Excavations Of The Long Man





A shallow trench 0.8 metres wide and seven centimetres deep was found in an excavation in 1969, meaning the original outline was a lot bolder than the current, rather thin line of concrete blocks, this would have been necessary to allow the chalk to show through the layer of earth at the angle of viewing. It has also been shown that the local myth of the Giant being robbed of his manhood by puritans are, according to archaeological survey, untrue, the rumour probably springing from a comparison to the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset. Despite all the modifications made over the years, the figure has been compared to a rock carving of a man carrying two staves found near Lake Onega, Northern Russia, a figure on the Sutton Hoo helmet and a well endowed figure holding two spears on a belt buckle found at a Saxon Cemetary in 1964 at Finglesham near Deal, Kent. In suggesting this last figure, shown below, as a posible identification of the Long Man, it was also suggested that the features shown on the buckle were also present on the Long Man, but were eradicated, possibly by a Christian influence such as St. Wilfrid. A resistivity survey using a Martin-Clark resistivity meter was caried out in 1969 on the top portion of the giant. Of the features found, the possible greater length of the staves above their current reach is the most believeable. Disturbance around the tops of the staves indicate the 1776 drawing with the scythe and rake is more plausible than originally thought. Lastly, some sort of plume is evident above the head, pointing eastwards. Despite this, an infra-red arial photograph taken at the same time failed to show any features in the surveyed area.





As to the giants original age, a much mooted and disagreed upon point, some fragments of red Roman tile dated by Professor Barry Cunliffe and found sprinked within the outline were found which may shed some light on the matter. A comparrison with fragments of the red brick sometimes used to repair the giant showed it was definately not these as well as this find, it is noted in the Eastbourne Gazette of April 29th 1874 that during the restoration with the yellow bricks, fragments of 'Roman Brick' were discovered. Why these fragments are there is not clear but they were found well above the base of the trench indicating the trench was initially dug before the Roman period and had not been properly scoured after it. It is possible the tile fragments are some attempt by the Romans to stamp out whatever cult that they had come across in the area by defiling the image and marking it for the Romans or perhaps the Romanised British using Roman materials to mark out their idol, but we can only speculate on such matters, though we can be fairly sure from the position of the fragments and the lack of other Roman features other than roads in the area, that the giant was not Roman in origin. The problem with using these fragments to assign a specific date comes from the continual movement of soil down the hill, in a process known as 'soil creep', and the action of earthworms, which sort large particles down to the bedrock, as could be seen during the excavations of the Long Man, where chalk rubble overlayed the surface of the chalk bedrock, with relatively clean topsoil on top.



The Archaeology Of Windover Hill







Windover Hill on which the giant is on the south face of is rich in archaeological sites. When the Weald was still forested and full of wolves and wild boar, the bare downland offered the best means of travel. The downs were used for transportation of tin from Cornwall via Wessex and as such was a very important and no doubt busy throughfare. It has been suggested that the Giant was drawn by Phoenician traders as there is a resemblance between the giant and a Phoenician figure holding two pillars of a temple. Whatever the origin, the area has sites from Neolithic times onwards. Flint was mined on the hill in the Neolithic period and the filled in mine shafts can still be seen. These mines were identified early this century by Dr. Curwen but were only confirmed by excavation in 1971. A flint axe head similar to one found at Coombe Hill was found near to Windover Hill. Other large open cast mines above and to the giants left are Edwardian. There is a Celtic field system (lynchets) just to the southwest with 3 round barrows (tumuli) in its midst, this is probably not Wilma's Farmstead as Wilma is a Saxon name and unlike the earlier Celts, the Saxons settled on the plains rather than the hills, pillaging the hilltop farmsteads as they moved west to the fort of Anderida at Pevensey.



Barrows On Windover Hill



There are several prehistoric burials above the Giant sometimes going by the name of Giants Grave, which has been mutilated at the northern end by a possible trackway. One theory suggests the long barrow is actually a spoil heap from the nearby mining but that theory doesn't explain the straitness of the barrow and the ditches around it which would be quite unnecessary for a spoil heap. It has been suggested that the mutilation mentioned above was an original part of the construction as the ditch around the damaged part doesn't seem to be affected. The small part of barrow that is cut off by the damage is slightly lower and wider than the main part, and the whole, looked at as the original construction, has a very phallic look to it, the head off the phallus pointing towards the head of the long man. There is another long barrow just to the east on Wilmington Hill called "Hunters Burgh" (a name known as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I) as well as several bronze age round barrows, including a particularly large bowl barrow (135 feet diameter) just above the giant, and a smaller barrow (45 feet diameter) to the east between Windover Hill and Wilmington Hill. The first round barrow contains an impressive and high status burial and the finds which included a cremation urn in a pit under a pile of flints were excavated by Dr. Giddeon Mantell but have now been lost, but the barrow itself is reckoned to belong to a late neolithic or bronze age chief.



Roads Across Windover Hill



Last but not least of the Archaeological features on Windover Hill are several ancient roads which pass nearby, ranging from Roman and possibly older to an 18th century coach road. The coach road takes the same route onto the hill on the west as the other roads before curving around the south side of the hill, back up and away again to the south-east. The next road is probably Roman and comes in from the same direction to the west as the coach road but takes a steeper path across the summit of Windover Hill passing very close to the southern edges of all three of the barrows on Windover Hill before heading in the direction of Eastbourne. There has been suggestion by Rodney Castleden that this middle road is actually a Cursus performing a ritual function. The third road, a Roman terrace way, comes in from Milton Street to the west and passes through the same point on the west side of the hill as the first two tracks before passing north of the barrows and quarry just over the head of the Long Man and meeting the second road near the barrow between Windover Hill and Wilmington Hill. This road, which passes closest to the Giant is known as the Giants Causeway and carries a parish boundary. The fourth road, another Roman terrace way and nicknamed the "Monk's Walk", starts at the same barrow and heads north-east down the hill east of the Giant before disappearing into the Weald.



Bronze Axe Hoard



At the end of 1861, workmen draining a field 200 yards south of the Wilmington Railway Gate, came across a large crock, buried two feet deep in clay. Their spades shattered the crock and inside were found 33 Bronze axe heads (celts), two fragments of either dagger or spear-heads along with a mould used for making the axes, which seems to fit none of the axes present. Indeed most of the axes seem to be damaged in some way that might indicate they were no longer useful and were due to be melted down and recast using the cast present.

A resistivity survey using a Martin-Clark resistivity meter was caried out in 1969 on the top portion of the giant. Of the features found, the possible greater length of the staves above their current reach is the most believeable. Disturbance around the tops of the staves indicate the 1776 drawing with the scythe and rake is more plausible than originally thought. Lastly, some sort of plume is evident above the head, pointing eastwards. Despite this, an infra-red arial photograph taken at the same time failed to show any features in the surveyed area.As to the giants original age, a much mooted and disagreed upon point, some fragments of red Roman tile dated by Professor Barry Cunliffe and found sprinked within the outline were found which may shed some light on the matter. A comparrison with fragments of the red brick sometimes used to repair the giant showed it was definately not these as well as this find, it is noted in the Eastbourne Gazette of April 291874 that during the restoration with the yellow bricks, fragments of 'Roman Brick' were discovered. Why these fragments are there is not clear but they were found well above the base of the trench indicating the trench was initially dug before the Roman period and had not been properly scoured after it. It is possible the tile fragments are some attempt by the Romans to stamp out whatever cult that they had come across in the area by defiling the image and marking it for the Romans or perhaps the Romanised British using Roman materials to mark out their idol, but we can only speculate on such matters, though we can be fairly sure from the position of the fragments and the lack of other Roman features other than roads in the area, that the giant was not Roman in origin. The problem with using these fragments to assign a specific date comes from the continual movement of soil down the hill, in a process known as 'soil creep', and the action of earthworms, which sort large particles down to the bedrock, as could be seen during the excavations of the Long Man, where chalk rubble overlayed the surface of the chalk bedrock, with relatively clean topsoil on top.Windover Hill on which the giant is on the south face of is rich in archaeological sites. When the Weald was still forested and full of wolves and wild boar, the bare downland offered the best means of travel. The downs were used for transportation of tin from Cornwall via Wessex and as such was a very important and no doubt busy throughfare. It has been suggested that the Giant was drawn by Phoenician traders as there is a resemblance between the giant and a Phoenician figure holding two pillars of a temple. Whatever the origin, the area has sites from Neolithic times onwards. Flint was mined on the hill in the Neolithic period and the filled in mine shafts can still be seen. These mines were identified early this century by Dr. Curwen but were only confirmed by excavation in 1971. A flint axe head similar to one found at Coombe Hill was found near to Windover Hill. Other large open cast mines above and to the giants left are Edwardian. There is a Celtic field system (lynchets) just to the southwest with 3 round barrows (tumuli) in its midst, this is probably not Wilma's Farmstead as Wilma is a Saxon name and unlike the earlier Celts, the Saxons settled on the plains rather than the hills, pillaging the hilltop farmsteads as they moved west to the fort of Anderida at Pevensey.There are several prehistoric burials above the Giant sometimes going by the name of Giants Grave, which has been mutilated at the northern end by a possible trackway. One theory suggests the long barrow is actually a spoil heap from the nearby mining but that theory doesn't explain the straitness of the barrow and the ditches around it which would be quite unnecessary for a spoil heap. It has been suggested that the mutilation mentioned above was an original part of the construction as the ditch around the damaged part doesn't seem to be affected. The small part of barrow that is cut off by the damage is slightly lower and wider than the main part, and the whole, looked at as the original construction, has a very phallic look to it, the head off the phallus pointing towards the head of the long man. There is another long barrow just to the east on Wilmington Hill called "Hunters Burgh" (a name known as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I) as well as several bronze age round barrows, including a particularly large bowl barrow (135 feet diameter) just above the giant, and a smaller barrow (45 feet diameter) to the east between Windover Hill and Wilmington Hill. The first round barrow contains an impressive and high status burial and the finds which included a cremation urn in a pit under a pile of flints were excavated by Dr. Giddeon Mantell but have now been lost, but the barrow itself is reckoned to belong to a late neolithic or bronze age chief.Last but not least of the Archaeological features on Windover Hill are several ancient roads which pass nearby, ranging from Roman and possibly older to an 18century coach road. The coach road takes the same route onto the hill on the west as the other roads before curving around the south side of the hill, back up and away again to the south-east. The next road is probably Roman and comes in from the same direction to the west as the coach road but takes a steeper path across the summit of Windover Hill passing very close to the southern edges of all three of the barrows on Windover Hill before heading in the direction of Eastbourne. There has been suggestion by Rodney Castleden that this middle road is actually a Cursus performing a ritual function. The third road, a Roman terrace way, comes in from Milton Street to the west and passes through the same point on the west side of the hill as the first two tracks before passing north of the barrows and quarry just over the head of the Long Man and meeting the second road near the barrow between Windover Hill and Wilmington Hill. This road, which passes closest to the Giant is known as the Giants Causeway and carries a parish boundary. The fourth road, another Roman terrace way and nicknamed the "Monk's Walk", starts at the same barrow and heads north-east down the hill east of the Giant before disappearing into the Weald.At the end of 1861, workmen draining a field 200 yards south of the Wilmington Railway Gate, came across a large crock, buried two feet deep in clay. Their spades shattered the crock and inside were found 33 Bronze axe heads (celts), two fragments of either dagger or spear-heads along with a mould used for making the axes, which seems to fit none of the axes present. Indeed most of the axes seem to be damaged in some way that might indicate they were no longer useful and were due to be melted down and recast using the cast present.

Two of the bronze axes found at Wilmington

Archaeological Theories Regarding Age



The area seems to have been most important during the Neolithic period with the flint mines and the most impressive burial mounds. Perhaps the giant was a protector of the area, to warn or frighten off people from the mines or a representation of an important person in the sites history who had staked his claim with the image or has tried to ensure his immortality. It is more likely though that the site had a more religious significance, as religious sites tend to have a continuance of use through the different ages. The numinosity of a place or it's apparrent numinosity due to it previously being viewed as such keeps a site active even with a new wave of invaders or a change in political or tribal control. The burials are suggestive of this with several types of barrow from different ages being present on the hill, the problem lies with assigning the Long Man himself to any one of these ages. At least we know from the Roman tile fragments mentioned above that the Giant was cut before or during this time and not by listless monks as some have suggested. The problem with using the Archaeological features on top of Windover Hill for the purpose of dating the Long Man is there are features from different time periods from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age and none can be definately linked to the Long Man, though the features do suggest the area as a whole had a ritual importance in very great antiquity.



Conclusion



You've got to be kidding me!



Oh ok, I'm currently going with unknown Iron-Age deity with continuance of use into Roman times by Romano-British natives.



But don't quote me on that. The area seems to have been most important during the Neolithic period with the flint mines and the most impressive burial mounds. Perhaps the giant was a protector of the area, to warn or frighten off people from the mines or a representation of an important person in the sites history who had staked his claim with the image or has tried to ensure his immortality. It is more likely though that the site had a more religious significance, as religious sites tend to have a continuance of use through the different ages. The numinosity of a place or it's apparrent numinosity due to it previously being viewed as such keeps a site active even with a new wave of invaders or a change in political or tribal control. The burials are suggestive of this with several types of barrow from different ages being present on the hill, the problem lies with assigning the Long Man himself to any one of these ages. At least we know from the Roman tile fragments mentioned above that the Giant was cut before or during this time and not by listless monks as some have suggested. The problem with using the Archaeological features on top of Windover Hill for the purpose of dating the Long Man is there are features from different time periods from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age and none can be definately linked to the Long Man, though the features do suggest the area as a whole had a ritual importance in very great antiquity.You've got to be kidding me!Oh ok, I'm currently going with unknown Iron-Age deity with continuance of use into Roman times by Romano-British natives.But don't quote me on that.