And please factor in the effect of organic compounds (sh*t) into the equation!

Mick Harper wrote:And please factor in the effect of organic compounds (sh*t) into the equation!

You might need to do some "Field Work" with a roll of litmus papers to establish the range of Ph of various forms of sh1t. :D

Houses, entire towns even, are built on waste material. Diocletian's palace was rediscovered under a pile of shit.

Martin wrote:As with copses (= coppices), springs are more or less eternal. When the Catholic monks commandeered the drovers' roads many of the springs became church property and drinking troughs conveniently placed alongside became church coffers. All droving routes were predicated on a day's journey.

Downland is mainly open grassland on account of the number of sheep and the remaining copses survived because they were valuable assets.

Copses are often on high ground and stand out as landmarks from a distance such as the copse at Barbury Castle but most causewayed enclosures, and major hillforts such as Maiden Castle, seem to be bare of trees.

The term “maiden” is becoming an increasingly mysterious term as orthodoxy finally rids itself of the various folkloric guesses that currently festoon place-name theory. They are almost but not quite at the stage of “We don’t know”. Is this one associated with trees as the name implies? I ask because most of the chalk-country stuff I am familiar with is notably tree-free.

Donna wrote:The term “maiden” is becoming an increasingly mysterious term as orthodoxy finally rids itself of the various folkloric guesses that currently festoon place-name theory. They are almost but not quite at the stage of “We don’t know”. Is this one associated with trees as the name implies? I ask because most of the chalk-country stuff I am familiar with is notably tree-free.

Maiden indicates a timber tree (as opposed to trees that are pollarded or harvested for fencing etc.).

It may be that maiden used in connection with an enclosure reflects its unpenetrated, unbroken status in contrast to the embankments from earlier, broken causewayed enclosures e.g. Maiden Bower" which literally means "unbroken enclosure".

Martin wrote: As with copses (= coppices), springs are more or less eternal. When the Catholic monks commandeered the drovers' roads many of the springs became church property and drinking troughs conveniently placed alongside became church coffers. All droving routes were predicated on a day's journey.

Copses are both more or less immortal and useful landmarks as anyone crossing chalk downland knows. Wells and springs on the other hand are often necessarily in a dip, a tree or trees can help locate them but trees with fluttering scraps of cloth would ensure they were visible.

Equating pieces of cloth with prayer rags has a mystical appeal but to me the similarity with cairns and the tradition of adding stones to the pile, held over from tolls to the guardian-of-the-well, is more plausible.

Travellers and people keeping a low profile such as eco-warriors give directions to fellow-subversives with pieces of cloth, discreetly in their case.

Stuart wrote:Travellers and people keeping a low profile such as eco-warriors give directions to fellow-subversives with pieces of cloth, discreetly in their case.

It would certainly brighten up some parts of The Ridgeway

I'm about to award myself another MBO degree (Master of the Bleeding Obvious). But will I get slapped by Mick?

There's another reason that megalithic travellers liked nice big enclosures at the end of every day's travel. Britain in megalithic times still had loads of wild wolves.

A nice big enclosure has plenty of room for you and your livestock. Instead of camping out in the open and wondering what's outside your tent in the dead of night!