Regarding the Cotswold Archaeology report, here is a link to a video by the authors of the report, discussing its contents: kzread.info/dash/bejne/o4Vku9txh8mYqrg.html
@JohnjamesCoombs19 сағат бұрын
Please remind us what these last secrets mentioned in the title actually were?
@onemodelarmyКүн бұрын
The hill is a electrical thunderstorm generator. The hot air made by water reacting with the chalk limestone rushes up the 51.84 degree hill face and meets the cooler air on the opposite side of the hill causing thunder clouds. Ull find a obelisk on the adjacent hill which is the highest point and is where the lightening will strike. The obelisk is made of a high crystal content stone which conducts the electrical current to a row of smaller stones which leads to the barrows. Inside the barrows ull find chemical reaction chambers in which a number of useful chemicals were made. Hope this helps
@ngaourapahoeКүн бұрын
Funny that fertility is always represented by the male parts....
@MattMesserPicsКүн бұрын
It's a fair guess that those trenches were dug by men. We'll never know what would have happened if one had sent the village women up the hill with just general instructions to create a fertility sculpture...
@carlaperkins655Күн бұрын
I know we think the Romans gave us quite a lot and I suppose they did, but it was a military culture with a lot of death and mayhem involved in providing this structure. Humans are still animals
@MattMesserPicsКүн бұрын
And don't forget that, whilst Roman occupation gave us a lit of the culture we are still used to, it wasn't done out the goodness of their hearts, but rather to secure access to our natural resources and to use the population as slaves to extract them.
@digitalimager4946Күн бұрын
E-pit-e-mee! Epi-tome?! 🤨
@MattMesserPicsКүн бұрын
Yes, yes, yes, I know - my bad - has been pointed out many times by now 😁
@Dr.Yalex.Күн бұрын
100 human generations ❤ have taken care of the Scythian horse during the 3,000 years.
@ChrisShortyAllen2 күн бұрын
We know what they contain. Bones. Leave it alone.
@johnhall422 күн бұрын
That horse looks more like a cat. Long tail, small head and whiskers.
@MattMesserPics2 күн бұрын
The cat hypothesis clearly wins the competition of horse alternatives by now, I have to say!
@alisonhaughton9872 күн бұрын
Lovely video, however I do believe that Alfred was not the first King of England, his grandson Aethelstan was.
@MattMesserPics2 күн бұрын
Thanks for liking! And you are absolutely right, it was Aethelstan. If you go through all the comments (please don't!!), you'll find that I've admitted that blunder a few times. I really need to start a little list of erratae in the description - too lazy...
@sarahgilbert80362 күн бұрын
My parents went to see the horse some 15 years ago.
@TheMalcolmPowder2 күн бұрын
There is a lot of evidence that suggests the "hill-forts" are not, military at all, but more agricultural
@MattMesserPicsКүн бұрын
I have read that too, but does that appear plausible given the humungous effort it must have been to create those walls and ditches?
@TheMalcolmPowderКүн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics My head is spinning :D Nice video
@ericmccarty96562 күн бұрын
Some say dragon
@WaterShowsProd3 күн бұрын
I always wondered about who'd been upkeeping it for thousands of years as well. Through all the conflicts, plagues, storms, droughts, and someone was continually saying, "Wait a minute, I've got to go weed the bloody horse."
@MattMesserPics2 күн бұрын
Precisely! Isn't that amazing?
@EDMcIntoshBrocher3 күн бұрын
There is a young version of this on Mormond Hill, Aberdeenshire. It's only a century or so old but has a stag to keep it company. I think they were wedding/anniversary gifts from a Lord Lovett to his wife. Not steeped in history (yet) like the Uffington one but our schoolkids and Boys Scouts regularly tidy them up and they always tell me that I'm almost home when I see them.
@DSAK553 күн бұрын
I thought Boris Johnson was Britain's Biggest Phallus
@MattMesserPics3 күн 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...
