The Cerne Abbas Giant was probably first constructed in the late Saxon period, according to new analysis which has surprised archaeologists and historians.
The 180ft (55m) naked chalk figure brandishing a giant club overlooks the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset.
Its origins and purpose have been shrouded in mystery, but experts can for the first time reveal the likely age of the giant.
The Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset (Ben Birchall/PA)
Following state-of-the-art sediment analysis, National Trust archaeologists have concluded the giant was probably first constructed in the late Saxon period.
Independent geoarchaeologist Mike Allen, whose research is helping the Trust understand more about the landscape in which the giant was created, said the result is surprising.
The Cerne Abbas Giant was probably first constructed in the late Saxon period, according to new analysis which has surprised archaeologists and historians.
The 180ft (55m) naked chalk figure brandishing a giant club overlooks the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset.
Its origins and purpose have been shrouded in mystery, but experts can for the first time reveal the likely age of the giant.
The Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset (Ben Birchall/PA)
Following state-of-the-art sediment analysis, National Trust archaeologists have concluded the giant was probably first constructed in the late Saxon period.
Independent geoarchaeologist Mike Allen, whose research is helping the Trust understand more about the landscape in which the giant was created, said the result is surprising.
Rebel baron undressed the Cerne Abbas giant to get a rise out of Oliver Cromwell
Hillside figure wore trousers for 700 years, says National Trust, before they were removed and a phallus added as parody of Civil War leader
The National Trust has revealed the giant figure on a hillside in Dorset dates from Saxon times
The origins of the Cerne Abbas giant have long been cloaked in mystery, and its vast anatomy has long caused shock by being cloaked in nothing at all.
But the National Trust has revealed that the hill figure is Saxon and actually had trousers for 700 years before a phallus was added in the 17th century as a possible parody of Oliver Cromwell, made on the orders of a disgruntled baron.
THE likely age of Dorset s Cerne Giant has been revealed for the first time - and it has come as a surprise to historians. Archaeologists at the National Trust have been analysing sediment taken from the carving - considered to be Britain’s largest and perhaps best-known chalk hill figure. Generations have speculated about the age and meaning of the club-brandishing giant hewn into a Dorset hillside with some theories including it being a depiction of the legendary demi-god Hercules, an ancient fertility symbol, or even the soldier and statesman Oliver Cromwell. Another theory is that the figure was carved around the body of a giant who was slain by local people after he terrorised the countryside.
Cerne Abbas Giant surprises scientists as they work out its age
“Everyone was wrong, and that makes these results even more exciting,”
The Cerne Abbas Giant which was probably first constructed in the late Saxon period, according to new analysis which has surprised archaeologists and historians. The 180ft (55m) naked chalk figure brandishing a giant club overlooks the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset
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