第1段

The cutting of huge figures or ‘geoglyphs’ into the earth of English hillsides has taken place for more than 3,000 years. There are 56 hill figures scattered around England, with the vast majority on the chalk downlands of the country’s southern counties. The figures include giants, horses, crosses and regimental badges. Although the majority of these geoglyphs date within the last 300 years or so, there are one or two that are much older.

第2段

The most famous of these figures is perhaps also the most mysterious – the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. The White Horse has recently been re-dated and shown to be even older than its previously assigned ancient pre-Roman Iron Age date. More controversial is the date of the enigmatic Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. While many historians are convinced the figure is prehistoric, others believe that it was the work of an artistic monk from a nearby priory and was created between the 11th and 15th centuries.

 第3段

The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying grass to reveal the gleaming white chalk below. However, the grass would soon grow over the geoglyph again unless it was regularly cleaned or scoured by a fairly large team of people. One reason that the vast majority of hill figures have disappeared is that when the traditions associated with the figures faded, people no longer bothered or remembered to clear away the grass to expose the chalk outline. Furthermore, over hundreds of years the outlines would sometimes change due to people not always cutting in exactly the same place, thus creating a different shape to the original geoglyph. The fact that any ancient hill figures survive at all in England today is testament to the strength and continuity of local customs and beliefs which, in one case at least, must stretch back over millennia.

第4段

The Uffington White Horse is a unique, stylised representation of a horse consisting of a long, sleek back, thin disjointed legs, a streaming tail, and a bird-like beaked head. The elegant creature almost melts into the landscape. The horse is situated 2.5 km from Uffington village on a steep slope close to the Late Bronze Age (c. 7th century BCE) hillfort of Uffington Castle and below the Ridgeway, a long-distance Neolithic track.

第5段

The Uffington Horse is also surrounded by Bronze Age burial mounds. It is not far from the Bronze Age cemetery of Lambourn Seven Barrows, which consists of more than 30 well-preserved burial mounds. The carving has been placed in such a way as to make it extremely difficult to see from close quarters, and like many geoglyphs is best appreciated from the air. Nevertheless, there are certain areas of the Vale of the White Horse, the valley containing and named after the enigmatic creature, from which an adequate impression may be gained. Indeed on a clear day the carving can be seen from up to 30 km away.

第6段

The earliest evidence of a horse at Uffington is from the 1070s CE when ‘White Horse Hill’ is mentioned in documents from the nearby Abbey of Abingdon, and the first reference to the horse itself is soon after, in 1190 CE. However, the carving is believed to date back much further than that. Due to the similarity of the Uffington White Horse to the stylised depictions of horses on 1st century BCE coins, it had been thought that the creature must also date to that period.

第7段

However, in 1995 Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) testing was carried out by the Oxford Archaeological Unit on soil from two of the lower layers of the horse’s body, and from another cut near the base. The result was a date for the horse’s construction somewhere between 1400 and 600 BCE – in other words, it had a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age origin …

第8段

The latter end of this date range would tie the carving of the horse in with occupation of the nearby Uffington hillfort, indicating that it may represent a tribal emblem marking the land of the inhabitants of the hillfort. Alternatively, the carving may have been carried out during a Bronze or Iron Age ritual. Some researchers see the horse as representing the Celtic horse goddess Epona, who was worshipped as a protector of horses, and for her associations with fertility. However, the cult of Epona was not imported from Gaul (France) until around the first century CE. This date is at least six centuries after the Uffington Horse was probably carved. Nevertheless, the horse had great ritual and economic significance during the Bronze and Iron Ages, as attested by its depictions on jewellery and other metal objects. It is possible that the carving represents a goddess in native mythology, such as Rhiannon, described in later Welsh mythology as beautiful woman dressed in gold and riding a white horse.

第9段

The fact that geoglyphs can disappear easily, along with their associated rituals and meaning, indicates that they were never intended to be anything more than temporary gestures. But this does not lessen their importance. These giant carvings are a fascinating glimpse into the minds of their creators and how they viewed the landscape in which they lived.

