Age, after the Neolithic Orkney culture had collapsed and its monuments
ritually emptied, closed or destroyed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLxaAO3-DJV39rgcmYtMazyu9XpypshHGbawCU8ON8Z2Es0TnykF8kC481KiteFA6GIgbgPL4YbYgmqodEfmJq5Jyskk2uKeNU1hyphenhyphen-kR2Ep4f8CyeJPjzQ40CAf5LDz1z9kW2oZXvzb6z/s1600/56.taversoe+tuick6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1600" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLxaAO3-DJV39rgcmYtMazyu9XpypshHGbawCU8ON8Z2Es0TnykF8kC481KiteFA6GIgbgPL4YbYgmqodEfmJq5Jyskk2uKeNU1hyphenhyphen-kR2Ep4f8CyeJPjzQ40CAf5LDz1z9kW2oZXvzb6z/s400/56.taversoe+tuick6.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The rear entrance to the upper storey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Like many tombs, Taversoe Tuick was
built with a view of the sea and its entrance passage aligns to the highest
point on the small island of Gairsay to the south, which is marked with a
tumulus of possibly Bronze Age date. The Orkney people were sailors,
fisher-people and long-distance travellers and the sea was as important to
their way of life as the land. It is logical that the ancestor-spirits
contained in the tombs guarded the sea-ways as well as the land, and it is easy
to imagine a web of guardianship linking between tombs and islands and
landmarks the sailors used to guide them home, nourished by the generations of
knowledge the people had laboriously acquired. And that web still survives today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-66983112868668645972020-06-22T01:39:00.000-07:002020-06-29T13:23:50.181-07:00The Knowe of Yarsoe<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Knowe of Yarsoe is a stalled cairn
on the island of Rousay in Orkney. Like the majority of the cairns in Orkney,
it was built in the early Neolithic period and continued in use for over a
thousand years. It stands on the edge of a steep slope which falls away sharply
towards the sea, the focus for many Orkney tombs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Unlike the chambered cairns such as <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/05/cuween-chambered-tomb.html" target="_blank">Cuween</a>
on Mainland Orkney, the stalled cairns comprise a long, narrow chamber
subdivided by stone slabs into sections, resembling cattle stalls, where the
bones of the deceased were laid. It is believed the two cairn types represent
two distinct but interconnected cultures living in Orkney during the Neolithic period.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This tomb contains four consecutive stalls,
and perhaps represents a continuing ritual descent into the spirit world from
the earthly world. The innermost stall is partly blocked by stone slabs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCb44TYzoX27RHkvex8saQ760_J0_g9rKw_aFasgfv3VGxyBUlyzz0-or7uXvGhTkCSjiKQZawd4DL6DNobU1_L2bNrBukEfMu5Vhd0mDVfDpJ9146-FQHEzearta9sTtdAXKl-O3M7QRz/s1600/55.knowe+yarso2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCb44TYzoX27RHkvex8saQ760_J0_g9rKw_aFasgfv3VGxyBUlyzz0-or7uXvGhTkCSjiKQZawd4DL6DNobU1_L2bNrBukEfMu5Vhd0mDVfDpJ9146-FQHEzearta9sTtdAXKl-O3M7QRz/s400/55.knowe+yarso2.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Knowe of Yarsoe contained the disarticulated
remains of around 29 people, dating from 2900-1900BC. All were adults and many
more skulls were found than other remains. Orkney tombs typically contained several
hundred bodies, adults and children, and many were ritually sealed and/or
emptied at the end of the Neolithic period, around 2500BC. The bodies in this tomb
may be those associated with the closure rite after the rest of the community’s
ancestors were removed elsewhere. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The dates indicate that these weren’t the
last people to die. They may have been especially powerful or revered people
whose remains (or perhaps their skulls) had been curated in a tomb or in a
house for several hundred years before being placed here, perhaps as guardians
of the land or the tomb. Many tombs have legends of ghostly guardians who bring
calamity on anyone who disturbs them. Some may have been added long after Orkney’s
Neolithic culture had collapsed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupMKlgL6_-UZhXbP0az_aQQ8hNEIIpSyN7_oW8OarulglOjEpJkGXgDMTmhu0eOtE3TLHMGCNjVPUonUtta9b_Pv2A-jhr2QJkOsWQOTc8lUAj4aWuoNtcnXAWZHCZFAANNwWSRqHkR95/s1600/55.midhowe+seals.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupMKlgL6_-UZhXbP0az_aQQ8hNEIIpSyN7_oW8OarulglOjEpJkGXgDMTmhu0eOtE3TLHMGCNjVPUonUtta9b_Pv2A-jhr2QJkOsWQOTc8lUAj4aWuoNtcnXAWZHCZFAANNwWSRqHkR95/s400/55.midhowe+seals.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The entrance of the Knowe of Yarsoe faces
southeast, along the line of the hillside, on the long axis of the tomb. This
is typical of stalled cairns and a major difference to chambered tombs which
generally face out to sea. The communities linked to these tombs may have had
little affinity to the sea compared with the people who built the chambered
cairns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUVYPrfkS2bHhOsoH_cen7gGD8NXgAihTy3eMRDVgcYmeE8dScK3_u1aJ3-BNrpDDWs7I3615kCwh069ycJnNh8tkuL_41D0NaHMUIb2GzBzcCVrD70MIFo5d71m5VPbTC7q9MlNTPXUJ/s1600/55.1038px-RedDeerStag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1038" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUVYPrfkS2bHhOsoH_cen7gGD8NXgAihTy3eMRDVgcYmeE8dScK3_u1aJ3-BNrpDDWs7I3615kCwh069ycJnNh8tkuL_41D0NaHMUIb2GzBzcCVrD70MIFo5d71m5VPbTC7q9MlNTPXUJ/s400/55.1038px-RedDeerStag.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Red deer. Massimo Catarinella,
Wikicommons</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Many tombs are linked to specific
animals or birds which were interred with the human bodies. These include <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-tomb-of-eagles.html" target="_blank">sea eagles</a>, dogs and otters. The Knowe of Yarsoe contained the
remains of at least 34 red deer. Red deer remains are commonly found in stalled
cairns but not in chambered cairns, another indication of a cultural divide. The
deer was a revered animal, both for its gifts of meat, hide and antler and for
its embodiment of the spirit of the wilds. The shedding and regrowth of antlers
reflects the dying-and-rising spirit of the green and the deer remained a totem
or spirit guide for shamans and ritual specialists throughout the Celtic and
Anglo-Saxon periods. The horned God Cernunnos and the sage Merlin were both
associated with deer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQW83yGgb7-NY5kD8PPTAqeo5kzZLzUPhCejBEkiVsGJzFeaR_qv5GZ3Pt-LmpDZEbaq2I4A6s1YmEz7Aao4uBQiFvadVM_87bURIxk62-Pj6qakKpiZ67BMVab8kE91WKznizh3mgJJit/s1600/55.Gundestrup_Cernunnos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1181" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQW83yGgb7-NY5kD8PPTAqeo5kzZLzUPhCejBEkiVsGJzFeaR_qv5GZ3Pt-LmpDZEbaq2I4A6s1YmEz7Aao4uBQiFvadVM_87bURIxk62-Pj6qakKpiZ67BMVab8kE91WKznizh3mgJJit/s400/55.Gundestrup_Cernunnos.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Cernunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron, 1<sup>st</sup>
Century BC. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Rousay is rugged with steep hillsides
and heather moorland, ideal habitat for red deer, which were probably
introduced to the islands by people at a very early point in Orkney’s history.
Rousay is poor quality land and unsuitable for cultivation, and this offers the
idea that the stalled cairns were linked to the earliest hunter-gatherer communities
of Orkney, who especially revered the deer, whereas the Neolithic farmers who
settled in later times and have proven Middle Eastern ancestry lived on the better
quality land more suited to agriculture, built the chambered cairns and the
various ritual monuments including the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-stones-of-stenness.html" target="_blank">Stones of Stenness</a> and the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-ring-of-brodgar.html" target="_blank">Ring of Brodgar</a>, and brought Orkney into the forefront of British culture.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPaHtrx_2fxhTdQJPAypylDB-klxn9SotxRT4mOzxAdoGAjemLRjEJGjMCAHO7YByWhnQZ8Upi0OtcOVQwejHAiAphFH8ou-BstSlD8PV0B2JQHr9s0_CIPoDWQ_iF8nZ6QdzANIzsUpd/s1600/55.deer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPaHtrx_2fxhTdQJPAypylDB-klxn9SotxRT4mOzxAdoGAjemLRjEJGjMCAHO7YByWhnQZ8Upi0OtcOVQwejHAiAphFH8ou-BstSlD8PV0B2JQHr9s0_CIPoDWQ_iF8nZ6QdzANIzsUpd/s640/55.deer.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-11555688247630520052020-06-08T00:30:00.000-07:002020-06-08T00:30:00.493-07:00The Tomb of the Otters
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicafasqIngqax0CufrY77sDcqy554Xr2fbd0sxnd736DKtN7echuTBNRWnRh17oiBoo0NgbcTkBsEknf-xdrXCIbl4DQAkH1R4reYX8yOoUZWqcHoL3YRSdMOQRHH29eVend_tO_lt5y4k/s1600/54.tomb+otters3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicafasqIngqax0CufrY77sDcqy554Xr2fbd0sxnd736DKtN7echuTBNRWnRh17oiBoo0NgbcTkBsEknf-xdrXCIbl4DQAkH1R4reYX8yOoUZWqcHoL3YRSdMOQRHH29eVend_tO_lt5y4k/s400/54.tomb+otters3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Tomb of the Otters is one of the
most recently discovered Neolithic cairns in Orkney. It was built on the south
coast of the island of South Ronaldsay, a short distance from the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-tomb-of-eagles.html" target="_blank">Tomb of the Eagles.</a>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Like many of Orkney’s tombs, the Tomb of
the Otters is a relatively inconspicuous grassy mound which could easily be a
natural feature, as it was supposed to be until chance digging revealed the
truth. The tombs were typically blended into the landscape but at the same time
offered wide views across the land. They were built for eyes within the tomb,
not for the living outside it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Excavation found it to be a chambered
cairn, containing six small chambers leading off from the main chamber. Those
at the western end were added after the main construction and another small chamber
was inserted under the main entrance passage. The tomb contained over two
thousand disarticulated human bones, which had been placed in the tomb over a
period of several hundred years.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Some of the bones date to 3300BC, the
date of first construction of many Orkney tombs, and genetic analysis shows the
dead were settler-farmers whose recent ancestry lay in the Middle East, the birthplace
of agriculture. The presence of so many bones is unusual: in many cases, the tombs
were emptied at the end of the Neolithic period, around 2500BC, in an
elaborate, Orkney-wide destruction and closure of ritual sites. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4Hw6bE4lRjp_LSPpzuz2MhHUHCPiScOE1yyxY0a8FAKqr8_YrQ7grcRUU0N5yFzgydBBrzzjmelWYa5ieGwUiP3LquDi-JGfAYhG-klCFJXUn8PBt8yFQHsqxm5F7O61kImZB4eNGVX6/s1600/54.isbister8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4Hw6bE4lRjp_LSPpzuz2MhHUHCPiScOE1yyxY0a8FAKqr8_YrQ7grcRUU0N5yFzgydBBrzzjmelWYa5ieGwUiP3LquDi-JGfAYhG-klCFJXUn8PBt8yFQHsqxm5F7O61kImZB4eNGVX6/s400/54.isbister8.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The coast near the tomb.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The tombs are believed to each link to
one community or village, and many are associated with specific animals or
birds which may have been community totems. This tomb is uniquely associated
with otters. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The tomb was, uniquely, carved out of
the bedrock and is set partly into the ground. This makes it unusually wet
inside and the bones were periodically covered with silt, perhaps caused when
water levels rose. This was perhaps a deliberate attempt to emulate the otters’
natural habitat. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The skeletons and spraint of otters were
found in large amounts inside the tomb, suggesting otters routinely entered it.
The skeleton of a four-year-old child was found with a small stone which had
been worked to resemble an otter’s head. Perhaps this was a favourite toy, or
perhaps a spiritual emblem to help guide this child to the next world.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Many of the ‘totems’ have well-known
links to the spiritual world and many are carrion-eaters. The otter almost
exclusively eats fish, but has been known to eat carrion. It is possible the
otters encouraged in this tomb devoured the flesh of the dead and were
considered spirit guides for these people. Their habitat of both land and sea
gives them a greater liminal status. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The chambers are roofed with slabs of
stone from the beach which are heavily water-worn, creating another deliberate
link to the sea. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The majority of Orkney tombs face out to
sea, but the entrance passage of this tomb faces north, inland. It is possible
this entrance is a later feature after the tomb was extended, perhaps to keep
it damp and suitable for otters. The original entrance may have been to the west,
where it would face a large lake, plausibly the freshwater home of the otters
in question.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IqbqmING0qGA3qm-Zv_Oriodhv10zMhTD_kesOFUb4FGCndhuSzNJ8gLEJ1g3ztMf6ZR5ezky14tlXr8ozWqUbivGb2qJ0cXfSxrOuGI7QslF4gr2YdIx-U0hJ5LMPd0SSDcMA5O86Ho/s1600/54.1082px-European_otter_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1082" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IqbqmING0qGA3qm-Zv_Oriodhv10zMhTD_kesOFUb4FGCndhuSzNJ8gLEJ1g3ztMf6ZR5ezky14tlXr8ozWqUbivGb2qJ0cXfSxrOuGI7QslF4gr2YdIx-U0hJ5LMPd0SSDcMA5O86Ho/s400/54.1082px-European_otter_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">English Otter. Alexander Leisser, Wikicommons.</span></div>
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-80192411236207610432020-05-25T02:26:00.000-07:002020-05-25T02:26:06.179-07:00The Tomb of the Eagles
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcGSWDI-WK_b3Kc8jzR4_0uSrvEb5-wR7fo3ceXaPuP_Ry8y0LIOczz8ZTj4uBi-ep-scfZhGwivbp2fIhJ8dMnhMhPqc5pSPOlCweWICHTKfjGxUBrYRVHZf2XDQDPv3r1WwLkTpRsSw/s1600/53.tomb+eagles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcGSWDI-WK_b3Kc8jzR4_0uSrvEb5-wR7fo3ceXaPuP_Ry8y0LIOczz8ZTj4uBi-ep-scfZhGwivbp2fIhJ8dMnhMhPqc5pSPOlCweWICHTKfjGxUBrYRVHZf2XDQDPv3r1WwLkTpRsSw/s400/53.tomb+eagles.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Tomb of the Eagles is a Neolithic
chambered cairn in Isbister in South Ronaldsay, the southern-most island of
Orkney. Unlike most tombs in Orkney, which were either emptied prior to their
closure in ancient times or have been destroyed thanks to time, treasure-hunters
or clumsy antiquarians, the Tomb of the Eagles survived intact until its
careful excavation in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century, through which our knowledge
of Neolithic Orkney has surged.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The tomb was built around 3150BC, and
comprises a stone-built and grass-covered mound which covers a central chamber
accessed by a low passage, three metres long, through which visitors have to
crawl on their hands and knees. The main chamber contained bodies which were
largely intact, perhaps after their excarnation (devouring by carrion-eaters)
but before they were deposited with the rest of the ‘ancestors’. It seems the
process of death was a long-drawn-out affair in Neolithic Orkney. Side chambers
contained unarticulated bones, largely sorted into groups of skulls and other
bones. The tomb contained at least 340 people, including men, women, children
and babies. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ma1iH5nnzTKNqV1Cz_KqOjGplEoW4gOhVWta6kPY0UmRUUmY7T9WDYByrpBia-_a-1eDQ-KENGmGIMq0FkLK0oPK5-1jvgClve9sOg0CBLPwqU_NTCE9FXJtawvDBcYxFjKFdaZI435x/s1600/53.tomb+eagles4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ma1iH5nnzTKNqV1Cz_KqOjGplEoW4gOhVWta6kPY0UmRUUmY7T9WDYByrpBia-_a-1eDQ-KENGmGIMq0FkLK0oPK5-1jvgClve9sOg0CBLPwqU_NTCE9FXJtawvDBcYxFjKFdaZI435x/s400/53.tomb+eagles4.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Around 2500BC, the time when bronze
started to filter into Britain, the social structure in Orkney collapsed. The
tombs which had been used for nearly a thousand years, along with other ritual
buildings such as at the Ness of Brodgar, were carefully dismantled or sealed and
never used again. The passage of the Isbister cairn was blocked from the inside
and the entire tomb was filled with rubble, soil and ancient human bones, perhaps
those kept as relics in houses. It was never entered again, although many
Bronze Age burial cists nearby indicate the remembered sanctity of the site.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8LtQwMjibsXM-lz0IddeUl7WHXeE9k7uexyPthDolPkYZzCV2A-yOrK8rhdxVkIYm91KnedfjRK1HhKCDWj2W50lTWm3KChlHFViX836UW1LOYddpomth0PQ9guNVJPnI_XA0L5Ba9Ijm/s1600/53.tomb+eagles2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1003" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8LtQwMjibsXM-lz0IddeUl7WHXeE9k7uexyPthDolPkYZzCV2A-yOrK8rhdxVkIYm91KnedfjRK1HhKCDWj2W50lTWm3KChlHFViX836UW1LOYddpomth0PQ9guNVJPnI_XA0L5Ba9Ijm/s400/53.tomb+eagles2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Skulls and round-bottomed Unstan Ware
pottery deposited in a side chamber.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Each of the dozens of tombs in Orkney
was likely linked to an individual settlement or community, and each seems to have
been close-knit and independent. Studies of the skeletons show a high incidence
of genetic abnormalities which suggests a large degree of in-breeding. Other Orkney
tombs show a different range of abnormalities. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Many are linked to specific and often
unique animals or birds which may have totemic links. The Isbister cairn is
uniquely associated with sea eagles, which were once common on the high cliffs
of the area. Like many of the potential ‘totems’, sea eagles are carrion-eaters
and were plausibly used to devour the bodies of the deceased before their
interment in the tomb. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIiHI18d7YfkjZxdd_-UBZeT5BUE72ZZcP7_3-qpDoHnP2JrwG7ErkDe_EXXMN4oGVSP7_IZlYWgIQQb5BzHvovH7NVsTw5kE_bQ12Hj4h33UKZlNiCeeiv95_uBLNUHv81fakdjGhW86G/s1600/53.isbister4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIiHI18d7YfkjZxdd_-UBZeT5BUE72ZZcP7_3-qpDoHnP2JrwG7ErkDe_EXXMN4oGVSP7_IZlYWgIQQb5BzHvovH7NVsTw5kE_bQ12Hj4h33UKZlNiCeeiv95_uBLNUHv81fakdjGhW86G/s400/53.isbister4.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Like many Orkney tombs, Isbister
opens out across the sea, but the unusual thirty-metre sheer drop is
reminiscent of the soaring spirit of the sea eagle.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A foundation deposit sealed under the
flagstone floor comprised bones of humans and sea eagles, dating to 3150BC, and
eagle talons were placed with many of the bodies. One had fifteen talons which
perhaps formed a necklace. Perhaps eagle-catching was a test of status for the
people of Isbister. Scaling the precipitous and sea-lashed cliffs to reach
their nesting sites would certainly have tested the physical and mental
strength of anybody. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Nearly a thousand years after the
tomb was sealed, in 1500BC, a cist grave was inserted in the mound, and this
also contained sea eagle bones along with the human remains. Orkney’s status
and way of life had changed immensely since the beginning of the Bronze Age,
but it seems the people of Isbister had not forgotten their ancient heritage. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwsEqIWZHBp2NaUDEALBB8TUBAfP9rpyPH87V-FaxzEpPmtChw1bjzj1i0-7A7unw2kYIS0klLqMS2RuaGE7GM7uAcvyAWm1vuiJeQb_V1AtHiLVl9zdfjvEyusSDbh05OhVC8OkzEqVX/s1600/53.Sea_Eagle_with_no_Fish%2521_%252814969086471%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1383" data-original-width="1600" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwsEqIWZHBp2NaUDEALBB8TUBAfP9rpyPH87V-FaxzEpPmtChw1bjzj1i0-7A7unw2kYIS0klLqMS2RuaGE7GM7uAcvyAWm1vuiJeQb_V1AtHiLVl9zdfjvEyusSDbh05OhVC8OkzEqVX/s400/53.Sea_Eagle_with_no_Fish%2521_%252814969086471%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">White-tailed sea eagle. Jacob Spinks,
Wikicommons.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-24304734496284748572020-05-11T00:30:00.000-07:002020-05-11T00:30:00.250-07:00Maes Howe Passage Grave
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_W2-mYO9y1sfhL1zyGUovu38veKiL0TMvOrAnyp7FkC91OsWmPv1c4GM_YzwoChi2KBEOeSUmP5nW6JYhq79z0ZTc5lGJkbH7frcORYPwGh2K_F5enZVcboLV34y0Am7tjJ4ba11u9h-/s1600/52.maes+howe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_W2-mYO9y1sfhL1zyGUovu38veKiL0TMvOrAnyp7FkC91OsWmPv1c4GM_YzwoChi2KBEOeSUmP5nW6JYhq79z0ZTc5lGJkbH7frcORYPwGh2K_F5enZVcboLV34y0Am7tjJ4ba11u9h-/s400/52.maes+howe.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Maes Howe in Orkney is one of the
most elaborate and finely built passage graves known. It was built in the late
Neolithic Period, around 2700BC, on a wide, grassy plain a short distance from and
in view of the other famous monuments of Neolithic Orkney including the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-stones-of-stenness.html" target="_blank">Stones of Stenness</a>, the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-ring-of-brodgar.html" target="_blank">Ring of Brodgar</a> and the Ness of Brodgar. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The mound is seven metres high and 35
metres wide – exceptionally large for an Orkney grave – and comprises a passage
seven metres long which has to be followed at a crouch to reach a large inner
chamber, built of corbelled stone with a phenomenal degree of craftsmanship.
