Neolithic site swap anyone

Silbury Hill 180

Image by GLADMAN

wideford Mar 31, 2005 16:15:53

Attended a talk last night by Dr. Alison Sheridan, the Head of Early History at the National Museum of Scotland. After mentioning that 'Wessex archaeology' came down from Orkney and the Ring of Brodgar gaining accepted as being based on Stonehenge (IIRC. else v.v.) she said she had a theory that Silbury Hill had been built in imitation of Maes Howe when that was a much more conical mound. Any takers ?

nigelswift Mar 31, 2005 16:23:42

Replying to wideford

Haven't heard of that. Has she written anything?

Coincidentally, there's a theory that Maes Knoll = Silbury and in fact that much of the Avebury landscape is an attempt to replicate the Stanton Drew area
http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~lbull/stanton.html

Littlestone Mar 31, 2005 16:35:10

Replying to wideford

Did she (Dr Sheridan) elaborate at all on her theory that Silbury had been built in imitation of MH?

StoneLifter Mar 31, 2005 17:33:54

Replying to wideford

I like Alison - she is a kind and generous person with a very sharp mind. However she is not the living embodiment of the megalith-building tradition (I am) and she is just really clutching at the latest results from improved dating techniques to stimulate debate. I am fairly certain that *all* the mounds were made in 'imitation' of natural hills. Probably at that time the particularly fine hill specimens had myths attached that said they were made by previous generations of giants.

fitzcoraldo Mar 31, 2005 18:24:44

Replying to wideford

does this mean that the great wold barrows, particularly Duggleby Howe have fallen out of fashion as a prototype for silbury?

VenerableBottyBurp Mar 31, 2005 19:02:23

Replying to wideford

I don't suppose there was anything offered in the way of evidence ?

VBB