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Work Begins To Uncover Secrets Of Silbury Hill
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 5-12-2007 | Richard Savill

Posted on 05/12/2007 10:43:08 AM PDT by blam

Work begins to uncover secrets of Silbury Hill

By Richard Savill
Last Updated: 2:26am BST 12/05/2007

Work began yesterday to save an ancient landmark in Wiltshire from collapsing.

Silbury Hill, which at 130 feet high is the largest prehistoric man-made construction in Europe, continues to mystify archaeologists.

English Heritage is to spend £600,000 this summer trying to preserve the mound.

Specialist engineers will enter the mound through a tunnel which was dug in 1968 by a team led by the archaeologist, Prof Richard Atkinson. That tunnel was the last of three made over two centuries by archaeologists.

The original purpose and use of the hill, which is south of the village of Avebury, is still a mystery. Theories suggest it was either a burial mound, a solar observatory or a representation of a Neolithic goddess.

"It is very unlikely we will ever know why it was built," said Robert Bewley, English Heritage regional director for the South West.

"But this project may give us a better idea of when it was built and how it was built. That could provide us with further clues as to why it was built."

On Thursday archaeologists found the small end of an antler outside the tunnel. "This shows they could only use the antlers of deer and pickaxes," Mr Bewley said. "Their tools were very simple so it was a phenomenal achievement to build a mound like that.

"We know from Prof Atkinson's investigation there were at least two phases of construction. We hope to clarify how long it took to build the mound, which may have been a generation or more."

Engineers yesterday prised open the door of the 1968 tunnel. They will repack every inch of the 40-year-old tunnel as they withdraw to make sure it is stable. A number of craters on the hill will also be refilled.

Earlier this year, archaeologists found traces of a Roman settlement at the landmark. They believe the site may have been a place of pilgrimage 2,000 years ago.

Mr Bewley said: "The hill has been a stunning part of the Wiltshire landscape for 4,400 years and we hope the work we do this summer will stabilise its structure and keep it safe for many years to come."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: archaeoastronomy; archaeology; godsgravesglyphs; hill; marlboroughmound; neolithic; offasdyke; richardatkinson; robertbewley; silbury; silburyhill; uk; unitedkingdom; wansdyke; watsdyke; wessex; wiltshire
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To: RightWhale
The Indian-as-great-civilazation crowd is doing a lot of work in Stone Age American archeology in the Indian mounds: a lot is tinged (or hiding behind political correctness as their faults tend to be hidden, and successes amplified) but there is more work being done. I've been to the Illinois and Missouri Indian mounds, and the ones in north GA and Alabama.

Impressive, but they are not much more complex than piled up dirt.

Get enough people/slaves/prisoners, and you can pile a lot of dirt up. Strange that this mound didn’t start getting holes and subsiding marks in the top until the arch’s starting tunneling recently.

21 posted on 05/12/2007 12:33:54 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: blam
Just like dragons (uniform world-wide in their descriptions and postures) are most likely inspired from T rex bones and footprints, the “memory” of Neanderthals (or their bones) near Cro-Mag for many years inspired the Orc’s, trolls, and dwarfs of legend.
22 posted on 05/12/2007 12:37:14 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE

I don’t understand how they could tell this is a man made mound and not a natural hill? Anyone?

Also, maybe the point to be yet discovered here this ancient civilization’s people didn’t have much in the way of brain cells, lol. Spending a lot of time making a hill...?!


23 posted on 05/12/2007 12:43:00 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: calex59
Snickers uber alles!

And guffaws back at you!

24 posted on 05/12/2007 1:22:14 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: packrat35

Those have got to limit sleep posture options.


25 posted on 05/12/2007 1:32:25 PM PDT by skeptoid (AE, AA , MBS with clusters)
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To: calex59
what is the point in spending hundreds of thousands of pounds fixing it?

If "we think" it was built spiral-fashion; if "we don't know" how it was built; if "we aren't sure" why it was built; if "we have no idea" how it origianlly looked:

Then how in Hell can "we fix" it?

Maybe they could just follow the current trend of archeology, and bury it in plaster of paris, until "future archeologistss have the knowlege and expertise to properly study" it.