The five-metre high ceiling makes it the highest and most impressive Neolithic
structure still standing. Three smaller chambers which can only be entered by
crawling through their tiny entrances were built on each side. Provision was
made to seal each chamber and also seal the main passage from the inside.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY8tD42-mPWdhtMpNgOhzBiSNrXJ8Be98ta1v58-Qiqe-FCJ2Es5VS-UfaRzeVNq0cnSmM-Fx9902XIo2Pk7V8bFxHnhyphenhyphenp8pN4tB94KM64VAT-oOCoq2NBv082K2_90MUOzgjFIicKMYQ/s1600/52.hoy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY8tD42-mPWdhtMpNgOhzBiSNrXJ8Be98ta1v58-Qiqe-FCJ2Es5VS-UfaRzeVNq0cnSmM-Fx9902XIo2Pk7V8bFxHnhyphenhyphenp8pN4tB94KM64VAT-oOCoq2NBv082K2_90MUOzgjFIicKMYQ/s400/52.hoy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Ward Hill on the island of Hoy </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Unlike other Orkney tombs, with the possible
exception of the now-ruined Pierowall on the island of Westray, Maes Howe is
aligned to the midwinter sunset which shines down the passage to illuminate the
inner chamber. This may explain the unusual height of the passage. Most Orkney
tombs have to be entered on one’s belly. The sun from Maes Howe at midwinter
sets over Ward Hill on the island of Hoy, the highest point on Orkney, which no
doubt explains its location. A standing stone a few hundred metres from Maes
Howe also marks the same alignment. This is reminiscent of the much older
Newgrange passage grave in Ireland, and there are known links between the two
areas in the Neolithic period.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBUCP_A-oSJu5wM7e5nN5IfcFDYgApNFA9_FczCtRw_qMxLvHG7jNPKQ-3k9B23BK6GIwklHZV1ps5WuxmKyLMC_JA7NL7-hZNaWoJLq8dJpTWRIzh1tgU43CpW8-HTt9hC5f7J-nSfA5/s1600/52.standing+stone+maes+howe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1600" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBUCP_A-oSJu5wM7e5nN5IfcFDYgApNFA9_FczCtRw_qMxLvHG7jNPKQ-3k9B23BK6GIwklHZV1ps5WuxmKyLMC_JA7NL7-hZNaWoJLq8dJpTWRIzh1tgU43CpW8-HTt9hC5f7J-nSfA5/s400/52.standing+stone+maes+howe.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Barnhouse standing stone and Maes
Howe</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">When Maes Howe was opened by Norse
warriors, and later by Victorian antiquaries, no human remains or other relics
were recorded. Perhaps they were long destroyed, or perhaps it was never truly
a tomb. Its elaborate design and its alignment mark it as separate from other
tombs. Its enclosure by a wide and deep ditch, dug as the mound was built and
with no causeway across it, is also unique for a passage grave but typical for
henge monuments in Orkney and across Britain. It may have been designed as a ‘spirit
house’ but in a different way, perhaps absorbing the spirit of the sun to
fertilise the womb of the earth. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73hH22B2B2x70tK1XcYiARw8D3nnTUKjgymI545C61mneOfwD0goUFKAvYxjcdy17EZ4YSdgUBzqWxPHr472L3eWt2n-NEAprGGMJFKjnppEfZxufruO_uYdzcOiRUHkR4_PLKX9PNawZ/s1600/52.PicMaesEntrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="556" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73hH22B2B2x70tK1XcYiARw8D3nnTUKjgymI545C61mneOfwD0goUFKAvYxjcdy17EZ4YSdgUBzqWxPHr472L3eWt2n-NEAprGGMJFKjnppEfZxufruO_uYdzcOiRUHkR4_PLKX9PNawZ/s400/52.PicMaesEntrance.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The interior of Maes Howe, showing
the much older standing stones. Islandhopper, Wikicommons.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">An earlier structure once stood on
the site of the mound, also aligned to the midwinter sunset. This is suggested
to have been a house but the importance of its location means it would have
been far more than an ordinary dwelling. Four large standing stones were placed
in the corners of the inner chamber, offering no structural purpose, and these
were likely incorporated from an earlier monument or stone circle, perhaps around
the ‘house’ itself, as a memorial or to seed its spiritual essence. Similar
stones were used to form the entrance passage. Stone settings at the Stones of
Stenness and an elaborate building at the nearby Barnhouse village are aligned
to Maes Howe. These both predate the mound so were linking to this earlier
structure.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpIoeMiDvIDCT4dTYe7NsZTZIIuYioPF17uNSpcy839i-IQC7k5c-6Tmxog8N3ZFr9374OStogGc0ASHmiY1cGdtNHL3z6_j01KFsYi-D01bSciLKtwm87vFIZyYLjoAp-xRAv5PMMfYu/s1600/52.PicMaesRunes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="512" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpIoeMiDvIDCT4dTYe7NsZTZIIuYioPF17uNSpcy839i-IQC7k5c-6Tmxog8N3ZFr9374OStogGc0ASHmiY1cGdtNHL3z6_j01KFsYi-D01bSciLKtwm87vFIZyYLjoAp-xRAv5PMMfYu/s320/52.PicMaesRunes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Some of the runic inscriptions. Islandhopper,
Wikicommons.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Maes Howe was entered by Norse
warriors around 1100AD and it was named as ‘Orkahaugr’ in the 13<sup>th</sup>
century <i>Orkneyinga Saga</i>. Legend says warriors were forced to spend the
night in the chamber during a storm and two of them went insane after their
ordeal. The spirits of the mound were obviously still potent. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Another Norse legacy is the largest
collection of runic inscriptions outside Scandinavia. These mainly comprise men
carving their names and making lewd comments about women. Some make reference
to a recent discovery of hidden treasure. Elaborate gold and bronze grave goods
are associated with a much later time period, so presuming the inscription is
not a treasure-hunter’s joke, it may refer to ancient relics such as carved
stones, as were found at Newgrange and Pierowall, whose spiritual importance
was still recognised. We will probably never know.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ERx8y24xqc_16e5-C0b0LmNEa9geqwBK6843X7loMpe0a7TWy0_YIdwGM4m62NAATiFBFLCwWJ_SaUJYtEMZCgNBEL7lO8ycXPatFCwYWmWkTCRT7ay7gXkvrHWfZ7bzBE1FYEYrBCGV/s1600/52.westray+stone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1600" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ERx8y24xqc_16e5-C0b0LmNEa9geqwBK6843X7loMpe0a7TWy0_YIdwGM4m62NAATiFBFLCwWJ_SaUJYtEMZCgNBEL7lO8ycXPatFCwYWmWkTCRT7ay7gXkvrHWfZ7bzBE1FYEYrBCGV/s400/52.westray+stone.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The decorated stones once found in
the now-ruined Pierowall monument.</span></div>
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-50989981547735100412020-04-26T02:49:00.000-07:002020-04-26T02:49:56.013-07:00The Bath Springs
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6l7pkVH6js96Bvf-SlntySj68FCsfCeJLlfuSl9tr5ijV0psMyGz7NlAugc1CITou-uhrbpPk72DUnhORWnHlGEu2ZyTDv_ddS9IfBSqA5HrKzQesJBN5Ls6II9tjuOFzE1jm80FtUJf-/s1600/51.bath+swimming+pool.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6l7pkVH6js96Bvf-SlntySj68FCsfCeJLlfuSl9tr5ijV0psMyGz7NlAugc1CITou-uhrbpPk72DUnhORWnHlGEu2ZyTDv_ddS9IfBSqA5HrKzQesJBN5Ls6II9tjuOFzE1jm80FtUJf-/s400/51.bath+swimming+pool.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Bath Springs in Somerset are
perhaps the longest venerated site in Britain. The three hot springs, which are
unique in Britain, were the site of votive offerings since the springs were
formed over 10,000 years ago, and their importance continued throughout the
Neolithic period and the Iron Age until the Romans constructed their famous
temple and baths which form a world heritage site today.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3T1WaN95bgaMhQRCQvKRd6tB4tPkiLBDBP20UhXX_6zS5Zb7vVNknVkc4pDlFcMBaZ88MgdknzGUnI7GrJePT0rMBvsuPweOpvD0bMHsar_i_fbcVaO8p8G06-eYLfHGeHpriITZt9Z4h/s1600/51.spring+pool2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3T1WaN95bgaMhQRCQvKRd6tB4tPkiLBDBP20UhXX_6zS5Zb7vVNknVkc4pDlFcMBaZ88MgdknzGUnI7GrJePT0rMBvsuPweOpvD0bMHsar_i_fbcVaO8p8G06-eYLfHGeHpriITZt9Z4h/s400/51.spring+pool2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Roman-built spring pool</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The springs are found in a natural bowl
between the steep hillsides surrounding Bath, enclosed in a meander of the
River Avon. In prehistory, the ground was marshy with several braids of the
river flowing through it. The springwater is a constant 42</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">º</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">C which would have shrouded the entire area with steam and
fog, especially in winter, adding to the magic and liminality of the site. The
bitter and sulphurous water has long been associated with healing, and indeed Bladud,
the legendary founder of Bath, was said to have discovered the springs after
seeing his pigs use the water to cure themselves of skin complaints and subsequently
healing himself of leprosy. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw30PZLs6vJlVkT4ljxTHKaR0ES3zQAFoOAlcV5IRzoihpACOtxTDMq-0opYFTByLHihTRDzj3KrU_t__1m0vWa4sLBaccH-fNOAAT0Kkq4b4aaf-fsbSsA-rFDakHIPiFUSnlqSjhmni6/s1600/51.model+bath.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw30PZLs6vJlVkT4ljxTHKaR0ES3zQAFoOAlcV5IRzoihpACOtxTDMq-0opYFTByLHihTRDzj3KrU_t__1m0vWa4sLBaccH-fNOAAT0Kkq4b4aaf-fsbSsA-rFDakHIPiFUSnlqSjhmni6/s400/51.model+bath.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Model of the Roman buildings</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The King’s Bath Spring, around which
the Romans built their temple, is the largest of the three hot springs, and
300,000 gallons of hot water surges from it daily. The Hot Spring and Cross
Bath Spring are smaller but were both venerated from prehistory to the Roman period.
The Hot Spring is a spa today. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Throughout the Mesolithic period,
which dates from 10,000BC-4000BC, worked flint blades and scrapers from many
parts of Britain, fossils, hazelnuts, pyrites and probably myriad other organic
items which have not survived were deposited in the spring pipes. During the
Iron Age, a causeway was built and coins became the favoured offering. Around
70AD, the Romans began three centuries of increasingly elaborate building work.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHYCItemhwssaiCm80gwPMpAV4lNqTHi19FnF2cKv5gkI1hvzOxhVn-srsA4bRh3ZAQHc31Dhi9N16wuVWzfqFgLUeeFVNcjKvx8l5eEi-rA76so6rDXPW_j4R49ksKTGkL7yOV2YQG7N1/s1600/51.jewellery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHYCItemhwssaiCm80gwPMpAV4lNqTHi19FnF2cKv5gkI1hvzOxhVn-srsA4bRh3ZAQHc31Dhi9N16wuVWzfqFgLUeeFVNcjKvx8l5eEi-rA76so6rDXPW_j4R49ksKTGkL7yOV2YQG7N1/s400/51.jewellery.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Some of the Roman votive offerings</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The spring was now enclosed into a reservoir
which fed into the famous Great Bath, one of the wonders of Britain and the Roman
world, an elaborate feat of engineering with a 20-metre vaulted ceiling. A
series of smaller baths were used for various health and spa therapies. Windows
opened onto the spring pool so the visitors could make their votive offerings.
These now included pieces of armour or weapons, bronze and pewter domestic items,
horse harness, gems and jewellery, as well as curse tablets invoking divine
retribution for thefts or slights.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHSothjPkA_W6oayPqFAIM2AhdmU3pA7daJT5T1VRFotYq8o7MWmXibipNc-tXb5hPBeLRDgaHlAuBYLqwDFrH44R9s_qjpOhdC6inv5A7oh5dLl6Zafe2j1Fd4APEiSQIsnz1gb5hnF3/s1600/51.temple+front2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHSothjPkA_W6oayPqFAIM2AhdmU3pA7daJT5T1VRFotYq8o7MWmXibipNc-tXb5hPBeLRDgaHlAuBYLqwDFrH44R9s_qjpOhdC6inv5A7oh5dLl6Zafe2j1Fd4APEiSQIsnz1gb5hnF3/s400/51.temple+front2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The temple pediment, showing the male
Sul.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A sacrificial altar was built
directly north of the spring, in a vast precinct which faced the temple where
few people but priests could enter. Bath was sacred to the Celtic deity Sulis
or Sul, who was linked to the sun and was equated by the Romans to Minerva,
whose bronze and flame-shrouded statue was constantly tended within the temple
sanctum. The image of Sul, created by Celtic craftspeople, was displayed on the
temple pediment and shows a distinctly masculine face, often erroneously
described as a gorgon. The writhing hair and moustache probably represents the
sun’s rays. It is unusual, but not impossible, that the Romans associated the site
with a female deity of their own. Perhaps they saw water as a distinctly
feminine entity which would emasculate their male gods. Interestingly, during
rebuilding work two centuries later, new facades showing the Roman Luna and
Sol, the sun and the moon, were added to the temple. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnI-_5HZcQkowgv9tiIQR4ZNnrFZFZrDTqTx-rFa0OdmqXBh2S00d6LFGjzirc6oiVDgjFarEn2EI-LLFyF9QceL5cDpzNZ6oyOGi6GUICcE7pK4fwnhJ6_rTNDoTEuismvNDyvLT-Oxkm/s1600/51.bronze+minerva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="1247" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnI-_5HZcQkowgv9tiIQR4ZNnrFZFZrDTqTx-rFa0OdmqXBh2S00d6LFGjzirc6oiVDgjFarEn2EI-LLFyF9QceL5cDpzNZ6oyOGi6GUICcE7pK4fwnhJ6_rTNDoTEuismvNDyvLT-Oxkm/s400/51.bronze+minerva.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The bronze head of Minerva, whose
statue was tended in the temple.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Roman sacred site which attracted
visitors and pilgrims from across Europe began to decline in the fourth
century. The low-lying site was now subject to regular flooding which eventually
choked the Roman hypocausts with mud and sand and the baths fell into disuse. Eventually
the buildings collapsed or were deliberately destroyed by Christian marauders, and
eventually the area reverted to marsh as it had once been, with the exception
of pillars of Roman masonry jutting incongruously from the swamp. The springs
continued to be venerated for healing purposes into modern history but it was
over a thousand years before the true sanctity and history of the site was
again discovered.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0FV2mqza5OsuJprac4KmHmkdGCUZ-cF1H8IjiamzQfxvmQqHt4JsSokNXybTsg-DKmvSrumoBilo19JbipGERvsrvAKgmXGfdOuuCoRVbrz9FcJY4bd5VZ_5Nt8_IDuzWDHXkIL2XNOh/s1600/51.main+altar+in+front+temple.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0FV2mqza5OsuJprac4KmHmkdGCUZ-cF1H8IjiamzQfxvmQqHt4JsSokNXybTsg-DKmvSrumoBilo19JbipGERvsrvAKgmXGfdOuuCoRVbrz9FcJY4bd5VZ_5Nt8_IDuzWDHXkIL2XNOh/s320/51.main+altar+in+front+temple.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The altar which was toppled and smashed after the site was abandoned</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-34475945851724571052020-03-30T00:30:00.000-07:002020-03-30T00:30:01.779-07:00The River Ure<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKS56Z4Gu9tCt4CpiNvQdistjRjZ0mEPeJCGuq_nuBjuwYcILGuUXrm3LbnG0lH9K7wtvE1wtDNSWIh7p4653ai3j5XKYZzCilCog6upx909QsTAtGa-cZfFP2DYiTCb6_ujqvcCESsVIN/s1600/50.ure+by+thornborough.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKS56Z4Gu9tCt4CpiNvQdistjRjZ0mEPeJCGuq_nuBjuwYcILGuUXrm3LbnG0lH9K7wtvE1wtDNSWIh7p4653ai3j5XKYZzCilCog6upx909QsTAtGa-cZfFP2DYiTCb6_ujqvcCESsVIN/s400/50.ure+by+thornborough.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Ure near Thornborough</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The River Ure in Yorkshire had, along
with the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-river-swale.html" target="_blank">Swale</a>, a spiritual and ritual significance equivalent to the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-river-thames.html" target="_blank">Thames</a>
and the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a> Avon in southern Britain. Several henges are found on
high ground along its valley, many now little more than unexcavated cropmarks.
