Comment Post

Re: Whiteleaf Barrows by JimChampion on Thursday, 19 October 2006

How old is this 'pyramid' interpretation supposed to be? In Paul Newman's "Lost Gods of Albion (The chalk hill figures of Britain)" he references a Saxon charter of the area from AD 903 which makes no mention of, or allusion to, the pyramid or cross. At this time the hillslope was called "easterern brisan byrge", meaning "the eastern hill covered with brushwood". The traditional interpretation is that the figure was cut in the 16th or 17th centrury. There are some theories concerning 'alignments' using the sides of the triangle, but recutting of the figure during the Victorian era makes these difficult to investigate further. I recommend the book mentioned above, and it contains scholarly references!

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