An excellent presentation Matthias, thank you. I am a Dorset native and have known the Giant for most of my life - he is held in great affection locally and referred to as "our" Giant and regarded as benevolent. During the severe drought of 1976 we were living in Stalbridge about 10 miles from Cerne Abbas. My mother was concerned about our mains water and phoned the Local Water Board - "Don't worry madam" said the official answering, "there's always plenty of water under the Giant!"

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for that nice comment! I remember that scorching summer of 1976 very well. I spent a few weeks back in my beloved Thames-valley, south Buckinghamshire, after having been 'exiled' the year before. Great memories!

@alistairwilliams9885

6 ай бұрын

Showing the fertility of the land, fresh clean water in times after the plague, encouraging people to create families in places of abundance ✨

Man I hope your channel grows. You deserve it! You make quality content for sure! Keep it up!

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

I'll do my best - thanks!!

My goodness I have only just found your channel… what a find! Excellent commentary, professionally presented images and a good pace. Many thanks, I am looking forward to working through your channel in the coming weeks. ❤🏆

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Many thanks, and great encouragement for future work!

Excellent video. Thanks for taking us along. Especially liked the bit with you sitting on that huge old tree roots, which suggests to me, what a wild place England once was.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Thanks! That tree was a lucky find - I haven't got the time and funds to do any meaningful scouting before I hit an area for filming. And I'm a bit ashamed about that Boris-crack - but I just couldn't resist. My own daughter told me off for introducing a 'political' note.

Looks like a beautiful area - the lovely little village, the rolling hills, everything!

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! Yes, it's gorgeous, especially if you get a bit of sunshine!

I remember every time my family would go on holiday we would stop to see him, my mum would wind down her window, look and with a smile on her face say, 'he's very impressive, ‘that’s one of the biggest clubs I’ve ever seen’ or ‘I bet he enjoyed beating’. Me and my brothers would be in the backseat looking at each other saying ‘What the hell is mum talking about he’s just a badly drawn stickman’.😂

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Great story, thanks! That must have been from Acreman Street, new the A352. What struck me is that the view, although the best you can get from ground level, is actually not that good. If she is still around, show her the drone footage - you probably have told her about those childhood thoughts!

The interesting thing about the White Horse is that, if it were made today it would be regarded as a fine example of modern art. It's stylized figure is very much in the vein of what we now call modern art in fact. And it reminds me that there are some drawings from the French caves that are stunningly similar to those of current artists.

@MattMesserPics

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for that! Yes, it is interesting that the giant looks much cruder, making you think it's the older of the two, whereas the horse is at least 1500 years older. Is elegance timeless? Or (my favourite theory) was there much more cultural exchange and trade even in the bronze age than what we give those people credit for?

@denniseldridge2936

5 ай бұрын

@@MattMesserPics I really do think that there may well have been a great deal more interaction between cultures than we might think. I do wonder if there were intrepid "commerce explorers" who were always on the hunt for new markets for their own tradesmen, as well as new sources of new items they could take back home and sell.

@MattMesserPics

4 ай бұрын

@@denniseldridge2936 I think that's exactly how it was. We have found artefacts of Mediterranean origin in stone-age dwellings in England and think about the uncanny similarity between the Scottish brochs and the Sardinian Nuraghes, both from the same period, to name but two examples.

@salzar0357

12 күн бұрын

I have a theory that the great solar solstice and equinoctial festivals were a calendar, annual gathering times for families and kin as well as for this kind of sharing of ideas and artefacts. In other words trade, and the celebration of artisans bringing new technologies from all over the Bronze Age world.

Great short documentary. I am surprised at how ancient the Giant is not.

@MattMesserPics

Күн бұрын

It was a surprise for most, I guess. When the OSL-dating program on the giant was started in 2020, we had known for some years about the Bronze-Age origin of the White Horse, a very similar figure. At Cerne Abbas, however, the situation is actually quite puzzling. The date ranges obtained for various parts of the figure vary significantly and it is only the oldest parts where we can say that the most probable date is around the year 950 AD.