The<b> </b><a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-thornborough-henges.html" target="_blank">Thornborough Henges</a> are an exception. Three henges, which possibly
represent Orion’s Belt, were dug from gleaming white gypsum and would have been
a focal point for a vast distance all around. The <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-devils-arrows.html" target="_blank">Devil’s Arrows</a> standing
stones are a little further downstream near the confluence with the Swale.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypWI_drSjjl8QxLfstV0ZeBClydU3Z0m8x2NPyF-IUn4P5-z_wQ6Ehyphenhyphen3gGTLQcLriR4q4X-PuL3T589tJnTdxstMxBWWjTYKYJUmR_vIgSI8AtBp9RlvEqD9pdlD9H6QFbGWmxkbdUmm6/s1600/50.thornborough+henge2+se+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypWI_drSjjl8QxLfstV0ZeBClydU3Z0m8x2NPyF-IUn4P5-z_wQ6Ehyphenhyphen3gGTLQcLriR4q4X-PuL3T589tJnTdxstMxBWWjTYKYJUmR_vIgSI8AtBp9RlvEqD9pdlD9H6QFbGWmxkbdUmm6/s400/50.thornborough+henge2+se+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The central Thornborough Henge</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Ure is sourced in the Yorkshire
Dales and flows through the lowlands after it joins with the Swale, where it
changes its name to the Ouse, and flows through York and eventually reaches the
Humber Estuary, making it one of the most significant rivers of northern
Britain. <i>Ure</i> and <i>Ouse</i> may have the same etymological origin.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasYz90B1iEA4Ynu8PLGoF3YV4UQyavEAd1CWvjSRuVCVKq_1PGvMxNnx_G0vc8B-4VeqS_mpfKrwIQTc2oV00qwhPVYIfYGYT0QvFkgLLdItdF99g-slL5y1ORDWglx7YblNphaG1rxuX/s1600/50.Humber_estuary_foreshore_and_Humber_bridge_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasYz90B1iEA4Ynu8PLGoF3YV4UQyavEAd1CWvjSRuVCVKq_1PGvMxNnx_G0vc8B-4VeqS_mpfKrwIQTc2oV00qwhPVYIfYGYT0QvFkgLLdItdF99g-slL5y1ORDWglx7YblNphaG1rxuX/s400/50.Humber_estuary_foreshore_and_Humber_bridge_5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Humber Estuary</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Rivers were considered sacred in
Neolithic and Bronze Age times and this belief survived in various forms until
modern times. The River Avon is believed to have formed part of a processional
route to Stonehenge, linking the living with the dead or the physical world
with the spiritual world. Ritual offerings and the bones and ashes of the dead
were deposited in the water, which represented a liminal boundary between worlds.
Rivers were the arteries of the land, much like the arteries of the body, and
water was a life-giving essence which formed a key part of rituals. The Ure, which
means ‘Holy River’ in ancient Celtic, was probably a central part of ritual
life to the people of northern Britain, although four thousand years of time
has largely eradicated all physical traces of this. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2okTG7wUkaqDoFhUuzV3IzIglVUDpsTuuwRCJtrZJUS7Su2UhBPQ9gGjTR3yFyGLD0ensCY1HMkwree0WnD0QymxK8g7eKzzMCXyBEUhsS5EBTRamwNon0plXuxgwdtGwV27CBuP6oyY/s1600/50.1008px-Ripon_Cathedral_Nave_1%252C_Nth_Yorkshire%252C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1008" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2okTG7wUkaqDoFhUuzV3IzIglVUDpsTuuwRCJtrZJUS7Su2UhBPQ9gGjTR3yFyGLD0ensCY1HMkwree0WnD0QymxK8g7eKzzMCXyBEUhsS5EBTRamwNon0plXuxgwdtGwV27CBuP6oyY/s400/50.1008px-Ripon_Cathedral_Nave_1%252C_Nth_Yorkshire%252C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Ripon Cathedral</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The spiritual traces however, remain.
Several now-ruined abbeys were built along the river’s valley, and the
cathedral at Ripon is situated on the banks of the Ure. Ripon has a particularly
powerful sense of peace which I never normally feel in an urban environment,
and I felt that same powerful essence at every place I visited along the river.
I watched a barn owl flying along the banks at twilight and wondered if that
was a sign that, just as the river flows on forever, the spiritual qualities it
reflects also do the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXRgdReTPB7yeHHMWmWNjmi9nqD-bcekMfPf5Zce8kA4CM-ZvRrd0m4qM_I-3LQtdne2sRrij9R0O8N7kOh7Clk6kOlAS8PfFJ-5yF8rQZKakqQvCl-SxRUGUpCFf7CpPKaLjZtb13gUq/s1600/50.ure3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXRgdReTPB7yeHHMWmWNjmi9nqD-bcekMfPf5Zce8kA4CM-ZvRrd0m4qM_I-3LQtdne2sRrij9R0O8N7kOh7Clk6kOlAS8PfFJ-5yF8rQZKakqQvCl-SxRUGUpCFf7CpPKaLjZtb13gUq/s400/50.ure3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-9762041770187730982020-03-16T00:30:00.000-07:002020-03-16T00:30:03.313-07:00The River Swale
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODqfbWfbcq28JDtSrNE6ezjtd-1Lry_NzipzDWk_mYxid5zVSGbUK_svD0UaQJtsXQaq8G_TYJYxufRxD0ZjDUQVC5yNzJvKcV1pkak9ZZm9FLzMtBQZ4KhVSbFk69qtofLBHtlbRihnX/s1600/49.swale3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODqfbWfbcq28JDtSrNE6ezjtd-1Lry_NzipzDWk_mYxid5zVSGbUK_svD0UaQJtsXQaq8G_TYJYxufRxD0ZjDUQVC5yNzJvKcV1pkak9ZZm9FLzMtBQZ4KhVSbFk69qtofLBHtlbRihnX/s400/49.swale3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rivers had special significance
in ancient Britain, both for practical reasons such as transport, navigation
and water supply, and for spiritual reasons. Water has always been closely
linked to the spiritual realms and Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments were
commonly built near rivers. <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>, linked to the River Avon, and
the monuments on the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-river-thames.html" target="_blank">Thames</a> and its tributaries are famous. The River
Swale in northern Britain was once of similar sacred importance, now largely
forgotten.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuZ6BPddSsEM3hxK6OGgmnl-2Gk7MrTJ8y5vzSHmqW3yP9aFQxlzlpjHEJfXxqbL5mmTgfEMxEulzZb93BuvksHobD2OC0B2wrSi1_Q9Ou7RGGqZyuJ45v2xCAwidItr_A93NoGgU3Xfd/s1600/49.swale+gorge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuZ6BPddSsEM3hxK6OGgmnl-2Gk7MrTJ8y5vzSHmqW3yP9aFQxlzlpjHEJfXxqbL5mmTgfEMxEulzZb93BuvksHobD2OC0B2wrSi1_Q9Ou7RGGqZyuJ45v2xCAwidItr_A93NoGgU3Xfd/s400/49.swale+gorge.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Swale derives from <i>sualuae</i>,
which means ‘deluge’. The river is one of the fastest flowing in Britain and
can rise three metres in twenty minutes as rainwater pours off the dales into
the valley. Even where the river crosses the gentler lowlands and joins with
the Ure, it is still fierce when in spate.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVOllSu_C481mXgacUhROvcRvLEJoreMq6P0tt4pRxROT-m6jRze7A28re0EDNzmfeJ2eMZJNk2Ta_bFobjo3loo4Me60IZUJ7dRdk-OzpMNYzan8K3MumwKAhM1CzlEI1XxKU_PMwM19/s1600/49.swale+bottom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVOllSu_C481mXgacUhROvcRvLEJoreMq6P0tt4pRxROT-m6jRze7A28re0EDNzmfeJ2eMZJNk2Ta_bFobjo3loo4Me60IZUJ7dRdk-OzpMNYzan8K3MumwKAhM1CzlEI1XxKU_PMwM19/s400/49.swale+bottom.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Swale as it joins the
Ure</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The importance of the
Swale likely links to the Neolithic trade in stone axes. Greenstone axes were
crafted in <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-langdale-axe-factories.html" target="_blank">Langdale</a> in the Lake District and transported all across Britain,
and had a significance far beyond their practical use. Their route into southern
Britain likely followed the River Eden through Cumbria, also the focus of many
sacred monuments, and then the River Swale which leads towards the lowlands. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qBEPvPIio57zdCR_mzBnNpBlnCb5RZSH1KjykjQkYfykNVYWY2cW7AJduIV_-8pRHA0M7XiYvPPjWpOSmwxbfMoVDb_TYdPXmjCAXcT75Fws9RUyguCzuTsvKC4OWIOsBxW-hbzTQSRy/s1600/49.maiden+castle3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qBEPvPIio57zdCR_mzBnNpBlnCb5RZSH1KjykjQkYfykNVYWY2cW7AJduIV_-8pRHA0M7XiYvPPjWpOSmwxbfMoVDb_TYdPXmjCAXcT75Fws9RUyguCzuTsvKC4OWIOsBxW-hbzTQSRy/s400/49.maiden+castle3.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maiden Castle</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The unusual henge of Maiden
Castle was built on high ground above the Swale near the village of Grinton in
upper Swaledale. Further downstream at Catterick was another henge and timber
enclosure, dated to around 2500BC and only recently discovered. The huge
standing stones of the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-devils-arrows.html" target="_blank">Devil’s Arrows</a> are a short distance from the
confluence of the Swale with the River Ure. Another interesting place is St Michael’s
Church near Downholme, on a unusually shaped and very prominent hill called How
Hill. This would have been a key landmark for people following the river millennia
before the church was built, and perhaps had also sacred significance long before
this point. It is certainly a peaceful and powerful feeling spot today. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQiQ7IqGyVVBwJvw3HuZN6oqvmsci5cOk88S_YGiByNi4s5yogoTLo4Hpt2ep46oY7FUK_bW8iSAfqvdmI3urEf2ZPxjbOqP3ssGheiifagKx379ytn8sKj8H9DqhyLNCthtD9IxZq8pa/s1600/49.how+hill+downholme2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQiQ7IqGyVVBwJvw3HuZN6oqvmsci5cOk88S_YGiByNi4s5yogoTLo4Hpt2ep46oY7FUK_bW8iSAfqvdmI3urEf2ZPxjbOqP3ssGheiifagKx379ytn8sKj8H9DqhyLNCthtD9IxZq8pa/s400/49.how+hill+downholme2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">St Michael’s Church and
How Hill</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-47320950625334185052020-03-02T00:30:00.000-08:002020-03-02T00:30:07.734-08:00The Devil’s Arrows
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKvdB6eDfgHl5uUEjtw1usEplQv418nC3YKWRKEwR80Jb2-7yxlCxotJwqeJNFgYq3CtLj7fQ0FyBhUbr8PxkbZl2AdRwaoNSrEk3b4EEHmF31pKhaECjNLyg0h3pd0Ey30yj07fAlOcE/s1600/48.devils+arrows4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKvdB6eDfgHl5uUEjtw1usEplQv418nC3YKWRKEwR80Jb2-7yxlCxotJwqeJNFgYq3CtLj7fQ0FyBhUbr8PxkbZl2AdRwaoNSrEk3b4EEHmF31pKhaECjNLyg0h3pd0Ey30yj07fAlOcE/s400/48.devils+arrows4.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Devil’s Arrows, also known as the
Three Greyhounds or the Three Sisters, are a row of three colossal standing
stones near Boroughbridge in Yorkshire. The stones, which reach seven metres in
height with another three metres underground, are taller than the sarsens of
Stonehenge. They were probably raised in the early Bronze Age, around 2000BC. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Legend says the devil, sitting on How
Hill near Ripon, a strangely prominent and eerie-feeling hill with a ruined
church dedicated to St Michael, threw rocks at the town of Aldborough after it
offended him. They fell short and formed the Arrows.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3c9WSj-nuwv2Ed2PWMpIEA4nEsX9BZc5sxLyStKPvbxKexMUfBatZK3VYMMkfIxBHQv5AVojtK_R_ryWM1OIMd_CBf38Tmj8UD_Ok8LsrsJFxv5LLU5W3Z6juKnId8WYkvadIuQZjodz8/s1600/48.devils+arrows5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3c9WSj-nuwv2Ed2PWMpIEA4nEsX9BZc5sxLyStKPvbxKexMUfBatZK3VYMMkfIxBHQv5AVojtK_R_ryWM1OIMd_CBf38Tmj8UD_Ok8LsrsJFxv5LLU5W3Z6juKnId8WYkvadIuQZjodz8/s400/48.devils+arrows5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
T<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">he row of Arrows, looking uphill</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The three stones are the survivors of
a larger row. One stone was pulled down in the 16<sup>th</sup> century; a fifth
one is reputed to have also been removed. Perhaps there were even more, forgotten
even by legend. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The stones, weighing 25 tonnes, are
millstone grit, probably originating from a location near Knaresborough, nine
miles away. It is possible they were carried by glacial action to a much nearer
point, making their transport much easier. The stones were then raised and slid
into their sockets, probably using levers and pulleys, and their holes packed
with cobbles. It was a phenomenal undertaking. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The stones were shaped and dressed to
give them a smooth finish, something which was rarely done in British stone monuments.
The sarsens of Stonehenge are the other best-known example of this, and may
suggest this monument was a rival or equal power base to Stonehenge. This area
of Yorkshire is believed to have once been equal in importance to the
Stonehenge monuments.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VLYh_fhhQLot15tEh9ZCdvPxnKju7-ffaymIMxJGZsnmvOq8HJJdZ1b3GpdL7yf-NmpaKzkWvMZca-NGJmZnieZkSDBXgL64K4hGml-nGPhf_isMpzJAMQoJIWoBp1Inw9sAYEHq5PD-/s1600/48.devils+arrows+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VLYh_fhhQLot15tEh9ZCdvPxnKju7-ffaymIMxJGZsnmvOq8HJJdZ1b3GpdL7yf-NmpaKzkWvMZca-NGJmZnieZkSDBXgL64K4hGml-nGPhf_isMpzJAMQoJIWoBp1Inw9sAYEHq5PD-/s400/48.devils+arrows+1.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The uppermost stone.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The stones are on a 320</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">º</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"> alignment, which roughly faces the midwinter sunrise and
midsummer sunset, but they are not quite in a straight line. They climb a shallow
slope leading from the River Ure – this link to water is reminiscent of <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>
– and the final stone sits on the top of the hillside. Perhaps the destroyed
stones continued towards the river and the monument formed an elaborate
procession up the hillside towards the rising midwinter sun. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Interestingly, two now vanished
henges which stood on shallow hillsides near the village of Hutton to the
north, are also on the same alignment as the Arrows. Perhaps it was part of a
much greater monumental complex than is currently thought. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL6raL9DU7X_9jKR0HFcrNRDMy_tRfY7zCG4tZGQ-C31IF84TPn_b-Jf1h3h1-lKad9BlTt4RSOKOSowPi4tiVJd_orVron3iBsq9qoi9eX2bxNitoKxKw2CIzVvJocwI0z6wCVdhrMBd/s1600/48.ure+boroughbridge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL6raL9DU7X_9jKR0HFcrNRDMy_tRfY7zCG4tZGQ-C31IF84TPn_b-Jf1h3h1-lKad9BlTt4RSOKOSowPi4tiVJd_orVron3iBsq9qoi9eX2bxNitoKxKw2CIzVvJocwI0z6wCVdhrMBd/s400/48.ure+boroughbridge.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The River Ure at Boroughbridge</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-22443947777139850432020-02-17T00:30:00.000-08:002020-02-17T00:30:01.947-08:00 Old Sarum<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB0dFru8uPVkvxXlNIGn7hJB7wMAhLUrd2RihIiMezPRvkLnBKditpcY3smbgoeeW-HmyH3krj7JMXieygGTQB4ZMZ-W9YSuDIl6p9siLLqhzYPeO4vuXN3Lz1_59mWEH753JhtV6RSYd/s1600/45.sarum11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB0dFru8uPVkvxXlNIGn7hJB7wMAhLUrd2RihIiMezPRvkLnBKditpcY3smbgoeeW-HmyH3krj7JMXieygGTQB4ZMZ-W9YSuDIl6p9siLLqhzYPeO4vuXN3Lz1_59mWEH753JhtV6RSYd/s400/45.sarum11.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Old Sarum is an Iron Age
hillfort just north of Salisbury, later adapted into a Norman motte and bailey
castle which contained Salisbury’s first cathedral. Salisbury, only a few miles
from <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>, has long been considered one of Britain’s most special
spiritual places and this stretches back far into prehistory.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDw9H-8I3bFqTmfKKDRkj8rckiVxCd_PNfU7QUMnFmFW3poaetOYT1-uGdidv8WsZ0-D0JKyWE2IJjyMqjUfIRfXfxwEcv3SiaGtgZw6LSZr26n4OcvVM3e2WOc0G2IQVikwG9ZFHLcdlx/s1600/45.sarum+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDw9H-8I3bFqTmfKKDRkj8rckiVxCd_PNfU7QUMnFmFW3poaetOYT1-uGdidv8WsZ0-D0JKyWE2IJjyMqjUfIRfXfxwEcv3SiaGtgZw6LSZr26n4OcvVM3e2WOc0G2IQVikwG9ZFHLcdlx/s400/45.sarum+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The outer bank of the fort.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The fort is on a natural hill
which has commanding views over the Avon valley and surrounding area, and draws
the eye from miles around. It was an ideal spot for an Iron Age statement of
command and power. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Iron Age ditch and two banks,
which enclose an area around 400m diameter, were cleared and redug in Norman
times, the reason for their incredible preservation. A visit is recommended
just to see how the vast ditches of places such as <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/08/avebury-henge.html" target="_blank">Avebury</a> and many other
hillforts would have looked before thousands of years of erosion and infilling.
