I think there have been some amazing photos posted over christmas! Not that I could have probably got a very good shot from a speeding train, but on my way home after the family get-together I watched a beautiful sunset as we passed the Uffington horse.
It started me thinking about the design of the figure. It faces right, while all the more modern horses face left. At the time I was concocting some romantic theory about the horse galloping towards the midwinter sunset. Though squinting at a map I'm not sure it's really facing that direction as well as it might (I suppose the only thing to do would be to go up there with a compass).
If you think about it, which way would YOU draw a horse facing? I think most people (right-handed people at least) would draw it facing left. You can see what you're drawing: you'd start with the head maybe, start at the left and draw the body at the right. We're very used to writing from left to right too. I suppose the creators of the horse didn't write - perhaps this meant they were equally comfortable drawing a horse facing either way. Or perhaps not but they deliberately wanted it to face the apparently less convenient rightward direction for a particular reason.
I don't know. Any thoughts would be welcome - especially from people who've been up there and wondered about it! Don't let my unscientific thread die an unanswered death:)
 Reply | with quote | Posted by Rhiannon
8th January 2003ce
13:33 |
Archaeology by train (Rhiannon, Jan 08, 2003, 13:33) |
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