@toosiyabrandt86763 күн бұрын
Hi LOL! It just looks like a rude boy graffiti!
@MattMesserPics3 күн бұрын
It would have taken a dozen rude boys a few months to carve, but who knows? 😂
@rogerscottcathey3 күн бұрын
Not a horse. Great Dane
@margomoore45273 күн бұрын
To me the likeliest answer lies just across the channel, in Rugen Island. The inhabitants of Rugen, which also has chalk cliffs, remained pagan for a long time, worshipping a rather nasty two-faced idol and also a white horse. The horse might have been the symbol of the god. In any case, these germanic peoples (Rugii, Wends, Angles, Saxons?) probably spread across into England and mixed with the locals. Some of my ancestors came from Rugen Island, so I’ve made a point of researching this. Could be that the early Christians slaughtered the sacred white stallion; then the pagans came across and cut a replacement horse into the chalk to commemorate their lost divine horse-I suspect there were pagan sympathizers in Britain-who kept the area tidied up in respect to old customs and beliefs. Besides, horses have been symbols of good luck in many cultures.
@MattMesserPics3 күн бұрын
That does sound interesting, but bear in mind that even stretching the error margins to any realistic limit, the results of OSL-dating tell us that it must have been first carved in pre-Roman, i.e. pre-Christian days. So perhaps some 'Proto-Anglo-Saxon' influence in the early Iron-Age? But then I always claim that there must have been much more intercultural exchange 3000 years ago than we usually give people credit for. Look up the Nuraghe culture in Sardinia and then compare that to the Schottish Brochs, just as one example!
@onemodelarmyКүн бұрын
See my comment for a brief description of what it is. Jeffery drumm at landofchem does give a full description of how it works and exactly what chemicals were produced and their uses
@alex-E7WHU3 күн бұрын
Boris Johnson is a bigger phallus.
@koukouvania3 күн бұрын
are you familiar with the hypothesis by @thelandofchem concerning the white horse(s)?
@MattMesserPics3 күн бұрын
I wasn't, but I now found his (her/their) channel. Which video am I looking for? Nothing White-Horse-ish stuck out...
@koukouvania3 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics he has a playlist entiltled 'lightning and stone circles'
@onemodelarmyКүн бұрын
Yes landofchem channel does explain
@mercy1764 күн бұрын
Jesus christ the son of the living God loves you and gave his life for us to live. Every word written in the four gospels are truth please read them and save your soul by believing in him
@Darkstar-se6wc4 күн бұрын
“It’s not what a horse looks like, it’s what a horse BE” -Terry Pratchett, about his discworld’s chalk horse
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
One of my favourite quotes - it about sums it up, don't you think?
@paulcannell71884 күн бұрын
Great short documentary. I am surprised at how ancient the Giant is not.
@MattMesserPics4 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.
@rjlchristie4 күн бұрын
Who says that the phallus wasn't added later?
@MattMesserPics4 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.
@loke66644 күн бұрын
I think you are wrong about one thing: genetic studies shows that Venerable Bede's version of the Saxon coming in and forcing the Britons to Wales does not hold up to science. The Saxon invasion was closer to the Norman invasion then we assumed and the result was more of a cultural invasion then a replacement. I am sure that if you test the DNA from the graves, some people living in the village is likely related to at least one of them. Bede's records were written later with a motivation to unify people, Gildas earlier records are more in line with what genetics tell us. Besides them, we basically have Nennius and the Anglo Saxon chronicles but the first was written even later and the second one centuries after. The head is not necessarily a sign of execution or sacrifice either. Commonly people during the bronze age and early iron age did prepare the body to get rid of the flesh, we seen signs of things like sky burials. We do find a lot of people with their head between their legs without any skeletal signs of decapitation. The cut feet is a lot rarer so I am not sure what that signifies though, maybe a way to stop her from becoming some kind of undead? I don't think it actually points towards sacrifice as the most likely explanation though but it does stand out. Yeah, it is plausible they are vikings of sacrifice or execution but if the man was beheaded, the skeleton will show that. I think unusual burial rituals are more likely though. The Uffington horse is certainly a very unusual thing as well even if we don't know if they were common at the time and the others grew over or if it was something rare or even unique at the time. It is a rare relic from a time we still lack a lot of knowledge about even if we learn more every year. Beautifully filmed. :)
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
Sometimes the amount of thought and knowledge people put into comments just leaves you speechless. Thank you very much indeed for this! In fact, after lots of comments and some more reading, I am also quite convinced about the 'blending' theory and this amongst other things should be talked about in a sequel. I am planning some walk-and-talk review of that book including a bit of an erratae list. I have also been wondering a lot about whether this is perhaps (well, almost certainly) the only horse of many we can still see. That of course makes you think of methods to discover the others. Difficult...
