Featured: Friendly specialist tours to ancient, mystical and historical sites in the UK and beyond

Friendly specialist tours to ancient, mystical and historical sites in the UK and beyond

Random Image


Men Braz menhir

Das Raetiastein GPS by Thomas Walli

Das Raetiastein GPS by Thomas Walli

Who's Online

There are currently, 445 guests and 1 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Feature Articles >> What is Silbury Hill?

Submitted by Thorgrim on Thursday, 22 September 2005  Page Views: 9848

Multi-periodCountry: England County: Wiltshire Type: Artificial Mound

Internal Links:

Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill submitted by Thorgrim : Sectional drawing showing the three phases of Silbury Hill. (see feature article "What is Silbury Hill?") (Vote or comment on this photo)
What is Silbury Hill and what was its purpose? How was it constructed and when? Was the top deliberately kept soil free so that the white chalk shone in the sun and moonlight? Was it a religious ritual platform or a status symbol for tribal leaders to dominate the area? Was it an observatory? What do we know of lunar/solar/astral observations that can be made from the top of Silbury as they rise and move across the surrounding hills? Again, the question of the coincidence of the height of the shiny white platform in relation to the surrounding hills – is that just coincidence or deliberate - if the latter - why?

The one thing that we do know for certain is that it is not a natural hill, but man made. Caroline Malone who is a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Bristol and was a former Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Curator of the Alexander Keiller Museum at Avebury tells us that it was built in three phases as illustrated in this sectional drawing. Phase 1 was built around 2700BC and was a small mound built of muddy layers of gravel. It was covered in turf that was held in place with a fence of wooden stakes. We know that it was turfed in the summer because flying ants have been preserved in the freshly cut turf.

Phase 2 was started about 200 years later and consisted of a larger mound built over Phase 1. This involved the partial digging of a deep surrounding ditch and the excavated chalk rubble formed the mound. Before it was completed, plans were changed and work commenced on Phase 3. This meant filling in the first ditch and digging another further out enclosing an area of 2.5 acres. This ditch was 20 feet deep and contributed to the larger mound, but additional material was required and so extra quarries were dug. The working tools were of stone, bone, wood and antlers. This was a real feat of prehistoric engineering and not a simple mound at all. Six tiers of chalk walls were built up like a wedding cake. Each wall inclined inwards at an angle of 60 degrees to give maximum stability. This formed an internal skeleton or intricate web of reinforcement walls with the outer walls of each step built of larger blocks of chalk. The steps were then filled in with silt from the huge quarries. Only the top step was not filled in and this can clearly be seen today.


In my attempt at a reconstruction, I have shown the hill as it might have looked soon after Phase 3 was completed. It is recently grass grown and so the chalk shines through. Only the top deck is scoured clean of grass and soil so that it shines in the sunshine of a warm spring day in 2500 BC. The angle of the outer slope is that as shown in photos and is about 40 degrees. If it is true that all but the top terrace or tier were filled in with silt, then that would have produced a fertile, grass grown slope much like it is today. The exception would have been a shining chalk inward sloping wall at the top surmounted by a chalk platform. The whole thing would have looked like a gigantic green breast with a white nipple (groans - mother goddess stuff again!)

Very many questions remain unanswered, but two really intrigue:

1 Spiral path. Is there any evidence that there was a spiral path (other than the steeper one we see today which may be Roman) See this English Heritage drawing which shows a very pronounced spiral. The only pointer in its favour seems to be that today in this photo
the bottom of the top step seems to be lower on the right side than on the
left. That suggests an inclined plane.

2 Top step. If it is correct that the top step protruded from the green mound, then where did the soil that is there today come from? English Heritage's 3D model shown hereand naked eye observation does appear to show the top step much clearer than the lower ones as seen here.

We know that the later Roman road detoured around the hill and that the Romans used it as a survey point. Later still, the Saxons used it as a lookout post and stronghold. And what of the legend of King Sil who is supposed to be buried inside – no burial has yet been found. So what is Silbury Hill?