Standing on the bank and looking into the thirty-metre deep ditch is a vertigo-inducing
experience to say the least. It was about more than simple defence. It was a statement
of power. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfL-8t5ph0_DIWnj_YC6IRPhM4aT5TKWOu7-eF4ptOrpAKcrkx14GqqoDJ4qKQKG1b143faRSmEXMpFdt_wiF7R5yuXBOMCvPzgDVEBuOoYk857UvaMp5BBdS5sGpi6deOy5B0aH4PF0P/s1600/45.sarum4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfL-8t5ph0_DIWnj_YC6IRPhM4aT5TKWOu7-eF4ptOrpAKcrkx14GqqoDJ4qKQKG1b143faRSmEXMpFdt_wiF7R5yuXBOMCvPzgDVEBuOoYk857UvaMp5BBdS5sGpi6deOy5B0aH4PF0P/s400/45.sarum4.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Old Sarum’s ditch. The very
small sheep gives an indication of scale. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">
Ironically, little more is known of the early site. The Norman reconstruction
which preserved the ditches removed everything else. The fort was first built
around 400BC, and occupation continued into the Roman period, where it became
known as Sorviodunum. Five Roman roads converge at Salisbury which illustrates
the site’s importance. Some of these roads were in use long before the Romans arrived,
and may even date back to the Neolithic period, which marks the earliest
occupation of the site.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQttkhNPzuinU5cUsBE5KZs5gKPgUkmx_9uUlRbZ8wK1AjEoeQZqQQaSPkZ5J0hoIGPSiejISSaqaAFO6ua-geIlXqY4ksb3UWSSvBVVcIhEP3T2sIWhsaskWVZco_KT1wVcrVP7PU4Hj/s1600/45.sarum8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQttkhNPzuinU5cUsBE5KZs5gKPgUkmx_9uUlRbZ8wK1AjEoeQZqQQaSPkZ5J0hoIGPSiejISSaqaAFO6ua-geIlXqY4ksb3UWSSvBVVcIhEP3T2sIWhsaskWVZco_KT1wVcrVP7PU4Hj/s400/45.sarum8.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The view east from the bank. The
Roman road leading towards London is visible.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Salisbury marks the confluence
of five rivers, the Avon, Nadder, Bourne, Ebble and Wylye, which would make it
a hugely important place in the time when rivers were the main mode of transport
and also the most important landmarks when travelling across a land devoid of
manmade features. This is likely a big factor in Sarum’s continuing practical
and spiritual importance.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LLKj5nIMGAenfKFJIbSf0hvsD5Voc-QK5oHjD2aRsJPghfn59ugxK5Euk8_FKUbAm5DoWd94EFc4mxqVMursfFS8qU4-Ky71Kv03JXAZRXUFxDuXMqBdrS4_kVE1yZ117W6WMNSscJC6/s1600/45.salisbury+avon+nadder.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LLKj5nIMGAenfKFJIbSf0hvsD5Voc-QK5oHjD2aRsJPghfn59ugxK5Euk8_FKUbAm5DoWd94EFc4mxqVMursfFS8qU4-Ky71Kv03JXAZRXUFxDuXMqBdrS4_kVE1yZ117W6WMNSscJC6/s400/45.salisbury+avon+nadder.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The confluence of the Avon and
the Nadder.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Sarum was captured from the
British by the Saxons and then abandoned until invading Vikings forced its
reoccupation. Saxon mercenaries who guarded the junction of the Roman roads
lived and were buried nearby, and other rich Saxon burials were found close to
the foot of the fort, including that of a sixth-century woman who was buried
with elaborate grave goods including a purse ring made of elephant ivory, blue
glass beads and a copper brooch. This high-status woman, who had trade links
stretching as far as Africa, illustrates the continuing importance of this
district, two thousand years after Wessex had become the richest land in Britain.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">It is from this period that the
name derives. Sarum is an adaptation of Seresberie, a late Saxon-period burgh
and Royal Mint. This later evolved into Salisbury. The prefix Sar or Sear is
probably a pre-Saxon personal name. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJur_TvPiVQ_xKf1bU3vS03nRy36vMIVreX2GWrqkp6AMREuy9tdWn3coJlbao4nWkKAba6bMARiW9s1cPuv4IuM6udtMVGvMLEhx85gLoODTALLFnVrUe3f1Frky1Bfn0E5i7TRsQ119/s1600/45.Old_Sarum_Model_from_West.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1600" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJur_TvPiVQ_xKf1bU3vS03nRy36vMIVreX2GWrqkp6AMREuy9tdWn3coJlbao4nWkKAba6bMARiW9s1cPuv4IuM6udtMVGvMLEhx85gLoODTALLFnVrUe3f1Frky1Bfn0E5i7TRsQ119/s400/45.Old_Sarum_Model_from_West.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJur_TvPiVQ_xKf1bU3vS03nRy36vMIVreX2GWrqkp6AMREuy9tdWn3coJlbao4nWkKAba6bMARiW9s1cPuv4IuM6udtMVGvMLEhx85gLoODTALLFnVrUe3f1Frky1Bfn0E5i7TRsQ119/s1600/45.Old_Sarum_Model_from_West.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #004000;"><br /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Medieval castle, cathedral
and town.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The fortified town of Old Sarum
and its cathedral were later moved south to New Sarum, or Salisbury town, and
the ancient site was abandoned to the wilderness.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWlYh-7MrBilqZS2XykLEF4mSH3h9Ty6JIVm-kRsvWHoqZ3mt8BET4SHCsxsQdWlB9RzxF94fKbbC2YMzOuFry6_61Pd2atYYx83IasUHUR6G280AIWEQ-1uYQkfgb-b7JeiswtMEWavE/s1600/45.sarum6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWlYh-7MrBilqZS2XykLEF4mSH3h9Ty6JIVm-kRsvWHoqZ3mt8BET4SHCsxsQdWlB9RzxF94fKbbC2YMzOuFry6_61Pd2atYYx83IasUHUR6G280AIWEQ-1uYQkfgb-b7JeiswtMEWavE/s400/45.sarum6.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The view south towards
Salisbury. The new cathedral is visible.</span></div>
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</span>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-41496864777730514092020-02-03T00:30:00.001-08:002020-02-03T00:30:02.222-08:00The Thornborough Henges<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjzJ_cimMhLPelmTPHHpeV0x1FLmtwBZ4fOEyyMNV6qlXwReQXxcxfCwd0WtK48AVZdGSYjqGM4Bau1N7VRtglD-3QWwa5fgyUa-plPDqBU_HTwUWnNgxsMWiKrkcz48VFlcjirnISJVP/s1600/47.thornborough+henge2+se+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjzJ_cimMhLPelmTPHHpeV0x1FLmtwBZ4fOEyyMNV6qlXwReQXxcxfCwd0WtK48AVZdGSYjqGM4Bau1N7VRtglD-3QWwa5fgyUa-plPDqBU_HTwUWnNgxsMWiKrkcz48VFlcjirnISJVP/s400/47.thornborough+henge2+se+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The southeast entrance of the central
henge.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Thornborough Henges, just north
of Ripon in Yorkshire, are thought to be a part of a ritual landscape once as
important as Stonehenge.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The three large henges, each 240m in
diameter, were built as a single concept around 2800BC. They form a slightly
offset line which has been suggested to represent the stars of Orion’s Belt.
This feature has also been proposed for the three stone circles in <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-ring-of-brodgar.html" target="_blank">Orkney</a><b> </b>and
the three pyramids of Giza. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84Sof9GKJ8ExHRLZ-OxvG8LkT64IC6c6ublIMNxwXSSabPSZJv3sPGyoTCac-cAH8DjX5WrUDeiRbwIOeTAISqXF1JChdO_ll_3dYEOOZCSkq3Prx6lJps-nRd9XVY1MglQakATHgB71J/s1600/47.Thornborough_Henge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="640" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84Sof9GKJ8ExHRLZ-OxvG8LkT64IC6c6ublIMNxwXSSabPSZJv3sPGyoTCac-cAH8DjX5WrUDeiRbwIOeTAISqXF1JChdO_ll_3dYEOOZCSkq3Prx6lJps-nRd9XVY1MglQakATHgB71J/s400/47.Thornborough_Henge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The three henges, showing their
arrangement akin to Orion’s Belt. (Tony Newbould, Wikicommons).</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The southern henge is now almost entirely
destroyed. The central henge comprises an outer bank, surviving to three metres
high in places, then a wide berm and an inner ditch with two causeways, now
barely visible. The inner area, which has the feel of an inner sanctum and was
perhaps screened with timber, comprises around half the area of the henge. The two
entrances align with the midwinter sunrise and the midsummer sunset. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1j_9vtxD8aL_tPH8bu50rooLq_WHrANGVEQBRxo78E93qbvbivVyv9phlIDGBy2oxLELjNqHVc4yaK_9MMUZHEhvNwHBVTNgruVrp3v05wmCgFWAeTWTy1kzBhKHDbqoepZP6pA3YEpSJ/s1600/47.thornborough1++ditch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1j_9vtxD8aL_tPH8bu50rooLq_WHrANGVEQBRxo78E93qbvbivVyv9phlIDGBy2oxLELjNqHVc4yaK_9MMUZHEhvNwHBVTNgruVrp3v05wmCgFWAeTWTy1kzBhKHDbqoepZP6pA3YEpSJ/s400/47.thornborough1++ditch.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The ditch and causeway of the
northern henge.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The northern henge, which is now covered
with trees, is the best preserved. Like the other henges, it comprises an outer
bank with an inner berm around 15 metres in diameter, then a ditch surviving to
around four metres deep. This ditch is perfectly dry, even in the wettest
periods, so presumably was never intended to contain water. Perhaps these ditches
were a statement of partition, segregating the innermost area of the henge where
only a select few were permitted, from the outer area where all people could
congregate. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The entrances of this henge again align
with the midwinter sunrise and the midsummer sunset, and the central henge lies
in their direct view. The northern entrance opens out onto the gentle slope of
the hillside which soon disappears from view. This seems to emphasise that this
is the end of the monument. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyeyF4tpUv-LTsk-tlZwGVK4M_mq12XhyphenhyphenHnRdd1nZmoMG1RpnlzxmlLiC7O-KncZ3QoCCNkBCgtsg0VBrnPvIVTjk8tZAFqMQUuU5r92BeClXYBWcr-11zA8k-w1j8RTQ1IFO9-zCRtWQ/s1600/47.thornborough1+inner+berm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyeyF4tpUv-LTsk-tlZwGVK4M_mq12XhyphenhyphenHnRdd1nZmoMG1RpnlzxmlLiC7O-KncZ3QoCCNkBCgtsg0VBrnPvIVTjk8tZAFqMQUuU5r92BeClXYBWcr-11zA8k-w1j8RTQ1IFO9-zCRtWQ/s400/47.thornborough1+inner+berm.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The bank and inner berm of the northern
henge.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Thornborough was important long before
the henges were built. Two cursuses, a little-understood type of monument of
which the most famous is at <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-stonehenge-great-cursus.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>, lie nearby and predate the henges
by perhaps a thousand years. One passes by the north henge, and the second
passes beneath the central henge and continues towards the river. It is suggested
they are a commemoration of an ancient processional way.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9frgmxX7LG2m1IpNDgf0h12zJf7EZ6U9fFN6oprf5-iCWhp8xFDPf_TfxKjfFe3Yl2SCzLmE9YeloU3ZcgAixGLbpDYedD15W5aDMtr1PICo997oBcVWm7LjR5ENJYbJ3lri_csQhE2s/s1600/47.thornborough+henge2+looking+nw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9frgmxX7LG2m1IpNDgf0h12zJf7EZ6U9fFN6oprf5-iCWhp8xFDPf_TfxKjfFe3Yl2SCzLmE9YeloU3ZcgAixGLbpDYedD15W5aDMtr1PICo997oBcVWm7LjR5ENJYbJ3lri_csQhE2s/s400/47.thornborough+henge2+looking+nw.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The central henge, looking towards
the northern henge in the distant trees.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The henges are on a fairly flat
hilltop where they would have been prominent from a wide area. They are a few
hundred metres from the River Ure, one of two important rivers in Yorkshire
which were a focus for ritual monuments, on slightly higher ground so as to be
safe from flood risk. On the horizon to the east is the scarp of the North
Yorkshire Moors, and the henges, once coated in brilliant white gypsum, would
have been clearly visible from this high ground. And it is from this point that
their arrangement, reflecting Orion’s Belt, would have been noticeable. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9QYZeep-1zzye2PGge2Ix3gd0hE4c70gYkVLoJq0e0H7E4Y0eUhRCP7Yh7Ki-SdC_3-Dr-YI9BKqd0AkHB7gtrW8gT_MVUmvIMVqDRTl8EHY0AOgruxrGOmlni6rQBIYu0oWkyNyNPV-/s1600/47.ure+by+thornborough.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9QYZeep-1zzye2PGge2Ix3gd0hE4c70gYkVLoJq0e0H7E4Y0eUhRCP7Yh7Ki-SdC_3-Dr-YI9BKqd0AkHB7gtrW8gT_MVUmvIMVqDRTl8EHY0AOgruxrGOmlni6rQBIYu0oWkyNyNPV-/s400/47.ure+by+thornborough.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The River Ure near Thornborough</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Thornborough is on one of the major
ancient routeways from the Midlands to the North, and also to the East to the
Vale of Pickering. This is the point where the land changes from the vast flat plain
of York to the hills of the Yorkshire Dales. Another reason for choosing this
site is the band of underlying gypsum in the area, especially prone to forming
huge sinkholes without warning which can on occasion swallow houses. This
dangerous and unpredictable phenomenon, perhaps associated with openings to the
chthonic otherworld, is likely a reason for the henges’ location. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpbwxPGDNpuNrn5kyBkOoYg52pAt0o1MWmE2Tog0OTEgHzRFBNMTHGFc2NX80Vv-GiZFQWOzJBp3foEgDBZNGQYQ4kXiYJ2Bs2XKNpz1DWpb90bbgo-8BzFqYA1Z5u7M9URNuXRSDbAqz/s1600/47.Sink_hole_-_geograph.org.uk_-_255362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpbwxPGDNpuNrn5kyBkOoYg52pAt0o1MWmE2Tog0OTEgHzRFBNMTHGFc2NX80Vv-GiZFQWOzJBp3foEgDBZNGQYQ4kXiYJ2Bs2XKNpz1DWpb90bbgo-8BzFqYA1Z5u7M9URNuXRSDbAqz/s400/47.Sink_hole_-_geograph.org.uk_-_255362.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">A sinkhole in a limestone area.
(Peter Dean, Wikicommons).</span></div>
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-34256225096839688362020-01-27T00:30:00.000-08:002020-01-27T00:30:07.153-08:00Amesbury<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR0F8VWOGMqDgWwQpvR2g6HksNctZy5U4VqIkCtuZSO8FlBmQKQplPqvVXGER6rgTw4b08NMl9pB1fPEWPZwaOe7R3cBtG46q7tuHqoifYskoGyZU9NH1Hg6BuvmG_XT5zEDirlCUagG26/s1600/46.river+ratfyn3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR0F8VWOGMqDgWwQpvR2g6HksNctZy5U4VqIkCtuZSO8FlBmQKQplPqvVXGER6rgTw4b08NMl9pB1fPEWPZwaOe7R3cBtG46q7tuHqoifYskoGyZU9NH1Hg6BuvmG_XT5zEDirlCUagG26/s400/46.river+ratfyn3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Amesbury is the nearest town to <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>,
and was itself once a key part of the Stonehenge landscape. The River Avon,
which formed part of the processional way between <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/durrington-walls.html" target="_blank">Durrington Walls</a> and
Stonehenge, flows through the town and was a focus for many of the elaborate Bronze
Age burials in the area, as high-status people claimed a place in this most
revered landscape. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Many of these graves are now lost
forever under housing estates and gardens. Those which have been excavated give
an inkling of the once richness of this area.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-jm5fGHt-X-gzwerCgQVSLiaUHKeP9rYdq_idypiH28xlZ5WCloSjMG5JEF-UzQdX8KH7r-fsbFUf5rgTyXfKwGl3j7ac2ld8cZooponbz1QVRWB6RINQEYv66vT2u8WVFacn3_nfO_9/s1600/46.Cotton_Claudius_B_VII_f.224_Merlin_Vortigern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="446" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-jm5fGHt-X-gzwerCgQVSLiaUHKeP9rYdq_idypiH28xlZ5WCloSjMG5JEF-UzQdX8KH7r-fsbFUf5rgTyXfKwGl3j7ac2ld8cZooponbz1QVRWB6RINQEYv66vT2u8WVFacn3_nfO_9/s400/46.Cotton_Claudius_B_VII_f.224_Merlin_Vortigern.jpg" width="338" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Merlin and Vortigern.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Pseudo-historian Geoffrey of Monmouth
claimed that Stonehenge was built by Merlin, wizard, sorcerer or shaman. In
another legend, Merlin advised the British leader Vortigern, who was building a
castle on the site, that its continual collapse was due to two dragons who were
buried beneath the site. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">This legend, often thought to be
invented by Geoffrey, may have an older origin. Amesbury derives from ‘Emrys’s
burgh’ or settlement, and Emrys was a title commonly applied to Merlin.
Amesbury, therefore, was known from Saxon times as ‘Merlin’s settlement’.