@loke66643 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics I don't think that would be easy, no. One possibility would be that you could see some color variation from air photos during a drought since the soil under could be different, that is possible and other kind of finds like buried walls have been found that way but it depends on erosion since the soil higher up a hill might just have filled in the figure and then you couldn't really see anything, the method requires that the soil either have a difference in deep or in quality compared to the soil around it. Anything that have been ploughed is certainly gone so only remote areas with no fields on would even by possible to find. Possible sites to look is easier, you need a certain geology to make these things and they all seems to be on easily spotted hills with chalk under the top soil. They also seem to be relatively close and in view of settlements I am wondering about Dragon hill too. It do look artificial but I can't say by looking if it is a bronze age structure, Neolithic or a Norman Motte and baily. That one really need some archaeology (where is Time Team when you need them?). I am looking forward to your vid about that book. :)
@bernardkealey64494 күн бұрын
I’ve read and watched a lot about Windscale, but none told so beautifully. Bravo. (found your channel because YT thought that today i needed to be cheered up by a 3000 year old massive dong)
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
🤣Yes, the Cerne Giant is quite something, isn't it? Thanks for your comments on the Windscale video. Given the amount of work it was, I am a wee bit disappointed about its performance, so your kind words are all the more welcome!
@bernardkealey64493 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics your introduction describing the dichotomy of your normal interests to this subject possibly sums up others too… but who knows, maybe in one of those quirky KZread moments of fate this will hit the radar of the Sellafield nerds (I use that term endearingly not as an insult) and they’ll love it and subscribe for the joy you bring with your quiet, confident lovely cadence, well thought and executed editing, and timeless subject matter
@capt.bart.roberts49754 күн бұрын
It's such a beautiful part of the world. I would say that, I was born on the chalk, on The South Downs.
@capt.bart.roberts49754 күн бұрын
Not far from The Long Man.
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
And weren't we hobby-antiquarians all a bit disappointed when it turned out that the Long Man is so recent. Question to you as a local: Could it be that the new 'brick-and-mortar' (for lack of a better word) structure was just a amateurish refurbishment of something much older? I'll have to do some reading. Perhaps there is a story here...
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
It really is and I miss it very much.
@capt.bart.roberts49754 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics I spent far too much time away. My flat is near the finish line of Brighton Race Course, and faces South towards France.
@capt.bart.roberts49754 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics I've not kept up on The Long Man. I need to do a bit of reading. There are old flint mines just above it.
@Mystic_Light4 күн бұрын
The first reported case of advertising!
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
You know what? You could be spot-on with that, as the Uffington Castle has been thought to have been the home of Bronze-Age horse dealers by some.
@neatchipops34284 күн бұрын
'The Romans improved things... and... let all those murdered people practice their own religion.' Damn, the limeys are weak and still conquered.
@neatchipops34284 күн бұрын
all your words for meat are French.
@steve-fb1pz4 күн бұрын
Seen them all as a nipper dad loved history.👍
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
Ahh, yes, happy days, eh?