Pause @3:27 - My intuition tells me that this Giant most likely held two staffs originally, one in each outstretched arm, hence linking him to the Sun Gate at Lake Titicaca and Quetzalcoatl. While touring St Andrew's in Scotland a couple of weeks ago I came across a figure that adorns many different sites from Churches to University Halls of a man with outstretched arms and legs, holding a staff in each hand. In a few examples the 'staffs' appear more like wriggling snakes than sticks. Very interesting connections indeed.

@MattMesserPics

Күн бұрын

Interesting! Google 'Long Man of Wilmington'!

The Romans called him "Biggus Dikkus with the tiny head."

Wrt to the Monks of Cerne, we might consider the poetry from Carmina Burana, only a couple of centuries after their Abbey was founded. Nice work.

@MattMesserPics

7 күн бұрын

Thank you!

Brilliant video!

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

SCIENCE, HISTORY, ART, BEAUTY, MYSTERY IN ONE VLOG! BEAUTIFUL. THANK YOU❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Ohh, what a nice comment to start the weekend with, thanks!!

It’s not how big it is that matters, it’s what you do with it that counts

I had a holiday very near both the horse and the giant so it was great to hear about both of them, thank you. We walked to see both of them.

@MattMesserPics

Ай бұрын

Glad you liked the videos! It is a wonderful part of the world and I miss it since I moved away.

I think the biggest Bellends are resided in Westminster!

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

How true - I overlooked the obvious - again! 🤣

Lovely video, Matthias! Very informative and beautifully presented.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for that!

I’m so happy I discovered your channel! It is fascinating. Thank you.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for enjoying it!

Great Video as always

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, mate!

Only found your channel today! I am loving your videos, thank you!

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for letting me know, always much appreciated. I hope that means I now have another subscriber - I'm still at the point where I can send everybody a personal welcome note..😅

Excellent videos Matt. By the way your ability to maintain a serious posture at the 04:53 humor was truly a masterpiece...🤣. Greetings -from Malaysia

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

I am honoured and humbled to receive praise from as far as Malaysia, thanks! Don't tell anybody, but it took me several takes to get the 'Naughtius Maximus' line right ;-)

"Ruinenlust" (German) = the joy one gets looking at ruins.

@MattMesserPics

2 күн бұрын

I hadn't heard of that one, but I totally (obviously) get the point!

I really enjoyed your presentation, thank you so much. 🙏

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

And thanks very much for enjoying and telling me!

Love your videos, captivating and well researched

@MattMesserPics

10 күн бұрын

Thank you very much - that encourages me to keep it up. Sorry about having less time for them these days...

Excellent video, thank you very much.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that nice comment!

I read ages ago that there was a survey done in the area of his left arm and originally there was something draped over his arm believed to be the Nemean lion skin so it is possible it represents Hercules

@MattMesserPics

Күн бұрын

Yes, you are right!

Just found you and I am enjoying your videos, thank you.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Superb video, very informative and well presented as always. The giant is fairly local to me and as seen in some of the drone shots, there are a few settlements still extant on the hilltop & the surrounding countryside is awash with 'Celtic' field systems. Your description of the dating process was extremely well done, thank you.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Seriously happy and humbled by that praise, thank you! The square structure on the hilltop is believed to be Iron-Age but, as far as could find out, not much investigated to date. It is too small for a fort, too strange for a residential building and, I guess, a bit of a mystery in itself. Or have I missed something? Thanks again!

@leftpastsaturn67

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics You're very welcome, just praise where it's due. The general consensus is that most small enclosures were exactly that, stock enclosures, with some containing evidence of abodes as in the one further North of the earthwork shown. But like anything that ancient, and as you alluded to, conjecture is the best we can manage so far.

A beautiful documentary. Thank you. Subscribed.

@MattMesserPics

5 күн бұрын

Thank you! I'll try to get some good stuff out there - slower than I'd like, for sure...

Giant is a massive sign post, Phallus pointing Uluru (fertility caves) , club pointing Giza pyramids .

@MattMesserPics

2 күн бұрын

Being the person I am (you might have guessed), I did some extrapolating on Google-Earth and you are about right.

@tombra7

2 күн бұрын

@@MattMesserPics thank you , I hope this information will help with understanding what happens here :)

Excellent!

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I live in the valley and the twisty lane is my favourite cycle route. There are often people taking photos of the giant from all around the world 😊

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

And it isn't actually so quick to get there - just shows what a lovely place it is!