26 posted on 05/12/2007 1:36:14 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: Beowulf9

it helps to see it in person to know, at least intuitively. who knows if the is a SMALL rise in the land underneath, but silsbury hill is distinct and visible from miles away.,, is circular and conical and there is nothing remotely comparable to it in height or shape in that area that I have ever seen.


27 posted on 05/12/2007 5:18:06 PM PDT by WoofDog123
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To: blam

The big brain came from the Neandertal. :’)


28 posted on 05/13/2007 6:40:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 11, 2007.)
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To: blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...
Thanks Blam. Also partly in Wiltshire, the later construction, the Wansdyke, involved more material. Links page has a link to another Wiltshire work (I'd never heard of it), Bican Dyke Linear Earthwork.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

29 posted on 05/13/2007 6:53:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 11, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv
My theory, which I call the Cool Hand Luke Hypothesis:

Ancient rulers believed that idle hands did the devil's work against them. Busy subjects were too tired to revolt.

"Now that you've finished digging that hole, fill it up!"

30 posted on 05/13/2007 8:03:10 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: ApplegateRanch
I think you're onto something.

I'm amused by this guy's name within this context:
Peer's fears over 'pyramid' hill
BBC
Monday, May 17, 2004
Lord Avebury says he is "stunned" the Countryside Agency's wants to label Silbury Hill in Wiltshire as "unimproved chalk grassland". The move could lead to ramblers having free access to the hill, which opponents fear may cause damage. However, the agency says it took the decision because the 4,700-year-old hill is a "man-made structure"... The act has already sparked one high-profile spat in Wiltshire with pop star Madonna keen to protect her privacy and estate from walkers and inquisitive sightseers. On Monday Lord Avebury told the hearing, at Hungerford, Berkshire, the hill was "comparable with the ancient Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Pyramids of Mexico". Silbury Hill, near Avebury, is thought to date back nearly 5,000 years to the Neolithic period. Archaeologists from English Heritage began investigating the hill four years ago after a hole appeared in the top, prompting fears it could collapse.

31 posted on 05/13/2007 8:08:09 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 11, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv
English Heritage is to spend £600,000 this summer trying to preserve the mound.

the Countryside Agency's wants to label Silbury Hill in Wiltshire as "unimproved chalk grassland".

English Heritage I know; but what the Sam Hill is Countryside Agency?!? It sounds like a realty outift.

32 posted on 05/13/2007 8:43:09 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: SunkenCiv
"The big brain came from the Neandertal. :’)"

Could Be.

33 posted on 05/13/2007 8:45:03 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

Okay, can we consider that there are geological events happening in the various plates that are part of our existing continents which, in the short term seem somewhat drastic, but in the millemium term are but a drop in the geolocigal schema of things...humm


34 posted on 05/13/2007 8:50:57 PM PDT by BigSkyVic
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To: SunkenCiv
Hadn't heard of Bican Dyke either.

Offas Dyke

The highest concentration of 'O' type blood in the world is behind Offas Dyke.

35 posted on 05/13/2007 8:51:08 PM PDT by blam
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To: BigSkyVic

I also wanted to attach this other post regarding Michau Pichau:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1832477/posts


36 posted on 05/13/2007 8:52:00 PM PDT by BigSkyVic
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To: ApplegateRanch

If “we think” it was built spiral-fashion; if “we don’t know” how it was built; if “we aren’t sure” why it was built; if “we have no idea” how it origianlly looked:

Then how in Hell can “we fix” it?

I don’t know...ask President Bush, it all his fault!


37 posted on 05/13/2007 8:56:55 PM PDT by BigSkyVic
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To: WoofDog123

Wow. Thanks for that reply, because I knew it had to be actually something that triggered all the attention, something that set it apart.

Really, I have always found Sillbury Hill to be interesting, kinda nice to know that bit.


38 posted on 05/13/2007 9:21:21 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: ApplegateRanch
what the Sam Hill is Countryside Agency?!? It sounds like a realty outfit.
I think that really is a realty office, and it's probably located in Sam Hill, but that's a different site. ;')
39 posted on 05/14/2007 4:44:57 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 11, 2007.)
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To: blam

And there’s also Wat’s Dyke, which is centuries older than Offa’s Dyke, and may have inspired it.


40 posted on 05/14/2007 4:46:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated May 11, 2007.)
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