在英国的山地上刻画巨大的图案或“地面图形”已经进行了3,000多年。英格兰有56个分散在全国各地的山地图形，其中绝大多数位于该国南部县的白垩丘陵地区。这些图形包括巨人、马、十字架和团队徽章。虽然绝大多数地面图形的年代在过去的300多年内，但也有一两个地面图形的历史要追溯得更久。

其中最著名的图形也许也是最神秘的图形——位于牛津郡的乌芬顿白马。乌芬顿白马最近经过重新确定年代，证明其比之前所认定的古罗马前铁器时代还要古老。更有争议的是苏塞克斯郡威尔明顿的神秘长人的年代。虽然许多历史学家相信这个图形是史前的，但也有人相信它是附近修道院的一位艺术僧侣创作的，年代介于11世纪和15世纪之间。

刻制这些巨大图形的方法就是清理覆盖在上面的草地，露出下面闪亮的白垩石。然而，草地很快就会重新长满图形，除非有一个相当大的团队定期清理或擦洗。山地图形大部分消失的原因之一是，当与这些图形相关的传统逐渐消失时，人们不再费心或记得清除草地，以显示出白垩轮廓。此外，几百年来，轮廓有时会发生变化，因为人们不总是在完全相同的位置切割，从而创造出与原始地面图形不同的形状。事实上，任何古老的山地图形在今天能在英格兰存留下来，这是对当地习俗和信仰的力量和延续的证明，至少有一个例子可以追溯到几千年前。

乌芬顿白马是一只独特的、风格化的马的形象，由一条长长的、光滑的背部、细长的不连贯的腿、飘逸的尾巴和鸟嘴状的头部组成。这个优雅的生物几乎融入了周围的景观。这匹马位于乌芬顿村以外2.5公里的陡坡上，靠近乌芬顿城堡的晚期青铜时代（公元前7世纪）山地要塞，并位于古老的尼奥利特骑行路线Ridgeway下方。

乌芬顿马周围还有青铜时代的埋葬土墩。它离兰伯恩七个金条的青铜时代墓地也不远，后者包括30多个保存完好的墓葬土墩。这个雕刻被安置在一个非常难以从近处看到的位置，和许多地面图形一样，最好从空中欣赏。然而，在白马谷的某些区域，可以获得足够的印象。事实上，在晴朗的日子里，这个雕刻可以从30公里外看到。

关于乌芬顿马最早的证据可以追溯到公元1070年代，当时附近的阿宾登修道院的文件中提到了“白马山”，而关于马本身的第一个记录则是在公元1190年之后。然而，人们认为这个雕刻的历史要追溯得更久。由于乌芬顿白马与公元前1世纪的硬币上风格化的马的描绘非常相似，人们曾认为这个形象也可能是那个时期的产物。

然而，1995年，牛津考古部门对马的身体下部的两个较低层和基部附近的土壤进行了光释光测年（OSL）测试。结果显示马的建造日期在公元前1400年到公元前600年之间，换句话说，它起源于晚青铜时代或早铁器时代…

这个日期范围的后期将把马的雕刻与附近乌芬顿山地要塞的占领联系起来，表明它可能代表了山地要塞居民的部落象征。或者，这个雕刻可能是在青铜时代或铁器时代的仪式中进行的。一些研究人员认为，这匹马代表了凯尔特马女神艾波娜，她被崇拜为马的保护神，并与生育力量有关。然而，艾波娜女神的崇拜直到公元1世纪左右才从高卢（法国）引入。这个日期至少比乌芬顿马的雕刻要晚六个世纪。然而，在青铜时代和铁器时代，这匹马在宗教和经济上都具有重要意义，这一点可以从它在珠宝和其他金属物品上的描绘中得以证明。这个雕刻可能代表了本土神话中的女神，比如后来威尔士神话中被描述为穿着金色衣服、骑着一匹白马的美丽女人瑞安娜。

地面图形可以轻易消失，连同它们的相关仪式和意义，这表明它们从来不是想要成为永久的姿态。但这并不减少它们的重要性。这些巨大的雕刻是对它们的创造者的思维方式以及他们如何看待所居住的景观的迷人一瞥。