Fascinating

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Indeed! Thanks!

I'm pretty sure Monty Python were on to it... the giant is none other than Biggus Dickus! I like your thesis, that perhaps the monks of the abbey didn't have as much influence over the local populace as they would have liked. "... on the orders of that Tudor maniac" is, I feel, a bit hard on Henry VIII. He was a creature of his time, as we all are. One man's iconoclast is another man's reformer.

@MattMesserPics

6 күн бұрын

'The Tudor Maniac' was a spontaneous thing as I stood up on that hill contemplating all those lost manuscripts and the immense amount of knowledge that was lost with the dissolution of the monasteries. I guess I had just seen one ruined abbey too many in a short time. Anyway, the antiquarian should report but not judge - even my daughter pointed this out to me. So you are right, especially as there are more facets to Henry VIII than just the monasteries. I even got some flak for that crack about Boris Johnson being a made up name, would you imagine? So, I'll steer clear of any political evaluation in the future and leave that to my esteemed audience 😀

@MattMesserPics

6 күн бұрын

Oh, and I forgot to add: I managed to sneak in that one about The Defender Of The Faith quite unnoticed, at the end of the Tintern-video. Apparently I do learn, albeit slowly...

Thank you for the first explanation of luminescence dating expressed clearly (and simply) enough for me to understand. The rest was fascinating and up to your usual, highly professional standard. As an aside, I read somewhere that much of the library contents of many ‘dissolved’ abbeys was used as wrapping paper and firelighters. In view of the extremist attitudes of some elements this may be true.

@MattMesserPics

8 ай бұрын

Thanks Mike - very happy that it was so clear! Given how valuable books still were in the mid 16th century, I can only hope that there is not too much truth in what you read about the fate of the books. But then who knows, most people were illiterate back in those days...

ancient aliens should cover this it would be comedy gold

@MattMesserPics

5 ай бұрын

Quite right! Most of the puns you could think of would get you banned from KZread!

7:46 In the US, pagan is pronounced PAY gun; with a hard g sound. Nice documentary. Soothing voice. Quality work.😊❤

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! And, yes, it is pronounced the same way in the UK. Gotcha for the non-native speaker. It happens rarely these days, but it does happen. ;-)

"When confronted by an enemy, speak softly but carry a big stick" Can't remember who said that. Eisenhower? Anyway, it's a big man with a big knob wielding a big club on a chalk hillside in Dorset.

@MattMesserPics

27 күн бұрын

That about sums it up - I think it was Theodore Roosevelt, if memory serves me right...

@jespernielsen8549

8 күн бұрын

​@@MattMesserPics your memory serves you well.

Great videos really enjoying the footage you’ve captured. I seem to remember some years ago they did ground penetrating radar and LiDAR scans of the giant and found it originally had something draped over his arm. This was thought to be an animal skin or some kind of standard or flag and very similar to Roman images of deities such as Mars goddess of War. This was changed after the giant was re cut years later after becoming overgrown.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for enjoying and saying so! You are quite right: It is commonly believed that he had something draped over his left arm. I'd have to read up what the evidence was - I forgot. But that was one reason for the Hercules interpretation. I've written it a few times here - A more thorough investigation of which bits are how old and what was there that is now overgrown wouldn't be too difficult and would yield fantastic insights. All this can be done without really disturbing the figure, but that does cost a lot of money, which would have to be found. Certainly, the National Trust has other fish to fry with what funds they have.

@radicalcartoons2766

4 ай бұрын

Yes Alfred Watkins thought it was Hercules, with the Lion's skin over his arm. He said he also dowsed the shape of a head under the outstretched hand. Hercules was a Greek hero from circa 1300 BC, and popular with the Roman emperors. Makes you wonder if a Roman Legion carved it?

This is quality, youve got a lovely voice, your narration is witty and engaging, the editing and camerawork do justice to that gorgeous part of our country, im a fan. on a side note, that is an incredible penis.

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for that! And yes, it does seem that my own love for the country shows in those videos.

New subscriber. Lovely explorations of our beautiful, mysterious West Country. Please read Alfred Watkins, he dowsed the giant. He said he dowsed the outline of the skin over the arm, and a head under the hand. He definitely thought it was Hercules.

