archeology

Scientists unravel a mystery about a naked giant carved into an English hill

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

New research says the Cerne Giant predates Shakespeare and possibly the Battle of Hastings.

LONDON — There’s nothing especially subtle about the Cerne Abbas Giant. He’s a big fellow, 180 feet tall, wielding a huge club. And he’s naked. Very.

Carved into a hillside in rural Dorset in south England, the giant is an ancient cartoon character of sorts, outlined in white chalk. For centuries, he has been a source of mystery and fascination, alongside religious and political intrigue.

Who created him? When? And why?

Did the Romans make him 2,000 years ago? He does resemble the virile lion-slayer Hercules. Or is he an older, more obscure Bronze Age Celtic deity? Or maybe he was a later creation, designed to mock the 17th-century Lord Protector of England, the admired/loathed Oliver Cromwell, as the Victorians speculated.

Now, a respected team of archaeologists — examining bits of ancient snail shell and the radiation emitted from single grains of sand — think they’ve definitively nailed down his age. It’s a big surprise, if you’re into this kind of thing, which the English are. [ . . . ]

Continue at THE WASHINGTON POST: Scientists unravel a mystery about a naked giant carved into an English hill