On Silbury Hill Free

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See On Silbury Hill Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. On Silbury Hill by Adam On Silbury Hill. Adrian Cooper Editor. Silbury Hill in Wiltshire has inspired and perplexed people for generations. Artists and poets have fathomed their deepest thoughts searching for the hill's hidden meanings, archaeologists have tunnelled through earth On Silbury Hill fragments that prove its purpose. But for all this human endeavour, Silbury Hill remains a mystery. We do know it is the largest prehistoric mound in Eur Silbury Hill in Wiltshire has inspired and perplexed people for generations. We do know it is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. But was it once an island, moated by water? Was it a place of worship and celebration, perhaps a vast measure of the passing seasons? Along with Stonehenge and Avebury, was it part of a healing landscape or a physical memory of the long-ago dead? Silbury Hill is the sum of all that we project. A blank screen where human dreams and nightmares flicker. The hill has been part of Adam Thorpe's own life since On Silbury Hill schooldays at Marlborough, which he would often escape in the surrounding downlands. He has carried Silbury ever since, through his teenage years in Cameroon, into his adulthood in southern England and France: its presence fused to each landscape which became his home. It is a chalkland memoir told in fragments and family snapshots, skillfully built, layer on layer, from Britain's ancient and modern past. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions 2. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about On Silbury Hillplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of On Silbury Hill. I have read all of Adam Thorpe's novels, so I was intrigued when I discovered that he had written a non-fiction book about Silbury Hill, other ancient historical relics on the Wiltshire chalkland notably Avebury and Stonehenge, but also the smaller man-made hill in the grounds of Marlborough's public school, where Thorpe was educatedand how they have affected his life and On Silbury Hill. The book is something of a curate's egg, interesting at times, On Silbury Hill personal and idiosyncratic but let down by I have read all of Adam Thorpe's novels, so I was intrigued when I discovered that he had written a non-fiction book about Silbury Hill, other ancient historical relics on the Wiltshire chalkland notably Avebury and Stonehenge, but also the smaller man-made hill in the grounds of Marlborough's public school, where Thorpe was educatedand how they have affected his life and thinking. Perhaps this is inevitable because so little is known about the people who built the monuments or what their purpose was. Jul 22, Paul rated it really liked it Shelves: wainwright-prizebooks-readnatural-history. This book is so difficult to absolutely categorise. It combines a history book, a memoir and with some natural history, all On Silbury Hill on the prehistoric monument that is Silbury Hill. This amazing structure is the largest man made mound in Europe measuring 40m high and covering an area of five acres, and is believed to have been constructed around years ago. Even though it has outlived its creators for several millennia, nobody has On Silbury Hill single clue as to its purpose. That said, there has been pl This book is so difficult to absolutely categorise. That said, there has been plenty of speculation, and when viewed through the lens of the neolithic landscape it may have played some ritual purpose. Thorpe first became aware of the monument when he was a boarder at Marlborough school. Of excursions from school he walked and cycled the On Silbury Hill and even climbed it. It played an important part in his formative years as he escaped from the school. He makes journeys to Avebury and and other neolithic sites to try and understand the place, but without drawing any firm conclusions. It is a beautifully written book though, as he deftly weaves the On Silbury Hill between his childhood and recent visits to Silbury, with some of the characters that he meets on his travels, and the overlay of the paganism that you get around these sites. As an aside, this is a beautifully made book too. The size and weight of the book and paper feel just right, and the On Silbury Hill makes for easy reading. View all 6 comments. Shelves: summerpublishednonfictionancient-historybritain-englandeng-wiltshirearchaeologyautobiography-memoirbullies. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Jul 23, Penny rated it it was amazing Shelves: landscape. It's part of a small series On Silbury Hill monographs by Little Toller, and I am definitely going to seek out the other ones On Silbury Hill. I live very close, to a Neolithic Henge - I can see the woods surrounding it from my upstairs house windows. It has a strange pull, and that's not just me being fanciful. Locals are proud and protective about being part of such an 4. Locals are proud and protective about being part of such an ancient landscape. At the same time I have lost count of the people who have told me they avoid going into the copse because 'it has a funny feeling in there'. You'd have to pay me very good money On Silbury Hill go there alone at night! But what exactly are we feeling? Are we picking up how ancient the place is? The mystery of how and of course why it was built? Is it all in our minds? This book described as a 'chalkland memoir is a meditation on how Silbury Hill has been part of Thorpe's life, right back to when he was a young boarder at Marlborough School On Silbury