<< Better Megalithic Photography

The Great Stone Circles - How they Work Part 9 >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion

Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"What is Silbury Hill?" | Login/Create an Account | 11 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: What is Silbury Hill? by Anonymous on Wednesday, 28 September 2005
I know what it is. Its a very good drawing and very clear to understand
why it is like that!
JCAntunes
[ Reply to This ]

Re: What is Silbury Hill? by mishkin on Thursday, 22 September 2005
(User Info | Send a Message)
Grand designs.. That is what Silbury Hill is all about, don't quite feel that a single tier of white chalk would have been its function. Its just a very large mound, that would have shone out in its day. Today it has an enormous grace sitting amongst the folds of the fields, the curve and slope of the surrounding landscape enhances its position. WKLB and East Kennet would also have been there - a very different statement, but how did the builders of Silbury view them? Sometimes I think there is too much emphasis on sun and moon to explain things away, they were important but were just part of a natural landscape. Someone once wrote, " making a place in space" or something to that effect, Silbury Hill fills it space beautifully but I am not sure that it actually hides anything of significant value in its interior!
[ Reply to This ]

Re: What is Silbury Hill? by PeteG on Thursday, 22 September 2005
(User Info | Send a Message)
I suggest you read the EH report
'The investigation and analytical survey of Silbury Hill' Dave Fields ISSN 1478-7008
which will clear up much of the mistakes Malone made in the past.
The core samples show that Silbury was built in one go not in 3 stages.
The terracing is Saxon revetment and the so called Spiral is probably the spoil from the hole that Drax dug in 1777 and thrown over the side. This has been slipping for some time hence the apparent spiral.

PeteG
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: What is Silbury Hill? by Thorgrim on Thursday, 22 September 2005
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Interesting isn't it how the experts speak with such certainty and then another expert says "No - that's all wrong" and then another expert comes along and...

    Perhaps it was the lizards after all.
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: What is Silbury Hill? by PeteG on Thursday, 22 September 2005
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Better technology gives us better answers.
    Remember Archaeology is the science of rubbish and as Glyyn Daniels once wrote "The problem with archaeology is when to stop laughing"
    PeteG
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: What is Silbury Hill? by Thorgrim on Thursday, 22 September 2005
      (User Info | Send a Message)
      Glyn Daniels was one of my early heroes - great communicator! Awful lot of Silbury defenders and enthusiasts still putting it about that it's a stepped pyramid with a spiral path.
      [ Reply to This ]
      Re: What is Silbury Hill? by PeteG on Thursday, 22 September 2005
      (User Info | Send a Message)
      >Awful lot of Silbury defenders and enthusiasts still putting it about that it's a stepped pyramid with a spiral path.

      People repeat what they have been told. Early EH press releases diverted attention away from the damage by focusing on the supposed spiral path but when you actualy looked closely at what they said it was all maybe, possibly, probably.
      If there ever was a spiral path it would show more at the bottom not just start near the top.
      The tomography only shows one almost full turn at the top which is consistent with the spoil from Draxs tunnel. Where else could he have put all that earth that was removed?
      PeteG
      [ Reply to This ]
        Re: What is Silbury Hill? by Thorgrim on Thursday, 22 September 2005
        (User Info | Send a Message)
        Question - You say it was built in one go - How then do you account for the ants in the turf of what Malone calls Phase 1?
        [ Reply to This ]
        Re: What is Silbury Hill? by PeteG on Thursday, 22 September 2005
        (User Info | Send a Message)
        Dave Fields report dismisses the flying ants theory as the start date for building being in July/August because some were found on the ground level and some in the turf stacks of mound one.
        I'm not an Exspert but I thoroughly recommend Dave's report to be read alongside Aleister Whittle's
        Holy mound Holy hill (?) which has photos of the post holes for the Saxon revetments taken when Prof Atinkinson plundered, sorry, excavated the side and top in the 1970's.
        EH has quite a detailed pdf report on their Silbury page which is also worth reading,
        PeteG
        [ Reply to This ]
          Re: What is Silbury Hill? by Thorgrim on Thursday, 22 September 2005
          (User Info | Send a Message)
          Thanks Pete - I'll keep quiet now and wait for others to come in and defend their shattered illusion of a multi-tiered chalk wedding cake looming like a Mexican pyramid waiting for the astronauts to land.
          [ Reply to This ]
          Re: What is Silbury Hill? by mishkin on Thursday, 22 September 2005
          (User Info | Send a Message)
          http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba70/feat2.shtml this is a general article by David Field, Sept 2003 which might help explain Silbury's battered history by romans, saxon, archaeologists, etc..
          [ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.