Perhaps the ancient legend has a grain of truth. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3AOBzC11qSsfXfDjD4ZYebN-1nnKZk7J-ihGU0P4477EAlivlQYrOlS0sfByM0NEbn1vYqUT7jCpSvBALmv8v_tdIt8RglmXO4EnrHakev84_yn-NAzmQ_e_WmJp2dy3DtoGNlnnAFeO/s1600/46.river+ratfyn+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3AOBzC11qSsfXfDjD4ZYebN-1nnKZk7J-ihGU0P4477EAlivlQYrOlS0sfByM0NEbn1vYqUT7jCpSvBALmv8v_tdIt8RglmXO4EnrHakev84_yn-NAzmQ_e_WmJp2dy3DtoGNlnnAFeO/s400/46.river+ratfyn+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The river at Ratfyn</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Avon runs through a steep gorge
near Ratfyn, the northern part of Amesbury, and a series of square structures, comprising
four wooden posts around five metres high, have been discovered. They may have
been huge wooden platforms used for the exposure of bodies to be devoured by
kites and crows before they were cremated. Pits nearby contain the bones of
cattle, pig and dogs, perhaps the remains of funeral feasts. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3NEFoEfqLcC_ZHfXsgBRfVXsV4N9wXdkFCmk_DW_4-Z1GdgvfzXUAdFImuWl7ezzhStj6iOgMR8VHvY47ABzJ1ouOC5pUTXAxd-nHm84EdxLWDF9aIkRK662lrHh8vvBlPJH-Og-3prXu/s1600/46.ratfyn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3NEFoEfqLcC_ZHfXsgBRfVXsV4N9wXdkFCmk_DW_4-Z1GdgvfzXUAdFImuWl7ezzhStj6iOgMR8VHvY47ABzJ1ouOC5pUTXAxd-nHm84EdxLWDF9aIkRK662lrHh8vvBlPJH-Og-3prXu/s400/46.ratfyn.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The cliff top, hidden by the trees of
the gorge.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Amesbury Archer is the town’s
most famous discovery. The adult man, who died between 2500-2280BC, had lived
in the Stonehenge area but had spent his childhood in the Alps or Bavaria. He had
then made the arduous journey of over a thousand miles to Britain. Genetic analysis
shows his son was also buried nearby. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The man was buried with twelve
arrows, two archer’s wrist-guards, five beakers, three copper daggers, a
metalworking anvil and a pair of gold earrings or hair ornaments, making it one
of the richest burials found in the area. His importance was immense. Perhaps he
was one of the first people who travelled to Britain, bringing the new skills
of metal-working which would eventually overturn Britain’s infrastructure in
every way. Thousand-year-old monuments were sealed up, new ones were built, and
a new spiritual way of life redefined people’s lives even as their practical
lives changed forever. Perhaps this man was the instigator of it all.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PM8ytx5dDqfxBWOPxoYoV6IdxwevGwmJLJNJsNvhVf-CIGanSVth-Ha4H85AJJ7_OG_UxUtKcVxYa53RkTwOIM4F8o_Isz5blOc3fbTKtE0Tw-qdrzTBme3XbYKYrranuix6NCaEkpce/s1600/46.ames+archer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PM8ytx5dDqfxBWOPxoYoV6IdxwevGwmJLJNJsNvhVf-CIGanSVth-Ha4H85AJJ7_OG_UxUtKcVxYa53RkTwOIM4F8o_Isz5blOc3fbTKtE0Tw-qdrzTBme3XbYKYrranuix6NCaEkpce/s400/46.ames+archer.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Amesbury Archer</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-90322426301253091122020-01-13T00:30:00.000-08:002020-01-13T00:30:07.583-08:00The Bulford Stone<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXffrujDu2iSgJuUCAtUxG_SfZVfCfJZNVtjUQPfc55QrMgZVCc9pQ7incsPmjLv7agp486Rc9ZHaXGp1f9LY1DeuVfpW_XNzY0UPzP0V9e94WlymMiRFu7eGptjafDVCQarZFP6kCGtQr/s1600/44.bulford+stone+south.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXffrujDu2iSgJuUCAtUxG_SfZVfCfJZNVtjUQPfc55QrMgZVCc9pQ7incsPmjLv7agp486Rc9ZHaXGp1f9LY1DeuVfpW_XNzY0UPzP0V9e94WlymMiRFu7eGptjafDVCQarZFP6kCGtQr/s400/44.bulford+stone+south.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Bulford Stone is
another former standing stone which formed part of the vast Stonehenge ritual
landscape. Like the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-cuckoo-stone.html" target="_blank">Cuckoo Stone</a>, it is a glacial erratic which was
raised in its natural location, and like the Cuckoo Stone it has survived
through chance. It has long fallen and was until recently believed to be a natural
erratic, until excavation revealed its true importance. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Bulford Stone is around
two miles from <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/12/woodhenge.html" target="_blank">Woodhenge</a> and the Cuckoo Stone, which are visible to the
west, and intriguingly is on the same alignment as these sites and the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-stonehenge-great-cursus.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge Cursus </a>discussed <b>last week</b>. It seems this alignment of natural
features stretches far further than was once thought. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuLyFin2nTwSC3cqSKtq4YpzlUwEBT0VZZQi29Q2PV0c9CJXMsPARc_8Gh0h_mqfOHXcKmHFZhsCbCiTNemEDtdoD-0Zv0pGZqMDHF1HDqaRaXW6oEdLiHGuzkKFF8AMsM6D5z3O5xHBO/s1600/44.bulford+stone+west.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuLyFin2nTwSC3cqSKtq4YpzlUwEBT0VZZQi29Q2PV0c9CJXMsPARc_8Gh0h_mqfOHXcKmHFZhsCbCiTNemEDtdoD-0Zv0pGZqMDHF1HDqaRaXW6oEdLiHGuzkKFF8AMsM6D5z3O5xHBO/s400/44.bulford+stone+west.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Bulford Stone,
looking towards Woodhenge</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Around the standing stone,
which was raised at an unclear date, was once a Bronze Age round barrow which was
positioned to incorporate the stone. The barrow contained three burials dating
to 1900BC-1750BC. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">They included an
intriguing array of grave goods, including flint knives, arrows and antler
tools for flaking flint; a piece of Cotswold limestone shaped very much like
one of the Stonehenge sarsens, perhaps representing a microcosm of the stones’
spiritual power; a boar’s tusk pendant; and a piece of rock crystal which may
have come from the Alps. These unique finds suggest high-status burials,
perhaps of shamans. Rock crystal is commonly used for divination, healing and
other spiritual purposes. Other high-status burials nearby, such as the
Amesbury Archer, had come from the Alps region, an arduous journey 4000 years
ago and one which conveyed considerable prestige.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9PiMKREKct3I9zTK7sgIFJZnUeZ2DBFIsscvuWb00mnLFy9fbsnidCWWft9fF1vIwTeY1OtlTnmslJvnSTFjXPKKmCCTUQaljcuRa7UMvaih9DdhjAr3UibjCVlWAPw5HsNp0xZeuTeI/s1600/44.bulford+stone+east.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9PiMKREKct3I9zTK7sgIFJZnUeZ2DBFIsscvuWb00mnLFy9fbsnidCWWft9fF1vIwTeY1OtlTnmslJvnSTFjXPKKmCCTUQaljcuRa7UMvaih9DdhjAr3UibjCVlWAPw5HsNp0xZeuTeI/s400/44.bulford+stone+east.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Bulford Stone,
looking east towards Beacon Hill</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">While the Cuckoo Stone
stands in rough grassland, the Bulford Stone is in the middle of an
agricultural field, and for hundreds of years farmers and machinery have had to
dodge around it. Most large boulders which were in the way were simply removed,
the reason for the huge loss of standing stones over the past few centuries.
Why did the Bulford Stone, until recently believed to be a natural erratic with
no significance, not suffer the same fate? Perhaps the spirits of the shamans
who were buried at its foot continue to guard their ancient ward.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-84934753013719333252019-12-30T00:30:00.000-08:002019-12-30T00:30:04.596-08:00 The Cuckoo Stone<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLrWbJvi6REl2iz89zUTSmIVGynAe1O4PrI3BLPXWBU9fomvqfOR0EAApnJONHap98BP4dqJQQcNDVhxY164W8mu6OKeCkCC4QW9jewyLZqcveEAS3yDeM72ixz-SZ7DBrZv8RM17Kjyw/s1600/43.cuckoo+stone+south.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLrWbJvi6REl2iz89zUTSmIVGynAe1O4PrI3BLPXWBU9fomvqfOR0EAApnJONHap98BP4dqJQQcNDVhxY164W8mu6OKeCkCC4QW9jewyLZqcveEAS3yDeM72ixz-SZ7DBrZv8RM17Kjyw/s400/43.cuckoo+stone+south.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Cuckoo Stone is a fairly modest
standing stone around a mile from <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>. The sarsen is one of many
which once littered the landscape, left here long ago by glacial action, and
the stone was simply raised in its original, natural location. It has long
since fallen again. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">A pit near the stone contained cattle
bone, flint, pottery and an antler pick, perhaps the tools used to raise the
stone and the subsequent feast to consecrate it. The pick dates to 2900BC, the
earliest phase of Stonehenge which at this point comprised a circle of
bluestones but none of the huge sarsens. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt82tR2tAZG-POFFMZNddBlLWq-SaNHmcQ0AU9uXSR-ngGljBwbNbTHTNYSfItafC2r6cB2b59wUWCRfYkwOkD1bW6Bqgd8WLZWb4RVEW6waN0QHWaBgDV3syZrZ_8tQMhWDYtoRxqQomI/s1600/43.br+age+funeral+urn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt82tR2tAZG-POFFMZNddBlLWq-SaNHmcQ0AU9uXSR-ngGljBwbNbTHTNYSfItafC2r6cB2b59wUWCRfYkwOkD1bW6Bqgd8WLZWb4RVEW6waN0QHWaBgDV3syZrZ_8tQMhWDYtoRxqQomI/s400/43.br+age+funeral+urn.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Bronze Age burial urn from the
Stonehenge area.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Cuckoo Stone remained a revered
site for the next three thousand years. Several Bronze Age cremation urns were interred
around the stone, with dates ranging from 2000BC to 1260BC. Much later still, a
Roman-era village with large farms and a wide spread of fields grew up around
the stone, and burials from this period were inserted into a Bronze Age barrow
a short distance away near <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/12/woodhenge.html" target="_blank">Woodhenge</a>. Almost certainly this village was
the home of people whose ancestry stretched back to the Neolithic and Bronze
Age inhabitants of the area, despite their adaptation of Roman ways in the
early centuries CE, and they were successors to the ancient traditions of the
still-sacred Stonehenge landscape. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkYgNkAsiQcC1U98MnatL6ay1jiOwVkilxE7i__WUOKPhcM-cagDpb_Av6Ezg2vTB19qk2EJU8BCwwEto3Kn6IuFhe_vFWQ5v6FM9ZncO-6juPNfx0HCPR7KPP_XLX3JdhVZ-4mG1xJya/s1600/43.cuckoo+stone+east.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkYgNkAsiQcC1U98MnatL6ay1jiOwVkilxE7i__WUOKPhcM-cagDpb_Av6Ezg2vTB19qk2EJU8BCwwEto3Kn6IuFhe_vFWQ5v6FM9ZncO-6juPNfx0HCPR7KPP_XLX3JdhVZ-4mG1xJya/s400/43.cuckoo+stone+east.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Cuckoo Stone looking towards
Woodhenge</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Why was the Cuckoo Stone so
important? It lies on gently sloping grassland on the eastern edge of Salisbury
Plain, with wide views in all directions but the west, where Stonehenge itself
is hidden by the slope. The stone is on the same alignment as the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-stonehenge-great-cursus.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge Cursus</a>, an enigmatic ditched enclosure 3km long and 100m wide, which seems
to commemorate an ancient routeway. This route, and perhaps the cursus if it
had been continued, would have incorporated the Cuckoo Stone, at the time
recumbent but eventually raised, and continued to <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/12/woodhenge.html" target="_blank">Woodhenge</a> a few
hundred metres to the east. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">We will probably never know the
reason for the importance of this alignment of natural features, but they
remained respected in people’s memories as the Neolithic was succeeded by the
Bronze Age, as Celts and then Romans swept across Britain and the country’s way
of life changed beyond recognition, again and again. Eventually the Cuckoo
Stone succumbed and became a mere rock in a field, but thanks to recent
archaeology, its importance has been rediscovered. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-70180689882759384932019-12-16T00:30:00.000-08:002019-12-16T00:30:07.130-08:00 The Burton Dassett Hills<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDE_P1dCSuDnD9x13WeYtxCzM4kN3boMx0AhViGZYE7xDQoYpeaio-z015fRMjIqI8VoAl3aru7TmZc8hoDr24uCA896HV0wvagqfLNeyceolrI0zHzKNYGSl_5HmyAAaRS4Cl7ZCc5nz/s1600/42.IMG_4908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDE_P1dCSuDnD9x13WeYtxCzM4kN3boMx0AhViGZYE7xDQoYpeaio-z015fRMjIqI8VoAl3aru7TmZc8hoDr24uCA896HV0wvagqfLNeyceolrI0zHzKNYGSl_5HmyAAaRS4Cl7ZCc5nz/s400/42.IMG_4908.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The Burton Dassett Hills in
Warwickshire lie just north of the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-red-horse-of-tysoe.html" target="_blank">Edgehill</a> ridge, along the course of
an ancient routeway which passes sites such as the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-rollright-stones.html" target="_blank">Rollright Stones</a>, and
are associated with a range of strange phenomena. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The hills are a beautiful place with
wide views across the countryside in all directions, and have a particularly
powerful atmosphere which most visitors consciously or unconsciously sense and draws
them back over and again. Ley hunters attest to a powerful current of earth
energy flowing through the area.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYiXl5MCrIYojnaBNtMg4O1gl6Z6KlXYBLfpcQ_rDYT1vh0UI2bkxMx0MAtyJLVz40I63ud2SlQJx7ReZleym4otvBr63jVYW91PmJQWDR6vOkpuotXOwayMNvhcYtw1dvllx1rCkpk2l/s1600/42.IMG_4911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYiXl5MCrIYojnaBNtMg4O1gl6Z6KlXYBLfpcQ_rDYT1vh0UI2bkxMx0MAtyJLVz40I63ud2SlQJx7ReZleym4otvBr63jVYW91PmJQWDR6vOkpuotXOwayMNvhcYtw1dvllx1rCkpk2l/s400/42.IMG_4911.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The view from Bonfire Hill</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The hills have long been associated
with fiery apparitions, once identified as angels or saints, and in more
scientific times as geoplasma or earthlights, which appear as person-sized orbs
or columns of light in darkness or as misty clouds in daylight. These
apparitions float across the ground, spiral into the sky, and can disturbingly set
fire to wooden buildings. Their appearance clusters around periods of heavy
rain, and scientists believe the ironstone bedrock combined with underground
flowing water creates the phenomena.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4A6ZPRl2D4Igt8MEfYCLbcDO8Mex6SOU_Fg4rWDJQG385F1DtFLXhoT_w16nlEoV1oG2YVEJydOTuYP1ubjspp-d7k1qtXl0r0pYhyphenhyphenTfxTMDtAC1shN036-YbXjTQygATAXHhZboi4Ayq/s1600/42.IMG_4905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4A6ZPRl2D4Igt8MEfYCLbcDO8Mex6SOU_Fg4rWDJQG385F1DtFLXhoT_w16nlEoV1oG2YVEJydOTuYP1ubjspp-d7k1qtXl0r0pYhyphenhyphenTfxTMDtAC1shN036-YbXjTQygATAXHhZboi4Ayq/s400/42.IMG_4905.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">Burton Dassett Holy Well</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">The hills in Roman times were known
as the Phoenix Hills, a legendary bird born of fire, which perhaps links to their
eerie apparitions. The northernmost hill, Bonfire Hill, was the site of Twelfth
Night bonfires in the Middle Ages and was perhaps used as a beacon site long
into pre-Christian times. Surprisingly, there are no remains of any prehistoric
settlement or ritual sites on the hills, although it certainly seems as if the
hills were of special significance. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6QJe-E0_2Q7vMUGxVhulMFAW4h9qfkJdlvSdny91hRzKlYGeunQwyj49LCQdS_fkzhrDJiMpGCSyHtR1eu1OiQpOutUYhRzl0zGG4YFFvPIAp7kyARCOxyO9RHpFJYmFmaZxwXIUWjk3/s1600/42.IMG_4896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="1600" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6QJe-E0_2Q7vMUGxVhulMFAW4h9qfkJdlvSdny91hRzKlYGeunQwyj49LCQdS_fkzhrDJiMpGCSyHtR1eu1OiQpOutUYhRzl0zGG4YFFvPIAp7kyARCOxyO9RHpFJYmFmaZxwXIUWjk3/s400/42.IMG_4896.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Som<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">e of the stone carvings in the
church</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%; margin: 0px;">A holy well – where an orb of geoplasma
once appeared and set light to a gatepost – and a Medieval church known as the ‘cathedral
in the hills’ stand beside the ancient route to the hills. The church is
popularly described as an especially powerful location, and its pillars are
adorned with intriguing carvings including a green man, a winged beast with a human
face, a fighting dragon and lion, and other more ordinary animals. Some people
would link them to the hills’ tradition of fiery apparitions, but their explanation
remains a mystery. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike><br /></strike>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWmlkImCk64CoA51imopiMaRZv79gnF_hjDdUrVsoedUR-FGyz4XaBmD0YMxqUnZT46GHQhwvWLLRxwcJLS5IuX3bVpuzYBTjs34RGYi4Vo5QRb7TBP2p7JnmmsONvc0w35vh-A8_n7vp/s1600/42.IMG_4900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWmlkImCk64CoA51imopiMaRZv79gnF_hjDdUrVsoedUR-FGyz4XaBmD0YMxqUnZT46GHQhwvWLLRxwcJLS5IuX3bVpuzYBTjs34RGYi4Vo5QRb7TBP2p7JnmmsONvc0w35vh-A8_n7vp/s400/42.IMG_4900.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjV7QVlHQCmCbx59jSJcbuJ3_Of9UZzjXTBJpJnX_nMFjqZI5bfcXYrsIrmP828iU_WIRFocjl-xpCbjdctUT1UfQFRdvkPFUM1OfhKqOM3Jl7-qpkbVWAaZKGrHdTK-b7L2u74dGYTPgy/s1600/42.IMG_4902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjV7QVlHQCmCbx59jSJcbuJ3_Of9UZzjXTBJpJnX_nMFjqZI5bfcXYrsIrmP828iU_WIRFocjl-xpCbjdctUT1UfQFRdvkPFUM1OfhKqOM3Jl7-qpkbVWAaZKGrHdTK-b7L2u74dGYTPgy/s400/42.IMG_4902.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVVcEQsLit6ewbsfWoeBg8KWEJ1EY-2XUacE0hMm2KXYuRnqMlGbb8ILvbGOBJeK8f6QNQ2li-k0ghw7hwpxLvM_LqaDc8H8LlOW4II2axSzwpvuMeWPg95bEs3rwyBnFjo9RHZL0qVEs/s1600/42.IMG_4903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVVcEQsLit6ewbsfWoeBg8KWEJ1EY-2XUacE0hMm2KXYuRnqMlGbb8ILvbGOBJeK8f6QNQ2li-k0ghw7hwpxLvM_LqaDc8H8LlOW4II2axSzwpvuMeWPg95bEs3rwyBnFjo9RHZL0qVEs/s400/42.IMG_4903.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-78065573832015865222019-12-02T00:30:00.000-08:002019-12-02T00:30:04.437-08:00Woodhenge
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcD5TVjFHhYqbLkKB3H5Pof7GukkZgyFCrPZ8bzK7VZE3yc7xHkhObsTIOY1vBQCL6Cwr2t6BBXcxAKN1Jj2vAW7QWok3U4A3c90TXn4H2VamUDLuej4a2IyTgjDn7i6qjrZur7tEHsM1D/s1600/41.woodhenge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="1600" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcD5TVjFHhYqbLkKB3H5Pof7GukkZgyFCrPZ8bzK7VZE3yc7xHkhObsTIOY1vBQCL6Cwr2t6BBXcxAKN1Jj2vAW7QWok3U4A3c90TXn4H2VamUDLuej4a2IyTgjDn7i6qjrZur7tEHsM1D/s400/41.woodhenge.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
</span><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Woodhenge looking from the entrance. The
remains of the ditch are visible.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Woodhenge was a timber monument built
on Salisbury Plain and a key part of the Stonehenge complex. Nothing now
remains except concrete markers denoting the wooden posts. It has no alignment
or view of <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a> itself, but it lies around half a mile from the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-stonehenge-great-cursus.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge Cursus</a><b>,</b> following the same alignment, suggesting the two monuments were (or
were to have been?) linked. It also overlooks the vast henge of <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/11/durrington-walls.html" target="_blank">Durrington Walls</a>
and would have been clearly visible beyond the henge banks.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Woodhenge is on the edge of a
prominent ledge of the plain, which drops away to the south and east and has
far-reaching views. It would also have been clearly visible dominating the high
horizon. It comprised six concentric circles of timber posts, reminiscent of
the timber circles in Durrington Walls itself. The posts, ranging from fairly
modest trees to substantial mature trees, were raised then left to decay. The outer
circle comprised small, closely placed posts; then two circles of increasingly larger
posts; then three inner circles of smaller posts. The monument was enclosed by
a circular ditch and bank with an entrance facing north-west, towards the
midsummer sunset. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz946LRE0lsV2o2CKThca3GcgPRxy37FLkWmVVteizxbJIMjxel4vCoMzQtguAJMDd_LjuAnsiEiJHwyKWsm8bOkJgSKjtMAi5RAsHKEHAGV7i6VHoCaqU3KdP0TPklSc_skLcI1L-gP_R/s1600/41.stonehenge+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="371" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz946LRE0lsV2o2CKThca3GcgPRxy37FLkWmVVteizxbJIMjxel4vCoMzQtguAJMDd_LjuAnsiEiJHwyKWsm8bOkJgSKjtMAi5RAsHKEHAGV7i6VHoCaqU3KdP0TPklSc_skLcI1L-gP_R/s320/41.stonehenge+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Stonehenge tenon joints which may
represent experience in timber-building.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Unlike stone-built monuments, it is impossible
to know what Woodhenge looked like. The tree trunks may have been left with
bark and perhaps branches, resembling an artificial forest or wilderness. They may
have been stripped and decorated, or had ritual offerings pinned to them. They may
have had horizontal lintels, rather like Stonehenge itself. One point
supporting this is the rounded mortice-tenon joints on Stonehenge’s sarsens,
added to stop the lintels slipping free. The weight of the stone, in hindsight,
