Vaguely related

Some excellent aerial photography of something flying in circles round Silbury Hill

(oh all right I confess - I couldn't think where else to add this)

I've never seen a 'moat' round it before. Presumably this arose from the recent rains, though of course there is no reason why floodwaters should take this course unless the original structure was designed that way.

The appended comment that Silbury Hill "is the largest man made mound in Europe" will have to be amended to seventy-fifth largest (ono) after my forthcoming talk.

Mick Harper wrote:I've never seen a 'moat' round it before. Presumably this arose from the recent rains, though of course there is no reason why floodwaters should take this course unless the original structure was designed that way.

Indeed it was designed that way.



I'm just upsetting some folks at Heritage Action by suggesting Silbury should be restored to its original ungrassed state. They don't like my idea any more than they like us sheeple having free unrestrained access.

Aha so it was Silverbury hill. A white shining hill.....

Yes... or maybe simply Silvery Hill.

I seem to remember in the book 'Uriel's Machine' the authors claimed that stone circles had moats around them for making precise calculations from the reflections of stars and planets etc.

Did the Ordnance Survey ever put a triangulation pillar on the top of Silbury Hill?

macausland wrote:I seem to remember in the book 'Uriel's Machine' the authors claimed that stone circles had moats around them for making precise calculations from the reflections of stars and planets etc.

I haven't read the book but looking at Boreades' diagram and present-day geography the 'moat' was probably a seasonal feature. It is after all a region full of winterbournes.

An area of water can be made permanent if the bottom of the ditch is lined with clay, the technique used to create dewponds, but I'm sure archaeologists would have picked up on a clay lining if it existed.

hvered wrote:An area of water can be made permanent if the bottom of the ditch is lined with clay, the technique used to create dewponds, but I'm sure archaeologists would have picked up on a clay lining if it existed.

I have a vague memory of references to the ditch at Avebury being lined with clay, to make a water-filled moat a permanent feature, in its original state and times. I'm hoping I can find them. Any mention of the same at Silbury would be a welcome bonus.

A water-filled moat sounds like a fish farm. The Kennet flows past Avebury, it's not much of a river these days but water sources have been managed almost to death in this area.

Ictis sounds like a version of Ichthys i.e. fish. (Ictis is usually said to refer to St Michael's Mount which isn't particularly fish-shaped but Burgh Island looks very fishy)

THE IKHTHYES (or Ichthyes) were a pair of large Syrian river fish who rescued Aphrodite and Eros when they were fleeing from the monster Typhoeus. Others say the two gods disguised themselves as fish to escape the monster, or that the fish assisted in the birth of Aphrodite. In all versions of the story, they were placed amongst the stars as the Constellation Pisces.

These Fishes probably developed into Aphros and Bythos, the fish-tailed Ikhthyokentauroi (Sea-Centaurs) of late classical art, which are shown bringing Aphrodite ashore following her sea-birth.

Sea centaurs were rather helpful creatures and considered highly intelligent by the sound of it
The Ichthyocentaurs have the ability to both breathe underwater and swim with great speed. They also have more physical stamina than any of the other aquatic races. Other abilities include being able to communicate underwater with several races that live there.

Dolphins perhaps? In some places dolphins are apparently happy to assist local fishermen who each dawn wait for the dolphin pod to arrive before starting a well-organised fish round-up.

hvered wrote:A water-filled moat sounds like a fish farm

That certainly could have been another benefit of it. The River Kennet is still famous in fishing circles for its trout. Our perception of the River Kennet as just a small stream is distorted because of the huge volume of water extracted by Thames Water and Wessex Water from bore holes. So the river is only a pittance of what it used to be in full flood.