@billtomson57914 күн бұрын
Those darned prehistoric kids doin' that darned graffiti...
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
Probably very close to the truth 🤣
@CoedtwrchWild4 күн бұрын
Someone once pointed out to me, that whilst it *almost* looks like a horse, (but only because it has four legs), turn it the other way up and it looks FAR more like a dragon flying over the hill. The horses “ears” become an open mouth, the “legs” become wings and the tail, so much more that of a dragon or great worm. Since then I’ve been unable to see it as anything else.
@TheebayOffroader5 күн бұрын
It's a stone age golf course.
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
Ultragolf?
@AnEnemy1005 күн бұрын
The horse is a dragon.
@sezziek13 күн бұрын
Could be a painting of the St George dragon..
@johnpower95505 күн бұрын
Surely Boris Johnson is Britain's biggest phallus? And Sunak and Gove are massive testicles..
@paulapridy68045 күн бұрын
Wait. Did you just say there was a definite date with a 700 year differential. And your next sentence was "people of 3000 years ago formed a horse? Ok. I'm rewinding .
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
The most probable date is around 1000 BC with an error margin of about 400 years in each direction. That's why I said Saxon and Roman origin is ruled out. That puts it at the end of the Bronze Age or beginning of the Iron Age, most probably. I did have a stab at explaining OSL dating in my video about the Cerne-Abbas Giant kzread.info/dash/bejne/epecrbGGh6iogrQ.html
@fionnaheller18735 күн бұрын
Thank you once again. You have a rare lightness of touch in bringing these snippets of history alive, related with care and attention to detail and filmed most beautifully. I happy to let you know that my husband thoroughly enjoyed your video and wants to enjoy more of your highly entertaining talks. The same is true of my daughter and her friends, and I mention that to give you a little well deserved encouragement as I am quite sure that may make some difference to you in your venture. I am sure it is not as easy as you make it seem.
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
Thank you very much for those nice words! And, yes, you are absolutely right: It is a lot of work - The research, scripting, searching for music, and finally cutting takes many days, all to produce 15 minutes of video in the end. So encouragement makes a big difference!
@fionnaheller18734 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics You possess a true talent for presentation and the thought you have invested in each 'episode' is striking. I am as far from being an expert as Luddite can be butcan imagine the level of work involved. Do please 'feel encouraged' and continue to create these perfectly delivered stories.
@-xirx-5 күн бұрын
Surely the Roman General would've been "Biggus Dickus"?
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
And a few other names spring to the mind, but I vowed to stay out of politics on youtube 🤣
@-xirx-5 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics I remember that name from the humorous Monty Python film "Life Of Brian"!
@user-nb4ex5zk3w5 күн бұрын
Why do we take the magic out of life by turning our ancestors into objects to be dissected and analysed. Our world is just dead stuff...or creatures with nothing to do with us.
@casualviewing10965 күн бұрын
This is a very well put together documentary. Thank you. New subscriber 👍
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
Thanks for that! And I'll do my best not to disappoint!
@radiojet14295 күн бұрын
"Ruinenlust" (German) = the joy one gets looking at ruins.
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
I hadn't heard of that one, but I totally (obviously) get the point!
@OscarFrosty5 күн бұрын
Great video - thanks for sharing!
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
Thanks for telling me!
@tombra75 күн бұрын
Giant is a massive sign post, Phallus pointing Uluru (fertility caves) , club pointing Giza pyramids .
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
Being the person I am (you might have guessed), I did some extrapolating on Google-Earth and you are about right.
@tombra74 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics thank you , I hope this information will help with understanding what happens here :)
@chocolate-teapot5 күн бұрын
People used to make fake ruins and fake artifacts, this is probably just a few hundred years old, not thousands.
@MattMesserPics5 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-teapot4 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.
@brightmodelengineering83995 күн бұрын
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
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
Yes, you are right!
