White Horse Hill

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Aerial view of the Uffington White Horse

The Uffington White Horse on the side of White Horse Hill in Oxfordshire ( Vale of White Horse district ) is believed to be the oldest scratching pattern in England . It is a stylized image of a horse cut into the vegetation and scratched into the ground. This will make the chalk underneath visible. The outlines are formed by trenches three meters wide and 60 to 90 centimeters deep. The horse figure has the dimensions of 107 × 37 m. Both the position and the shape of the horse have hardly changed over the millennia, only the lines have become a little thinner.

Age

The age of the scratch pattern is disputed. Traditionally it has been associated with the Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain in the 5th century. The names of their legendary, semi-mythical leaders Hengest and Horsa mean "stallion" and "horse". According to another tradition, it was not even created until the 9th century to commemorate the victory of King Alfred the Great over the Danes. However, later researchers believed the Uffington horse was much older. It was interpreted as an approximately 2000–3000 year old representation of the Celtic goddess Epona , the protector of horses. More recent measurements date the Uffington horse to the early Iron Age or even the late Bronze Age , a time to which the Uffington Castle , which is in sight, is also dated. Uffington Castle and Uffington White Horse are located directly above the old street " The Ridgeway ". Today archaeologists date the picture to around the late Bronze Age (1000 to 700 BC) or the Iron Age (800 to 100 BC). The first mentions of the scratching image can be found in documents from the 12th century.

However, other scratching images of white horses on the hills of southern England are believed to be much younger. The majority of them are believed to be late 18th and 19th century imitations of the Uffington horse.

meaning

During the 19th century the figure of the Uffington horse almost grew, but is now maintained by English Heritage - a state organization comparable to the German monument protection organization.

From the 12th century the White Horse was counted among the "wonders of England". The horse can only be fully recognized from the air.

In the discussion about early evidence for the Germanic Sachsenross the white horse was mentioned. However, it cannot be used as a pre-alaldic use of this tribal symbol.

In June 2010, the Bronze Age Uffington White Horse was damaged by purple paint. A banner of the Fathers 4 Justice interest group was discovered in the immediate vicinity . Spokespersons for the New Fathers 4 Justice as well as the Real Fathers 4 Justice distanced themselves from the act.

  • Aerial view of the "White Horse"

  • White Horse 1 db.jpg
  • White Horse 2 db.jpg
  • White Horse 3 db.jpg

Literary processing

In her childhood novel Lubrin und das Sonnenpferd (originally Sun Horse, Moon Horse ) , published in 1977, Rosemary Sutcliff tells a fictional genesis of the White Horse from Uffington. In her book she does not give a date and tells the creation of the horse against the background of an unproven expulsion of the Iceni by the Atrebates from a fortress. In this story, the chief son of the Iceni is the artist who designs the horse and with his design buys the freedom of his people.

The white horse in the form of a scratching image on chalk is also a motif used by Terry Pratchett in his disc world novels.

Dragon Hill

Near the White Horse Hills is Dragon Hill . The forecast for who here St. George the dragon slain. Dragon Hill is a natural chalk hill, the top of which has been flattened by humans. The bald spot on the top is supposed to reflect the shape of the dead dragon. This legend goes back to the fact that the Anglo-Saxons thought the stylized horse was a dragon.

  • Dragon Hill 1 db.jpg
  • Dragon Hill 2 db.jpg

See also

Web links

Commons : White Horse Hill  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Geoglyphs as a travel destination - Heavenly giant images . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 20, 2012, p. 12
  2. ↑ Geoglyphs as a travel destination - Heavenly giant images . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 20, 2012, p. 11
  3. ^ Darvill, Timothy: Prehistoric Britain from the Air: A Study of Space, Time and Society. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1996, pp. 223ff , ISBN 0-521-55132-3 ; The White Horse of Uffington. Ancient History of Britain, accessed December 25, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Vandals deface Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire . BBC News , June 4, 2010
  5. ↑ Rosemary Sutcliffe: Lubrin and the Sun Horse . Free Spiritual Life & Urachhaus publishing house, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-87838-367-3 .
  6. ↑ Pratchett, Terry .: Little Free Men: A Discworld Fairy Tale . 1st edition Goldmann, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-442-54586-5 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 34'39 "  N , 1 ° 33'59"  W.