Set on a rolling hillside above the picturesque village of Cerne Abbas, the 180ft tall club-wielding man has long been regarded as a sign of fertility due to his large, erect phallus. It is not agreed how old the Cerne Abbas Giant is, but the most likely explanation is that he depicts Hercules, the god with super- human strength. Hence he was probably created as a pagan idol during the Iron Age period of Britain.
There is some evidence that the Giant may once have carried a cloak over the left arm and a severed head in his hand.
i imagine nobody misses the severed head, CP!
This was the first I had heard of the severed head. So I guess you are right
That is quite something, Cherry. I looked at google maps and then the “birds-eye”, that is quite impressive and you wonder how they were able to get all the measurements right just being at ground level…
It does make you wonder how they could get the measurements right!
There are some in Peru which are even more fascinating.
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/06/24/nazca-lines-mystery/
Lovely photos – it looks in better condition than when we went to see it.
It was a bit difficult to see from the low point of view. The sun helped by highlighting the giant figure.
it’s a wonderful agricultural sculpture Cherie… i can see why he is a sign of fertility due to his large, erect phallus….peter:)
There are some reports that say the phallus has been enlarged over the years. But whether it has or not it is still an interesting sculpture with a background history.
Yes, I wondered about the comment re all the measurements being “just right”, but maybe that’s just me.
Astrid was meaning the general proportions of the figure and wondering how a human shape could be mapped out on to the ground. You have to admit that is something to wonder about!
Clearly done by a child in a spaceship firing a laser beam to depict the strange semi-intelligent beings his parents had taken him to see on a school holiday trip to Reservation Earth?
…although looking at images from above the arms seem way too long and other issues that would make more sense if done by people on the ground. I hope it was the child in the spaceship though.
A descendant of Aileen?
Shhhhh… [Now I am wondering if I have said too much
]
It’s many years since I saw this – your photographs are lovely.
All the best Jan
Thank you
The first photo is very striking with the blue blackground.
English blue sky with its white fluffy clouds is a kind of heaven
Stone age porn!
It was more than hunter-gatherer.
There are some studies that say large appendage was not so large when the figure was first carved into the hillside and that it has been embellished since its creation…