@uneqejam5 күн бұрын
_If you only knew the Truth of it!!! And it is white ALSO for the same reason it was built in the first place!!! The inhabitants of here had a good memory of THAT one event which brought them to England in the first place!!! With the passing of time, history sometimes is forgotten, especially here, with so many interminglings of the population, with so many bloodshed, and conquests and wars, things get forgotten, but it's always THAT ONE EVENT which brought them here, and they wanted to immortalise in anyway they could, as e Testimony of their Truth, which is not accepted anymore today, because too simple and straightforward - mist and darkness is better for some, SO the mystery continues, and the English wonder!!!...._
@MattMesserPics5 күн бұрын
Are you referring to that spaceship full of telephone-sanitizers? Sorry, I just default back to Douglas Adams when I am struggling to wrap my mind around something...
@uneqejam5 күн бұрын
@@MattMesserPics ✝️ ✝️
@illumencouk5 күн бұрын
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.
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
Interesting! Google 'Long Man of Wilmington'!
@Historian2126 күн бұрын
You mention ideas of populations as though the Saxons suddenly and completely replaced the Britons in one fell swoop. Increasingly, DNA studies suggest this was a gradual process that began with a mingling of these cultures, which would explain the unbroken tradition of maintaining the Uffington white horse.
@MattMesserPics4 күн бұрын
I have agreed with many similar comments over the past days. One lives, reads and learns...So, if I stop replying, please don't think me rude, but it is getting a bit repetitive (probably a good sign).
@greenjack1959l6 күн бұрын
Thanks Mathias, lovely film, very atmospheric, and the music was great, gave me goosebumps.
Пікірлер
Regarding the Cotswold Archaeology report, here is a link to a video by the authors of the report, discussing its contents: kzread.info/dash/bejne/o4Vku9txh8mYqrg.html
Please remind us what these last secrets mentioned in the title actually were?
The hill is a electrical thunderstorm generator. The hot air made by water reacting with the chalk limestone rushes up the 51.84 degree hill face and meets the cooler air on the opposite side of the hill causing thunder clouds. Ull find a obelisk on the adjacent hill which is the highest point and is where the lightening will strike. The obelisk is made of a high crystal content stone which conducts the electrical current to a row of smaller stones which leads to the barrows. Inside the barrows ull find chemical reaction chambers in which a number of useful chemicals were made. Hope this helps
Funny that fertility is always represented by the male parts....
It's a fair guess that those trenches were dug by men. We'll never know what would have happened if one had sent the village women up the hill with just general instructions to create a fertility sculpture...
I know we think the Romans gave us quite a lot and I suppose they did, but it was a military culture with a lot of death and mayhem involved in providing this structure. Humans are still animals
And don't forget that, whilst Roman occupation gave us a lit of the culture we are still used to, it wasn't done out the goodness of their hearts, but rather to secure access to our natural resources and to use the population as slaves to extract them.
E-pit-e-mee! Epi-tome?! 🤨
Yes, yes, yes, I know - my bad - has been pointed out many times by now 😁
100 human generations ❤ have taken care of the Scythian horse during the 3,000 years.
We know what they contain. Bones. Leave it alone.
That horse looks more like a cat. Long tail, small head and whiskers.
The cat hypothesis clearly wins the competition of horse alternatives by now, I have to say!
Lovely video, however I do believe that Alfred was not the first King of England, his grandson Aethelstan was.
Thanks for liking! And you are absolutely right, it was Aethelstan. If you go through all the comments (please don't!!), you'll find that I've admitted that blunder a few times. I really need to start a little list of erratae in the description - too lazy...
My parents went to see the horse some 15 years ago.
There is a lot of evidence that suggests the "hill-forts" are not, military at all, but more agricultural
I have read that too, but does that appear plausible given the humungous effort it must have been to create those walls and ditches?
@@MattMesserPics My head is spinning :D Nice video
Some say dragon
I always wondered about who'd been upkeeping it for thousands of years as well. Through all the conflicts, plagues, storms, droughts, and someone was continually saying, "Wait a minute, I've got to go weed the bloody horse."
