Lost Gods of Albion

As a uniquely British phenomenon, the thirty or so figures cut into the turf of southern England have excited antiquarians, archaeologists and the general public for generations. However, their origins are enigmatic. Paul Newman shows how hill-figures reveal Britain's darkest past: Druid massacres, conjectured human sacrifice and strange phallic and pagan rites that in milder form survive even today. This scholarly and comprehensive account of all the recorded hill-figures in England offers not only description but also analysis, discussion and interpretation. In the ten years that have passed since the first edition of this book, much has changed in the world of hill-figure studies, most significantly perhaps the absolute dating by scientific means of early silts incorporated into the Uffington White Horse, which can now be seen to date from around 1000 BC.