What may be Britain ’s one-time giant chalk physique , the iconic Uffington White Horse , has been given some much - needed fear after it had started to squinch and thin out . The renovation workplace has spruced up the ancient horse , allowing it to put on weight again and come back to its former aura .
Last year , archaeologists with the National Trust recognise that the chalk figure – located in Oxfordshire , England – was read signs of decay . In finical , the neck and head of the 3,000 - class - old sawhorse figure were narrowing . As such , it was in need of some full of life tutelage .
As such , a team of archaeologists from the National Trust and Oxford Archaeology have now restored the loss by cut away the turf that has been slowly nibble forth at its shape over the old age . The squad has also redistribute some of the chalk that was on the top stratum of the figure .
The horse’s shape, before and after its chalky facelift.Image credit: © National Trust Images/James Dobson
The Uffington White Horse is just one part of a wider complex of ancient stiff in and around what is call White Horse Hill . The figure itself was originally made from deep oceanic abyss that were dug into the hill and filled with methamphetamine . It was make at some degree in the recent Bronze Age or other Iron Age , sometime between 1740 and 210 BCE .
There are some who trust the figure may not be a Equus caballus at all , but rather a dragon - like creature , which may link it to the nearbyDragon Hill . This whole site is steeped in legend , apparently being the position where St George defeat the dragon ( despite the fact that the historical figure behind the fable was likelyTurkishand had nothing to do with England ) .
While historian and archaeologists have a good idea of when it was make , they are less clear on why it was made .
“ It is also an intriguing figure as we do n’t know for certain its original purpose . It could have been a mode of pock territory or as a tribal symbolisation . What we do know is that through the efforts of generations of local people , the horse has been cared for , allowing it to exist for thousands of year to become an iconic feature of this landscape , " National Trust archaeologist Adrian Cox explained in astatement .
During the restoration study , grease samples from the knight ’s lowest bed were taken in the hope that they may provide an exact date for its creation . alike samples were get in the nineties , which showed that it is Britain ’s oldest trash figure , but date techniques have improved since then .
The Leslie Townes Hope is that the use of Optically Stimulated Luminescence ( OSL ) dating , which take apart crystalline materials such asquartz , will render novel insights . The results are due later this class .
For one C , the horse ’s shape has been maintain in so - call “ scouring ” festival , whereby communities of people who sack up away turf and weeds while also re - chalking it . The first known festival occurred in 1755 and was revived by the National Trust in2009 . The Trust now holds specificeventsfor the world who are boost to help restore and exert this puzzling crank figure .
