Silbury Hill 180
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Silbury Hill

spiral path

That is indeed what I was saying when I uttered this:

"If you find a Roman coin at a site it just tells you that it was still sacred during the first four hundred years CE."

Meaning that it couldn't be a Norman construction - although the Norman's could have altered or added to it. I've mentioned this before: a few mottes in Ireland have been excavated and found to have burials at the base. They were done a long time ago, so there is no good record of whether the mottes were built on barrows or if the bodies were put there as some sort of offering. Knowing the Norman Xtianity side of things I think it's more likely that the Normans came and said something along the lines of, "We need a motte here. Ooh Look a mound we can use as a quick start!", but in French.

Aren't we all saying the same thing now? Some mottes were built on Saxon moots or meeting places (must be a linguistic link there and also with French mots), moots were often built on barrows, sometimes the mottes missed out the moot bit and were built directly on barrows, sometimes they may have been built on earlier fortifications. None of these scenarios are impossible for Merlin's Mount. I just react when people make the assumption that it is a smaller form of Silbury Hill without any evidence offered. Fully accept that antler tines and Roman coins show probable earlier construction work (depending on strata of the locations of finds). Strip away the terraces, forget the spiral path - what's left? Size and proximity to Silbury Hill.