|
 Log in |
Register
|
|
 Head To Head The Modern Antiquarian Silbury Hill Forum | Start a topic | Search |
77 messages | Select a forum: |
tiompan wrote: Sanctuary wrote: tiompan wrote: Sanctuary wrote: tiompan wrote: I don't have a problem with it all Sanctuary and see it as big step forward in our understanding .The model is based on archaeological evidence , no amount of “thinking “ about Silbury is going to produce that kind of evidence , otherwise we would be back to King Sil and Roman Stonehenge . Do we ignore it because it doesn't fit in with our thinking ? Many major and lesser sites when investigated started off from small beginnings Knowth , Long Barrows ,stone circles (Stonehenge took a long time to assume it's current architecture ) etc ,often a midden ,lithic scatter , a few scoops in the ground , deposits , a burial etc until the final monument we see today , appears , sometimes many generations after the initial sequence . It may be his interpretation based on archaeological evidence George but it is nevertheless pure speculation that there was no set plan. Prof Atkinson viewed exactly the same thing but interpreted it differently. He claimed it was built in three main stages whilst JL claims 15 at least. That's fine and I'm easy with that, but the conclusion isn't IMO and nothing to do with thinking but the sheer undertaking of the task for it to be random. In the CH4 programme, Silbury: The Heart of the Hill that JL featured in, the claim was made that the hill took between 100 to 400 years to complete depending on how the evidence stacked up. It now comes down to 100 years but the building principles were still the same so the suggestion that it was continually built upon for what could have been up to 400 years as just a 'storytelling ritual' I find hard to swallow. But of course I'm speculating as well but feel more comfortable with my belief even though I may be just as way of the mark as I feel he is. We're not there yet I feel with the hill still keeping hold of its secrets and waiting for the next idea to come along. Love it!! I havn't read the book and my old understanding was that the early phase was approx 2400 BC but the final phase was unsure ,is there any advance on that ? This is what the EH review says:- 'New and more precise dating of materials found inside the Hill have helped to pinpoint the construction period to be about 100 years involving some three generations between 2400 and 2300BC. Careful study of records obtained in the tunnel dug through the cross-section of the Hill in 2007 shows the monument underwent at least 15 distinct stages of development, instead of the three-phase theory previously suggested'. I have not read the book either George and don't know if I want to now. I can't believe that he suggests (according to EH) that he believes there was no blueprint or forward planning. 'Silbury Hill was not a single construction project and that the builders did not have any blueprint in mind. Instead, the creators were building the mound as part of a continuous storytelling ritual and the importance of the shape that we see now is of secondary importance'. We're not talking about a sandcastle here but a mound covering 5.5 acres 130ft high. Who doesn't plan something like that common sense tells me!!! When one looks at an ants' nest, a child could be forgiven for thinking they're just running around like headless chickens whereas we know for sure that they are working to a plan. This suggests that our great ancestors and the builders of Silbury Hill were far less intelligent than ants if they had no plan! I find the idea quite ridiculous based on what the review says. The bottom line is that it has been built of that we are certain, what we all still want to know (well I do anyway) is why it was built and why it was so high. I have my own ideas but they could be rubbish!! LOLOL The height thing is interesting in that it so close to to the height of Waden Hill but not higher . On my next trip I want to find out how high it is compared to the WKLB. I've been meaning to do that for ages now but not gotten around to it. Anyone know? Reply | with quote | Posted by Sanctuary 28th October 2010ce 15:13 In reply to: Re: The Story of Silbury Hill - Paperback (tiompan) |
Messages in this topic: |