Precisely! Isn't that amazing?
There is a young version of this on Mormond Hill, Aberdeenshire. It's only a century or so old but has a stag to keep it company. I think they were wedding/anniversary gifts from a Lord Lovett to his wife. Not steeped in history (yet) like the Uffington one but our schoolkids and Boys Scouts regularly tidy them up and they always tell me that I'm almost home when I see them.
I thought Boris Johnson was Britain's Biggest Phallus
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...
Hi LOL! It just looks like a rude boy graffiti!
It would have taken a dozen rude boys a few months to carve, but who knows? 😂
Not a horse. Great Dane
To me the likeliest answer lies just across the channel, in Rugen Island. The inhabitants of Rugen, which also has chalk cliffs, remained pagan for a long time, worshipping a rather nasty two-faced idol and also a white horse. The horse might have been the symbol of the god. In any case, these germanic peoples (Rugii, Wends, Angles, Saxons?) probably spread across into England and mixed with the locals. Some of my ancestors came from Rugen Island, so I’ve made a point of researching this. Could be that the early Christians slaughtered the sacred white stallion; then the pagans came across and cut a replacement horse into the chalk to commemorate their lost divine horse-I suspect there were pagan sympathizers in Britain-who kept the area tidied up in respect to old customs and beliefs. Besides, horses have been symbols of good luck in many cultures.
That does sound interesting, but bear in mind that even stretching the error margins to any realistic limit, the results of OSL-dating tell us that it must have been first carved in pre-Roman, i.e. pre-Christian days. So perhaps some 'Proto-Anglo-Saxon' influence in the early Iron-Age? But then I always claim that there must have been much more intercultural exchange 3000 years ago than we usually give people credit for. Look up the Nuraghe culture in Sardinia and then compare that to the Schottish Brochs, just as one example!
See my comment for a brief description of what it is. Jeffery drumm at landofchem does give a full description of how it works and exactly what chemicals were produced and their uses
Boris Johnson is a bigger phallus.
are you familiar with the hypothesis by @thelandofchem concerning the white horse(s)?
I wasn't, but I now found his (her/their) channel. Which video am I looking for? Nothing White-Horse-ish stuck out...
@@MattMesserPics he has a playlist entiltled 'lightning and stone circles'
Yes landofchem channel does explain
Jesus christ the son of the living God loves you and gave his life for us to live. Every word written in the four gospels are truth please read them and save your soul by believing in him
“It’s not what a horse looks like, it’s what a horse BE” -Terry Pratchett, about his discworld’s chalk horse
One of my favourite quotes - it about sums it up, don't you think?
Great short documentary. I am surprised at how ancient the Giant is not.
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.
Who says that the phallus wasn't added later?
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.
I think you are wrong about one thing: genetic studies shows that Venerable Bede's version of the Saxon coming in and forcing the Britons to Wales does not hold up to science. The Saxon invasion was closer to the Norman invasion then we assumed and the result was more of a cultural invasion then a replacement. I am sure that if you test the DNA from the graves, some people living in the village is likely related to at least one of them. Bede's records were written later with a motivation to unify people, Gildas earlier records are more in line with what genetics tell us. Besides them, we basically have Nennius and the Anglo Saxon chronicles but the first was written even later and the second one centuries after. The head is not necessarily a sign of execution or sacrifice either. Commonly people during the bronze age and early iron age did prepare the body to get rid of the flesh, we seen signs of things like sky burials. We do find a lot of people with their head between their legs without any skeletal signs of decapitation. The cut feet is a lot rarer so I am not sure what that signifies though, maybe a way to stop her from becoming some kind of undead? I don't think it actually points towards sacrifice as the most likely explanation though but it does stand out. Yeah, it is plausible they are vikings of sacrifice or execution but if the man was beheaded, the skeleton will show that. I think unusual burial rituals are more likely though. The Uffington horse is certainly a very unusual thing as well even if we don't know if they were common at the time and the others grew over or if it was something rare or even unique at the time. It is a rare relic from a time we still lack a lot of knowledge about even if we learn more every year. Beautifully filmed. :)
Sometimes the amount of thought and knowledge people put into comments just leaves you speechless. Thank you very much indeed for this! In fact, after lots of comments and some more reading, I am also quite convinced about the 'blending' theory and this amongst other things should be talked about in a sequel. I am planning some walk-and-talk review of that book including a bit of an erratae list. I have also been wondering a lot about whether this is perhaps (well, almost certainly) the only horse of many we can still see. That of course makes you think of methods to discover the others. Difficult...