made this unnecessary, so were the builders using their experience of building
timber-lintelled structures, where these precautions were essential? </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">It may be that all these ideas were
incorporated into the timber circles: perhaps a lintelled enclosure contained a
microcosm of the forested wilderness which children feared and adults were
forced to learn to master. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Woodhenge posts date to around
2500BC, the time Stonehenge was radically restructured, but like many monuments
Woodhenge had a much longer heritage, which began as veneration of a natural
feature. Four standing stones once formed a three-sided cove in the southern part
of the monument. These had been raised around a tree throw-hole: a huge mature
tree had once stood here, perhaps long venerated by the local people, and when
it fell the stones were raised to commemorate it. Pottery and flints placed in
the hole date to around 3800BC, over a millennium before the timber circles were
raised. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg3MPlwqaxAliTvmRMUXvU40rSQ1ndCrwrSSE236fsoTkht_8LpDg02Of1FwP8kN0CfLfmpLxl_0cZWxv6_nl2k_9ajJH3q3Ro4wMld61m41lB31rXKXaw-o_ANPLrp6WUfZF3vJ6yDsA6/s1600/41.woodhenge+cairn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg3MPlwqaxAliTvmRMUXvU40rSQ1ndCrwrSSE236fsoTkht_8LpDg02Of1FwP8kN0CfLfmpLxl_0cZWxv6_nl2k_9ajJH3q3Ro4wMld61m41lB31rXKXaw-o_ANPLrp6WUfZF3vJ6yDsA6/s320/41.woodhenge+cairn.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The cairn in the centre of Woodhenge</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A child’s burial was found at the
centre of the timber circles, its location now marked by a cairn. It is often
stated that this was a sacrifice to consecrate the monument, but many archaeologists
now refute this. The burial was probably in fact from the Bronze Age, long
after the site had decayed into a mass of rotten stumps and fallen logs, and the
skull damage, once attributed to an executioner’s axe, was probably simply
damage from 4000 years in the ground. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Today Woodhenge is little known and
little visited. Perhaps the concrete posts which are its sole survival tell us the
message it was built to convey, five millennia ago. Even the most enduring of
life will decay and vanish, and nobody will ever know it was there. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-30326531508206309942019-11-25T00:30:00.000-08:002019-11-25T00:30:00.374-08:00The Red Horse of Tysoe
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWguWxqTARLFJ_sOyvmVONPWTcQBzdu0-hE-juUxZkJglajfu_PAPN8XEWT0QsoLIdp3gWgA3tdHhxmLrNUp5zwxIw77ExTmVh9eD1miwnYqHs6ZHldK8_l7wjs6rFlbbtqUF89zDa8y4/s1600/40.IMG_4891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1421" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWguWxqTARLFJ_sOyvmVONPWTcQBzdu0-hE-juUxZkJglajfu_PAPN8XEWT0QsoLIdp3gWgA3tdHhxmLrNUp5zwxIw77ExTmVh9eD1miwnYqHs6ZHldK8_l7wjs6rFlbbtqUF89zDa8y4/s400/40.IMG_4891.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A reconstruction of the horse.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">This probably ancient hill figure has
been long destroyed, but it may once have had significance equal to the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-uffington-white-horse.html" target="_blank">White Horse of Uffington</a>. Today it survives only in local place names and
business names. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The horse was cut into the steep escarpment
of Edgehill in Warwickshire, a ridgeline of high ground which formed part of
the long-distance ancient routeway which linked places such as the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-rollright-stones.html" target="_blank">Rollright Stones</a>, <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/09/traitors-ford-warwickshire.html" target="_blank">Traitor’s Ford</a> and the Burton Dassett Hills. The area has an
ancient spiritual heritage and is linked to <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/04/edgehill-battlefield.html" target="_blank">ghostly phenomena</a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYezLX08Oad5XNckJTjZiTZ4Ho4ONw7_nu60UN4zvha_kp6952DS-ePx25ZdiodcT5GLnGqf9T378_XhBC3XRLSebCnXj1DBQJfHvBcQnKgF5DBawmDI6k94ge9-6kHHL1_zzrOh0XKxRu/s1600/40.IMG_4886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYezLX08Oad5XNckJTjZiTZ4Ho4ONw7_nu60UN4zvha_kp6952DS-ePx25ZdiodcT5GLnGqf9T378_XhBC3XRLSebCnXj1DBQJfHvBcQnKgF5DBawmDI6k94ge9-6kHHL1_zzrOh0XKxRu/s400/40.IMG_4886.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The ancient routeway along Edgehill</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The horse was formed of trenches cut
into the clay subsoil and filled with a bright red, iron oxide-rich silt which
is characteristic of the area and gave the figure its name. The horse, like the
hill figure at Uffington, was intended to command the vast plain below the escarpment,
which stretches to the west for several miles. From any point in the vale, the
escarpment is visible on the horizon and the now vanished hill figure would
have drawn the eye. It was a declaration to anyone who passed by.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiF3fo65JTXpgsKpn2rRIp5t6UdQwHxhcw0MregDIiQLWXOJRku4XtKd9T6v7x5pNoXl8l1nXRxnfE5R0NRz_OJupA1eoiFobAY1xBVJvrUEuaGjMur5xVl_roNBHokY9WYAIccwDD7GM/s1600/40.IMG_4884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiF3fo65JTXpgsKpn2rRIp5t6UdQwHxhcw0MregDIiQLWXOJRku4XtKd9T6v7x5pNoXl8l1nXRxnfE5R0NRz_OJupA1eoiFobAY1xBVJvrUEuaGjMur5xVl_roNBHokY9WYAIccwDD7GM/s400/40.IMG_4884.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The view over the Vale of the Red
Horse</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Unlike other monuments, hill figures
are dependent on human agency for their survival. A few years of neglect and
they vanish forever. It is also human agency which determines whether they
retain their original outline or whether they are altered or improved according
to the whim of the scourers. Or maybe this was the intention? So many ancient
monuments, <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a> being a prime example, are now known to have been constantly
modified and rearranged. Perhaps hill figures too were about the process of
creation and recreation, and each successive generation added their own stamp
to it?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1389" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ME4rxj3NPxf_Oc9Wup9vvU3_zFbtzJMwTbItsHuU7GmVKrwScyFmo5Nd766dfzv9xwo4uuELrd9T30NXFEX_ZSFzrgAycRe6_Zm8p0tItBeIhjxdQilkN8HU2LcbXSH9f61FynTpdkl0/s400/40.IMG_4892.JPG" width="400" /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A 19<sup>th</sup> century recording
of the horse</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The first record of the horse’s
presence dates to 1612, and local records from the 1640s state it was scoured
every year. It seems it was much redefined over the centuries. The final
version, ploughed up and destroyed in 1800, was a rather inferior design with a
tail resembling a lion’s. A 20<sup>th</sup> century investigation found
evidence of this horse on the hillside, a little way above two other hill
figures which it probably replaced.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The older figure was a galloping
horse, 91 metres in length, with a smaller figure, probably a foal, in front of
it. These were long grassed over by the 19<sup>th</sup> century. The date of
its construction is unknown, but it’s been suggested that, like the Uffington
Horse, it dates to the Bronze Age. The horse became a symbol of power in the
warrior societies of this time, and it features strongly in local legends such
as Lady Godiva and the lady of Banbury Cross, perhaps part-forgotten memories
of religious rites involving a woman (or Goddess) on horseback. The hill figure
may have represented this deity, and proclaimed its might over the vast area it
overlooked.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2twrTch-xJifF4kJi9kP-DA0GBnuXW_gp_mQs0GnAl2eSZ2Cdw8ndO5Rl4lUtL9DcWcnhIVkV2DZCgrV4q1tHGa7adcQE0vgK6SGWLryVBtsrb6B8Cl6OQAOU13dCNE-mLZvUpWeYEW10/s1600/40.IMG_4885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Another interesting point is the name
of the nearby village. Tysoe derives from <i>Tiw’s hoe</i>; the hillside of Tiw.
Tiw, or Tyr, was the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian God of warriors who gives his
name to Tuesday. Was this hillside dedicated to Tiw by Anglo-Saxon settlers who
found an already ancient and sacred figure on this hillside? It seems likely. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2twrTch-xJifF4kJi9kP-DA0GBnuXW_gp_mQs0GnAl2eSZ2Cdw8ndO5Rl4lUtL9DcWcnhIVkV2DZCgrV4q1tHGa7adcQE0vgK6SGWLryVBtsrb6B8Cl6OQAOU13dCNE-mLZvUpWeYEW10/s400/40.IMG_4885.JPG" width="400" /></div>
The escarpment looking down towards Tysoe<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-23646067954829903292019-11-11T00:30:00.000-08:002019-11-20T02:10:51.648-08:00The Stonehenge Great Cursus<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDjMB6wNcRr7M7zfGAH5ncN7XuEWWxTqo3kWxf-0RjdQU5zrTOntgeRm4ttd7kjIfz6uvKXriv6cNYRNBJ3lTLWG9uewf7bFNjyFPzFOoxSlJG1yqIY1ti23x7ON1kQBh39EFh8SXmMVJ/s1600/39.+gr+cursus+west+end.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDjMB6wNcRr7M7zfGAH5ncN7XuEWWxTqo3kWxf-0RjdQU5zrTOntgeRm4ttd7kjIfz6uvKXriv6cNYRNBJ3lTLWG9uewf7bFNjyFPzFOoxSlJG1yqIY1ti23x7ON1kQBh39EFh8SXmMVJ/s400/39.+gr+cursus+west+end.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The western end of the cursus.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The cursus is a strange and enigmatic
structure, unique to British prehistory, and with a purpose which still eludes
archaeologists. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Cursuses are ditched and banked
enclosures, around 100m wide and extending for several kilometres across the
landscape. Their shape gave rise to their name: an early suggestion, now
refuted, was that they were racecourses. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Stonehenge Cursus is three
kilometres long and 100-150m in width, and stretches east-west across the plain
a few hundred metres north of <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>. It was built in the early Neolithic
period, between 3600-3300BC, several hundred years before Stonehenge itself was
begun, and is perhaps the oldest creation in the Stonehenge complex. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWcixRDOGrECdhr1GFVuGJqqzJh1Foqm1GkKTIvy9lBb1pVNpPV2BpHo0zje04EccKV7z_xkgQpfCGAcw0vyOlDFyLVkz0PC6YvNAfCYDE3JmevWbsWTLXoF2B0W43oWyn4iRP0y97tqe/s400/39.+view+lesser+cursus.JPG" width="400" /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The location of the Lesser Cursus.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A second cursus was also built to the
north, 60m wide and 400m in length, along a ridgeline which has a commanding position
over the surrounding area. It had been extended at some point, and the fact
that it simply stops at its eastern end suggests it may not have been finished.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The eastern end of the Great Cursus was
formed by a now-ruined long barrow which dates to a broadly similar time, although
it is unclear whether it was built before, after, or at the same time as the
cursus. Many cursuses incorporate long barrows and other ritual structures. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">It’s possible that this cursus too
was unfinished, and the long barrow was simply a convenient ‘stop’. It’s also
possible that they were never intended to be ‘finished’: they were simply
extended continuously according to rules we can only guess at, rather like Stonehenge
itself and the nearby timber monuments were continually remodelled. It’s becoming
more and more apparent that the process of creating monuments was more
important to our prehistoric ancestors than the finished structure itself.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Supporting this theory is the Cuckoo
Stone, a standing stone which became a shrine a few hundred metres from the ‘end’
of the cursus and on the exact same alignment. Perhaps this would have in time
been incorporated into the cursus. Further on the same alignment is Woodhenge,
another standing stone called the Bulford Stone, and then the prominent Beacon
Hill. Surely this cannot all be coincidence?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEn8XSR4aopYm6wjMm_VQ2VIPFL3qIu5uASDEq_wVjqZMrcT4XCeUN__leVcBNvdov46aubadtO-TTtAKvKetsU9BESujB0UjDLGeYdMXoDStVLjgGYY76bQXcawSoWQxr9d2MEWhqPw1W/s1600/39.grcursus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEn8XSR4aopYm6wjMm_VQ2VIPFL3qIu5uASDEq_wVjqZMrcT4XCeUN__leVcBNvdov46aubadtO-TTtAKvKetsU9BESujB0UjDLGeYdMXoDStVLjgGYY76bQXcawSoWQxr9d2MEWhqPw1W/s400/39.grcursus.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The view east along the cursus. The ditch
aligns on the distant Beacon Hill.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The most accepted explanation for
cursuses is commemoration and movement: perhaps they were a memorial of a processional
way or a corpse road or spirit road. This could explain why many are linked to
long barrows. Cursuses in other places seem to be transferring power from an
older ritual monument to a newer one. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Stonehenge Cursus begins at its
western end on a ridgeline, which offers views in all directions, then rapidly
drops to eventually reach Stonehenge Bottom, once a watercourse. The hillside quickly
obscures the view behind, leaving the walker with nothing but the route ahead
which remains visible, with the cursus ditch aligned on the distant Beacon Hill,
until the midpoint when that too is swallowed. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiljuA5Ag4Isq7fmYL0qTPlMrWi-XNUD9v6tDOMptsUjIlxpqAV3P1GKWZyonU7MeMy8m-njITbpeDNP87Dsk8Nck2VXm9-gMTQXSWXOF7o0wwf9OWFAuhuNqi1gV4TcPufjh6R9XzIwkk/s400/39.gr+cursus+looking+west.JPG" width="300" /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The view behind is swallowed up as
the traveller journeys east. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">In the bowl of the valley, nothing
remains of the outside world and the journeyer is left with a sense of
isolation and disconnection. Was this a key part of this symbolic journey? Were
people, perhaps the living or perhaps the dead, ritually and spiritually
scoured clean here, aided by the flowing spring water, before continuing their
journey back into the world? From this point, the walker climbs up the opposite
slope, the views of the plain reappear, and the high point of the ridge appears
where the long barrow stood and the cursus ends. A long journey is complete. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-17482919794559044442019-11-04T00:30:00.000-08:002019-11-04T00:30:02.675-08:00Durrington Walls
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm0jCV81K_eviNmS2rVWC15B1YxDryvxYR5p2XlK4-MnvGtM3k1jOF30CXppMLHG01mH8AUyvZE42A0AgSlb1QOB5giPS2jmrN6wpFjffh1v1PWRRwBmz_FpPtYoIjq4h4alDRcWHmC-UI/s1600/38.dur+walls+plan+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1600" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm0jCV81K_eviNmS2rVWC15B1YxDryvxYR5p2XlK4-MnvGtM3k1jOF30CXppMLHG01mH8AUyvZE42A0AgSlb1QOB5giPS2jmrN6wpFjffh1v1PWRRwBmz_FpPtYoIjq4h4alDRcWHmC-UI/s400/38.dur+walls+plan+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Reconstruction of Durrington Walls,
showing the avenue, river, and timber circle.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Durrington Walls, found two miles
from Stonehenge, is one of the greatest henge monuments in Britain, and part of
the vast religious complex which stretches across the chalklands of Salisbury Plain.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The henge today survives as a chalk
bank, originally three metres high and over a mile long, enclosing an area of
42 acres, with an internal ditch 16 metres wide and six metres deep. This vast
earthwork enclosed a huge settlement, with up to a thousand wattle and chalk
houses divided into discrete communities. The ditch and bank were dug around
2500BC, destroying many of the outer houses, and is linked to the increasing
elaboration and enclosure of already ancient ritual sites, and also to the
raising of the huge sarsens at <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ctrp0acMe-awZvk0mk347p_0j9FkAwqIg3AAS-iD4pV_xDXa_7-b8R9tEGFLEhavRJz1WyEnqjKurezhaHLZ1zL6bEO1jXx6t0nASsNTFU-2jW-65yDplChehzfFgiEVMAmsE6ZISFDa/s1600/38.dur+walls+w.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ctrp0acMe-awZvk0mk347p_0j9FkAwqIg3AAS-iD4pV_xDXa_7-b8R9tEGFLEhavRJz1WyEnqjKurezhaHLZ1zL6bEO1jXx6t0nASsNTFU-2jW-65yDplChehzfFgiEVMAmsE6ZISFDa/s400/38.dur+walls+w.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The extent of the henge.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Durrington Walls was closely linked
to Stonehenge. Researchers now think that people came to Durrington Walls, from
across the chalklands and also much further afield, including Wales and
northern Britain, bringing livestock and trade goods to an annual gathering at
the midwinter solstice where community relationships were reaffirmed, livestock
exchanged and marriage partners found. Two timber circles, one found
immediately in front of the entrance and containing at its greatest extent six
concentric rings of huge posts, have been linked to religious rites and
funerary ceremony. Likely people brought cremated remains to Durrington to be
deposited in the river, or for a chosen few, to be deposited inside the banks
of Stonehenge after a short journey down the river. Midwinter has always been
seen as a time of rebirth and renewal, when the sun begins again its annual
journey across the sky, and has often been seen as the time when souls cross
into the next world or alternatively join those souls waiting to be reborn.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8J2Oasp8wpNDadi58S0-Dj-cKitpuRKl4BHD0BrMwYgM1v2o-HVLISi9CjlfGWACtBYtt-rKhUtrhoKbS8qKPtwItau0wtWYpAcqlQVYAvUtppCzfb8wKVWlkr8JxCey1-Hh7qzlo6ff/s1600/38.dur+walls+avenue2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8J2Oasp8wpNDadi58S0-Dj-cKitpuRKl4BHD0BrMwYgM1v2o-HVLISi9CjlfGWACtBYtt-rKhUtrhoKbS8qKPtwItau0wtWYpAcqlQVYAvUtppCzfb8wKVWlkr8JxCey1-Hh7qzlo6ff/s400/38.dur+walls+avenue2.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The site of the avenue leading to the river.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Like Stonehenge, Durrington Walls had
an avenue leading down to the river Avon, fifteen metres wide and with
five-metre chalk banks on either side. Like <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a>, this avenue was
based on a natural feature. Beneath the avenue, on the same alignment, was a ‘road’
of natural flint. This aligned perfectly on the midsummer solstice sunset. This
is the opposite alignment of the Stonehenge avenue, and adds to the theory that
they are spiritual ‘opposites’ – one linked to the living and one linked to the
dead.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGul_pHMECQUM70qegdejH16m8QkKr7HVc3KZuVSMYH1AhN2CkwWHDEWX4EcHiqYt_qJjSWbTaErcWdQwny_rTjNsMkhM3mm7TOtWI2EVnatZnZKeWb4dziO8vV774RaNuKPDsQlvNs8W/s1600/38.dur+walls+looking+east.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGul_pHMECQUM70qegdejH16m8QkKr7HVc3KZuVSMYH1AhN2CkwWHDEWX4EcHiqYt_qJjSWbTaErcWdQwny_rTjNsMkhM3mm7TOtWI2EVnatZnZKeWb4dziO8vV774RaNuKPDsQlvNs8W/s400/38.dur+walls+looking+east.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The focus of Durrington Walls, towards the fertile farmlands, the river and the rising sun.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Durrington Walls is on steeply
sloping ground, which was terraced to build the hundreds of houses, with an
area of high levelled ground furthest from the entrance where five elaborate
enclosed buildings were raised. Perhaps they were chieftain’s houses or houses
of the ancestors or spirits. They certainly had a natural command over the
site. Unlike Stonehenge, which is on a bleak and exposed hillside which emphasises
its liminality, Durrington Walls faces southeast, towards the rising sun which
would give light and warmth to the community. It is sheltered from the
prevailing winds and offers good views over and easy access to the river which
provided nourishment in both practical and spiritual sense. It certainly feels
like a place which was buzzing with life. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-74002530262275147792019-10-29T00:30:00.000-07:002019-10-29T00:30:02.641-07:00Marden Henge
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgSyT8sBoeHwtJO2g_dwAJSAoz6hHhQiRRtpUPUhs82SGG8T9miCCigXYNxCo1ciLmVdSpfZTddgmvIk6iKKZ7rQLX8YFRkD6MdY-7a8bsmEuQ3-IUOVr82g29ma1tF6VNwUhz6-gN_oH/s1600/37.marden+henge+n+entrance.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgSyT8sBoeHwtJO2g_dwAJSAoz6hHhQiRRtpUPUhs82SGG8T9miCCigXYNxCo1ciLmVdSpfZTddgmvIk6iKKZ7rQLX8YFRkD6MdY-7a8bsmEuQ3-IUOVr82g29ma1tF6VNwUhz6-gN_oH/s400/37.marden+henge+n+entrance.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
</span><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Marden’s bank, inner ditch and
northern entrance.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Marden Henge, about ten miles north
of <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/10/stonehenge.html" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a> in Wiltshire, is one of the biggest henges in Britain and
one of the most unusual. It is in a crook of the Avon, the river which is closely
