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 Head To Head The Modern Antiquarian Saith Maen Forum | Start a topic | Search |
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GLADMAN wrote: tiompan wrote: GLADMAN wrote: In many respects the relatively low altitude of UK mountains is irrelevant - just means they are older - and people die upon them regardless, in all seasons - for example an SAS man last time I took my niece up the Brecon Beacons. The reason for the death of the SAS chap this year was due to exhaustion ,thats what the Brecon Beacons are used for , a bit of rough country where you can be pushed to your limits , running with 44 lb kit etc . Brecon is not viewed as a mountain survival or training ground purely a place to get fit physically and mentally The mountain training by the SAS is done in Alpine Europe .With the exception of some Scottish areas in winter conditions we don't really have the mountaineering experience here . To be honest I try to avoid both soldiers and 'mountaineers'. Experience has shown both to have very little to say regarding anything apart from the sheer physical aspect of being on the hills. If that's your macho bag, fine, but surely there must be more than brute strength? To me the physical aspect is merely a means to an end and consequently I try to minimise it wherever I can When considering how ordinary Bronze Age people may have viewed the British hills I'd say we need to focus upon how 'ordinary' people today fare upon them... unless we're implying only the warrior elite took part in rituals back then? In that respect they are more than enough to ensure many people get completely out of their depth and in serious danger - glance at the local South Wales media and it is apparent that people regularly need to be rescued, even from a hill as apparently benign as The Sugar Loaf near Abergavenny. Guess it's all relative. I don't believe that I gave the impression that the " sheer physical aspect " is my macho bag ,or only warrior elites took part in rituals in hilly areas , although the former does have it's place and I wouldn't exclude the latter as a possibility .Warriors , like grannies don't get much of a mention in prehistory .Similarly I wouldn't be happy using 21 st C punters abilities or asthetics as a yard stick in judging those of the Bronze Age or earlier in any terrain particularly if it was their native heath/hill . We next to nothing about about all that , but we do have Oetzi ,he was found at 3210 m more than twice the height of Britains highest hill. I did find the Neil Oliver &Mark Edmonds attitude at the Langdale Pikes instructive , they had a nice stroll up ,you can keep your ahnds in your pockets all the way if need be ,then commented upon how the "factory workers " would have been considered the situation ,pretty demeaning in my book . People have always worked or went to incredibly difficult places throughout history it's one of the things we are good at. Reply | with quote |  26th February 2011ce 22:24 In reply to: Re: What criteria for a natural TMA monument? (GLADMAN) |
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