Uncategorized

The White Horse of Uffington Reading Answers | Achieve Excellent IELTS Scores

By Hossana Edet October 6, 2022 Leave a Comment

Geoglyphs have been etched into English hillsides for over 3,000 years. Giants, horses, crosses, and regimental emblems are included. There are a few geoglyphs older than 300 years.

The Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire is the most renowned and mysterious. The White Horse is older than its previously given pre-Roman Iron Age era.

More contentious is the dating of Sussex’s Long Man. Many historians think the image is prehistoric, while others believe it was carved by an 11th- to a 15th-century monk.

To carve these gigantic sculptures, the grass was removed to expose white chalk underneath. Unless a huge staff constantly scrubbed or cleaned the geoglyph, vegetation would eventually cover it.

When hill figure customs waned, people stopped clearing grass to show the chalk outline. Over centuries, the outlines changed since individuals didn’t always cut in the same area, generating a different form than the initial geoglyph.

ALSO READ: Apply For This HDFC Bank Scholarship 2022/2033

The fact that any old hill figures persist in England today is a tribute to local practices and beliefs that date back millennia.

The Uffington White Horse has a long, sleek back, slender disconnected legs, a flowing tail, and a beaked bird-like head.

The graceful creature nearly disappears. The horse lies 2.5 kilometres from Uffington village on a cliff below the Ridgeway, a long-distance Neolithic trail.

Bronze Age burial mounds near Uffington Horse. It’s near Lambourn Seven Barrows, a Bronze Age cemetery with more than 30 burial mounds.

Like many geoglyphs, the engraving is best seen from the air. Certain portions of the Vale of the White Horse, named after the mysterious species, provide a good impression. The sculpture is visible from 30 kilometres distant on a clear day.

The oldest reference to a horse in Uffington is in 1190 CE when the adjacent Abbey of Abingdon mentions ‘White Horse Hill’ The carving may be older.

Due to similarities between the Uffington White Horse and horses on 1st century BCE coins, it was considered the creature dated to that time.

In 1995, the Oxford Archaeological Unit tested dirt from two of the horse’s lower levels and another cut at the base using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). The horse was built between 1400 and 600 BCE, during the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age.

ALSO READ: Apply For This MOMA Scholarship Scheme From Any Part Of The World

The latter end of this dating range ties the horse sculpture to the neighbouring Uffington hillfort, suggesting it may be a tribe symbol. The sculpture may have occurred during a Bronze or Iron Age ceremony.

Some experts believe the horse represents the Celtic horse deity Epona, a guardian and fertility goddess. Epona’s worship wasn’t introduced in Gaul until the first century CE.

At least 600 years after the Uffington Horse was carved. The horse had ceremonial and economic importance throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages, as shown by jewellery and other metal artefacts.

The sculpture may symbolize a local divinity, such as Rhiannon, a lovely lady riding a white horse in Welsh mythology.

Geoglyphs and their accompanying rituals and meaning fade fast, indicating they were never meant to be permanent.

Their relevance isn’t diminished. These huge carvings show how their makers regarded their environment.