linked to Stonehenge, and the river replaces the bank for part of its
perimeter. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The henge, roughly oval and 500
metres across at its widest point, had an entrance aligned precisely north, and
a second to the southeast, linked to a causeway which led to the river. Its
bank survives up to three metres high and forty metres wide.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBL6pTIQ_FZtfszsRFHUyozvpn7aAjXJbdQoq9kTsRZlYoPqbSQNIxBmKNd6R8su19yDWgVow-oeuhgYWByTE9Qq5yM0q8rRg0ljhAkHEOPA2UVcMmMeR2LJVMCOpVkLbSnig8e8jlAU7z/s1600/37.marden+henge+river+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBL6pTIQ_FZtfszsRFHUyozvpn7aAjXJbdQoq9kTsRZlYoPqbSQNIxBmKNd6R8su19yDWgVow-oeuhgYWByTE9Qq5yM0q8rRg0ljhAkHEOPA2UVcMmMeR2LJVMCOpVkLbSnig8e8jlAU7z/s400/37.marden+henge+river+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Avon at Marden</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The henge was built on the flat river
plain where today, after heavy rain, the mud-laden river can be seen creeping
around willow trunks and through the long grass on its banks. It probably once
filled the henge ditch and waterlogged the surrounding land. Little can be seen
of the surrounding landscape beyond the river plain, with the exception of the
ridgeline which marks the start of Salisbury Plain, and water seems to be a key
aspect of the monument’s character. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOiUJaTvIS48nPeit5HnCfqFEii53fMxSPihY9pC0melrk8S2yKsayrJsI-lyru2BZuXlLOyo1PwcboIHkFGDHtLYgKsBn9qc7e91c5uQ948tJ1DB7I_wFjU0uJhenGRmYFYS7H9x99jed/s1600/37.marden+henge+towards+river.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOiUJaTvIS48nPeit5HnCfqFEii53fMxSPihY9pC0melrk8S2yKsayrJsI-lyru2BZuXlLOyo1PwcboIHkFGDHtLYgKsBn9qc7e91c5uQ948tJ1DB7I_wFjU0uJhenGRmYFYS7H9x99jed/s400/37.marden+henge+towards+river.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The view across the henge towards the
river.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The henge has been associated with the
construction of Stonehenge. The huge sarsen stones, incorporated into Stonehenge
around 2500BC, were dragged from the Marlborough Downs in the north, through
the Vale of Pewsey and up onto Salisbury Plain. Recent work has shown that they
most likely crossed the Avon at Marden, and were then dragged up the gentle
slope which leads from the village onto the high plain, about the only feasible
route when dragging multiple twenty-tonne rocks. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Many henges were dug on sites with
already sacred or historical importance, perhaps as an act of enclosing and
formalising that memory. Marden’s enclosing ditch is dated to 2570-2290BC, the
same time or slightly after the sarsens were moved. Perhaps its creation was
the final act of Stonehenge’s builders after their work was done.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwFMnbtcG8emgLlPxbsrVyPbhyphenhyphenKNUcg5dwyb09jdCeapftnGk3ToGSNZJJ_YDttGm_CVSINIbWx550ZskDs3E9Bqz8KAs_HIYiL_bTClt-FAzKnGHS_SkjFP_lmzHxzahKoEcSZpKdly_/s1600/37.marden+slopes2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwFMnbtcG8emgLlPxbsrVyPbhyphenhyphenKNUcg5dwyb09jdCeapftnGk3ToGSNZJJ_YDttGm_CVSINIbWx550ZskDs3E9Bqz8KAs_HIYiL_bTClt-FAzKnGHS_SkjFP_lmzHxzahKoEcSZpKdly_/s400/37.marden+slopes2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The slope likely used to drag
Stonehenge’s sarsens up onto Salisbury Plain</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Marden was also the site of a large
earthen mound, similar to the much more famous <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/06/silbury-hill.html" target="_blank">Silbury Hill</a> near
Avebury, but on a smaller scale. The mound, 70 metres in diameter and nine
metres high, built sometime during or after the henge’s construction, was
destroyed after antiquarians dug through it. Nothing now survives. Silbury Hill
was built around 2400-2300BC; Marden may have been a similar date.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Both mounds were linked to encircling
watercourses, and I feel the idea carries weight that they represent something
akin to the mythical island of creation, rising from the primeval waters. It
would certainly feel that way, as people watched the water silently creep
through grass and tree roots around the mound as heavy rain swelled its course.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPBTGKV4mO-M8CVi9WPHrQQlRSghhRw7n8pDc1RmG6pCmKouOt3NwZlJX_Pe-MYqdNDlfwKgEAKBatgT4Cr82fS4x_6pyH4VXEJefBFqyc8fP55iqcu6LMrTVqJNtPrN6HTUGdvLRbREI/s1600/37.marden+henge+river.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPBTGKV4mO-M8CVi9WPHrQQlRSghhRw7n8pDc1RmG6pCmKouOt3NwZlJX_Pe-MYqdNDlfwKgEAKBatgT4Cr82fS4x_6pyH4VXEJefBFqyc8fP55iqcu6LMrTVqJNtPrN6HTUGdvLRbREI/s400/37.marden+henge+river.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Why was it built at Marden? Was
Marden linked to the birthpoint of Stonehenge? Perhaps the river was the
boundary between two communities, the point where the stones were ceremonially
handed over, and so this site was chosen for the great mound to be raised.
Unfortunately, thanks to clumsy treasure seekers, we will probably never know. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike><br /></strike><br />
<br />Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-83117139736567429582019-10-23T00:15:00.000-07:002019-10-26T03:39:20.849-07:00Stonehenge<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVYB1Ns3oj-EWYWSG224GkyVIx2TrSoLeW0pQvxgqf9J58J1THWf6IQSTSkVOWh8SP1VqQYBQvTepFV73O8HfV-3eU98YX97K_U-p9D4AdRUzaqdRFQ33qVpm-gHywrO_SZgPHKk074vu/s1600/36.stonehenge+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVYB1Ns3oj-EWYWSG224GkyVIx2TrSoLeW0pQvxgqf9J58J1THWf6IQSTSkVOWh8SP1VqQYBQvTepFV73O8HfV-3eU98YX97K_U-p9D4AdRUzaqdRFQ33qVpm-gHywrO_SZgPHKk074vu/s400/36.stonehenge+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Stonehenge is Britain’s most famous
prehistoric landmark. In its heyday four thousand years ago, it attracted
people from across Britain and across Europe. Today, largely ruined thanks to
time and human endeavour, nothing has changed. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Stonehenge was built and rebuilt
several times over a 1500-year period, in a chalkland landscape which was
already of great sacred significance. A series of colossal wooden posts, their
significance now long lost, were raised in what is now the Stonehenge carpark 5000
years before the monument was begun. Two linear monuments known as cursuses and
several long barrows were built nearby in the preceding centuries. And the
spring known as Blick Mead attracted votive offerings for several thousand years.
</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJyNpRZA25D0AXAt4GZTKxkEwxSOtT2SfI6IyGmDGtzKfNkTlGOMNMYCcHrVTkKyMZI6lTit6Z-qE4aRNZ-GnOLOYDiZYBJ7wABUGoie2fsRZdDgQ0YQKxkGR_chrCKGqYiaCNCfpdNwt/s1600/36.ames+archer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJyNpRZA25D0AXAt4GZTKxkEwxSOtT2SfI6IyGmDGtzKfNkTlGOMNMYCcHrVTkKyMZI6lTit6Z-qE4aRNZ-GnOLOYDiZYBJ7wABUGoie2fsRZdDgQ0YQKxkGR_chrCKGqYiaCNCfpdNwt/s400/36.ames+archer.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Amesbury Archer, who was brought
up in the Alps and was buried a mile from Stonehenge around 2400BC. He was
perhaps one of the earliest metal workers in Britain.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The earliest construction at
Stonehenge was a circular ditch and bank, dug around 3000BC, with a ring of 56
Aubrey Holes around its inner edge. These were once the sockets for the famous
bluestones, brought several hundred miles from the Preseli Mountains in South
Wales. Many, perhaps all, of the holes also contained cremation burials, perhaps
interred as the stones were raised and perhaps of people with particular
associations with that stone.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Around 500 years later, the horseshoe
of huge trilithons – paired and shaped stones with a horizontal cap – were
raised in the centre, along with a circle of capped sarsen stones. The
bluestones went through several rearrangements which took place over the next
few hundred years. It seems a final rearrangement was abandoned uncompleted
around 1500BC.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDdZMPUFaltaoXjTiu983xesO2vRkJBmPx5QfEPO-MYG2bXQyyOJ765A-QPRIaqmj7-BSUbiru9SdMzKlha6W-E9NRlHev0LDvUuit6JeS5KJrD0y5Y6hncg_hkVcS5i15J_1bm8xwPET/s1600/36.+stonehenge+up+avenue+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDdZMPUFaltaoXjTiu983xesO2vRkJBmPx5QfEPO-MYG2bXQyyOJ765A-QPRIaqmj7-BSUbiru9SdMzKlha6W-E9NRlHev0LDvUuit6JeS5KJrD0y5Y6hncg_hkVcS5i15J_1bm8xwPET/s400/36.+stonehenge+up+avenue+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The approach up the avenue, with one
of the ditches still visible. The Heel Stone, a glacial erratic raised in the
entrance almost in its natural position, is on the left.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Stonehenge seems to have been a place
linked to death and funerary rites. The remains of over 150 people were
interred at the site, and no evidence of feasting or other signs of occupation
have been found. As is perhaps fitting with its unique structure, people came
here only for important and austere rites.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Stonehenge was approached along an
avenue, over 3km long and 22 metres wide, which led from the river Avon in a
circuitous route to cross King Barrow Ridge, later the location of several
Bronze Age barrows, and the first view of the stones in the distance. They are
in fact barely noticeable, lost among the grey-green of Salisbury Plain, and
soon vanish from view as one drops into the valley of Stonehenge Bottom,
probably once a seasonal watercourse. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Then comes the climb up the hillside,
and the stones gradually rise from the ground and stand proud on the skyline,
displayed in all their glory as the walker approaches. The world beyond them
remains invisible. It is a remarkable piece of landscape engineering, which
would have been all the more powerful with the banks of the avenue funnelling
the viewer’s attention. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRDI8rmUq-x-WxAv-aWwZn2no_rdK7KQtV_wvKAcLuXW6pvtQSxnzLNjlAd0rLg15vniMMSoRnMO4-nr4nrakDgh9E-tmrYZS7i_Hras879_B2al9yJLF_VWVcfGjMbXGjgzohByv6QmJ/s1600/36.stonehenge+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsRDI8rmUq-x-WxAv-aWwZn2no_rdK7KQtV_wvKAcLuXW6pvtQSxnzLNjlAd0rLg15vniMMSoRnMO4-nr4nrakDgh9E-tmrYZS7i_Hras879_B2al9yJLF_VWVcfGjMbXGjgzohByv6QmJ/s400/36.stonehenge+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The view from the entrance.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The stones seem very distant from the
outer ditch, today’s permitted viewing point, and this was probably intentional
to reinforce the point that only the select few were permitted into the stones’
presence. The ten-metre high trilithons crowding over the initiate would create
a near terrifying sense of claustrophobia and power. It would feel like the
most powerful place in Britain, in the world, as it was intended.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMP2ihJFU9FaIlr9bIs_QNoPHRVm3Icy9_tEs-tBUUvPDJFoO2x8Lq7NwH3qkKeNzpfPg11uufqphzU8PDasa0K8utWBF2aB3X6lM_7nNj80qnqqU-GCURBiZpg1UN7sFyuZsQ7upTUaPJ/s1600/36.SH+archer+broken+bones.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMP2ihJFU9FaIlr9bIs_QNoPHRVm3Icy9_tEs-tBUUvPDJFoO2x8Lq7NwH3qkKeNzpfPg11uufqphzU8PDasa0K8utWBF2aB3X6lM_7nNj80qnqqU-GCURBiZpg1UN7sFyuZsQ7upTUaPJ/s400/36.SH+archer+broken+bones.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The Stonehenge Archer, buried in the
ditch around 2200BC. He had died after being shot by three arrows which broke
his sternum and one rib, shown in the picture. Was this a murder or a
sacrifice?</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The avenue and entrance align to the
midsummer sunrise and the midwinter sunset, and recent investigation has shown
that beneath the avenue lay several periglacial channels, deep ditches
naturally formed during the Ice Age and by coincidence on exactly the same
solstice alignment. These were incorporated by the avenue’s builders. Were they
seen as a natural sun channel, created by the Gods, spirits or ancestors, and eventually
incorporated into Britain’s most important sacred site? It seems very likely. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ieQ-PxrqIQDRuUm8xBQSytbYU6AvDHGLFh4gGhSgrF31ifEYF2bfQVS3DpMZVhqLwuYMUVTEVgwiFfyVLt5xWf_0Mnd_rE5-pWri9DQAjqB6MdZKJ_rGk2gK-DhCkDlMJF-osBMk0Exi/s1600/36.barrows+by+cursus2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ieQ-PxrqIQDRuUm8xBQSytbYU6AvDHGLFh4gGhSgrF31ifEYF2bfQVS3DpMZVhqLwuYMUVTEVgwiFfyVLt5xWf_0Mnd_rE5-pWri9DQAjqB6MdZKJ_rGk2gK-DhCkDlMJF-osBMk0Exi/s400/36.barrows+by+cursus2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">One of the many Bronze Age barrows
which focus on Stonehenge.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Stonehenge’s final modification was
during the mid Bronze Age, around 1500BC, but it was the focus of attention,
good and bad, long after this point. Bronze Age barrows were raised where they
would be visible on the skyline from Stonehenge. Roman-era pottery was found in
large quantities, perhaps the result of religious rituals. It seems some of the
stones were toppled by the Romans, perhaps an attempt to break the site’s
power. In the Saxon period, when the site became known as the ‘Stone Hangings’,
it was used for executions. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Today, it is a tourist attraction. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-50653617737495219562019-10-07T00:30:00.000-07:002019-10-07T00:30:01.101-07:00The Langdale Axe Factories
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHVgqv7TVAomsFGy2u20XtTB2GekoZ11XznaGlslK7Z14UC-sVT1aP12IhdTDPtGR7WJ23mDDEhP224nyBysyZDSLV8e5ZUS5z43ZdQ1CH_HmK4jB1EcmOw8uWEflVmoUEzbjR5QD_JuB/s1600/35.langdale+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHVgqv7TVAomsFGy2u20XtTB2GekoZ11XznaGlslK7Z14UC-sVT1aP12IhdTDPtGR7WJ23mDDEhP224nyBysyZDSLV8e5ZUS5z43ZdQ1CH_HmK4jB1EcmOw8uWEflVmoUEzbjR5QD_JuB/s400/35.langdale+8.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The hillsides around a few remote
valleys in the Lake District became the hub of activity in the Neolithic
period, attracting people from across Britain to quarry stone to make polished
axes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The crags around Langdale, a few
miles west of Lake Windermere, contain a natural band of volcanic tuff or hornstone,
a deep green rock which was greatly prized by the Neolithic people. This hornstone
is found from Stickle Tarn, a mountain lake high above Langdale, through the
Langdale Pikes to the west to Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, and
then petering out further north. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy24ypzqaigY-6mPvNOzor4yUzUTQI5y_yWcXEollsY-lyLNQ6Y27JEyu9LF2y_3T7lbu4Eyi-KsS_YcanjBJEjbeuvc_oyZa-egepEN1UcMd1Vtjaq_8P84bRVfeDeQsiJDNsi6ac53Fw/s1600/35.langdale+11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy24ypzqaigY-6mPvNOzor4yUzUTQI5y_yWcXEollsY-lyLNQ6Y27JEyu9LF2y_3T7lbu4Eyi-KsS_YcanjBJEjbeuvc_oyZa-egepEN1UcMd1Vtjaq_8P84bRVfeDeQsiJDNsi6ac53Fw/s400/35.langdale+11.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The stone can be found in streambeds
and dug from pits on the level heights, but the Neolithic people went to great
effort to quarry stone from the most dangerous and inaccessible rockfaces they
could. They climbed the precarious crags, balanced on narrow and unstable
ledges a dizzying distance above the valley floor, and hewed blocks of stone
from the rockface, often using fire to fracture the rock. The almost ubiquitous
rain and fog of the area made the stone dangerously slippery and the climb up
and down near impossible. The stone was gained at a high price.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The stone was flaked like flint into
a roughout axe at the quarry site, and when the maker was happy they had drawn the
essence of an axe from the raw stone, they returned to the lowland areas where
hours of painstaking polishing and grinding removed all ridges and
imperfections and the perfect shine of the greenstone remained. The axe was
finished. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwSQb3vDCEG1iUbnhEtSs0PBksIpgVzhKOzZSFU9JN_IHQeFEyZ8jxH1aynQKGFXVIVulXlijE_xwElP0kPO-jpVQhRJ_P4jFP_xrpaShXqRRaquDT2aN_eBOwoNOGUHcwOQDcZFPyP57/s1600/35.Neolithic_polished_axe_or_adze_head._%2528FindID_117702%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="639" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwSQb3vDCEG1iUbnhEtSs0PBksIpgVzhKOzZSFU9JN_IHQeFEyZ8jxH1aynQKGFXVIVulXlijE_xwElP0kPO-jpVQhRJ_P4jFP_xrpaShXqRRaquDT2aN_eBOwoNOGUHcwOQDcZFPyP57/s400/35.Neolithic_polished_axe_or_adze_head._%2528FindID_117702%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The importance of the axe went far
beyond its practical function. The deliberate and unnecessary danger the axe
makers underwent suggests that the spiritual power of the crags, the willing
trial which would end either in a messy death or the mastery of death, suggests
an initiation into the brutal powers of the mountains, and that power infused
into the finished product, giving it a highly prized power or prestige. Magical
objects such as the Norse God Thor’s hammer likely have their origin as a stone
axe.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Many of the stone circles and henges
in Cumbria, including <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/09/castlerigg-stone-circle.html" target="_blank">Castlerigg</a> by Keswick, Grey Croft on the western coast,
Long Meg and her Daughters in the Eden Valley, and <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/09/mayburgh-henge.html" target="_blank">Mayburgh Henge</a> near Penrith
are linked to the trade of axes and the control of access to the quarry sites,
which were worked for over 1500 years.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaGV2g8Oaf5jFaWWD-i4NEkpNuftlJayoGbc96JcWfddy1rN3vH6wBmmVTx1xNlie7pfl3TNnkTkZb0BSZbgle_jeudoyzsHIsBGmxM0xYcHUHiiAkGfLN27Srxc40_VqWhtrp2e6nY6d/s1600/35.photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1303" data-original-width="1224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWaGV2g8Oaf5jFaWWD-i4NEkpNuftlJayoGbc96JcWfddy1rN3vH6wBmmVTx1xNlie7pfl3TNnkTkZb0BSZbgle_jeudoyzsHIsBGmxM0xYcHUHiiAkGfLN27Srxc40_VqWhtrp2e6nY6d/s320/35.photo.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
A freshly broken rockface, showing the prized green stone.<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Langdale axes were prized and have
been found across Britain as far as Etton, a Neolithic causewayed enclosure
near Peterborough, <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/07/devils-quoits-stone-circle.html" target="_blank">Stanton Harcourt</a>, a monumental complex on the River Thames,
and Llandegai, a vast but now destroyed henge complex in north Wales. It’s
telling that all these were ritually deposited in sacred places at the end of
their life. Axes made from local stone for mundane purposes such as chopping
firewood didn’t receive such treatment. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVEd_1sejvPFKkXzgY35ByTZwPy1yK8XYDOYQMb6HHQeYPG1o68c58ap7Wqwvz2JhpWOeYVBYIQKI-0_cdyV_wuya67wILDml2SzoxXeJfG36eVJM621lsPP5t6MoO7CI_zJszY3Y6Uu7/s1600/35.harrison+stickle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVEd_1sejvPFKkXzgY35ByTZwPy1yK8XYDOYQMb6HHQeYPG1o68c58ap7Wqwvz2JhpWOeYVBYIQKI-0_cdyV_wuya67wILDml2SzoxXeJfG36eVJM621lsPP5t6MoO7CI_zJszY3Y6Uu7/s400/35.harrison+stickle.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> Harrison Stickle, one of the most well-used quarry sites.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">During the Bronze Age, the symbolic
power of the stone axe declined, and the Langdale quarries were slowly
abandoned. Those polished axes which were later discovered took on a new
purpose. They were believed to be lightning bolts, and were used to ward off
lightning, were placed in water troughs to give healthy livestock, and many
other protective purposes. The magic of these once sacred objects never really
died. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-30506356225877103712019-09-30T00:30:00.000-07:002019-10-04T03:25:57.503-07:00Castlerigg Stone Circle<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDlumsUpKYwCqJH9pLORSGWkpnNE_mmOijBB8Rojag7l4z7uXsmEg2DUzQh6YlBwNrlRJMmLXmeJXpia5816XfiA_1U2pRic8lDrJ87vR9k14lqX3EpGagV6fBeaeDtSWQX7MPMqpiEIgn/s1600/34.castlerigg+entrance.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDlumsUpKYwCqJH9pLORSGWkpnNE_mmOijBB8Rojag7l4z7uXsmEg2DUzQh6YlBwNrlRJMmLXmeJXpia5816XfiA_1U2pRic8lDrJ87vR9k14lqX3EpGagV6fBeaeDtSWQX7MPMqpiEIgn/s400/34.castlerigg+entrance.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Castlerigg stone circle lies on the
eastern edge of the Lake District near the town of Keswick. Its name derives
from <i>Carsles </i>or <i>Carles</i>, a name recorded in the 18<sup>th</sup> century and deriving from the French <i>carole</i>, meaning a circular dance. It's interesting how many stone circles are linked to dancing. It was
built around 3200BC, making it one of the earliest stone circles in Britain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The circle is 30 metres in diameter
and originally comprised 42 stones, of which 38 remain. The stones are glacial
erratics, probably from fairly close by, and most are 1-1.2 metres in height.