@MattMesserPics

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for that! I found Alfred Watkins and started reading online. Difficult to get hold of a hard copy these days, it would appear.

Just like with the horse, there is a fort like structure with ditches higher on the hill. Maybe it has something to do with the wildman.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

I have read somewhere that it is the remains of an iron-age enclosure, possibly for keeping animals.

Random Chalk Giant strikes again, I encountered the big chap purely by accident about 20 years ago, went for a short holiday to Weymouth and got the directions muddled at some point and there he was, as for the why, well as any Sandman fan will get you he's there to open the door to Fae, nice vid thanks

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

And thanks to you for that nice comment! I stumbled on him in a second hand book and then found that, having lived in the region, I should have known about him anyway.

I heard from various sources that some of the white horse hill chalk figures actually started as dragon chalk figures- we will never know i suppose.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

You are right, we will never know. But absolute knowledge is rare in archeology. Reasonably probable is as good as it get's, usually.

@tommyxbones5126

10 ай бұрын

@@MattMesserPics have you read that the giant originally also carried something in his other hand?

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

@@tommyxbones5126 Hi Tommy, yes I have, he is believed to have carried a cloth draped over his left arm. A more systematic and thorough probing with OSL dating would provide a lot more insight but that's very expensive and the National Trust have many other sites to look after, too. Difficult...

@radicalcartoons2766

4 ай бұрын

​@@tommyxbones5126Alfred Watkins dowsed it and thought the figure was Hercules, with the lion's pelt over his arm and even a head under the hand I believe.

In Brythonic, the C is a K, there was no K in their alphabet. A hard S was SS and and a single S was Z, hence Zomerzet. It is thought that Cerne and other places such as Crewekerne and Herne bay were named after Herne, an ancient god

@MattMesserPics

7 күн бұрын

Interesting! Does that mean Cerne should have been (or was originally) pronounced with a hard K-sound? All the locals I met pronounce it as I did. Could it be that our giant here is supposed to be an image of Herne? Shouldn't he then have horns? And how would that square with our new knowledge that he cannot pre-date about AD 800?

@750triton

7 күн бұрын

@@MattMesserPics English language is maddening eh? lol. C taking the S sound I believe is a relatively modern thing. That's not to say the locals are wrong but that perhaps certain sounds have changed. Still some of pagan beliefs with us today. From what I've read the Isle of WIght (isle of the undead) was the last place to become christian. Cerne (Cernnunnos) wore antlers in a shamanic fashion and images of him have similarities to Woden or Odin, with the various creatures often accompanying him

Seems to. be a distinct similarity between the Cerne giant and "Maree Man" in Australia - holding a weapon, visible genitals, similar pose and rib-cage details also in evidence. Are there others ??

Is that a hill fort just above his right shoulder? Very interesting video. Thank you.

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

It is thought to be an enclosure, possibly used for farming. As I recall, it is Iron Age and there are traces of a small building in the middle.

It is Hercules probably carved out in the Restoration.

@MattMesserPics

10 күн бұрын

Although the error margins in OSL dating are much larger than, say, C-14 dating, a date as late as restoration times is firmly ruled out. It is very unlikely to have been carved later than AD 1300 (the 1-sigma limit is AD 1100) .

Those darned prehistoric kids doin' that darned graffiti...

@MattMesserPics

2 күн бұрын

Probably very close to the truth 🤣

Excellent video. A date around 600 to 700 AD is much more understandable than 900 to 1100. It really is a mystery. I always wonder about the border - he’s in something, or framed. I don’t know if that was ever chalked.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that nice comment! As I understand, the "coffin" shaped border is just the location of the old National Trust fence before the area was expanded to what we have today.

@WC21UKProductionsLtd

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics ah! How mundane - and there was me thinking I’d discovered something!

Who says that the phallus wasn't added later?

@MattMesserPics

Күн бұрын

For all I recall, it may well have been. But to be sure, it is worth while digging into the reports published by National Trust and University of Gloucester. A lot of work was done on sampling for OSL-dating. And a lot more work could be done, if one could get funding.

Lovely video. Most likely a rude gesture from the locals against the incomers. Food for thought.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

in AD 700 or so, the incomers would have been around for more than 200 years - but, yes, could be...

