Description: Large turf-cut hill figure on Giant Hill, representing a naked male brandishing a club. Various anatomical features have been boldly depicted. There has been considerable debate over his origins, with most periods from Romano-British to Post Medieval suggested. There have been many suggestions regarding who the figure represents, it has been identified as Hercules and related to the second-century cult of Commodus. Another suggested identity for the figure is Nodons, a Celtic equivalent of Donar, a massively strong all-powerful figure worshipped by the Germanic tribes. A resistivity survey of the area was carried out in 1980 by Anthonty Clark of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory for the programme by Arthur C Clarke entitled `This Mysterious World'. When the anolomalies were plotted they revealed a feature that has been identified as a cloak or skin thrown over the giant's left arm, this has been used as further evidence to identify the figure as Hercules. There is a lack of documentary evidence for the site pre-dating the mid 16th century. The figure was renovated in 1868 and 1887, and was given to the National Trust in 1920 by the Pitt-Rivers Family.
Country: ENGLAND
County: DORSET
District: WEST DORSET
Parish: CERNE ABBAS
Grid Reference:
ST66650167
Map Reference:
[EPSG:27700] 366650, 101670
Period: MEDIEVAL, MODERN, POST MEDIEVAL, ROMAN, 1633 - 1667, 1868, 1887, 1920
Subject: HILL FIGURE, MODIFIED SURFACE
Identifiers:
[ADS] Depositor Id: ST 60 SE 39
[ADS] Import RCN: NMR_NATINV-199015
People Involved:
[Publisher] Historic England
Cite record using this URL:
https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archsearch/record?titleId=1016773