@@MattMesserPics I don't think that would be easy, no. One possibility would be that you could see some color variation from air photos during a drought since the soil under could be different, that is possible and other kind of finds like buried walls have been found that way but it depends on erosion since the soil higher up a hill might just have filled in the figure and then you couldn't really see anything, the method requires that the soil either have a difference in deep or in quality compared to the soil around it. Anything that have been ploughed is certainly gone so only remote areas with no fields on would even by possible to find. Possible sites to look is easier, you need a certain geology to make these things and they all seems to be on easily spotted hills with chalk under the top soil. They also seem to be relatively close and in view of settlements I am wondering about Dragon hill too. It do look artificial but I can't say by looking if it is a bronze age structure, Neolithic or a Norman Motte and baily. That one really need some archaeology (where is Time Team when you need them?). I am looking forward to your vid about that book. :)
I’ve read and watched a lot about Windscale, but none told so beautifully. Bravo. (found your channel because YT thought that today i needed to be cheered up by a 3000 year old massive dong)
🤣Yes, the Cerne Giant is quite something, isn't it? Thanks for your comments on the Windscale video. Given the amount of work it was, I am a wee bit disappointed about its performance, so your kind words are all the more welcome!
@@MattMesserPics your introduction describing the dichotomy of your normal interests to this subject possibly sums up others too… but who knows, maybe in one of those quirky KZread moments of fate this will hit the radar of the Sellafield nerds (I use that term endearingly not as an insult) and they’ll love it and subscribe for the joy you bring with your quiet, confident lovely cadence, well thought and executed editing, and timeless subject matter
It's such a beautiful part of the world. I would say that, I was born on the chalk, on The South Downs.
Not far from The Long Man.
And weren't we hobby-antiquarians all a bit disappointed when it turned out that the Long Man is so recent. Question to you as a local: Could it be that the new 'brick-and-mortar' (for lack of a better word) structure was just a amateurish refurbishment of something much older? I'll have to do some reading. Perhaps there is a story here...
It really is and I miss it very much.
@@MattMesserPics I spent far too much time away. My flat is near the finish line of Brighton Race Course, and faces South towards France.
@@MattMesserPics I've not kept up on The Long Man. I need to do a bit of reading. There are old flint mines just above it.
The first reported case of advertising!
You know what? You could be spot-on with that, as the Uffington Castle has been thought to have been the home of Bronze-Age horse dealers by some.
'The Romans improved things... and... let all those murdered people practice their own religion.' Damn, the limeys are weak and still conquered.
all your words for meat are French.
Seen them all as a nipper dad loved history.👍
Ahh, yes, happy days, eh?
Those darned prehistoric kids doin' that darned graffiti...
Probably very close to the truth 🤣
Someone once pointed out to me, that whilst it *almost* looks like a horse, (but only because it has four legs), turn it the other way up and it looks FAR more like a dragon flying over the hill. The horses “ears” become an open mouth, the “legs” become wings and the tail, so much more that of a dragon or great worm. Since then I’ve been unable to see it as anything else.
It's a stone age golf course.
Ultragolf?
The horse is a dragon.
Could be a painting of the St George dragon..