He mentions a Roman, Naughtius Maximus, but could it have been Biggus Diccus?

@MattMesserPics

8 күн бұрын

It may well have been him. The two are virtually synonymous.

The phallus was smaller, with the navel above. At some time the two were amalgamated to give the larger phallus seen now

@MattMesserPics

4 ай бұрын

You are absolutely right. I had read this, but didn't mention it in the video fearing I'd loose people's attention if there is too much information. Dito for all discussions about a cloth that might once have been draped over his left arm. Thanks for the comment!

There is a faint impression above the head of a structure or something overgrown with grass.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

I have read somewhere that it is the remains of an iron-age enclosure, possibly for keeping animals

@debrapaulino918

10 ай бұрын

@@MattMesserPics thx

Surely the Roman General would've been "Biggus Dickus"?

@MattMesserPics

2 күн бұрын

And a few other names spring to the mind, but I vowed to stay out of politics on youtube 🤣

@-xirx-

2 күн бұрын

@@MattMesserPics I remember that name from the humorous Monty Python film "Life Of Brian"!

Sorry that title goes to Kier Starmer not the Cerne Abbas Giant

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Good point, I thought. But then I looked around Whitehall, found the place teeming with them and got all confused - so better stick with the Cerne Giant 😎

There is elsewhere a hillside phallus later turned into a cross, yes? The Church and things ribald makes me think of ‘Carmina Burana’, “I am the abbot of Cockaigne”. Big Rock-Candy Mountain for us yanks.

Is there any information on the earthworks above the giant’s head? That looks like a rhomboid medieval manor imho. Another great video 👍🏻.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the nice comment! There is very little information, but from what I read, it's iron-age, not medieval and probably some encloseure for animals. It is a (not very large) wall and ditch encloseure with the remains of a building in the middle.

@jeanniejones8224

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics did wonder Iron Age but in error poopoo’d this idea due to its position. Didn’t think of it being an enclosure though. We have a number of similar sites like this where I am (Cheshire) so that biased my opinion. Thanks 🙏🏻.

@stephendickinson7071

10 ай бұрын

I was under the impression that it was a Roman temple building, they are usually square. A better preserved one is at Maiden Castle.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

@@stephendickinson7071 Oh, it's the first time I've heard of that interpretation. I'll do some more reading...

A late uncle of my ex had a large house full of ancient documents and books in Ohio, USA. Most were made by monks, but there were also hand-made pieces and books by authors who are famous. He had to build a library addition to the house, and there were more in the attic. Astoundingly, his job was working a back-hoe in a gravel pit! It wouldn't surprise me if the missing documents were there.

@brandyjean7015

Жыл бұрын

Wow!

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

They may well be! Mind you, there are dozens of libraries like this from the time when collecting old books was a niche-hobby - my own modest collection is proof of how you could pick them up for a steal in the 1990s. Interestingly, when I hunt around for something specific today, it's mostly offered from book-sellers in the USA. Is there any chance someone can have a look at the ex-uncle's library?

@rridderbusch518

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics Ex-uncle has unfortunately passed away, and the house with the library has been sold. During my years visiting him, he had received large offers from major American Universities (Harvard, Yale, etc.,) but he had a disdain for them. My ex and I are not on speaking terms, so I won't be asking. Ex-uncle was reclusive, but would attend the American book shows. I'd love to know what happened to all the magnificent material, but alas! Thank you very much for the high quality video! (I distain BoJo, too! ;-)

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

@@rridderbusch518 Ah, what a shame. But thanks very much again for the praise! I actually do dislike the way BoJo was prepared to put the country in the toilet for the sake of his own career. He stands for a total loss of morale, largely in, but not limited to, his own party. I'll stop my rant here. But in a weird way, I think he's probably a fun guy to have a beer with in a pub...

@rridderbusch518

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics BoJo's the poster-boy for narcissists. I'd not enjoy a beer with him (unless I could spit in his mug first!) Just kidding. Or not! ;-)

It's "Biggus Dickus" I'm sure!