Hill by, a place with its own mysterious mound. I loved the mixture of nature writing, archaeology and personal memoir On Silbury Hill thought it all worked really well. I especially appreciated Thorpe's honesty and lack of irony - his adolescent daydreams about being a Neolithic hunter returning home to his woman, or adventures in 18th century London under hypnosis. I like his dreaminess and imagination, and how he seems someone living in the wrong time. I really hope he does more non fiction writing. Thorpe can't give us any explanations about Silbury Hill. The point is, of course, that it has no point! View all 7 comments. A hard to define book, part memoir, part countryside and a dash of archeaology. After On Silbury Hill past the school days Mr Thorpe really hits his stride, sadly a little late. However, this is still an absorbing read. As well as providing the reader with information about the enigmatic hill and the varying theories about its original purpose, Thorpe wr On Silbury Hill, by Adam Thorpe, is another fascinating addition to On Silbury Hill Little Toller Monograph series. As well as On Silbury Hill the reader with information about the enigmatic hill and the varying theories about its original purpose, Thorpe writes of his time in Wiltshire as a schoolboy, and later in life when he would return to visit. Like many who are drawn to the area — I have lived nearby for over three decades — he finds something elemental in his reaction to the location and its ancient artefacts. Silbury Hill was built, probably over several generations, more than years ago. She is around feet high — the equivalent of a 13 storey building — and has a base covering around 5 acres. Nobody knows On Silbury Hill she was created although there are many theories. Archaeologists On Silbury Hill drilled down into her, dug tunnels through her and taken away samples to try to work out On Silbury Hill purpose. She is neither a burial mound nor a treasure trove. There are few clues as to what she may have been used for. What is known is that she was one of three man made mounds in an area that also includes the Avebury stone circles and its associated avenues. Nearby are several large barrows that exist to house the dead. There is evidence of massive gatherings in ancient times suggesting significant rituals were enacted. Today, gatherings are of tourists or those who claim a religious link. Silbury Hill - Wikipedia

Other English Sites:. Altered Landscapes. The Salisbury Complex. Geometric Alignments. England Homepage. Index of Ancient Sites. About Us. A-Z Site Index. Gift Shop. Silbury Hill: Conical Pyramid. The largest artificial earth mound pyramid in Europe. Conical in shape, and rising to a height of ft, with a circular base more than yards in diameter and a flattened top. Its total volume has been estimated atcubic feet. Excavations at the top and sides have revealed no skeletal or funerary remains. There are indications that a large pole may have once topped the hill. The flattened top is ft in diameter, the same as the exterior diameter of the Stonehenge sarsen stones. Click here for Map of site. Silbury Hill is a part of On Silbury Hill complex of Neolithic monuments around Avebury in Wiltshire which also includes the West Kennet long barrow and the Sanctuary. It reveals an immense technical skill and a prolonged control over labour and resources. Archaeologists calculate that Silbury Hill took 18 million man-hours to dump and shapecubic metres 8. The base of the monument is m ft in diameter and it is perfectly round. Its summit is flat-topped and 30m ft wide The same as the Sarsen circle at Stonehenge. More about the Salisbury Complex. The area immediately surrounding the monument is lower than the level On Silbury Hill the land around it. The presence of natural springs offers the suggestion that in the past the lowered area may have been filled On Silbury Hill with water on occasion On Silbury Hill a ' moat ' effect similar to that once surrounding Glastonbury Tor. Extract From British On Silbury Hill, Issue 70. The rectangular extension at Silbury, if water-filled, would have served as a cistern or reservoir. Elsewhere in the world, cisterns have often been the focus of ritual and ceremony. The mirror-like quality of standing water may have had symbolic implications On Silbury Hill. For just three days in early summeras the water-filled ditch dried out, a huge vegetation mark, straight-edged and some 10m wide, appeared to extend across the ditch On Silbury Hill for some 50m towards the mound. Its orientation, however, was curious, running diagonally across the ditch extension towards a position off-centre of the mound. The feature definitely seems man-made. It may be that the hill's Neolithic builders dug a deeper channel here to collect water from local springs and bring it to the deep ditch encircling the mound. It seems likely, then, that Silbury Hill's ditches were intentionally filled with water. Furthermore, the hill itself was built next to water, On Silbury Hill to the River Kennet. The On Silbury Hill of this monumental mound in a valley - so that its summit barely attains the level of the surrounding hilltops - has often raised comment. Why not build higher up? The answer must be that the place itself was as important as the mound. Being the largest prehistoric mound of its kind in Europe, we can assume that the construction of this hill was one of the most important undertakings of its time but we are often reminded that there have been no discoveries of funerary remains, chambers or any other evidence that might explain its construction so how are we to explain the