Whiter than white

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Though previously discussed on the Stones List, we never really got to the bottom of why Thornborough may have been coated with gypsum (as reported in a TV programme a couple of years ago) or whether Silbury and Avebury were conceived as 'white' structures that were 'scrubbed' on a regular basis to maintain their whiteness.

A white Silbury no longer seems to be a particularly fanciful idea but I wonder what the optical properties of chalk structures in general might be? (other than being white of course :-) Specifically, did Avebury, Thonborough and Silbury (and perhaps some hill figures as well) once fluoresce under ultraviolet light?

The daytime level of UV is actually quite high even on overcast days and, if the chalk was fluorescing under those conditions, would it have made structures made of chalk look a little more 'whiter than white'? But (and this is the question not fully answered on the Stones List) is there enough (or even any) UV in moonlight; if there is, is there enough to make a structure, made principally of chalk, appear to 'glow' in the dark? And if there is... does it matter? (on second thoughts ignore that last question :-)

By accident , I found Myself on a chalk hill, the other day.
Good view on a sunny frosty day, when all around appears white.
All that your mind can think (apart from doing a Jack and Jill, and not falling down it ) is, why, why chalk, why here ?
My eccentric behaviour, includes doing a balancing act on the side of a hill, whilst holding two rods, asking where is the energy that is so abundant around it ?
But I didnt find it , insulator, thats a property that chalk is good at, You could soundproof a place very well with chalk.
So why that spot, what would happen if it wasnt there, what happened before it was there.
As You are aware I consider that a form of energy, travels around this globe on a network of invisable, to our retinas, grid systems , this system I am sure is manouverable , adaptable, and all the ancient sites are specifically for this purpose, so it is from this point of view that I consider chalk as one of the most valuable commodities that was available to ancient man.
If You would please consider , that with chalk, You could insulate around all the site of Avebury, and basically manipulte this energy into your desired position and increase its potential , for your desired needs.
I envisage a very white looking enviroment, of pathways ,leading across country, with banked sides, to manipulate a flow to the precise spots that you wish to divert it to, in a similar way as you would with water,.
I also envisage the stones been constantly cleaned, scrubbed, with chalk blocks, the residue, being used to recover the pathways etc.
But why the hill ?, well, without moving it, I can only presume that at that spot , they considered they were loosing too much energy, sort of going down the plug hole, so stick a cap on it ,plug up the spot, with the material you know so well, across the road from this hill is a long barrow, the energy I talk of goes off to the left (looking up the path as you walk towards it) but reappears hitting the middle stone at a point dug into stone, it goes thro stone, picking up power from 19 ley lines that also hit that spot, runs thro barrow and hits the small chamber now bricked up.
Outside of barrow it is apparent that they packed a lot of chalk at the other side of the small chamber , to stop the energy escaping.
A lot of effort , to achieve what ?
I consider that they worshipped this planet, all the lunar planets as well, and really believed that all life is born, dies, and is reborn again.
Not saying that they were right, just an eccentrics view of the clues.

Perhaps the answer is very simple and is more basic than the crystaline/electrical properties of chalk or gypsum.
I would imagine that the use of chalk is simply because of the sheer whiteness of the material.
White is an astounding colour, yeh I know ..is it a colour, but you know what I mean. For sheer visual impact in the landscape you can't really beat it. On a sunny day, stare at a white surface for any length of time and you'll soon start experiencing loss/alteration of vision.
Also white is the colour of milk, a staple food in many pastoralist cultures and often associated with fertility/the goddess in the form of offerings - libation - pouring over stones /into cup marks etc. White is also the colour of semen - another link to fertility.
I suppose it's also worth mentioning that the significance of a the chalk landscape when choosing pasture and farmland was well understood, not only in Wessex but also in East Yorkshire. Couple all of this with the chalk being the rock that yeilds the best quality flint, then we could be heading towards a sacred geology.

As for Thornbro's gypsum. Thornbro' is later in date than many of the Wessex henges so we can assume that the Yorkshire henge builders were copying the structures they had seen a couple of hundred miles south along the Jurrasic Way - the prehistoric trackway between Yorkshirte and Wessex.
We should also mention the abundance of Quartz chippings found within many stone circles especially in Scotland.

Whilst out wandering, tripped up over some mole hills, full of chalk and flint, as a good citizen, cleared up into My pocket, as an antique dealer with access to UV, results, Velly interesting , Mon Professor.

Hi L,

If the Thornborough Henges were plastered using gypsum paste, there would be nothing to stop them from being painted.