Research Shows Cerne Abbas Giant Chalk Figure Is Not Ancient

 

Dating the Cerne Abbas Giant With Soil Samples and Snails

To mark the centenary of the transfer of the Cerne Abbas Giant to the management of the National Trust, authorities decided to date the figure. In March 2020 a series of tests were carried out to determine ‘‘a ‘date-range’ for when the landmark was created’’ reports the BBC. Similar tests on another famous gigantic chalk figure, known as the Uffington White Horse , in Oxfordshire, revealed it to be 3000 years old.

 

A number of soil samples were taken from the giant’s outline and they are being subjected to a series of different tests. The soil testing process has been delayed because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, however, one set of results have come back which related to dead snails found in the chalk lines. The findings were explosive. The snail test results revealed that the Cerne Abbas Giant was far younger than commonly thought.

 

Medieval Snails Suggest Cerne Abbas Giant is Not That Old!

The Daily Mail quotes Michael Allen, an environmental archaeologist, as stating that the ‘snails including the tiny vineyard snail or ‘Cernuella virgata’ that were found in the soil samples taken from the giant did not reach England until the late medieval period. This means that the figure could not date to ancient times. Dr Allen is quoted by the BBC as saying that ‘They arrived here accidentally, probably in straw and hay used as packing for goods from the continent’ in the Middle Ages. This most likely occurred in the 12 th or the 13 th century AD.

This finding contradicts previous theories and local folklore. Some experts believe that the giant figure was a Celtic deity because the ‘giant is stylistically similar to a god found on a skillet handle in nearby Hod Hill that has been dated back to around 10–51 AD’ reports The Daily Mail . The fact that the figure is naked with an erect penis prompted many to believe that the giant was related to a fertility cult .

Cerne Abbas Giant as the God Hercules

Another theory was proposed by a local clergyman, William Stukeley, in the 18 th century AD.  He believed the giant chalk figure was a depiction of Hercules, one of the most popular gods in the Graeco-Roman world. He argued that the giant was carved into the hill by local Romano-British people in the first century AD.

The discovery of snails that did not arrive in Britain until the Middle Ages means these theories are no longer valid. It seems likely that the giant was carved into the hillside sometime in the post-medieval period . One theory claims the giant was created during the English Civil War to mock or satirize Oliver Cromwell , who made himself de-facto ruler of Britain in the 17 th century AD.

 

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