Is Silbury hill near stonehenge an egyptain pyramid?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the relationship between Silbury Hill and Stonehenge, questioning whether Silbury Hill could be considered a representation of a pyramid or a volcano. Participants examine the historical context, construction materials, and potential symbolic meanings of these ancient structures, including comparisons to pyramids in Egypt and volcanic formations in Italy.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Historical

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that Silbury Hill, constructed around 2700 BC, could represent a pyramid or a volcano, drawing parallels to the Step Pyramid in Egypt.
  • Others argue that Silbury Hill's construction from local materials like gravel and chalk may not have been stable enough for a pyramid shape.
  • There are claims that stone circles, including Stonehenge, could symbolize volcanic craters, with references to the volcanic rock used in their construction.
  • One participant notes that the circular ditch surrounding Silbury Hill might represent space, contrasting with the hill's convex shape, which could symbolize matter.
  • Some participants question the need to ascribe external influences to the construction of mounds, suggesting that ancient peoples had their own methods for building such structures.
  • Several contributions highlight the speculative nature of the claims, with some participants expressing skepticism about the connections being drawn between Silbury Hill, volcanoes, and pyramids.
  • There are references to other ancient sites and cultures, including the idea that prehistoric Italians may have influenced British stone circle construction.
  • Some participants express frustration with perceived sarcasm and the speculative nature of the arguments presented.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple competing views on the significance and interpretation of Silbury Hill and its relationship to Stonehenge and other ancient structures. Participants express a range of opinions, from speculative theories to skepticism about the connections being made.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the lack of definitive evidence regarding the purpose of Silbury Hill, noting that no remains have been found on the site. The discussion also reflects varying interpretations of the symbolic meanings attributed to the structures, with no consensus on their significance.

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You often hear people talking about stonehenge but not so many people have heard of its close neighbour Silbury Hill - the biggest man-made hill in Europe.Silbury Hill was constructed at around 2700 BC about the same time as the Step Pyramid in Egypt.
Is Silbury Hill a representation of a pyramid? And what does a pyramid represent?
Does it represent anything other than a stable configuration for a large building - perhaps silbury hill which is made from gravel and chalk and some stone (the readily available local materials) wouldn't have been so stable if they had built a pyramid.And who were they?
Could stone circles be representations of the craters of volcanoes-
stonehenge has volcanic rock incorporated into it that was dragged 140 miles to the site.A lot of effort went into building stonehenge and silbury hill but the oldest parts of stonehenge predate silbury hill by 1000 years.However given how long pyramid building went on for in Egypt could Silbury Hill be a construction closely related to Stonehenge.If stonehenge was a representation of a volcanic crater and silbury hill - the biggest man made hill in europe - was a volcano,
could that volcano be Mount Etna - the most active large volcano in Europe?
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A map of western europe shows that the outlines of italy and great britain look like the legs of a lizard/turtle with spain forming the head.And the south west of great britain looks like italy as a whole.Did ancient people notice these things,think of great britain as the other leg of their turtle/lizard and come to britain from italy to build stone circles which represented volcanic craters in italy?There are many volcanoes in italy! And if pyramids represent volcanoes too are these volcanoes in africa or in europe?
 
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A mound is pretty much the only long-term stable structure you can build without incorporating structural elements. The English landscape is riddled with barrows; it is the preferred method of burial. How is Silbury different, other than scale?
 
And why do we have to ascribe mysterious external influence when those folks already knew how to build giant mounds?

This kind of stuff is great for TV fodder, but from what I see it ain't Science.
 
Pyramids representing volcanoes, is a pretty odd statement. I have never seen anything which would make this assumption even plausible.
From what I have read, no remains have ever been found on the site. So we can't even claim its a burial chamber. It could be religious, secular, or some long ago ruler saying I want a hill built here.

*Note the crater which is visable now, was caused by the cave in of tunnels dug by archeologist. When I visited many years back, there were plans to repair it.
 