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

It is, but I wanted to let people find out 😁

Thanks.. It might interest you to know that in the western US, ( I don't know if it is common in other parts of the US) many towns and cities would whitewash a large Letter representing their community... like a R for Reno...on a nearby mountain. All I've seen could be viewed from the town . Obviously a letter is less " controversial " than a religious symbol. Could the original citizens had just wanted a Giant to represent them ? They may not have been so worried about nudity. Thanks for the look . I know of the Giant but I always find it interesting.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Interesting...I've read that some old British traditions have survived in the US that have been forgotten here. It's the same with many ways in which the American spelling and pronunciation are also the older, more traditional British. Changes were mostly made by the Victorians.

In the 1990’s I flew in the cockpit of an RAF Special Forces support Hercules on a training mission and was amused to find that the crew used the Giant as a Navigation aid and as per usual for the military and their unique sense of humour they called it ‘Biggus Dickus’ 😂😂

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

That is excellent! I love all this kind of additional information you folks are providing here - stuff you can read in no book! Thanks for that!

People used to make fake ruins and fake artifacts, this is probably just a few hundred years old, not thousands.

@MattMesserPics

2 күн бұрын

It would be very difficult to fake a chalk figure to look older than it is. You'd have to know about OSL dating at the time and carefully deposit chalk samples that you kept away from the light for 2000 years at the bottom of those trenches.

@chocolate-teapot

2 күн бұрын

@@MattMesserPics isn't it just a stereotype though, caveman holding a club with his knob out. Pretty sure they knew how to make weapons and clothes.

Nobody is talking about the phallus. I'm disappointed in humanity.

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

I have been wondering myself - glad someone points it out.!Obviously, a lot of speculation has been going on: was it a later, perhaps parliamentarian time, prank? Is it part of the original pagan idea? Interestingly, the OSL dating team carefully avoided taking samples from that area - as if the victorians are still watching us...

In 2020 soil samples taken from beneath the giant revealed the remains of tiny snails that were accidentally introduced into England only in the 13th - 14th centuries. The OSL technique gives a date range of 700 - 1100 AD. The scientist who carried out the snail survey says that the dates are compatible. So, if we take the two results together, we seem to have a date for the creation of the giant of around 1100 - 1200. Whoever it is the giant is supposed to represent would the established religious community at Cerne Abbas have allowed such a blatantly sexual image to be created? Which begs the question. Was the Giant given his 'appendage' at a later less reverential age - say the late 17th century?

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

I always thought that the snail-evidence and the OSL dates are just about not compatible. I guess it shows that both ways of dating come with huge systematic errors. Bear in mind that the range of 700-1100 AD is the oldest measured range, albeit the one with the smallest error bar. Other areas have yielded more recent dates. So, you may be right, or we are perhaps victim of our desire to get more precise (and ideally old) date ranges. There is so much more work one could do. The question whether the naughty bits are a later addition can be systematically addressed, but wasn't so far. An answer to that could take a lot of speculation out of this 'coexistence' issue with the monastery. Anyway, thanks for that comment and interest! I am glad to see that there are others equally deeply fascinated with understanding the giant!

@Wotsitorlabart

11 ай бұрын

​​@@MattMesserPics Actually, a bit of a search informs me that a 2020 LIDAR scan revealed that the giant's naughty bits were added at a later date. Perhaps tying in with a 17th century recut following a long period of neglect - post the 1617 land survey (and earlier Tuder ones) which make no reference to the giant but pre the 1694 churchwardens account showing costs for repairs. Also, there is evidence of there once being a cloak or animal skin draped over the left arm which perhaps also ties in with the Oliver Cromwell characture theory - 'England's Hercules'. There being no rude bits to upset the monks would explain its survival in the earlier period. Also, is it likely that a huge pagan image would have been cut into a hillside in 10th century Wessex which had been Christian for some 300 years? So, if it was created at this time did the giant represent something more acceptable to the Church authorities? Questions, questions.

Britain’s Biggest in the South of England? You need to visit Yorkshire!

@MattMesserPics

Ай бұрын

👍😂

Sir Terry sent me (may he Rest In Peace.)

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

I'm afraid I need footnotes on that one...puzzled...

@barryellison1272

Күн бұрын

​@MattMesserPics Possibly refers to Sir Terry Pratchett, the author of the Disc World series of books?

Just a niggle: the word epitome is pronounced as though spelt "epitomy".