presence of this monumental structure? On Silbury Hill, the mound sits in dip in the landscape, almost disguised by the surrounding folds in the hills, yet its specific location must have been an important consideration so it is likely for some reason that this was a deliberate choice. At the same time, we are reminded that the hill would have originally been white from the chalk which would have made the hill shine like a beacon to those who could see her. A White covering is also suspected on the three henges at the Thornborough Complex in Yorkshire suggestive of a ceremonial function. Although there are several other significant prehistoric structures in the area including the largest stone circle in the world at Aveburythey On Silbury Hill in effective isolation from each other. It is only from the top of the adjacent Wodin hill that they can be viewed together, and a glimpse On Silbury Hill the larger ceremonial landscape can be imagined. The large conical mounds found across UK have been suggested as representing the 'Primal Mound'. The concept of the primal mound is related to creation myths concerning the origin of mankind itself. Several other cultures such as Egyptian, Indian and Sumerian have references to 'Primal mounds' which were all said to have On Silbury Hill from the watery chaos of the 'First time'. In the Egyptian On Silbury Hill, Atum was considered both the creator and the destroyer and the primal mound itself, represented by the 'Ben-ben' and later through Obelisks and Pyramids. The most significant 'Primal' mounds in Uk - such as Silbury, Glastonbury and Maes Howe all share an association with water. It is now a common belief that Silbury Hill was built deliberately so as to be permanently surrounded by water. Similarly, Glastonbury was surrounded by water when it was first in use during the Neolithic. The Passage mound of Maes On Silbury Hill offers another interesting aspect of these purported mounds which is that they are commonly associated with one or two prominent nearby stone circles. Examples of this include Newgrange surrounded by a stone circleGavr'inis in France With the twin circles of Er-Lannic directly in frontand Ggantija on the island of Gozo Malta. Silbury Hill lies directly south of Aveburyand less than a kilometre away. More about Primal Mounds and Stone circles. The main advocate of this theory is Michael Dames, who wrote in the 70's of his theory that Silbury hill was constructed to represent the pregnant figure of the Earth-mother itself. Dames became aware that the outline formed by the moat surrounding Silbury resembled other prehistoric images of the Earth-mother. In order to support his claim, Dames presented evidence of other examples of Earth-mother profiles in ancient construction. In particular he mentions both the Maltese temples and the dwellings on the Orkneys, which have been noted for their anthropomorphic outlines. Perhaps even more significant is that recent discoveries have revealed that dwellings near Silbury were shaped anthropomorphically too. The Maltese Temples show a distinct similarity to the outline of the Earth-Mother. More about the Earth-Mother-Earth. Silbury Hill was built on a latitude with a geometric significance, as were several other prominent prehistoric structures. In Egypt, it is now realised that the temple complexes were located according to 'geodetic' principles, an it appears that the same can be said of many of On Silbury Hill European megalithic complexes. If one divides the northern hemisphere into seven equal units i. For example, the latitude of Silbury hill is mirrored in the exterior angle of Menkaures pyramid, and it is perhaps no coincidence that the exterior angle of Silbury hill is the same as the latitude of Giza. At present, such information is brushed off by most researchers as pure coincidence, but it is possible to see an On Silbury Hill of this geometry in the other Giza pyramids, and at other significant prehistoric locations. Silbury hill is just one On Silbury Hill a line of natural and artificial On Silbury Hill along the St. Michael's ley, which itself has a strong association with astronomy. Not only does the St. Michaels leyline pass both Glastonbury and Silbury Hill, but it also passes other similar features along the way such as the 'Barrow mump' and the 'Marlborough mound', both very significant structures, and both suspected of having Neolithic provenance. The tradition of burning beacons on hill tops to mark particular days is well understood in England and there are numerous examples of 'Beacon hills' and artificially flatten hill-tops reminding us that the practice was important in connecting both the On Silbury Hill and the people together with solar and lunar cycles. More about the St. Michael's Ley-line. Silbury hill is estimated to have been constructed around 2, - 2, BC. It is now suggested that the On Silbury Hill took two phases: soon after work was started, a re-design was ordered, and the mound enlarged. It is constructed in steps, each step being filled in with packed chalk, and then smoothed off. Two small trenches cut on the summit revealed a fragment of antler from a secure context, lying against a chalk wall in a deposit of chalk rubble. This produced a secure radiocarbon date of between BC, On Silbury Hill the mound firmly in the Late Neolithic 4. There have been three major excavations of the mound: the first when a team of Cornish miners led by the Duke of Northumberland sunk a shaft from top to bottom inanother in when a tunnel was dug from the edge into the centre, and a third in when professor Richard Atkinson had another tunnel cut into the