Silbury Hill has about the same volume as the Step Pyramid which was built aroung the same time- 2700 BC.The builders would not have deliberately put a crater on top because then they would have encouraged a build up of water and subsidence in the gravel and chalk mix.I also compared Silbury Hill to a pyramid and volcano because it is
close to the volcanic rock at stonehenge and the pyramids in egypt are associated with a big volcanic site - the Rift Valley.Silbury Hill is surrounded by a large ditch which when filled with water could have represented the sea around Sicily on which Mount Etna resides.If you look at one of the largest stone circles in britain - Long Meg near the Lake District - it is at an angle on the map relative to Silbury Hill that Mount Vesuvius is relative to Mount Etna. There is a single 15-20 ft red sandstone stone outside the Long Meg circle (which is made from local volcanic rock) - this could represent sand on the coast near Vesuvius.Interestingly, the Castle Rigg stone circle (made from local volcanic rock) in the Lake District (which would,because of Long Meg's sandstone block symbolically be across the sea) would then represent a volcano on the island of Ischia close to Vesuvius.There are circles made of piled Earth in places like croatia which are circa 5000 bc and 1000 years older than the oldest parts of stonehenge.These are known to have had astronomical alignments.Some of the British circles could have astronomical alignments too.But I am suggesting that the Italians/sicilians of prehistory came to Britain and introduced a new culture - based on stone and volcanoes but still preserving the astronomical functions of the circles.The fact that the largest stone circles are found in Britain suggests a unique culture was present.There is also a unique culture present at the largest stone site in Europe - Carnac in Brittany in France - where lines and avenues of stones predominate.It is thought that the French culture was not linked to what was going on in Great Britain.
 
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That is so speculative, that it borders on ridiculous.
 
Ancient Britons would not have known much about volcanoes.

Silbury Hill is about 1 mile south of the Avebury Ring, as well as several barrows (burial mounds) in the area, they are from the same epoch about 4,000 years old.

I have a friend who lives in the village of Avebury in the middle of the Avebury Ring, the whole place is much more exciting than Stonehenge, which was built later.

Garth
 
In my early twenties I had the great privilege of taking a trip to England with my girlfriend and her museum owner/teacher mother (they have everything from a space shuttle tile to an Albertosaurus skull).

We spent a mere three days in London before hitting the road for two weeks, driving the length and breadth of England and Scotland, visiting every ancient site from Avebury to the Cerne Giant to Hadrian's Wall to the Orkneys.

It humbles and inspires a man. I'll never forget it.
 
The circular ditch around Silbury Hill could also be a representation of space which would mean that Silbury Hill - a convex shape which is the opposite of the concave shape of the ditch and therefore could represent matter,not space - is the moon surrounded by space.But Silbury Hill could also still be a representation of Mount Etna because Etna has a circular crater that can glow at night like the moon!
 
  • #10
GARTH: "I have a friend who lives in the village of Avebury in the middle of the Avebury Ring, the whole place is much more exciting than Stonehenge, which was built later."

I've been to both places and agree with you.Sonehenge disappoints tourists who expect it to be bigger than it is.Avebury is larger than stonehnge by a long way and visually more beautiful and interesting.
 
  • #11
pitot-tube said:
The circular ditch around Silbury Hill could also be a representation of space which would mean that Silbury Hill - a convex shape which is the opposite of the concave shape of the ditch and therefore could represent matter,not space - is the moon surrounded by space.But Silbury Hill could also still be a representation of Mount Etna because Etna has a circular crater that can glow at night like the moon!
Or it could represent a unicorn sprinkled with pixie dust. :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
DaveC426913 said:
Or it could represent a unicorn sprinkled with pixie dust. :rolleyes:
It's a giant pointy mound - it could be a way for an ancient British cheiftan to deal with his mid-life crisis and small penis size before the invention of the Porsche SUV.
 
  • #13
Guys, come on.

Pete - Dave - this isn't helping. The OP doesn't get sarcasm, and doesn't seem to understand that ignoring facts - e.g., Mt Etna being 2500km from Silbury and people did not make day trips from Italy to Britain in 4000BC - simply means he's fabricating correlations, ie., weaving fairy tales.

In short he does not get Occam's Razor. "Use the simplest possible explanation first".
This whole thread, up to this point and including my post, is a waste of disk space.
 
  • #14
Actually I was being (semi) serious. Rather than try and find astronomical or religious explanations for ancient monuments, the thinking is now that they are built for exactly the same reason corporations build expensive highrise office blocks in city centres.

"Look at how powerful I am, look how many people I can order around, look at what i can do - don't even think about messing with me."
 
  • #15
Yeah the Ozymandias Syndrome. Anyway, either of the three reasons you cite is a simple explanation, rather than invoking well-schooled world travelers in 4000BC, and paying homage to another distant societies' sacred spot. I, for one, would not build a mound like that to honor some distant gizmo I have never seen, nor could ever see.

The OP needs to realize that Northern Europe and Britain was a crazy quilt of tribes, mostly Celtic, and there was ceaseless internecine warfare. Getting from Avesbury to Normandy would have been a feat. Getting thru from Italy to Britain would have been a major accomplishment. You would not know you were entering a one of dozens of hostile areas until somebody shot an arrow at you. Or in you. Not saying it's impossible, just that it was not an everyday deal like going McDonald's for a burger. ...urp.
 
  • #16
Obviously, the OP isn't realistic and we've had enough rebutals, so I'm closing.