Re: Ignorance | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

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Ignorance

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Mr Hamhead Jan 20, 2005 20:40:18

Replying to FourWinds

Thanks for all the feedback...I think we can assume that the chambers dont go in too far. So is it just a status thing? When you look at some of the Cornish barrows they are large mounds but as far as I know they only tend to include small burial chambers.
Bit like having one of those over the top monuments in a graveyard rather than just a stone saying "Sid lies here".

Mr H

Kammer Jan 21, 2005 09:46:58

Replying to Mr Hamhead

> So is it just a status thing?

I don't think so. It's an distinctive architectural form that survived over a considerable period of time. Like all religious architecture, it's saying something about the relationship between humans and the gods/goddesses/God/Goddess/heaven/ancestors or whatever.

Even steeples, which are arguably status symbols, serve primarily as a symbol of the proximity between the church and God. In the context of this architectural form, the steeples kept getting bigger and bigger, to the point where they started falling down! This doesn't appear to be the case with long barrows. We don't see 1 mile long barrows.

;-)#

That's my take on it anyway.

K x