base. Nothing On Silbury Hill any significance has ever been found on Silbury Hill: at its core there is only clay, flints, turf, moss, topsoil, gravel, freshwater shells, mistletoe, oak, hazel, sarsen stones, ox bones, and antler tines. In Prof. Richard Atkinson attracted a great deal of interest as he attempted to reveal the secrets of Silbury Hill near Marlborough. The BBC were present at Silbury for three seasons. Atkinson and his team followed the line of an earlier tunnel, dug in by Dean John Merewether but found nothing new about the site. Following the appearance of a hole in the top inEnglish Heritage began to organise an excavation to explore and repair the Hill. The cause of the hole was determined to be a collapse from the unsatisfactory back-fill from earlier excavations. It was decided to enter the tunnel dug by a team of archaeologists in and back-fill it with chalk, also filling in the voids created during the various excavations of the mound since the tomb-raiding exploits of the Duke of Northumberland. A seismic survey was commissioned by National Heritage in February It also showed that before it was covered over and smoothed, it had been built in the shape of a spiral, probably to assist in On Silbury Hill construction process. This same design has recently been determined to have been used to construct the Great pyramid of Giza. Ref: English Heritage. Porta-cabin compound at base of Silbury hill Work compound and light machinery on top of Silbury-Hill Atkinson's original research papers were investigated for clues but it was found that the detailed plans of what Atkinson and Taylor found when they reached the centre of the mound were missing from the archive. Tradition and Myth:. According to legend, this is the last resting place of King Sil. Another legend states that the mound holds a life-size solid gold statue of King Sil and yet a third, that the Devil was carrying an apron of soil to drop on the citizens of Marlborough, but he was stopped by On Silbury Hill priests of nearby Avebury. Silbury hill sits on the St. On Silbury Hill by Adam Thorpe

Silbury Hill - one of the most mysterious and striking monument in Britain - was a prehistoric 'cathedral', built layer by layer over years, a new study suggests. The 4, year old earth mound, which towers over the Wiltshire countryside, was the tallest man-made structure in Europe until the Middle Ages. But despite its size, and repeated attempts to tunnel into the heart of the mound, archaeologists have long been puzzled about how and why it was created. What lies beneath: Silbury Hill has long been thought to be concealing treasure, a temple or a tomb. Now a new book published by English Heritage suggests that the ft high hill was not built to a grand blueprint, but was assembled by at least On Silbury Hill generations of Bronze Age Britons between and BC. A study of soil, rocks, gravel and tools inside the hill show that it went through 15 distinct stages of development. Dr Jim Leary, English Heritage archaeologist, said the creators were building the mound as part of a 'continuous story telling ritual' - and that the final shape of the mound may have been unimportant. He argues that the familiar outline of stepped sides On Silbury Hill the flat top visible today is largely the result of Anglo-Saxons and later alterations. Silbury Hill lies close to the stone circles of Avebury and a few miles from Stonehenge. Archaeologists estimate that it would have On Silbury Hill men working for 10 years to build out of soil and chalk. It On Silbury Hill as a low gravel mound before it was transformed into a pile of soil and rock surrounded by a ditch. Silbury Hill: Mysterious prehistoric man-made structure's creation may have been an accident. Dr Leary added: 'The most intriguing discovery is the repeated occurrence of antler picks, gravel, chalk and stones in different kinds of layering, in ways that suggest that these materials and their different combinations had symbolic meanings. The hill was damaged in the 18th century when archaeologists sank a vertical shaft from the top. In the s a tunnel was dug into the mound from the edge, while in BBC2 On Silbury Hill a new attempt to tunnel into On Silbury Hill centre of the mound. After parts of the mound began to sink inEnglish Heritage reopened On Silbury Hill BBC tunnel, took samples of soil and rock, filled in the gaps and sealed the mound for good. Underground: A central tunnel that has been dug underneath the mound near Avebury. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Argos On Silbury Hill. Mystery of why man-made mound at Silbury Hill was built is solved SILBURY HILL FACT FILE - It is thought to have been built between BC and BC - The mound On Silbury Hill chalk, stones, wood, gravel and picks - and their patterns have been considered significant by architects - Silbury Hill roughly compares in height and size to the Egyptian pyramids - Dr Leary now believes the mound went through 15 stages of construction - and up to different phases within that over four or five generations - Silbury Hill is part of a World Heritage site that also includes Stonehenge On Silbury Hill the village of Avebury - A hole dug by the BBC in has been re-opened before being permanently sealed amid fears there could be a collapse - BBC diggers thought they may have discovered an ancient burial chamber in when they broke into a hollow area but it turned out to be an earlier tunnel - The mound suffered a collapse between May On Silbury Hill December Share or comment on this article: Silbury Hill mound solved It was all an accident. 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