Surely Boris Johnson is Britain's biggest phallus? And Sunak and Gove are massive testicles..
Wait. Did you just say there was a definite date with a 700 year differential. And your next sentence was "people of 3000 years ago formed a horse? Ok. I'm rewinding .
The most probable date is around 1000 BC with an error margin of about 400 years in each direction. That's why I said Saxon and Roman origin is ruled out. That puts it at the end of the Bronze Age or beginning of the Iron Age, most probably. I did have a stab at explaining OSL dating in my video about the Cerne-Abbas Giant kzread.info/dash/bejne/epecrbGGh6iogrQ.html
Thank you once again. You have a rare lightness of touch in bringing these snippets of history alive, related with care and attention to detail and filmed most beautifully. I happy to let you know that my husband thoroughly enjoyed your video and wants to enjoy more of your highly entertaining talks. The same is true of my daughter and her friends, and I mention that to give you a little well deserved encouragement as I am quite sure that may make some difference to you in your venture. I am sure it is not as easy as you make it seem.
Thank you very much for those nice words! And, yes, you are absolutely right: It is a lot of work - The research, scripting, searching for music, and finally cutting takes many days, all to produce 15 minutes of video in the end. So encouragement makes a big difference!
@@MattMesserPics You possess a true talent for presentation and the thought you have invested in each 'episode' is striking. I am as far from being an expert as Luddite can be butcan imagine the level of work involved. Do please 'feel encouraged' and continue to create these perfectly delivered stories.
Surely the Roman General would've been "Biggus Dickus"?
And a few other names spring to the mind, but I vowed to stay out of politics on youtube 🤣
@@MattMesserPics I remember that name from the humorous Monty Python film "Life Of Brian"!
Why do we take the magic out of life by turning our ancestors into objects to be dissected and analysed. Our world is just dead stuff...or creatures with nothing to do with us.
This is a very well put together documentary. Thank you. New subscriber 👍
Thanks for that! And I'll do my best not to disappoint!
"Ruinenlust" (German) = the joy one gets looking at ruins.
I hadn't heard of that one, but I totally (obviously) get the point!
Great video - thanks for sharing!
Thanks for telling me!
Giant is a massive sign post, Phallus pointing Uluru (fertility caves) , club pointing Giza pyramids .
Being the person I am (you might have guessed), I did some extrapolating on Google-Earth and you are about right.
@@MattMesserPics thank you , I hope this information will help with understanding what happens here :)
People used to make fake ruins and fake artifacts, this is probably just a few hundred years old, not thousands.
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.
@@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.
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
Yes, you are right!
_If you only knew the Truth of it!!! And it is white ALSO for the same reason it was built in the first place!!! The inhabitants of here had a good memory of THAT one event which brought them to England in the first place!!! With the passing of time, history sometimes is forgotten, especially here, with so many interminglings of the population, with so many bloodshed, and conquests and wars, things get forgotten, but it's always THAT ONE EVENT which brought them here, and they wanted to immortalise in anyway they could, as e Testimony of their Truth, which is not accepted anymore today, because too simple and straightforward - mist and darkness is better for some, SO the mystery continues, and the English wonder!!!...._
Are you referring to that spaceship full of telephone-sanitizers? Sorry, I just default back to Douglas Adams when I am struggling to wrap my mind around something...
@@MattMesserPics ✝️ ✝️
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.
Interesting! Google 'Long Man of Wilmington'!
You mention ideas of populations as though the Saxons suddenly and completely replaced the Britons in one fell swoop. Increasingly, DNA studies suggest this was a gradual process that began with a mingling of these cultures, which would explain the unbroken tradition of maintaining the Uffington white horse.
I have agreed with many similar comments over the past days. One lives, reads and learns...So, if I stop replying, please don't think me rude, but it is getting a bit repetitive (probably a good sign).
Thanks Mathias, lovely film, very atmospheric, and the music was great, gave me goosebumps.
Very pleased to hear that, thanks!