Two taller stones flank the north-facing entrance, and an offset pillar to the
southeast, almost 2 metres tall, aligns to the sunrise at Samhain (1<sup>st</sup>
November) and Imbolc (1<sup>st</sup> February). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">A rectangular setting of about twelve
smaller stones stands in the eastern part of the circle and focuses on the prominent
hill of Clough Head on the skyline. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Another standing stone is found near
the western edge of the site. Its original location is now unclear but it may
have come from the circle itself or was perhaps another outlier stone.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAy2Jmvn3YlRf6ECMbXFDEmF8_7yT53O-8S2d0BS4vaiGZO7ilxDpKM4MNYnTVL9e9w0baC31MQKdC5dhkE0i_TRdvhTt5YgQiMEAttRbmW2ko0LyrPK4Om7EgOiB2Zb5GgjCQkmm25vq/s1600/34.castlerigg+setting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAy2Jmvn3YlRf6ECMbXFDEmF8_7yT53O-8S2d0BS4vaiGZO7ilxDpKM4MNYnTVL9e9w0baC31MQKdC5dhkE0i_TRdvhTt5YgQiMEAttRbmW2ko0LyrPK4Om7EgOiB2Zb5GgjCQkmm25vq/s400/34.castlerigg+setting.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> The internal rectangular setting</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Castlerigg is sited on an area of
gently sloping higher ground, surrounded by the settled areas and farmland that
have long filled the lowlands of the area. The ring of stark mountains and
fells beyond provides a contrasting backdrop and reflects the varied topology
and spirit of the Lake District. Thanks to the slope of the ground, fairly
little of the immediate area is visible from the circle, and conversely, the circle
was perhaps equally hidden until the final approach up the hillside. This would
have added an air of magic to the site.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiZNzYqHbwfdDHkyLDh_2NMeBhFCvgi-rbdkoGcODH0ktIlMWhtcTL9mviIHFcZCQIzZpVxs58cTAKUDu5JB6fUxk8-XaUG_cU2nH1_INU8lISIYDUzCHu4Ce6iVIhVZ68_gu4ZzoCtZu/s1600/34.castlerigg+outlier.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiZNzYqHbwfdDHkyLDh_2NMeBhFCvgi-rbdkoGcODH0ktIlMWhtcTL9mviIHFcZCQIzZpVxs58cTAKUDu5JB6fUxk8-XaUG_cU2nH1_INU8lISIYDUzCHu4Ce6iVIhVZ68_gu4ZzoCtZu/s400/34.castlerigg+outlier.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> The outlier stone which is angled towards the Samhain sunrise</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Castlerigg, like <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/09/mayburgh-henge.html" target="_blank">Mayburgh Henge</a> 15
miles to the east, is linked to the manufacture and trade of polished stone
axes which were made from green volcanic tuff found in a few isolated and
inaccessible hillsides deep in the Lake District mountains. Three of these axes
and an unpolished roughout have been found inside the circle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The north-facing entrance faces what
is now the main road from Penrith to Keswick and what has probably always been
the major route into the Lakes. From the circle, the main view is the wide
valley to the southeast which leads to the villages of Grasmere and Ambleside
and then to the Langdale valley where the axe quarries were accessed. Castlerigg
was certainly there to oversee the routeways used by the special greenstone and
the people who worked it.</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-58885452514304155092019-09-23T00:30:00.000-07:002019-10-04T03:26:16.128-07:00Mayburgh Henge<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-n_1P9NEz4JygeDqqRcUqsYHnDPmno405R4gC9MOFhcwk_zGytPxdO6gyntGXoQWShN6RWVWPAt4b0LF42gh0tBPBIN-AloFSLO1woquZRHakolErU_CJwU1jsEVEu7WBNbqK9XjpfTn/s1600/33.mayburgh+henge3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-n_1P9NEz4JygeDqqRcUqsYHnDPmno405R4gC9MOFhcwk_zGytPxdO6gyntGXoQWShN6RWVWPAt4b0LF42gh0tBPBIN-AloFSLO1woquZRHakolErU_CJwU1jsEVEu7WBNbqK9XjpfTn/s400/33.mayburgh+henge3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Mayburgh Henge, near Penrith on the
edge of the Lake District, is a stunning monument. It was built in the late
Neolithic period and comprises a circular bank of stone, 50 metres wide at its
base, 120 metres in diameter, and surviving to a height of 6 metres. It’s
estimated to contain 20,000 tonnes of stone, probably carried up from the river
Lowther, although it has also been suggested it was reshaped from a natural
glacial deposit.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofeUMJKQZxUputZxPAMm7G4lw-_kLwhEUOCQoqKpHhF-Q8GZiLxwhxp3LQ1Bns94dGGWCqj11PZoDIuntTEwLvGdxFBcqJ77B-Rm6VmofZ4-ZKz8ko956RL0c6qyxl29OjqZ3kKd_Gtx5/s1600/33.mayburgh+henge+from+south.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofeUMJKQZxUputZxPAMm7G4lw-_kLwhEUOCQoqKpHhF-Q8GZiLxwhxp3LQ1Bns94dGGWCqj11PZoDIuntTEwLvGdxFBcqJ77B-Rm6VmofZ4-ZKz8ko956RL0c6qyxl29OjqZ3kKd_Gtx5/s400/33.mayburgh+henge+from+south.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> Mayburgh Henge from the south</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The henge is on a knoll of high
ground which gives it a natural dominance over the surrounding area, and it would
have been clearly visible from the surrounding fells before the grass began to cover
it. It’s sited above the confluence of the rivers Eamont and Lowther, and above
the ancient lowland routeway to the north and south, which forded the rivers at
this point. Mayburgh was probably associated with the trade of stone axes,
which were ground from Lake District greenstone and traded across Britain as
far as East Anglia. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qw9n9OQhAbpZrI0mpyfUVubl1zTMFS3TIpcXz1zFUwGMmWs5I-LIBV5f2bT3GKgFDkKjHanrb6-Sa-H8zre39heRkVD4VzyC-F5DNbwrfevD2pWYhXdH4Ip3NjZcqWzdxydx_w9E-HIU/s1600/33.r+lowther2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qw9n9OQhAbpZrI0mpyfUVubl1zTMFS3TIpcXz1zFUwGMmWs5I-LIBV5f2bT3GKgFDkKjHanrb6-Sa-H8zre39heRkVD4VzyC-F5DNbwrfevD2pWYhXdH4Ip3NjZcqWzdxydx_w9E-HIU/s400/33.r+lowther2.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> The river Lowther, from which
Mayburgh’s stones may have been carried.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The bank’s position and height make
it impossible to see inside the henge, even from the distant fells, except for a
tantalising view of its standing stones visible through the entrance from
several hundred metres away down the hillside. This would have enhanced the mystery
and power of the site for those who travelled by. It gives the impression of a
powerful site and powerful people, a fitting guardian for the entrance into the
hostile mountains where the stone quarries were found.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5Um9CccefenfczpkFN88pn7Q1kC-CEswPde2E5nTtHzTeeQ-kjExoq-pxUTOsiMN6Q5NS2riJaCl_uMyVogep1ZxZM1UVengXvtEAede6Fc3TYTj8EB3DilFmkLXhC0MjQ5Qul62pM94/s1600/33.mayburgh+henge+from+entrance.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5Um9CccefenfczpkFN88pn7Q1kC-CEswPde2E5nTtHzTeeQ-kjExoq-pxUTOsiMN6Q5NS2riJaCl_uMyVogep1ZxZM1UVengXvtEAede6Fc3TYTj8EB3DilFmkLXhC0MjQ5Qul62pM94/s400/33.mayburgh+henge+from+entrance.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> The view from the entrance. The trees
give an indication of size.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Four standing stones were raised in a
square in the centre of the circle, of which one survives. Four more were present
in the entrance, which faces due east. The stones were destroyed in the 18<sup>th</sup>
century, after which one of the workmen went insane and another committed suicide.
Damaging once sacred monuments always seems to have a bitter price. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEHNnZGVtwAd12CEfUkBHCtzRZHYDGaZOraq5fRWtUSvllDrk-JHznPCFWQ5L0VFuhlHu-ZIJqRuGOugKAABuoVya4IXt2sG34fgYHR-QVa0zK_GChcZqPiDgepphRqZeR9lXRjSYpe2T/s1600/33.mayburgh+henge4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEHNnZGVtwAd12CEfUkBHCtzRZHYDGaZOraq5fRWtUSvllDrk-JHznPCFWQ5L0VFuhlHu-ZIJqRuGOugKAABuoVya4IXt2sG34fgYHR-QVa0zK_GChcZqPiDgepphRqZeR9lXRjSYpe2T/s400/33.mayburgh+henge4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The remaining standing stone,
approximately 3 metres high.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Two other smaller henges were situated
along the river Lowther, a few hundred metres away. King Arthur’s Round Table is
90 metres in diameter and comprises a circular ditch with an outer earthen
bank. Two entrances lay to the south-east and north-west. The latter, which was
flanked with two standing stones, has been destroyed, but would have aligned
directly to the entrance of Mayburgh Henge, much further up the hillside. The second
henge, the Little Round Table, was a similar size and has been entirely
destroyed. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Both these henges lack the feeling of
dominance and power of Mayburgh, and were perhaps used for more mundane work or
trade, with only a select few being allowed up the hillside into the hidden
inner sanctum of the greater henge, which still feels powerful after five
thousand years.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWq2vNC0Uu4K5AFxw7ceYo9QVETneUg27JCzKbDBVz8EAnUXWD7ykrNGzEu1thD_1fwJjqnG-O0weaSTcZE0sb3ELVPur24GeARVm7sJMwAdFvZkP_zSMl0IglBpSCwePiQhFkgVrhywlP/s1600/33.round+table+henge+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWq2vNC0Uu4K5AFxw7ceYo9QVETneUg27JCzKbDBVz8EAnUXWD7ykrNGzEu1thD_1fwJjqnG-O0weaSTcZE0sb3ELVPur24GeARVm7sJMwAdFvZkP_zSMl0IglBpSCwePiQhFkgVrhywlP/s400/33.round+table+henge+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"> King Arthur’s Round Table</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021069084207386979.post-34424658323010823352019-09-09T00:30:00.000-07:002019-10-26T03:58:56.620-07:00West Kennet Long Barrow<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavbEm3f1YAgoqmOhVjn1gd-uqzMyk3oSIApg5UVZNtkPk5Z0PNbq7uLCC3qE_mSoSn_P4nx8Txc8Z2hhUcivvWHNwK26P5zhkWx9PQahD7jhXlqBLecdlrhVNzQ7SuW2KYqgTJvFQ2yeZ/s1600/32.w+kennet3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavbEm3f1YAgoqmOhVjn1gd-uqzMyk3oSIApg5UVZNtkPk5Z0PNbq7uLCC3qE_mSoSn_P4nx8Txc8Z2hhUcivvWHNwK26P5zhkWx9PQahD7jhXlqBLecdlrhVNzQ7SuW2KYqgTJvFQ2yeZ/s400/32.w+kennet3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">West Kennet Long Barrow is situated
just south of Avebury in Wiltshire, today offering views of the great <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/08/avebury-henge.html" target="_blank">Avebury henge</a>,
the <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-sanctuary-avebury.html" target="_blank">Sanctuary</a> and <a href="http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com/2019/06/silbury-hill.html" target="_blank">Silbury Hill</a>. None of these monuments were present when the
barrow was built, although likely the locations already had special
significance.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The barrow was built around 3650BC,
and comprises five chambers around a central passage, all built of sarsen stone
and drystone walling, covered in a vast mound of rubble and turf, 104 metres
long. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Like many other long barrows such as
Wayland’s Smithy, it is not especially prominent and doesn’t appear to have
been designed to draw the attention, respect and admiration of human observers,
as later Bronze Age barrows were. It seems more about commanding a view of the
land, probably the land the entombed people lived on and farmed, and continued
to offer their guidance and guardianship after death.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">It seems the barrow was used for
little more than a generation – perhaps the ‘founding fathers’ of this farming
community – and then the entrance was sealed with the huge sarsen stones seen
today. The remains of thirty six men, women and children were excavated. Bones
and cremated remains were occasionally added over the next thousand years by removing
the roof slabs.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmpUg1AeRbbmlrHlMtVZS-dyvaxe5dVaxYI6VvdH72ejZM_2XSLGNL7sh_EAebH_4yb2M-luwmurauzKFfjl4th8PmcFIwgc0Mftx0UuEcEvAHND1l-2r08OacZXnQzXvYZWxwe1ihL8K/s1600/32.w+kennet1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmpUg1AeRbbmlrHlMtVZS-dyvaxe5dVaxYI6VvdH72ejZM_2XSLGNL7sh_EAebH_4yb2M-luwmurauzKFfjl4th8PmcFIwgc0Mftx0UuEcEvAHND1l-2r08OacZXnQzXvYZWxwe1ihL8K/s400/32.w+kennet1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Inside the barrow </div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The barrow was far more than a tomb. It
was a place for the living as well as the dead, and some interesting research has
been done into the acoustics of the chambers. Many long barrows of the Cotswold-Severn
area were built to similar proportions, incorporating a 4:3 ratio into the chambers,
which produces a particular musical resonance when singing or chanting. Infrasound
– sound too low for human ears to hear – is also produced by the resonance
inside the chambers, and this produces unsettling effects such as the feeling
of an unseen presence, a sense of panic and danger, and glimpses of movement. This
would all contribute to the feeling of the presence of the ancestor spirits
around the living. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Around 2200BC, the chambers were
filled with chalk rubble and the monument abandoned. This time period reflects
the arrival of bronze in Britain and a cultural upheaval which saw the
abandonment of the old monuments and a surge in the building of new monuments
such as stone circles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">But the old ways were never
forgotten. Coins dating to the Roman period have been found inserted into the
mound, perhaps offerings to millennia-old spirits whose presence was still
uneasily felt.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Hannah Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02326955608392506647noreply@blogger.com0