Cerne Giant in Dorset dates from Anglo-Saxon times, analysis suggests:
Sand samples examined by National Trust experts indicate hillside chalk figure was created in the 10th century
[...] Over the centuries the huge, naked, club-wielding giant carved into a steep hillside in Dorset has been thought prehistoric, Celtic, Roman or even a 17th century lampoon of Oliver Cromwell.
After 12 months of new, hi-tech sediment analysis, the National Trust has now revealed the probable truth and experts admit they are taken aback. The bizarre, enigmatic Cerne Giant is none of the above, but late Saxon, possibly 10th century.
Martin Papworth, a senior archaeologist at the trust, said he was somewhat "flabbergasted ... He's not prehistoric, he's not Roman, he's sort of Saxon, into the medieval period. I was expecting 17th century."
The geoarchaeologist Mike Allen, who has been researching microscopic snails in the sediment, agreed. "This is not what was expected," he said. "Many archaeologists and historians thought he was prehistoric or post-medieval, but not medieval. Everyone was wrong, and that makes these results even more exciting."
The research has involved studying samples, which show when individual grains of sand in the sediment were last exposed to sunlight. Material from the deepest layer suggest a date range of 700-AD1100.
It was in the middle of that date range, AD978, that Cerne Abbey was founded nearby.
[...] At 180ft (55 metres) the Cerne Giant is Britain's largest, rudest and as a result best-known chalk hill figure. He is also the most mysterious.
Wikipedia entry on Cerne Abbas Giant (with picture).
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @10:50AM (1 child)
If the aliens have the technology to draw 180 foot high graffiti, then they have the technology to alter the time signatures on grains of sand. The real question is why they chose to make us think it was AD700-AD1100... clearly trying to draw our attention away from some other time period.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @03:07PM
And why did they choose release this information now? I think it's a coverup. Borish Johnson is killing babies in Pizza Hut, trust me on this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @02:52PM (3 children)
Get rid of the old statues and monuments to white cis males. Convert it to a monument to modern transexual women by carving bigger breasts and obliterating her penis.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @06:41PM
You've fallen into the trap of critical gender theory.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday July 14 2021, @10:13PM (1 child)
No no no, you have it all wrong! This was a carving celebrating a Trans Man!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @10:39PM
Ha ha! Original comment writer here: you almost made me choke on my drink!
(Score: 3, Funny) by TheMightyChickadee on Wednesday July 14 2021, @07:26PM (2 children)
"If you have an erection lasting more than four centuries, seek immediate archeological help!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 14 2021, @10:42PM
His erection will never subside!
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday July 15 2021, @01:23AM
In the afterlife, some Anglo-Saxon who made a giant dick joke on a lark is laughing their butt off at our modern reactions to their artwork.
Then again, I always enjoyed mundane explanations for objects archaeologists think have religious significance, e.g. the Venus of Willendorf statuettes might have just been Stone Age pr0n.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin