Posted on 07/05/2007 11:08:07 AM PDT by blam
Workers discover ancient 'snake'
An aerial view of the 4000 year old 'Rotherwas Ribbon'
Diggers constructing a new access road have uncovered a mysterious serpent-shaped feature, dating from the early bronze age. The 197ft (60m) long ribbon of stones, found in Rotherwas, near Hereford, is thought to date from the same period as Stonehenge, roughly 2000 BC.
County archaeologist Dr Keith Ray said as far as he is aware the stone feature is unique in Europe.
"We can only speculate it may have been used in some kind of ritual," he said.
'International significance'
The Rotherwas Ribbon, as it is being called, is made up of a series of deliberately fire-cracked stones and appears to have been deliberately sculptured to undulate through the whole of its length that has so far been uncovered.
"This is an exciting find, not just for Herefordshire and the UK, but apparently, so far, unique in Europe. It has international significance," Dr Ray said.
Archaeologists said although the practice of laying stones in small level pavements is known at sites in Pembrokeshire and elsewhere, the closest parallel to the Rotherwas Ribbon is the "Great Serpent Mound", in Ohio, USA, which is thought to have been built between 200 BC and 400 AD.
The Serpent Mound is a 1,330ft (405m) long effigy of a serpent.
Yeah you are right, could be to keep the Birkensotocks dry.
Before Classical Greece, at least, the was no "Art" as we understand the concept. What we see today as art was in pre-classical time intended to serve a practical function, as part of a ritual to aid in working a spell. In Egypt, for instance, while there was plenty of what we might call "art", there were no art galleries where one might view paintings and sculptures and so forth, simply to admire their beauty. It was all put to use in temples, shrines, and tombs; where art was used as decoration, as in jewelry, it was likewise intended to perform a function, such as to bring good luck and etc.
Going further back, the cave paintings and petroglyphs were not just pretty pictures, they were magic spells, intended to assure a good hunt or fertility, or some other practical goal. Just as this snake figure was, I am sure
COME RIDE THE SNAKE!(ride the snake)
And this would differ from the Sistine Chapel - how?
“they were magic spells, intended to assure a good hunt or fertility, “
That’s what we infer from our modern perspective. You allude to this when you say “as we understand it”. For some reason, we can’t see Altamira or an antelope bone with a horse engraved on it as “pretty” for its own sake.
We simply can’t know what these people thought was art, and what was “religion” or ritual, or magic. We don’t have enough information to understand what was left by time (the carved stone of Mesoamerica was, apparently, brightly painted at one time).
Without context, another culture would see our library entrances flanked by stone lions and great golden arches over our restaurants as ritual icons to ward off demons or diarrhea. Then thre’s neckties, obviously symbols of social status and never pretty, funny, or worn to look nice.
I wil agree with you in that it’s unlikely that the Picts had state-funded artists working off of grants!
From the headline I thought this was going to be a Helen Thomas thread.
I did not know that! I'm a west-sider, so I don't know when I'll ever get over to see it, but that is interesting.
Something about this doesn’t adder up
He’s old and his skin is cold.
There are also a couple of mounds on the west side - near Fort Wayne. I know one of the is called the Springwells Mound and is near the river at the foot of Springwells Avenue. There's a real big one just west of Ft. Wayne - there's a small city park there and a fishing site.
Thanks for the info.
Ride the Snake, to the lake.....
The ancient lake.
The snake is long....
“waiting for the summer rain” ping....
If you asp me, that was uncalled for.
Just thinking the ‘snake’ road theory needed a little wiggle room before it tailed off.
Yeah, I’m pretty rattled by that realization.
Fangs for the reply.
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