@MattMesserPics

4 күн бұрын

Thanks! That has been pointed out repeatedly, by my daughter amongst others and I am appropriately red with shame 😁

@Lepanto2024

4 күн бұрын

@@MattMesserPics in any case, your investigation is fantastic

The period 700 thru 900 was Anglo Saxon in nature and, although nominally Christian, there may still have been competing iconography. For example, many graves of the period still point north-south instead of the official east-west indicating the ‘new’ religion was still regarded with suspicion hundreds of years after attaining official status. Why didn’t the monks at Cerne Abbey write about the giant? I suspect they were embarrassed about it.

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Good point! A lot of pagan icons were even incorporated into the new religion to make the transition easier. And a good thing, too - Wouldn't we all miss our Christmas tree? But about the Cerne monks: For all we know, they might have written about the giant. The abbey's library was lost with the dissolution. And the intriguing thought is that some of their manuscripts have probably ended in other collections where their thoughts on the giant - just possibly - still wait to be re-discovered.

@damionkeeling3103

11 ай бұрын

According to Tacitus the Germans worshipped Donar who was equated with the Roman Hercules during the time of Empire. Donar is Anglo-Saxon Thunor but would this Roman era imagery of Hercules still be valid for Anglo-Saxons of the 8th century ad? Could it be a local survival dating to Roman times? The science gives a date for the undisturbed chalk but what if the locals re-cut an old image rather than just re-chalking it? The area was apparently still British in the mid 7th century so the cutting may have been a way of asserting local identity during a time of change. Perhaps the image had almost faded away so they recut it below the earlier layer making the image appear younger than it actually was.

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

@@damionkeeling3103 These are all very plausible and good points, but at present just add to the plethora of possible interpretations. But your argument about re-cutting can really be addressed: We would have to go back and do a much more comprehensive OSL-dating of all the components of the giant. We do the same with old buildings (I'm just back from looking at the Nuraghes of Sardinia) - they are usually the result of several building phases, often spreading over many centuries. I guess the National Trust would love to go and look a bit more thoroughly, but these studies are very expensive. Money...as always...

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

@@damionkeeling3103 Yes, I think they could. Today, we have a hard time imagining how little 10th century Christian monks might have been bothered by a chalk phallus on a hillside - Just bear that in Mind! However, doing our best to answer the questions 'What, if anything, has changed since first creation?' and 'Which bit is how old?' would give us massively more insight into this mysterious hill figure. The Giant is some 2000 years younger than the white horse - a totally different animal, so to speak, but one of the results of systematic OSL dating on the horse was that it has changed very little since its original creation.

Is the Cerne project here?

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

What is the Cerne project?

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Oh - do you mean the CERN research facility?

@debrapaulino918

10 ай бұрын

@@MattMesserPics yes

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

@@debrapaulino918 Ah - no. The CERN research facility is in Geneva, Switzerland close to the French border. It is an amazing place. I actually worked there for 6 years. Happy memories!

It’s Orion. On earth. Isn’t it obvious?

I love the horse. Not sure about the big tonker

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

"Forgive me, it is a second language!", says he, trying to sound like Christoph Waltz - you caught me out with "tonker" ;-), although, of course, I can make a shrewd guess. My favourite is also the horse, but it has been post-mortally flogged a lot amongst us videographers.

@susanfarley1332

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics well, it is big.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

@@susanfarley1332 The horse? Haha, I know what you mean, but I am totally innocent here - it was made a thousand years ago.

@susanfarley1332

Жыл бұрын

@@MattMesserPics the horse is quite lovely. It looks like instead of making it look like a horse they tried to capture what it's speed looks like when it runs. I would love to have a piece of jewelry with it on the pendant. Not so much of the man with the tonker. Amazing that people have been keeping the chalk lines clear for so many years. I think they were proud of the designs.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

@@susanfarley1332 It is the elegance and abstractness of the horse that has been fascinating people as much as its age. Mind you, before we learnt about OSL dating, people thought it was from saxon times. It has even been suggested that it is a wild cat, not a horse - who knows...Interestingly, it has been inspiring some jewelry: i.etsystatic.com/6448153/r/il/2012f4/844086246/il_1588xN.844086246_go0x.jpg

didnt it have a bear skin over its arm at one time

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

Yes, there is some evidence that he had something over his left arm at some point.

@radicalcartoons2766

4 ай бұрын

​@@MattMesserPicsAlfred Watkins dowsed it and reckoned it was Hercules, with the Lion skin over his arm and a head, not visible, under the left hand. Hercules was popular in Ancient Rome, so may be why the Romans continued to maintain the figure ( if they didn't make it themselves).

So my theory is this. The giant is older, much older than the test indicated. How is this? the chalk is newer than the giant. Who's to say they didn't rebuild it at about the time the church was put in as a reaction to the church's construction and these new religious upstarts coming to THEIR home. So the whole village knew about the giant having been there a long time and it was part of their rituals. Either the person in charge of the church ordered it destroyed carting off all the old chalk which was replaced shortly after by the villages who might have threatened them with violence if they did it again or perhaps a layer of dirt covered the original chalk but enough of it was there that the villages decided to put new chalk right on top of what was there to brighten up their religious icon. As to the penis? Maybe it was something along the line of "Our god's penis is bigger than your god's penis." I would be interested to see the results of taking and testing core samples going down say ten feet and perhaps a half dozen such samples in different places to see what is under the current chalk.

Read somewhere The Cerne Abbas Giant is the only nude male picture which can go through post i.e. postcard

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Quite correct: It was the only nude image you could send on a postcard with the Royal Mail back in Victorian times.

''Eppy tom'' l think its pronounced ''e pit o mee''.

@MattMesserPics

10 ай бұрын

You are absolutely right. It's added to the list of blunders not to be repeated.

Good video except for the pronunciation of epitome, it has four syllables not three. Good accent for a non-native speaker.

@MattMesserPics

4 ай бұрын

I know (now). Pagan isn't pronounced with a soft 'g' either. And that after speaking the language for more than half a century. I guess it's reading too many books and watching too little TV 😅- Anyway, thanks for pointing it out I always note these things and try not to make the same mistakes again.

Aka, The rude man of Cerne.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Exascxtly. If he was rude from the first day of his creation, is a matter of some dispute, actually.

Epitome is pronounced "Uh-pit-uh-mee". 👍 Don't blame the sometimes silly English language, it is derived from Greek.

@MattMesserPics

11 ай бұрын

Gotcha - again! I'll add that to the list - says he, distinctly blushing...

@paulnewman851

10 ай бұрын

@@MattMesserPics And monks is munks!🙂

Hi LOL! It just looks like a rude boy graffiti!

@MattMesserPics

14 сағат бұрын

It would have taken a dozen rude boys a few months to carve, but who knows? 😂

Excellent video - but lay off Boris and defo lay off Henry VIII... 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Sorry thought it was a video about rICHI sUNAK

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

It's not to be taken literally (like the blessed cheese makers). I meant to question the existence of all Richards in Whitehall ;-)

@govang5191

Жыл бұрын

​@@MattMesserPics 👏👏👏, i canny retort on that 1 ,-)

you forgot biggus dickus!

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Actually, I wanted you to say exactly that - just shows what a sneaky bastard I am! 🤣

@govang5191

Жыл бұрын

​@@MattMesserPics Mr , Mr Basturd,

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

@@govang5191 😁

A violent rapist?

Biggest? Nah mate.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

So, where's the bigger one then?

Great use of grassland...so 2 fingers up to woke crap!!

@chrisstrider

10 ай бұрын

He has breasts and phallus so I reckon he’s trans😅

This isn't the biggest phallus in Britain.. that's a toss up (pun intented) between Boris Johnson and Jacob rees-mogg 😅

I thought Britains biggest phallus was Boris Johnson.

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

Oh, I thought he never really existed, like Biggus Dickus ;-)

@nicholasbell9017

27 күн бұрын

No, Britain's biggest phallacy.

Eh , playboy magazine in Reverse ? Maybe , and thank you informing us how they could date and Explain the jigery pokery . Thanks .

@MattMesserPics

Жыл бұрын

I hope the explanation was the right blend of brief and instructive. This kind of thing is the perfect way to loose your audience.

I thought Boris Johnson was Britain's Biggest Phallus

@MattMesserPics

13 сағат бұрын

I won't comment, as I've decided to stay non-political as a hobby antiquarian. So, chuckling quietly while nowbody is watching is all I can do...